Most under-rated players

[Bring back Troy Shwarze!]

hey fellas,
Since there was a topic for the most over-rated players, I thought there might as well be a more positive forum for the more under-rated players.

when you name a player, it would help if you cld provide a brief justification.

Il start it off:
campbell brown - many would disagree but IMO his toughness and courage is more rare these days and has skills to back it up. would be willing to trade a key player for him to move to stkilda.

banger harvs - everyone is willing to call him a true champion but whenever the names voss, buckley, hird come up, harvey is missing. surely hes on level ground with those guys??

brett voss - was in and out of the team, especially struggled last yr. deserved a regular spot in our 22. we'll miss his consistency and courage.

and of course IMO the best player of the modern era, T. Shwarze!

[Armoooo]

James McDonald - B&F again, super consistent...
Tim Notting - It's hard to get noticed when you're surrounded by Black, Power, Adcock etc. good player, always does his job.
Brad Fisher - Good tall forward, good enough quick and reliable.
Tyson Goldsack - Will be a freak, IMO will be a better pick up then Pendles or Dale....
Michael Johnson - He is in for a big year, this man must be paid respect.
Ryan O'Keefe - Everybody knows this guy is a freak b ut if he played for a Collingwood or an Essendon we would never hear the end of him.

[esaint66]

jason gram - sets alot up from half back and doesnt get the dredit he deserves, most run and bounces in the comp last year.

i agree with you on campbell brown. he gtrained at our school last year, not very tall but was still doing alot of spoiling and great body positioning on players like buddy.

[bigcarl]

ts40 and blake

[Saint_in_SA]

Would have to say that Adam Simpson from the Kangas is underrated even though he is captain. Gets a ton of it but is unobtrusive.

Also, some players from cruddy clubs like Melbourne generally are under rated, like Daniel Ward, Matthew Whelan etc...

As was stated previously, you Victorians also sometimes underrate interstate guns because you don't hear enough about them such as O'Keefe, Michael Johnson, Staker, Waters, Michael Wilson..... there are a load of em.

[Otiman]

Baker, by a mile.

[Spinner]

ts40 and blake

Theres a reason no one rates them.

[ausfatcat]

James McDonald - B&F again, super consistent...
Tim Notting - It's hard to get noticed when you're surrounded by Black, Power, Adcock etc. good player, always does his job.
Brad Fisher - Good tall forward, good enough quick and reliable.
Tyson Goldsack - Will be a freak, IMO will be a better pick up then Pendles or Dale....
Michael Johnson - He is in for a big year, this man must be paid respect.
Ryan O'Keefe - Everybody knows this guy is a freak b ut if he played for a Collingwood or an Essendon we would never hear the end of him.

Johnson??? if anything he was overated at Essendon.
At the saints Thommo was underrated when playing

[bigcarl]

ts40 and blake

Theres a reason no one rates them.

i know what you're getting at, but i think the coach rates blake.

[esaint66]

James McDonald - B&F again, super consistent...
Tim Notting - It's hard to get noticed when you're surrounded by Black, Power, Adcock etc. good player, always does his job.
Brad Fisher - Good tall forward, good enough quick and reliable.
Tyson Goldsack - Will be a freak, IMO will be a better pick up then Pendles or Dale....
Michael Johnson - He is in for a big year, this man must be paid respect.
Ryan O'Keefe - Everybody knows this guy is a freak b ut if he played for a Collingwood or an Essendon we would never hear the end of him.

Johnson??? if anything he was overated at Essendon.
At the saints Thommo was underrated when playing

no hes talking about Michael johnson this guy

[Spinner]

ts40 and blake

Theres a reason no one rates them.

i know what you're getting at, but i think the coach rates blake.

Yep....And it s***s me to tears...

Will be interesting to see who holds their spots in an injury free season!!!

[jonesy]

Would have to say that Adam Simpson from the Kangas is underrated even though he is captain. Gets a ton of it but is unobtrusive.

Also, some players from cruddy clubs like Melbourne generally are under rated, like Daniel Ward, Matthew Whelan etc...

As was stated previously, you Victorians also sometimes underrate interstate guns because you don't hear enough about them such as O'Keefe, Michael Johnson, Staker, Waters, Michael Wilson..... there are a load of em.

Daniel Ward's so underrated Melbourne forgot to resign him for 2008.......he's playing for North Adelaide

[Armoooo]

Nathan Jones is another one that comes to mind...
Gilbert is an interesting one, very overrated by Saints supporters but underrated by other's team's supporters....

[esaint66]

Nathan Jones is another one that comes to mind...
Gilbert is an interesting one, very overrated by Saints supporters but underrated by other's team's supporters....

yeh that generally is the case many fans are so rapped up in their own players they dont actually take notice of any player and rate them until the woop the ass of their players.

[SaintBot]

Gilbert is an interesting one, very overrated by Saints supporters but underrated by other's team's supporters....

i think Gilbert is overrated by us as he is an excitement machine and due to his potential (combined with his height, and versatility)

Im one who probably rates him (too) highly, in that if he makes a mistake its ok as long as he can fix it next time...and if he does a simple spoil, hes a champion


however i too know his place in the team. i know that if we rated our current top ten players he probably wouldnt be in it at this stage


then that brings us back to potential and improvement...if he continues at the rate he has been going at i believe he will be a top ten player at this club which is why i, and so many others, will currently overrate him

[Armoooo]

Gilbert is an interesting one, very overrated by Saints supporters but underrated by other's team's supporters....

i think Gilbert is overrated by us as he is an excitement machine and due to his potential (combined with his height, and versatility)

Im one who probably rates him (too) highly, in that if he makes a mistake its ok as long as he can fix it next time...and if he does a simple spoil, hes a champion


however i too know his place in the team. i know that if we rated our current top ten players he probably wouldnt be in it at this stage


then that brings us back to potential and improvement...if he continues at the rate he has been going at i believe he will be a top ten player at this club which is why i, and so many others, will currently overrate him

That is quite a good point, because atm he is a very good player, one of the best going round for his age, but what makes him truly exciting for me is that he came into the game late and that leaves even greater area for improvement, I understand where you and everyone else is coming from because when weighing up the value of a player you have to take into account all sorts of things, skill, work ethic etc. etc. however I believe as St.Kilda supporters we take potential too seriously and I believe this has held us back... (sorry for going o/t)

[vacuous space]

Gilbert is an interesting one, very overrated by Saints supporters but underrated by other's team's supporters....

What exactly do we overrate? He's fast, a strong mark and a much better kick than he's given credit for. His ability to run through a pack is something I can't recall ever seeing from a guy of his size. I think there's every reason for us to be very excited about him.

[Eastern]

The most under-rated player to ever play the game

ROBERT HARVEY

That is, with the exception of saints fans and a very select few others including Nathan Buckley !!

[Armoooo]

Gilbert is an interesting one, very overrated by Saints supporters but underrated by other's team's supporters....

What exactly do we overrate? He's fast, a strong mark and a much better kick than he's given credit for. His ability to run through a pack is something I can't recall ever seeing from a guy of his size. I think there's every reason for us to be very excited about him.

We should be excited because I also believe that WILL be a superstar, but how long he survived in the popularity game kind of sums up our views on him as a club. Same goes for Dale Thomas, very good player but overrated because of the X factor...

[vacuous space]

We should be excited because I also believe that [Gilbert] WILL be a superstar, but how long he survived in the popularity game kind of sums up our views on him as a club. Same goes for Dale Thomas, very good player but overrated because of the X factor...

I see only a rare few overrating Gilbo's contribution. Most people would realise that he has a long way to go. I've got him at about 15th on the list. He's more popular than that though, because people recognise his potential. Just because he's one of the more popular players doesn't mean people think he's one of our best players.

[HarveysDeciple]

Michael Braun

Tyson Edwards

[Unforgiven]

I reckon Luke ball is, Tyson Edwards

[Iceman234]

The most under-rated player to ever play the game

ROBERT HARVEY

That is, with the exception of saints fans and a very select few others including Nathan Buckley !!

Absolutely spot on - the Great Man (and he does deserve that much over-used accolade in footy fields) - has just slipped under the radar for far too long.

He has never been mentioned in the Voss-Hird-Buckley sentences, and that is mostly by his own doing. He achieves quietly.

I personally think this could be his break-out year when other teams actually continue to under-rate him and he will rise from anonymity to be the key to our flag.

Which will see him signing for another two years.

I can't imagine the Saints without him....

[Bring back Troy Shwarze!]

I agree that Banger is under-rated in terms of greats of the modern-era but there is one big exception: the umpires rate him as high as anyone, if anything he's overrated by them. the guy is a polling freak come brownlow night.

Tyson Edwards is a super footballer. When can you recall him making All-australian?

The person who mentioned O'Keefe being huge if he was playing in melbourne is spot-on but the same goes for Kirk and Kennelly. all three are guns.

On second thought, is the most underrated player in the comp Scott Lucas? when people think of gun fwds the names J. Brown, Rooey and Fev come to mind, but never Lucas...

[JeffDunne]

jason gram - sets alot up from half back and doesnt get the dredit he deserves, most run and bounces in the comp last year.

It appears Leigh Matthews would agree with you.

From an interview in the Courier-Mail:

Q Over the course of your time with the Lions, who's the player you most regret having to let go?

A Craig Bolton and Jason Gram are the main two. They both were products of us being a very good team when they were developing players and they thought their opportunities would be better elsewhere. We were winning premierships and they were on the fringe.

A few years later, Craig Bolton has become a top-notch player. He was always highly regarded here. Jason Gram had the go-home factor too, but he has become one of the elite running, ball-carrying defenders. We'd be very much a better team if we had those guys.