Opinion Who are the League's most UNDERRATED Players?

Virgin Dog

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Sam Collins
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get lost in the hype around the young guns at the Suns


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Collins and Greenwood in particular. Both among the top players in their respective roles, but hardly get a mention in the media it seems
 

M Malice

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Jarryd Lyons, has played 50 out of a possible 50 games for the Lions since coming for free as a delisted free agent.

Lachie Neale gets all the headlines but Jarryd has been brilliant as that other permanent inside mid.
 

nameless

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Touk Miller is an absolute jet!!!
Criminally underrated for years now, stands up regardless of how the team plays, can't really remember a bad game from him, super consistent.

Noah Anderson just fitted in nicely, already performing at a good level with no fuss made.

Cam Guthrie is Geelongs best mid last few years, wouldn't know about it though.
 

RobbyRoy

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I'll echo those naming the Suns players, especially Miller and Collins.

Generally it's the defenders but I'll add in Jake Melksham, who has become the ideal role player in the Melbourne forward line.
 

Instincts

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Miller and Collins obvious stand outs



For North is has to be Ben McKay, literally heard nothing about him... has been great since he came in as an emergency last year.
 
Feb 23, 2009
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A lot of them in the last couple years have started to get plaudits. The few that I reckon are still underappreciated is Nankervis, Baker and Vlastuin.

Nankervis is rarely spoken about amongst the competition's best rucks yet he's been huge in all our flag years. Seems accepted as just a good solid battler but yes far more than that.

Second is Nick Vlastuin. He's our best defender imo, yet has never been spoken about too much in the shadow of Rance/Grimes. Him missing from the side us huge, the defence improves significantly with him back in the side.

Baker if he was 10cm/kg bigger would be one of the best flankers in the game. He's superbly skilled, tough as nails and can play across the ground. Good overhead for his size. Theres not much he doesnt do well. Absolute gun.
 
Jun 11, 2007
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Sam Collins
Charlie Ballard
Wil Powell
Touk Miller
Hugh Greenwood
Brandon Ellis

get lost in the hype around the young guns at the Suns


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I am surprised powell made it.
He's bloody good and i look stupid give i doubted him early.

Miller is a gun. Certainly deserves more plaudits as a player and leader
 
Feb 5, 2018
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I'm part of a footy podcast called Border Barrels. Each week I have a segment called the 'Underrated MVP'. The rules are that I pick a player from a game i've watched who must fit this criteria:

The players team won.
This players direct impact played a huge part in the result.
The player isn't a media darling, 'star of the competition' or previously been an All Australian.
The player has some track record of good form in the past. For example, an 18 year old in their 3rd game isn't eligible.

The winners round by round have been...

Round 1: Dylan Moore (19 disposals, 3 goals)
Round 2: Jack Crisp (36 disposals, 788 metres gained)
Round 3: Ben Keays (26 disposals at 88% efficiency, 5 inside 50's)
Round 4: Ed Curnow (32 disposals at 75%, 7 score involvements)
Round 5: Oscar Allen (5 goals, 13 disposals)
Round 6: Christian Salem (39 disposals at 79%, 786 metres gained)
Round 7: Ollie Florent (26 disposals, 2 goals)

It's all a bit of fun each week keeping an eye on the lesser lights. Liam Baker and Darcy Parish almost won the last 2 weeks. I consider both to be underrated and could feature at some point during the season.

 
A lot of them in the last couple years have started to get plaudits. The few that I reckon are still underappreciated is Nankervis, Baker and Vlastuin.

Nankervis is rarely spoken about amongst the competition's best rucks yet he's been huge in all our flag years. Seems accepted as just a good solid battler but yes far more than that.

Second is Nick Vlastuin. He's our best defender imo, yet has never been spoken about too much in the shadow of Rance/Grimes. Him missing from the side us huge, the defence improves significantly with him back in the side.

Baker if he was 10cm/kg bigger would be one of the best flankers in the game. He's superbly skilled, tough as nails and can play across the ground. Good overhead for his size. Theres not much he doesnt do well. Absolute gun.

Agree with you about Baker, but Nankervis and especially Vlastuin have been reaping the plaudits recently from what I can tell.

From my side, I'll nominate Brad Sheppard. Often forgotten as he shares the backline with Hurn and McGovern but just as critical. Can play tall, play small and rarely beaten. Also durable (except for the 2018 finals series, unfortunately) and just does the job with no fuss.
 
Aug 13, 2006
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Over his whole career, Liam Shiels can be classed as underrated. 5th for tackles over the last decade, 3 premierships and as reliable a first change midfielder as you could hope for.
Good at his job but I reckon he's been found out since the big guns all retired. Neater skills than most taggers so I thought he'd be a chance to step in to a bigger role especially in his prime years but he didn't have that gear. A pretty strong chance to get to 250 games though which is a great achievement, between that and 3 flags I reckon the resume will certainly rate him very nicely.
 

Acinath

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Absolutely owns this thread


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