...(oo-er!)

There's an article in today's Age newspaper about Brad Hodge being unlucky not to have played more games for Australia.....and it got me thinking about footballers who were unlucky not to have been given more games with Carlton.

Sometimes a player is at the wrong club at the wrong time, or for whatever reason seems to miss out on selection while other players get chance after chance....

Here's a few players that come to mind that I always felt were a bit "Hodged" by the Carlton MC:

Ryan Jackson - showed enough potential at AFL level to get more games than he did IMO (especially given we were a weak side at the time). I remember him doing a good tagging job on Robert Harvey in 2007 but he fell out of favour shortly after that. I recall him being not overly quick or skilful by AFL standards, but he was a nice size for a midfielder, could find the footy and had good endurance. I remember him being on the receiving end of a few choice 'sprays' from David Teague at VFL huddles in 2008, so perhaps a failure to follow the coaches instructions was his downfall. According to the Blueseum, he never played in a winning Carlton side - http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-index.php? ... an+Jackson

Darren Pfeiffer - kicked a lovely goal at the death to get us over the line against Freo at the Dome in 2008, but was dropped the next week and only played one more game for us (against a rampaging Dawks in Rd 22 of that year). Injuries didn't help him, but he was a player that I thought could have been picked more often in his time with us. Tough, hard-at-it midfielder/forward who had been a first round draft pick for Adelaide before he came to us. There was some speculation about his attitude/off-field conduct, which perhaps might have been a contributing factor to him not playing more senior games... http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-index.php? ... n+Pfeiffer

Peter Kenny – a player that I had a soft spot for in the mid-80s. He was a medium size forward with excellent goal sense who came to us from Canberra as a mature age recruit. It was a tough gig to score a spot in our forward line at the time. Nevertheless, I thought there were times he should have been picked and wasn’t. http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-index.php?page=Peter+Kenny

Chris Bond – 17 years before Shaun Grigg, a young feisty midfielder/defender left Carlton to seek more opportunities at Richmond... Chris Bond went on to have a good career and be an AFL captain. I was always disappointed that we didn’t manage to keep Bond by finding a role for him in the senior side. It was tough at the time because we had Diesel, Ratten & Brown and players didn’t rotate anywhere near as much in those days, but he would have been very handy to have in the 90s (who wouldn’t have preferred to have him in the ’93 GF side ahead of, say, Mark Athorn or a 32 year old Tom Alvin?), particularly with his leadership qualities. http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-index.php?page=Chris+Bond

Ben Robertson – small midfielder/forward who did OK in the 3 AFL games he was given (off the bench) in ’92. Showed plenty of promise in the reserves over ’92-’94 seasons but couldn’t crack it for a spot. Brent Heaver’s emergence during this period probably kept him out of the team, but I always thought Ben (Ian’s nephew) was a bit stiff not to get more opportunities. http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-index.php? ... +Robertson

Paul McCormick – tough midfielder/defender from the old VFA who put in some impressive performances for Carlton in the early ‘90s. His aggressive style made him popular with supporters, and he had a decent leap on him from memory too, but he never seemed able to hold down a regular spot. He ironed out a few opponents along the way (got reported in his 1st game at Carrara under lights against the Brisbane Bears). He went on to have a good career in the SANFL. http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-index.php? ... +McCormack


I'm not suggesting these blokes would have been champions, but I think they weren't exactly spoilt for chances by the MC.

Are there any other players that YOU think were unlucky not to be given more opportunities...?

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Andrew Lovett, Brendan Fevola....... wait a second.


But seriously the only one that springs to mind recently is Lachie Hill would've loved to see him get more of a go but just couldnt get his body right and couldnt get consistency in his game.

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Jono (Hopper) McCormack was very unlucky. Dominated in the VFL and could not break into the Carlton side while the senior side struggled. He played some nice football in a few games he played in the seniors. He went on to dominate the O & M league and was far too good for it. Would have been the best country footballer in the land by a mile.

Adam Mathews strung a few good games together (didnt happen very often) in the VFL when we were screaming out for ruckmen. They decided to go for a player like Beasy in the ruck instead when we needed to blood a youngster. Mathews ended up being delisted and went on and played for Lavington, held down CHF and won them a premiership. He was BOG in the grand final and looked agile, quick and for a tall fella won a lot of contested football when the ball fell to the ground.

If Hammer stays at the blues I think we will be putting his name up in a few years.

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Anyone we sent to St Kilda would be an obvious candidate.

In fairness, Adam Matthews had a shocking run with injuries when he was at Carlton. Hard for the selectors to pick him when he couldn't get on the park. But I do remember he played some good VFL games and, you're right, he showed some promise as a forward/ruckman. If he'd had more luck with injuries it would have been interesting to see how far he could have gone...

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Brett Backwell might be another one. He was only selected 3 times in 2001, despite his VFL form being good enough that year to win the Liston Trophy. He was delisted at the end of that season, despite our on-ball depth being very 'suspect' at the time. He had his limitations as a player, but he could probably consider himself a bit unlucky not to have played more than 18 AFL games. http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-index.php? ... t+Backwell

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Luke Livingston for me. Was played in the wrong position.

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2011 - Year of the Blues

Andrew McKinnon. Looked pretty hard at it (No. 47 from memory) Did an ACL if my memory serves me correctly and played very little after that.

Jacko was a good leader and quality junior but lacked that one standout feature, Ventured to WA in 2009 and went OK. Played for Box Hill last season and just went OK again. From memory, he played some very good games in the Ants and was about to be selected and broke a hand. Another time he played a ripper game in the VFL but got suspended and missed his chance again.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Was definitely #47.

If I remember correctly he was de-listed when list sizes went from 52 to 42. I thought he was unlucky

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Jordan Doering is another one who wasn't a world-beater but could easily have played more than 18 AFL games. Certain other players with arguably the same or less ability during that period seemed to get more "slack" from the MC. He was a ball magnet at VFL level and turned in some decent performances for the Blues. http://www.blueseum.org/tiki-index.php? ... an+Doering

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It's never as good as it looks and it's never as bad as it seems.

Looking at a recent photo Reiwoldt wasn't. Not at all.

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Bring the season on already. The wait is killing me.

Nice thread. Some players instantly spring to mind. Peter Kenny was one.

Michael Gallagher. Was a step above seconds level and when promoted more than held his own. Kicked 3 and named in the best in his first match during '87...injured his knee late in the year and it probably cost him a premiership medal. A really nice size and used his body very well. Couldn't ever string the games together in the ones and was squeezed out at the start of the 1990 season due to salary cap pressure. Ended up at North for a few years.

Scott Spalding. Scott had a terrific first pre-season in 1993 after coming over from WA as a 24 year old. A genuine half-forward flanker who was good overhead, nice kick and read the play well. He was relegated to life in the magoos after Round 1 for the remainder of that year and at season's end decided to quit Carlton. Scott was named in the reserves best players on numerous occasions during the latter half of his only season and I think it's fair to say he was frustrated he didn't see more opportunity in the senior team. Played the entire '94 season (plus GF) for the Port Adelaide Magpies before having another 8 years in the WAFL. Could certainly play.

Brad Shine. Epitomizes this thread IMO. Shine was a star for Swan Districts and when recruited David Parkin described him as having 'Leigh Matthews type qualities'. Good at ground level, nice kick, extracted the ball in close, tackled well, capable of kicking a goal, didn't take a backward step. Every time I saw Shine, he did something really nice. I could never understand why he didn't play more than the 23 games he did...I think the 'Recruited by Parkin', 'Not rated by Walls' had a lot to do with it.

Blake Campbell. In his short time at Carlton looked a good player to me.

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#DonTheStash

Good choice, was not far off getting a premiership medal named as an emergency in 87, if it was raining instead of 30 degrees he might have got picked that day. Two reserves premierships, played some great games in those two reserves finals series.

Very unlucky.

Still loves the Blues, recently helped out the Spirit of Carlton at Kukerin in WA.

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I liked what I saw of adam pickering and craig flint.

I also thought adam hartlett but it was his body that let him down.

A big V representative as well.

IIRC, he played for the Victorian 2nd 18 against Tasmania. From memory, that loss was the end of the 2nd 18 concept.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

I always thought Mick Stinear, a rookie in the early 2000's, was very unlucky not to get promoted and play a few games. Our team was so poor and there were so many gaps that a guy who tried as hard as he did and had some ability should have been given a shot.

I remember Penny in the 1990's - was it Matt or Luke - and he was picked as an emergency for one game and not picked again. He had some good seconds form. Later i found out he was actually going to play, as being on standby for Brown or Diesel, cant remember who, but the player came through and Penny after not sleeping the night before due to nervousness never got to run out.

Jon Dorotich?

Agree with Blake Campbell, I remember thinking he looked like a neat player.

Blake Campbell showed a lot but could never string games together, i thought he was one taht was going to make the grade long-term.

Bigs wraps were on Craig Flint as well, but a broken leg or ankle seemed to stop his progress.

Definitely not Ang Christou.

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