Which players were you surprised did make it?

[adammania9]

Josh Thomas was the most vanilla midfielder you’d ever seen, then he was barred from the game for two years for taking a banned substance. Crazy to think he’s fast becoming one of the best few small forwards in the league in 2018.

 

[Tesla Tenet]

Yes, good one. BT stated that Mike Pyke is the "worst AFL player ever".

Sent from my SM-T805Y using Tapatalk

 

[Blackhawk42]

Didn't think Kade Simpson would become a 300 game player and one of the most respected guys in the game.

Shaun Grigg is a good call. He is a bloody good footballer but early on you would have been called crazy for saying it.

Didn't a lot of people say Gaz Jr was only drafted because of his name?

 

[Ghossein]

Jeremy McGovern had problems getting his skin folds down/his fitness up for basically the first 2-3 years of his AFL career. In Adam Simpson's first training session at the club he performed so poorly in the 2k he got sent away from the main group and told to get his fitness up to scratch.

By all reports now he's the coaches' pet

 

[Roobs321]

I liked Amon Buchanan in his appearances from 2002 through early 2005. But his second half of 2005 was one of the most electric of the competition, every game he had this mad flurry sequence of play (ala Lewis Taylor). Ended up kicking the last goal in the 2005 GF thriller. Ended up playing fairly well in 2006-07.

Kieran Jack's ascension from bottom six to star threat in 2010 was exhilarating as well.

Ted Richards. Struggled at Essendon, had that memorable name-making tryer performance in the 2006 GF (ala Andrew Wills in '94). Went on to become a champion of the club. Same could be said for various others like Ben Matthews, Daniel McPherson, Grundy (promising forward who struggled to hold his spot), LRT, Allir Allir, Jared Crouch, Brett Kirk, etc. Jarrad McVeigh was a whipping boy for much of his early years (although I still thought at the time he'd be a 150 gamer Tivendale-esque servant).

Beau Wilkes and Matthew Spangher surviving in the AFL as long as they did was some achievement.

 

[VanDemonxx]

If anyone watched Gawn pre-2015, you'll understand why I can't believe how good he is now
Other than him, Nev Jetta - was delisted at the end of 2013, re-rookied and now one of the best small defenders in the comp

From another club, probably Sicily or Laird

 

[blitzer]

Connor McKenna for us. He always looked good at VFL level but when he first started playing AFL level he looked way off it. Showed a few glimpses here and there but nothing really approaching AFL standard. Then last year it started to click for him and now he's become a mainstay for us off half back.

Bellchambers is sort of a nomination. He did have a decent season back in 2013 playing fwd/ruck along with Ryder but he was clearly the second fiddle in that duo. Then 2014/2015 he was plagued with injuries and 2016 he was out suspended. In 2017 he eventually moved ahead of Leuey and since then has basically held his spot. In 2018 he's taken his game to a new level and ranks one of the highest in terms of hitouts to advantages. Its been a huge surprise to me, I thought he was pretty much finished as a player.

From other teams Zac Dawson and Schoenmakers. Both players looked unbelieveably hopeless at times at AFL level.

 

[Vic pokiesmon]

This is basically a thread where u admit your not good at identifying talent from a small body of work.Interesting to read how people's personal bias or preconceptions in many cases affects there ability to judge talent.Good recruiters can't let this happen

 

[HoneyBadger35]

I remember thinking Darren Glass was no chance after his first few games.

Whoops.

 

[CakeEater]

I remember thinking Darren Glass was no chance after his first few games.

Whoops.

To be fair, didnt he play up forward initially- I seem to recall in the Demo derby he missed a sitter from the goal square?

 

[Checkered]

Daniel Merrett and Justin Clarke for us were two I thought were terrible at the start. Both went on to become decent players and it's a real shame Clarke isn't still out there.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Antoni Grover.

Thought he'd spend 3 years on Freo's list without doing anything good.

202 games and 27 goals after being drafted, he proved me wrong and was an integral figure in Freo's backline.

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

Shane Parker.

 

[Captivating]

This is basically a thread where u admit your not good at identifying talent from a small body of work.Interesting to read how people's personal bias or preconceptions in many cases affects there ability to judge talent.Good recruiters can't let this happen

Must be hard being perfect.

 

[Benny78]

Bews
Blicavs
Tuohy

and Richmonds entire 2017 Premiership team

 

[Sentinel]

For the Dogs, Easton Wood. Drafted in 2007, spent most of his first 7 seasons injured or playing inconsistent footy when able to get on the park at either AFL or VFL level. Didn't even crack the 50 game mark until 2014.

Went into 2015 on a 1 year deal, finally got his body right in addition to new coach Beveridge giving him a different role, and he flourished - won AA that year and followed up as a premiership captain 12 months later.

Has probably regressed like most of the team over the past 2 seasons but if you'd told me in 2014 he'd end up an All Australian and then premiership captain over the next 2 years I'd have thought you must be smoking something.

 

[Ishikawa]

For those saying Sicily, I'm not sure if I was watching the same matches as them in 2016 or so when he started to establish himself (note that I don't remember his first couple of games in 2015). Looked for all money to me as though they'd found the next version of Gunston as a mid-sized forward with outrageously sticky hands and a dead eye shot on goal. Recall him kicking clutch goals in close games against Bulldogs and North that year. To me it was far more a surprise that he played poorly through 2017, but to my mind there was never a question that he possessed all the necessary physical and skill requirements to become an outstanding player. With the only big concern being that he just needed to stop losing the plot when things didn't go his way.

 

[Big Bryza]

Majak Daw? He's kicked a few before and a month later been dropped and barely seen again. Bloke's realistically only got four more seasons in him and he's already been on a list for twice that amount, barely cracked 50 games, and doesn't even kick one every two.

Mason Cox? Hype story. Give him another two seasons.

Matt Taberner? He can't even get a game in the current Fremantle team with a coach who clearly loves him, he's being shown up by a shorter, younger, but better key forward in Brennan Cox.

Seriously how are any of these players 'made it' level? Of course that differs and there's no agreed level to making it, these guys are just simply not examples of it. You'd have to play at least 100 games I'd say.

Hate to break it to you but Coxy has made it.

 

[freddy mercury]

Josh bootsma

Here we go ladies and gentlemen. Always one.

 

[masai]

Shane Parker.

Shane Parker >>>>>>>>>> Colin Sylvia >>>>>>>>> Daniel Parker.

 

[ioppolo]

Brad Sheppard was whipping boy extraordinaire from 2012-2014. Then 2015 happened. Out of necessity he becomes our third 'tall' defender. Since then he's been one of our first picked every week.

Mark Hutchings is creeping up to 100 games, for someone who tries hard and is the most quality of vanilla, that's a fair achievement (though his 2015 season was a fond one for us).

Josh Green didn't look like much from what I saw at Brisbane, but he's done very well at Essendon, same goes for Shaun McKernan

 

[HolyWars]

Ted Richards, couldn't handle him being gifted games in 2006

Yep.

I couldn't believe he ended up at Sydney tbh. Thought he was a total dud, but in fact he ended up an excellent player.

 

[SnusCG]

Mark Blicavs. TBH I thought he'd make the Olympics and then vanish. Then when he got his senior debut, because literally all our other ruckmen were injured, I thought he'd flounder about, get no touches, and then get dropped. Who knew he'd turn into a very decent full back?

Was nowhere near making the Olympics, but he was my first though too. Struggled a bit after 3rd man up was taken away but has really excelled as a key defender this season

 

[scott_the_man]

Tom Rockliff. Was overlooked in the main draft because he was seen as a bad athlete. Doesnt have any good athletic attributes at all but still managed to make a career for himself as a prolific ball winning midfielder.

 

[Vindicater]

In before entire 2017 Richmond premiership team.

Lol. Talk about insecure