What could have been: The biggest wasted potential

Which player could have been a GOAT were it not for....things

  • David Taylor

    Votes: 22 53.7%

  • Tevita Pangai

    Votes: 1 2.4%

  • Anthony Milford

    Votes: 6 14.6%

  • David Fifita

    Votes: 7 17.1%

  • Ben Barba

    Votes: 2 4.9%

  • Other

    Votes: 3 7.3%
  • Total voters
    41
Hey I'm open to other players in the best of the eh worst team, its a discussion starter. :)
 
Tom Turbo for me. Still has had a hall of fame career and plenty of footy ahead of him, but he truly had GOAT potential (to the literal definition of the term) if not for injuries.

Size, speed, ballplaying, kick returns, aerial ability, defending linebreaks, support play, yardage carries, versatility. The things he did in that COVID year when he was fully fit was ridiculous.
 
Taylor, though I do think Fifita is a more athletic, less silky version of Taylor. Taylor had everything you'd want in a forward and more - everything just came too easy for him and ultimately that's what cost him. Fifita is similar but not quite as skillful ball in hand.

Milf was never going to be a goat of anything, way too limited and not even the best ball runner on this list, and that was his main strength

I'm familiar with the Barba family so this was always going to end this way, based on that I don't think he would've ever got to GOAT territory.

TPJ lol, waste of text even mentioning him.

I think Tim Smith is a great shout in terms of a what could've been. You don't have a debut season like that without packing some serious ability, just mentally couldn't get it together.

Grothe jnr is an interesting shout. The musician who played football to pay the bills by his own admission and still had a pretty good career.

Hayne, who knows? If he hadn't gone off to play NFL he may well have owned the back half of the 2010's? Could he have taken Parra to the promised land....?
 
Renegade said:
TPJ lol, waste of text even mentioning him.
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I heard a classic TPJ story on the Kenty Pod Cast .

TPJ was in Canberra . Only 1st grade players get a locker .
TPJ wanted a locker before he made 1st grade and got the shits when he didn`t get one .
Eventually called Wayne and left a year before his contract was finished ....
 
Pangai Jr was a genuine match-winner and your team was half a chance if he decided to rock up. That was the issue and there were times it seemed like he was just taking the piss (eg. Origin debut).

Taylor is an interesting one. Incredibly talented and athletic but the things he were renown for weren't really things you wanted out of a front row. Yes, it was handy he had a nice cut-out pass, kick and one handed pick-up but a prop forward's role is simple - they have to win the ruck on both sides of the ball.

@Sproj - I gave you my thoughts on Czislowski but I was actually curious to hear where you were coming from on him?
 
Big Pete said:
Taylor is an interesting one. Incredibly talented and athletic but the things he were renown for weren't really things you wanted out of a front row. Yes, it was handy he had a nice cut-out pass, kick and one handed pick-up but a prop forward's role is simple - they have to win the ruck on both sides of the ball.
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Imagine if he could've played lock like Mateo. That would've been something to see if he was up for it defensively.
 
Big Pete said:
Pangai Jr was a genuine match-winner and your team was half a chance if he decided to rock up. That was the issue and there were times it seemed like he was just taking the piss (eg. Origin debut).

Taylor is an interesting one. Incredibly talented and athletic but the things he were renown for weren't really things you wanted out of a front row. Yes, it was handy he had a nice cut-out pass, kick and one handed pick-up but a prop forward's role is simple - they have to win the ruck on both sides of the ball.

@Sproj - I gave you my thoughts on Czislowski but I was actually curious to hear where you were coming from on him?
Click to expand...

Dave's problem i always thought was he wanted to just go out and play footy the way he wanted to play footy, not the way his team needed him to play. His skillset for a forward was incredible, but like you said, he needed to do the simple role of what you want from a forward as well. Imo, he had all the tools to really excel as a front rower or a back rower, but when you dont do the basics of your role first and foremost you will never be as good as you can be.
 
Big Pete said:
Taylor is an interesting one. Incredibly talented and athletic but the things he were renown for weren't really things you wanted out of a front row. Yes, it was handy he had a nice cut-out pass, kick and one handed pick-up but a prop forward's role is simple - they have to win the ruck on both sides of the ball.
Click to expand...
Wonder how Dave would go in the current league world where you want some ball playing from your middles... or even as the link man middle.

Assuming this is a dedicated Taylor that can get himself fit and keep himself fit.
 
BroncsFan said:
Wonder how Dave would go in the current league world where you want some ball playing from your middles... or even as the link man middle.

Assuming this is a dedicated Taylor that can get himself fit and keep himself fit.
Click to expand...
I couldn't picture him anywhere other than on a left edge which is where he primarily played.

Even when he was named at 10 for Brisbane, he was usually on the left with Ashton Sims playing the prop forward role.

The issue with Dave is that while he had the skills, I don't think he had the speed required to play on the edges. He'd just be a slower version of Fifita.

Feel like the modern day prop forward has to be fairly agile and light on their feet to excel. I don't think the ball-playing really works, which is why Carrigan had such a rough go of it. Meanwhile your lock forward ideally has high acceleration and really pressures the A defender to draw in the B defender. Yeo is sort of an exception but that's only because he's so tough to bring down you're almost guaranteed a lightening fast play the ball when they do make the tackle.
 
Big Pete said:
I couldn't picture him anywhere other than on a left edge which is where he primarily played.

Even when he was named at 10 for Brisbane, he was usually on the left with Ashton Sims playing the prop forward role.

The issue with Dave is that while he had the skills, I don't think he had the speed required to play on the edges. He'd just be a slower version of Fifita.

Feel like the modern day prop forward has to be fairly agile and light on their feet to excel. I don't think the ball-playing really works, which is why Carrigan had such a rough go of it. Meanwhile your lock forward ideally has high acceleration and really pressures the A defender to draw in the B defender. Yeo is sort of an exception but that's only because he's so tough to bring down you're almost guaranteed a lightening fast play the ball when they do make the tackle.
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Dave was really quick in his younger days tbf, and he had good speed off the mark as well. The less fit he got, the slower he got. By the time he was in his mid twenties i think he lost a lot of the agility he had.
 
Renegade said:
Taylor, though I do think Fifita is a more athletic, less silky version of Taylor. Taylor had everything you'd want in a forward and more - everything just came too easy for him and ultimately that's what cost him. Fifita is similar but not quite as skillful ball in hand.

Milf was never going to be a goat of anything, way too limited and not even the best ball runner on this list, and that was his main strength

I'm familiar with the Barba family so this was always going to end this way, based on that I don't think he would've ever got to GOAT territory.

TPJ lol, waste of text even mentioning him.

I think Tim Smith is a great shout in terms of a what could've been. You don't have a debut season like that without packing some serious ability, just mentally couldn't get it together.

Grothe jnr is an interesting shout. The musician who played football to pay the bills by his own admission and still had a pretty good career.

Hayne, who knows? If he hadn't gone off to play NFL he may well have owned the back half of the 2010's? Could he have taken Parra to the promised land....?
Click to expand...
In his press conference announcing going to the NFL Hayne said he’d achieved everything in the game. With that attitude I couldn’t picture him taking Parra to the promised land.
 
Wolfie said:
Dave was really quick in his younger days tbf, and he had good speed off the mark as well. The less fit he got, the slower he got. By the time he was in his mid twenties i think he lost a lot of the agility he had.
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He had good acceleration for a prop forward, but I'm not sure if he'd rate that high for a second row. Especially not now. However it's his endurance and agility that would let him down.

He'd probably beat Thaiday in a race, but Sam seemed to move better, whereas Taylor's stepping always seemed belaboured to me.

Anyways, you could be right, but I think we can both agree that if Dave Taylor came around in 2025 it wouldn't have made a lick of difference.
 
broncsgoat said:
That the 2018 Paul Morgan Medal winner Anthony Milford you’re talking about
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Yep, that special year where we only had the 2 moves.

The 5 1 out hitups then a milford midfield bomb which was not to be contested.or,

The Darius Boyd sweep play.

Take your pick, we knew both.
 
Big Pete said:
Pangai Jr was a genuine match-winner and your team was half a chance if he decided to rock up. That was the issue and there were times it seemed like he was just taking the piss (eg. Origin debut).

Taylor is an interesting one. Incredibly talented and athletic but the things he were renown for weren't really things you wanted out of a front row. Yes, it was handy he had a nice cut-out pass, kick and one handed pick-up but a prop forward's role is simple - they have to win the ruck on both sides of the ball.

@Sproj - I gave you my thoughts on Czislowski but I was actually curious to hear where you were coming from on him?
Click to expand...

Big dude in an era where being a big dude mattered. Was relatively mobile for a guy his size but just never went anywhere. It was more the raw potential of his physical attributes that he just never delivered on. Plus I didn't include TPJ because in reality, he wasn't really with us that long. I tried to include mostly guys who came through our system or spent the majority of their career with us.
 
Sproj said:
Big dude in an era where being a big dude mattered. Was relatively mobile for a guy his size but just never went anywhere. It was more the raw potential of his physical attributes that he just never delivered on. Plus I didn't include TPJ because in reality, he wasn't really with us that long. I tried to include mostly guys who came through our system or spent the majority of their career with us.
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Czislowski was 6'1 and 104kg, which isn't tiny but I wouldn't necessarily consider him a physical specimen even for that era.

Are you sure you don't have him mixed up with Learoyd-Lahrs? 194cm 115kg and one of the fastest over 40m?
 
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