Who is your club's most overrated player by your own fans & the media?

Remove this Banner Ad

EFL Boy

EFL Boy

Spec Moderator
Veteran
May 17, 2008
5,288
2,085
Minneapolis
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Panthers, NYR, Bulls, Badgers
Just a different perspective on the classic overrated question. Who do you believe is your clubs most overrated player, from your own fans and the general media?

From our own fans, it was definitely Zerk-Thatcher during trade week, but now I think it's Sam Draper. He has that cult hero status with the mullet and a ridiculously weird play here and there, but in general I don't think he's a standout ruckman that many fans believe/want him to be.

From a media standpoint, I believe it's Andy McGrath. Carrying that #1 draft pick tag, he's been a great servant for the club but he tends to often blaze away and just hack the ball forward imo.

FWIW, Jake Stringer could definitely apply to both, the way some of our fans try to claim he was the best player in the league for the 2nd half of the year a couple years ago is hilarious, and the media will always cling to what he was early days, but I just tried to go a little different.
 
Easy to say Heeney but I don't think that is the correct answer as most of us on the Swans board are well aware of his flaws.

I am going to go with Parker. Don't get me wrong, he is a good player but I would prefer he play in the forward line to be honest. When he is at the clearances he is the king of the hack kick forward that almost always goes to an opposition player. He doesn't even attempt to look where he is about to kick it.

The annoying thing is his field kicking when he does look is good. He is one of our most reliable set shots, but as an in and under midfielder he is definitely overrated due to his hack kicking.
 
Ummm, gee.
Well in the past I would've said McGovern who is a four-time All Australian despite being a worse one-on-one defender than either Tom Barrass or Eric Mackenzie (both who have never received All Australian honours).
Don't think he's necessarily rated anymore though.
 

Log in to remove this ad.

EFL Boy said:
Just a different perspective on the classic overrated question. Who do you believe is your clubs most overrated player, from your own fans and the general media?

From our own fans, it was definitely Zerk-Thatcher during trade week, but now I think it's Sam Draper. He has that cult hero status with the mullet and a ridiculously weird play here and there, but in general I don't think he's a standout ruckman that many fans believe/want him to be.

From a media standpoint, I believe it's Andy McGrath. Carrying that #1 draft pick tag, he's been a great servant for the club but he tends to often blaze away and just hack the ball forward imo.

FWIW, Jake Stringer could definitely apply to both, the way some of our fans try to claim he was the best player in the league for the 2nd half of the year a couple years ago is hilarious, and the media will always cling to what he was early days, but I just tried to go a little different.
Click to expand...
Good thread topic. For Essendon I think Durham is overrated. Always being talked about and I just don't see the actions to back it up.
 
Bailey Smith.

Played two outstanding finals in 2021 and his work rate is exceptional but he is a below average kick whose best games are either as a HF or as a run-with player where he gets led to the ball.
 
Media: Logan McDonald.

Internally: Angus Sheldrick (you should hear the messianic talk about him on our board) - and I say this when he is a personal favourite (so I'm a sucker for him too)

Both may turn out amazing, perhaps as soon as this year, but based on their records to date they are overrated.

If the question had been a year ago, I would have said Buddy.
 
Changkuoth Jiath.. injury prone..incredibly poor defensively with average skills.

I still have high hopes for him and believe he can make it at AFL level due to his athleticism but there’s no chance he makes it as a defender.
 
Alex Pearce - opposing teams would do well to let him be a part of as many possession chains as possible.
 
Andrew Brayshaw, by a mile.
Vanilla midfielder with poor skills (he misses 2m handballs & don't get me started on his kicking), whose one wood is his effort.
Oh, & he is a great clubman. An eastern stater who professed his love for the club from the start, so the fans adore him.
If he is in the team, he should be tagging, as he is better when he doesn't have the ball.
Most of his highlights are tackles.
The old 'famous family' syndrome is the only reason he was drafted so highly.
 
Rory Sloane easily
 
Jarrod Berry.
 

(Log in to remove this ad.)

Jinglebells32 said:
Rory Sloane easily
Click to expand...
Agree for the media... but not so much by supporters, most of whom realise he is cooked.

Not straight forward answer for supporters, given differing views. I will go O'Brien, as some tall him up as if he is amongst the best ruckmen, but he is middle of the pack.
 
Jeremy Cameron.

Still a star, but due to consistency and Finals performances he isn’t quite what some think he is.
 
Ricky Vaughn said:
Jeremy Cameron.

Still a star, but due to consistency and Finals performances he isn’t quite what some think he is.
Click to expand...
Wow! Fair to say he’s not the player I’d of chosen from our team, genuine contender as leagues best right now, our player IMO is Mark O’Connor, he’s done a reasonable job on Neale a couple of times, but overall I think he’s rated higher externally than his career output would dictate.
 
Not sure if this really counts (as his best is bloody amazing), but based on what he has done since the 2022 GF, it's gotta be Sam De Koning.

Was gonna put Stanley, but does anyone really rate him? How I wish we had made a move on Goldstein for the 2024 season.
 
People in these sort of threads invariably go with the lowest hanging fruit they can find. Calling out an overrated player shouldn't be a call that most people agree with, if they do, well the guy can't be that overrated, can he? It ought to inspire incredulous reactions, until you make your case and eventually others will either say "I still disagree, but I can kind of see where you're coming from" or "You actually make some really good points." Whereas when someone says "Jeremy Cameron" after he has a poor game, I don't really care what their case is, I think they need to be drug tested.

So instead of going with a fringe player, someone who's showing clear warning signs that they're cooked or a guy who's been maligned for the better part of a decade like Stanley, if I had to pick one, it's tough, but I'd probably have to say Blicavs.

A great player to have in the team, fills the gaps you need, a unique problem for teams to plan for when they're already trying to figure out a way to stop Cameron, Hawkins, Stewart, Dangerfield etc. but his limitations were amplified last year and I fear it may happen again this year: where our midfield is decimated by injury and it would be the ideal time for him to take over as our number one mid and lead the Bruhn, Parfitt, Bowes, Atkins, Clark types. And while he's probably the most versatile player in the game, he doesn't have that string to his bow. And I wish his set shot goalkicking had become decent at some point in his career: as it is, he's still trying the round the corner crap from 30 out, 45 degree angle that rarely seems to come off. Drop punt at the right hand goal post is the way to go for someone at your level, Blitz.

Still love the guy and his career is one of the most remarkable stories we've seen in the AFL.
 
Last edited:
Toby Greene. Way too much media fawning. Look great player who can really influence a game. But makes some dumb moves interfering with oppo players (see the free kick he gave away vs Carlton the other week when Hogan was lining up for goal) not to mention all the suspensions that let his side down. Also makes alot of clangers.
 
ITT pre-season: Alex Pearce, Jeremy McGovern, Isaac Heeney. Even McGrath would be playing his best season, culminating in decent votes from coaches & media on ANZAC Day.

In the spirit of the form reversal, I’m going to nominate the entire North Melbourne team.
 
to answer seriously though, by our own fans it’d be Will Phillips. Seen as a future gun by most North fans who keep delivering the same excuses he got in 2021 (which were fair then), he needs to make some serious progression in my eyes to be a listed footballer, let alone a star, in 5 years. For me it’s clear as day that his junior weapons are not transferable over to AFL level, in the same way that Jack Watts had his strengths minimised and weaknesses maximised.

From the media it’d be Luke Davies-Uniake. His 7-8 week block at the end of 2022 was fantastic and he was 23 with 80 games to his name so it looked real.
But now he’s 25 in a month and has over 100 games, and his performance has not improved at all. He hasn’t kicked on to be that driving midfielder. He’s a good mid, but I think he is a follower not a leader. He’s not a competitive beast that will be desperate and go that extra sprint instead of a jog when needed - he’s not in the same ballpark as a Maynard, Selwood, May type who desperately wants to be better & win.

I think our next wave of youth is also overrated (Wardlaw, Comben, McKercher etc) but I also get that it’s due to prolonged losing that North fans feel that way and so it’s more hope/faith rating than true belief that they’re all future All-Australians.
 
It changes a lot at Geelong because it feels like someone will do an incredible job for three months and no one will say a word or a lot of people will actually say ‘he’s crap’ and then suddenly it swings almost too far the other direction and suddenly they’re a gun and are probably being praised more disproportionately.

Right at this exact moment I’d probably say Sam de Koning not because I think he’s poor or anything but he probably hasn’t kicked on as you would have expected a player to from where he was two seasons ago.
 
No one rates our players anymore. Ginbey is highly regarded I guess despite only having a couple of decent games in his career so far. He is young and built like a beast so that's probably a harsh assessment.
Campbell Chesser living up to his first round pick would be nice too.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Who is your club's most overrated player by your own fans & the media?

Similar threads

RedmanWasHere
Opinion Your Clubs' Pre-Tassie Checklist
2
Replies
30
Views
1K
theGav56
T
Cleansweep17
Opinion Which player from your club contributed the most in flag years?
2 3
Replies
57
Views
3K
Partridge
Partridge
BigVic
What's been your club's best 5 year period in history?
7 8 9 10 11
Replies
255
Views
4K
zoomba23
zoomba23
RUNVS
What are you most worried about for your team in 2025?
4 5 6 7 8
Replies
181
Views
11K
Freomaniac
Freomaniac
rapidfire7
Which 3 teams do you most want to win a Premiership? (After your own)
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
133
Views
8K
Judd2Sewell
Judd2Sewell
Robroy22
Who are your teams Top Eight players
2 3
Replies
67
Views
3K
Robroy22
Robroy22
What else we can do
What is your worst AFL nightmare?
2 3
Replies
70
Views
3K
Erakor
E

Remove this Banner Ad

Back
Top