Which footballer do you feel is underrated because they played for an unsuccessful team?

May 5, 2006
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Brent Stanton is who came to mind for me. IMO if he had been drafted to one of the successful teams like Geelong, Hawthorn or Sydney, he would be rated much higher as a player.

I think Stanton would be rated higher if he started in the 2010s.

Was racking up huge numbers in the 2000s when he was 20 or so and no one cared. Do that now and people froth.
 
May 5, 2006
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Funny, Crawf came into my head when I started reading this thread but thought, nah he's rated. But you're right - he is considered a rung below them for no good reason. He was a gun.

Crawford is rated a rung below those guys because he was a rung below those guys.

Which is no knock on Crawford, he was a fine player. But does he belong in an echelon above Mark Ricciuto, Ben Cousins, Simon Black... wouldn't have thought so.
 
May 5, 2006
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Paul williams. Would be regarded as one of the gun mids of his era if he ever played in a great side.

Nicky winmar as well. If he played in a great side he would be regarded as the best aboriginal of the past 30 years bar franklin.

Paul Williams doesn't get a lot of press but he played for Sydney in the 2000s. Collingwood were pretty ordinary in the 90s when he was there but he played finals 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005 with the Swans and was a member of the 2005 flag side.
 
From the way past, Gary Malarkey is severely underrated. Undersized full back for the Cats who came over from WA in the late 70s but didn't play in a successful Cats team. Can't remember him ever getting beaten. Pretty sure he was one of the very few who had a good record against Hudson and kept him goalless in a state game. Never discussed in greatest FB discussions but in my opinion was the equal of Southby, Dench and Moore in that era.
 
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Crawford is rated a rung below those guys because he was a rung below those guys.

Which is no knock on Crawford, he was a fine player. But does he belong in an echelon above Mark Ricciuto, Ben Cousins, Simon Black... wouldn't have thought so.

Crawf was in a pretty average side for most of his career. Those blokes played in quality teams. That's the point of the thread. If Crawf started his career with the Hawthorn team he ended it with, who knows how good he could have been.
 
May 5, 2006
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Crawf was in a pretty average side for most of his career. Those blokes played in quality teams. That's the point of the thread. If Crawf started his career with the Hawthorn team he ended it with, who knows how good he could have been.

Voss started his career with the Brisbane Bears, so did Buckley who then moved to Collingwood after one year. Hird is the only one who started out in a relatively strong team. Buckley played in two losing Grand Finals but so what? He played in fewer finals than Crawford and won 42% of career games compared to 51%. Hird was lucky enough to be there for the Baby Bombers and part of the 21-1 side in 2000 but was still churning out BOGs in his 30s when Essendon had retired from winning finals. Voss was winning B&Fs when Brisbane were no better than Crawford's Hawthorn. Etc.

If Crawford was 10 years younger and got to play 2003-2018 instead of 1993-2008 then who knows what could have happened, but you could apply the same logic to any player. After Buckley retired Collingwood won 102 games (including finals and a flag) in 6 seasons after winning 117 (including finals and no flag) in the previous 14 years.

Crawford was an excellent footballer, just not as good as Voss/Buckley/Hird. I think most people were happy for him that he tasted success at the end after playing in an average era.
 
May 5, 2006
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Unfortunately because of his off field issues people dont remember how unbelievably good Ben Cousins was.

That's how I picture him anyway.

I think most people still remember that he was a star just like they remember Gary Ablett Sr as one of the best few players of the modern era.

Cousins was a 6 time All Australian, Brownlow winner, AFL MVP, 4 time B&F winner, premiership player etc. but in keeping with this thread he was a gun in the late 90s and early 2000s when WC stank and he had zero support. Made the AA side in 98, 99, 01 and 02 when we hovered between mid table and bottom 4 which is a different proposition to playing alongside Cox, Kerr and Judd at their peak.
 

BronCrow

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Have to agree about the call made earlier of Graham Johncock being underrated, was a great player for us.

Also another name I am going to throw out there is Marcus Ashcroft at Brisbane. Played in a lot of ordinary sides at the Bears, only to enjoy the food times right at the end with the Lions. Feel he is overshadowed by others in his career, especially late.


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Schauermann

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Voss started his career with the Brisbane Bears, so did Buckley who then moved to Collingwood after one year. Hird is the only one who started out in a relatively strong team. Buckley played in two losing Grand Finals but so what? He played in fewer finals than Crawford and won 42% of career games compared to 51%. Hird was lucky enough to be there for the Baby Bombers and part of the 21-1 side in 2000 but was still churning out BOGs in his 30s when Essendon had retired from winning finals. Voss was winning B&Fs when Brisbane were no better than Crawford's Hawthorn. Etc.

If Crawford was 10 years younger and got to play 2003-2018 instead of 1993-2008 then who knows what could have happened, but you could apply the same logic to any player. After Buckley retired Collingwood won 102 games (including finals and a flag) in 6 seasons after winning 117 (including finals and no flag) in the previous 14 years.

Crawford was an excellent footballer, just not as good as Voss/Buckley/Hird. I think most people were happy for him that he tasted success at the end after playing in an average era.
That is the thing. You have to be good and lucky to play in a successful team to become a legend. In the end footy is a team sport and nobody will tatse success of his own boot alone.
 

Craze

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Matthew Larkin for North.

Three best and fairests in a really crap team, played State of Origin.

Won goal of the year. Quality player cursed by poor timing.
Always liked Matty Larkin. For the youngsters, 0.30 in ...



A few others that come to mind for me are Stevie Wright (South/Sydney), Mark Mercuri (Essendon), David Rhys-Jones (South/Sydney/Carlton), Gavin Brown (Collingwood). Mercuri and Brown in particular were stars of the competition, but were probably rated lower than the top players in the league. Wright would have been higher rated if he had played for a stronger team. Rhys-Jones was a much better player than he has been given credit for.

Chris Mew is underrated IMO (by non-Hawthorn fans). He is right up there as the best defenders I have seen in my lifetime. His performances in the state of origin games in the mid-80's were incredible. Same goes for Dale Weightman. Highly rated by Richmond supporters but probably doesn't get the credit he deserves. His hand balling is second only to Greg Williams IMHO.
 

Grrr

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Always liked Matty Larkin. For the youngsters, 0.30 in ...



A few others that come to mind for me are Stevie Wright (South/Sydney), Mark Mercuri (Essendon), David Rhys-Jones (South/Sydney/Carlton), Gavin Brown (Collingwood). Mercuri and Brown in particular were stars of the competition, but were probably rated lower than the top players in the league. Wright would have been higher rated if he had played for a stronger team. Rhys-Jones was a much better player than he has been given credit for.

Chris Mew is underrated IMO (by non-Hawthorn fans). He is right up there as the best defenders I have seen in my lifetime. His performances in the state of origin games in the mid-80's were incredible. Same goes for Dale Weightman. Highly rated by Richmond supporters but probably doesn't get the credit he deserves. His hand balling is second only to Greg Williams IMHO.

Brilliant video. Some of the best goals you'll ever see.
 
Sep 27, 2018
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before lachie neale moved to brisbane i thought he was criminally underated. He had his breakout season in 2015 which was a big part of why we finished on top (starting midfield of neale, fyfe, mundy and sandi pretty much meant you were invincible at clearances) but only became elite in 2016 when we were terrible.
 
Feb 26, 2013
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From the way past, Gary Malarkey is severely underrated. Undersized full back for the Cats who came over from WA in the late 70s but didn't play in a successful Cats team. Can't remember him ever getting beaten. Pretty sure he was one of the very few who had a good record against Hudson and kept him goalless in a state game. Never discussed in greatest FB discussions but in my opinion was the equal of Southby, Dench and Moore in that era.
Not sure about the Hudson stat, unless it was when Hudson played for Tassie after finishing with Hawthorn. Hudson’s last Vic state game was in 1969, before Malarkey’s time. The only time Hudson played against Malarkey at Geelong (1977) he kicked 8.6!
 
Aug 17, 2006
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Daryl Creswell - Sydney, All Australian and Best and Fairest winner played 244 games and made the Sydney Team of the Century,

sadly, no one remembers he was really even a footballer anymore, he’s now known as a fraudster and gambling addict

I think the South Melbourne/Sydney TOC has to be put in context. There's quite a number in there (including Cresswell) who would find it tough to be in contention for any other original club's. West Coast's teams of the first 20-30 years would probably give that South/Sydney TOC a smacking.
 
Robbie Flower.
One of the all time classy players.
Matthew Pavlich.
Should be rated higher than say Adam Goodes, but lack of a flag hampers that.
Bit like Buckley compared to Hird, Voss and Ricciuto.
 
May 5, 2006
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That is the thing. You have to be good and lucky to play in a successful team to become a legend. In the end footy is a team sport and nobody will tatse success of his own boot alone.

Do you, though? Footy isn't basketball I agree. You can't just add LeBron and go from a lottery team to a title contender.

The AFL Hall of Fame has Darrell Baldock, Haydn Bunton Sr, Roy Cazaly, Tony Lockett, Kevin Murray, Bob Skilton and Ted Whitten inducted as legends. Baldock and Whitten won one flag each, the others none between them. None of these guys are really synonymous with team success like Ron Barassi or Leigh Matthews.

If I am looking at great players of the 90s onward then I'm not discounting Robert Harvey, Scott West, Tony Lockett, Gary Ablett Sr, Nick Riewoldt etc. for not playing in premiership teams. Lance Franklin played in two flags for Hawthorn then left. He's still a better player than all his teammates than played in 4 even though a couple of them are still greats. Gary Ablett Jr played in 35 wins in 7 years at Gold Coast while Geelong won their 3rd flag in 5 years. He was still the best player in the comp with no support instead of having Bartel, Corey etc. around him.
 
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