- Sep 21, 2004
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Kade simpson would be viewed the same way as enright if teams were reversed
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.
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.
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.
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.
Unfortunately because of his off field issues people dont remember how unbelievably good Ben Cousins was.
That's how I picture him anyway.
Phil Matera. had terrible timing in his career,WC stank and he had zero support.
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.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.
Always liked Matty Larkin. For the youngsters, 0.30 in ...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.
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!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.
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
Scott West - is never spoken about as one of the greats but his record 7 club bnf & 5 x All Aus he should be.
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.