Worst afl player you've seen (and why)

[Dwhale44]

I'd hope that everyone who has posted a name excels in their chosen field...

Hah! just reading through this thread thinking you'd have to be a pretty good player yourself to name someone else as the worst.

 

[Hellgood]

2007: Pick 20 Tony Notte
2009: Pick 22 Gerrick Weedon, pick 5 2010 PSD Ryan Neates
2011: Pick 28 Fraser McInnes

We used to have a good reputation for drafting. Some of our selections in the late 2000s/early 2010s really have you scratching your head. These aren't trash picks either. Notte was the sort of guy you take in the 5th round or rookie list and we used pick 20.

Don't laugh but Notte was actually highly impressive as a junior and I reckon the Eagles can very easily be excused for drafting him so early in the expectation that his body would develop.

Have got the 2007 U18 Championship match where WA towelled up Vic Metro on my hard drive. Watched it sometime earlier this year and got me thinking that there are heck of a lot of players from that still running around a decade later (and plenty of others who aren't but stick in the memory for various reasons). Notte looked as likely as any of the talls out there on the ground - got to the right spots, quick on the lead, clean grab etc.

From memory my impressions were:

WA
Palmer utterly obliterated the game and looked well on the way to becoming a star based on his first couple of seasons until injury and confidence issues struck down his potential. Still a very handy depth player.

Rich was a bottom ager, but didn't look it (although didn't dominate to the extent of Palmer). Had his frustrations but still over the journey a pretty good top flight footballer.

Naitanui was exciting (another under-ager) and shaded the highly touted Kreuzer in the hit-outs. Did hear that based on this game Carlton said they would have taken him at number one ahead of Kreuzer which surprised me as Kreuzer was excellent around the ground. But I guess whilst Carlton have got some excellent service from Kreuzer, Naitanui has justified that call.

Masten was quality, running capability looked a class above. Has gone onto a pretty decent AFL career.

Myers played exactly as he does in the AFL, fairly low possession but makes a big impact with his power in the contested situations and the hoof on him.

Rance looked excellent in tandem with Pears in defence. They won all their contests and were good on the rebound too.

Cale Morton! Looked a very interesting sort of prospect, much like Notte in that they were both remarkably skinny and gangly and managed to stay that way even through their time under AFL strength and conditioning coaches. Had a boot like a laser and found space at will. Now keen watchers of the draft would recognise all the symptoms and warning signs such as very high proportion of uncontested ball, slim shoulders and lack of attention from the opposition, but in isolation his game was very eyecatching.

Pat McGinnity played role of scragger on Cotchin to perfection and basically put his name into draft contention as a result. Good on him for carving out a pretty substantial career in spite of many limitations.

Chris Yarran and Cruize Garlett played second fiddle to the great Jarhaan Jacky up forward - all looked pretty exciting prospects though. Guess only Yarran went some way in displaying that at AFL level, but all very slick with their skills and agility.

A medium sized full forward named Luke Sampey booted four or five. Ended up playing full back for East Perth for a while there, but was always that in between size that AFL recruiters have avoided (perhaps not so much now with the successes of Stringer, Menzel and Membrey).

VM
As mentioned Kreuzer was beaten in the hitouts by NicNat, but was still Metro's best player around the ground. Style in which he plays still very familiar today. Just quality.

Cotchin was belted by McGinnity and hardly got near it. Think from memory it was the first time he'd ever come up against a proper tag and it showed.

Cal Ward was probably behind only Kreuzer as far as their best went. Think he played a more defensive role rather than the hard running inside midfielder we've come to know.

Hurley played a good game in the back pocket, looked really noticeable in his rebound work and the ambidextrous long distance kicking that is still a feature of his game.

Jack Grimes was pretty much as you see him now as well, wholehearted battler.

Lobbe was CHF don't recall him doing a lot, though it wasn't as though there was much supply to judge.

Other players of note which posters would recall were James Polkinghorne, Mitch Farmer, (the brilliantly named Eagles rookie and TAC cup grand final BOG) Ashley Arrowsmith, ruckman named who played a bit of WAFL and VFL Will Sullivan kicked a freak goal from the pocket.

Bit of an odd post to go into such detail, but just seem to remember the game fondly as it was the first where I started to see a couple of guys I knew growing up but were a few years older than me playing on TV. Obviously the hope was to emulate them but that was always a pipe dream!

 

[Scotland]

Some shocking recent nominations.

Chris Mayne, Josh Wooden, Toby Thurstans...two 100 gamers and a guy who fell just short.

 

[Scotland]

WTF ever happened to Ashley Arrowsmith? BOG in the U/18s GF then slipped to us in the rookie draft and never looked near getting a game.

 

[kaiserchief13]

This is obviously not related to this thread but how good is this story: a bloke by the name of Ali Dia called Southampton and Graeme Souness pretentending to be George Wea who was one of the worlds greatest soccer players at the time promoting himself as the next biggest thing in soccer. Souness signed him.. and Dia made 1 appearance for Southampton in the EPL. Ali Dia was an amateur player playing the lower leagues and couldn't kick a soccer ball to save his life. In his one and only game he was subbed on then subbed off. Southampton and Souness soon realised this guy was taking the mickey and booted him out of the club. The clips on youtube are hilarious. Simply youtube ali dia Southampton. Ali Dia now has a cult following in England.

Players say they never saw him again after the game lol

He went into the club to get physio on Sunday then never to be seen again

 

[Ricky Vaughn]

Todd Elton.

 

[Kram]

You call yourself a Blues fan and you've left out Robbie Warnock!
Shame on you!

I was about to laugh then realised we used the pick you gave us on Nick Suban.

 

[Jukesy85]

You call yourself a Blues fan and you've left out Robbie Warnock!
Shame on you!

I always thought Warnock was a pretty decent ruckman in 2013 and 2014, just never got enough opportunity with Kreuzer ahead of him and his last season was very poor

 

[darthbards]

It's starts and end with Lin Jong

Complete and utter spud

Jongy's alright, besides though he hasn't even played anywhere near 50 games.

 

[DangerSloane]

A better one would be 'worst Premiership player you've seen?'

Aaron Keating

 

[DangerSloane]

I'd hope that everyone who has posted a name excels in their chosen field...

Well really wouldnt you just have to not be in the worst discussion?

 

[Komrade_Tiger]

Im yet to see a player worse than Jarrod Oakley-Nichols

harsh on poor Relton

 

[Dennis Trumpet]

cant believe this thread has over 500 replies and nobody has mentioned Henry Slattery.

By far the worst 50 game player i've seen at essendon

 

[SBYM]

Well really wouldnt you just have to not be in the worst discussion?

Quite true, although we'd need to take into account the degree of difficulty.

 

[Benny78]

Cowan
Smedts
Josh Walker
Kersten

 

[Magpie Monopoly]

Tim Broomhead

 

[ItsAllAboutMe]

Nick Bruton - Bulldogs
James Davies - Bombers
Josh Bootsma - Carlton

Could probably throw in dozens of ruckman that only got drafted because of size.

 

[JG22]

Liam Patrick.

Yes he'd kick the odd snag but he was completely useless and playing leagues above his ability.

Same could be said for Folau.

 

[Bollox]

One for Sydney and Geelong fans.
The Werribee flyer, Paul "Torture" Chambers
Better known for his collection of nicknames between two clubs than his footy. Known as "Unco" and "Sarge" at Geelong, he went on to reach his true potential at Sydney achieving the follow up nicknames "Donut King" and everyone's favorite "Torture" when he got a total 5 kicks and 2 marks in 10 games.
Nice bloke though.
Not everyone can be a champion.

 

[The City Boyz]

Ayce ****ing Cordy

 

[DelRe]

Nick Bruton - Bulldogs.

Ayce ******* Cordy

OP has set a 50 game minimum.

 

[Bulldog1954]

WTF ever happened to Ashley Arrowsmith? BOG in the U/18s GF then slipped to us in the rookie draft and never looked near getting a game.

Plays for Strathmore in the EDFL I believe.

 

[Tarkyn_24]

Aaron Keating

Aaron Shattock?

 

[Hellgood]

Cowan
Smedts
Josh Walker
Kersten

Rather bitter one aren't you.

 

[DangerSloane]

Quite true, although we'd need to take into account the degree of difficulty.

Not really.
Degree of difficulty goes massively down when you spend 7 days a week doing the job.

The fact that some players cant kick with their weak foot is just distressing, considering im an overweight amateur hack and I can kick 40m on my wrong foot and hit a target.