Players that never reached their potential

[Broncoman]

On a slightly different tack, what about commentators who never reached their potential / hype ... Namely Matthew Johns ... whenever he opens his mouth I think 'is this the time he's finally going to live up his hype as a RL commentator' ... within 5 to 10 seconds I'm always left thinking 'Nup'....

#whydoeseveryonecaresomuchwhatmatthewjohnshastosay??

Phil Gould

He has great knowledge of the game and has achieved great success at the highest level of club coaching whilst being a solid first grader at captaining a club at 20 but speaks nonsense and irrelevant things in the box that takes attention away from the game. Hecan be good when he speaks about the game and can provide good insight.

 

[Socnorb]

I expect him to actually play like he deserved those accolades for more than 2-3 games a year. I cant remember the last time he actually earned one of those rep jumpers.

So, AP . Why do you think he's consistently chosen for both Qld and Aus?

 

[Ari Gold]

In terms of decoration and honours he's received in the game, I don't think you can call Sam's career anything other than glittering. 20 origins, 23 kangaroo jerseys, part of QLD's 8 in a row, World Cup winner, NRL premiership and about to turn 29, he's potentially got 5 more years to add to this. That, by any definition, is a stellar list of achievements. So in terms of the word achievement in terms of what you've received, underachievement isn't even close to describing Sam.

In terms of his talent and how he has performed over the years though, I do think he hasn't been as strong in his performances as he should have been. But the fact he hasn't has in no way prevented him from achieving many honours.

 

[Bull Shark]

Phil Gould

He has great knowledge of the game and has achieved great success at the highest level of club coaching whilst being a solid first grader at captaining a club at 20 but speaks nonsense and irrelevant things in the box that takes attention away from the game. Hecan be good when he speaks about the game and can provide good insight.

yeah gus is at his best when zeroing in on the mindset of a player or team in a situation of a game ... when he wanders outside his strengths or allows his biases to surface, he's a bore

 

[GCBRONCO]

Then there is that whole love affair with a certain forward he has had over the years, I imagine he has had many a dream of him being carried off like in the Bodyguard.

 

[Sproj]

Just been reading a few articles about Simon Dwyer, another young guy whose career and more importantly life has been ruined by a severe injury. He would have been an Australian rep by now.

 

[Morkel]

Just been reading a few articles about Simon Dwyer, another young guy whose career and more importantly life has been ruined by a severe injury. He would have been an Australian rep by now.

As much as I feel for the guy, his star has been greatly exaggerated. Kennedy became a darling over one run. Dwyer did it with one hit that today would give him 12 weeks off.

 

[Sproj]

As much as I feel for the guy, his star has been greatly exaggerated. Kennedy became a darling over one run. Dwyer did it with one hit that today would give him 12 weeks off.

I'm not the kind of poster who makes claims like that based on one hit, run, etc as I'm sure you are aware. He was consistently good in defense and underrated in attack. At only 22 he still had a fair bit of improvement left in him and was already being spoken about in SOO selection talk.

 

[Morkel]

I'm not the kind of poster who makes claims like that based on one hit, run, etc as I'm sure you are aware. He was consistently good in defense and underrated in attack. At only 22 he still had a fair bit of improvement left in him and was already being spoken about in SOO selection talk.

As you know, I'm a bitter cynical bastard. Dwyer never showed to me anything but being Liam Fulton mk2. Don't get me wrong, Fulton is a great club player that any team would be lucky to have, but if it wasn't for that tackle he'd be just another Chris Houston. Or Todd Lowrie. What are their chances of breaking in to the Origin team? The closest player that has moved up is Boyd Cordner, and I don't remember Dwyer captaining the junior rep teams.

 

[Sproj]

As you know, I'm a bitter cynical bastard. Dwyer never showed to me anything but being Liam Fulton mk2. Don't get me wrong, Fulton is a great club player that any team would be lucky to have, but if it wasn't for that tackle he'd be just another Chris Houston. Or Todd Lowrie. What are their chances of breaking in to the Origin team? The closest player that has moved up is Boyd Cordner, and I don't remember Dwyer captaining the junior rep teams.

Its funny you mentioned Cordner, I was thinking he was the closest thing to Dwyer at present.