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AFLW 2024 - Round 9 - Indigenous Round - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Opinion Which players would have been the best if not for injury?
- Thread starter Cleric
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Shaun Rehn if not for injuries could have been one of the greats. Did make All Australian a couple of times early on in his career. I feel he would have had a lot more accolades if not for missing all those games.
sante
Emu
Nathan Brown. Looked like he was going to tear the league apart before snapping his leg
He was a big powerful bloke wasn't he. When I say big, similar size to Dangerfield.
Great speed, strong hips and furthermore, Morabito had the exquisite skills to match that athletic profile.
He was an Avatar character, looked like a different species!
Most of the key names for this thread have been listed already.
One who hasn't is Tom Mitchell.
In his first year at a new club at just 23 - he smashed the record for most disposals in a season (averaging 36 a game!), won the club B&F by a mile, was selected at rover in the AA team and finished top 3 in the Brownlow. He had a very rounded game as he averaged over 6 clearances a game and 6.5 tackles a game.
In his 2nd year at his new club (at 24), he went to a whole new level altogether - He set a new all time season disposal record, far exceeding his own, and 120+ disposals clear of 2nd. He posted the 2nd highest clearance season in history (miles ahead of anyone else that season), 2nd most contested possessions, top 5 for tackles, etc, etc. He was hot favourite for and comfortably won the Brownlow, easily won the MVP, scooped basically every media award, easily won the B&F and was selected AA. He also managed to drag a very average Hawthorn side into the top 4 and was clearly the best player in the comp that season.
In fact, in that 2 year period, Mitchell had 3 times as many 50+ disposal games as any other player in history has had in their entire career.
As we all know, he broke clean through both his tibia and fibula bones that off season and was really never the same. Lost all his agility and mobility, his kicking was not the same, etc. He still found a way to be a meaningful contributor but was a shadow of his former self, where he was the game's best player (and improving every year) prior to injury.
If not for injury, I suspect we would be talking about a multiple Brownlow, multiple MVP winning player with 6-7 AA's to his name and debating his place amongst the great midfielders.
One who hasn't is Tom Mitchell.
In his first year at a new club at just 23 - he smashed the record for most disposals in a season (averaging 36 a game!), won the club B&F by a mile, was selected at rover in the AA team and finished top 3 in the Brownlow. He had a very rounded game as he averaged over 6 clearances a game and 6.5 tackles a game.
In his 2nd year at his new club (at 24), he went to a whole new level altogether - He set a new all time season disposal record, far exceeding his own, and 120+ disposals clear of 2nd. He posted the 2nd highest clearance season in history (miles ahead of anyone else that season), 2nd most contested possessions, top 5 for tackles, etc, etc. He was hot favourite for and comfortably won the Brownlow, easily won the MVP, scooped basically every media award, easily won the B&F and was selected AA. He also managed to drag a very average Hawthorn side into the top 4 and was clearly the best player in the comp that season.
In fact, in that 2 year period, Mitchell had 3 times as many 50+ disposal games as any other player in history has had in their entire career.
As we all know, he broke clean through both his tibia and fibula bones that off season and was really never the same. Lost all his agility and mobility, his kicking was not the same, etc. He still found a way to be a meaningful contributor but was a shadow of his former self, where he was the game's best player (and improving every year) prior to injury.
If not for injury, I suspect we would be talking about a multiple Brownlow, multiple MVP winning player with 6-7 AA's to his name and debating his place amongst the great midfielders.
- May 3, 2007
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might as well say liam Jurrah
- May 3, 2007
- 39,293
- 22,942
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- Fremantle
- Other Teams
- Man City, Valencia, Lazio, Panthers
Gumbleton as pick 2 in 2006. Peel thunder in the WAFL.
Anthony Morabito was pick 4 in 2009. Peel thunder in the WAFL.
Harley Bennell, Pick 2 in the 2010 draft. Peel thunder.
All 3 blokes had talent, all were taken early , all were from Peel thunder in the wafl, All 3 were wrecked by injuries.
Piggy Smalls
Piggy’s in the middle
- Nov 30, 2018
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Justin Longmuir kicked 102 goals as a forward/ruck between 2001 and 2003 before he eventually retired at 26 years old due to knee issues.
Matthew Richardson, because you're never the same after an acl is what I'm hearing. Imagine he was the same after '95, he kicks more than 91 goals in '96 easy. So that's 800 goals over his career never being the same after '95.
Caleb Marchbank was on track to become a very good footballer at the Giants before injury.
- Jul 13, 2015
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Hudson in the 1970s with an ACL came back after pretty much 6 years away and kicked 110 goals in a season and then retired.
Literally could have kicked 2,000 goals if not for injury.
Not to mention all the times shit full backs concussed him or straight up knocked him out.
I never seen Hudson play, but if what you're saying is true then you've just answered who the best forward to ever play the game is.
- Jul 13, 2015
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Depends how you measure it. He averaged an insane amount of goals, but because of injury he played far fewer games than Lockett, Dunstall, Coventry and Buddy and a dozen others who ended up kicking far more goals over their careers.
But he certainly is top of my list in this thread. Every time he played a full season he kicked at least 100 goals. No-one else has ever done that.
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