So often we see the career of a highly talented player cut short.
Whether it be because of injuries, bad luck, lack of opportunity or other circumstances, there are certain players we wished we got to see more of.
We've identified one player from each club from the year 2000 onwards who played less than 100 games, but would have played more in different circumstances.
Check out the player from your club we wished we saw more of below:
Trent Hentschel
He was affectionately referred to as ‘Trent Potential’ such was his immense natural ability. After playing a bit of footy in Darwin, he took a couple of years to assimilate to AFL level but was showing plenty in his third and fourth campaigns. Hentschel had kicked 42 goals in 2006, including a bag of eight against Essendon, but went down late in the season with a terrible knee injury. The ruptured ACL and dislocated kneecap Hentschel sustained so were so severe that it forced him to miss the entirety of both 2007 and 2008 during which time he underwent seven operations. He managed to get back on the park for 10 games in 2009 and 2010 but sadly he couldn’t return to the player he was and his career at the elite level was cut short after 71 games and 94 goals.
Andrew Slevison
Justin Clarke
A steal out of the 2013 National Draft, Justin Clarke played 65 games in his first three seasons as a Lion, immediately locking himself in their best 22 as a defender. Unfortunately, his promising career was cut short after an incident at a Brisbane training session in January of 2016 where his head collided with the knee of a player coming the other way. Dealing with a significant concussion, the 22-year-old made the incredibly difficult decision to pull the pin on his career and Lions fans would wonder where he’d be right now if that incident never happened.
Nic Negrepontis
Ciaran Byrne
Irishman Ciaran Byrne came into Carlton's side in Round 3 of 2016 after a few years of promising development and quickly looked good as a rebounding defender off half-back. Like any young player out of Ireland who was learning the sport he had some quiet games, but his speed and kicking out of the backline was incredibly impressive and he was starting to find more of the ball as the season rolled on. Unfortunately, Byrne tore his ACL against Collingwood in Round 15 of that year and couldn’t regain that momentum. He played 10 more games across the next two seasons before returning home to Ireland, dealing with homesickness and further injury setbacks.
Nic Negrepontis
Sean Rusling
The textbook example of a career destroyed by injuries, Sean Rusling, a medium forward with strong hands, had Collingwood fans incredibly excited early on in his career. In his second season, he came into the side in Round 20 and played through to the Preliminary Final, kicking 10 goals and taking 30 marks in that quick span. Rusling was on Collingwood’s list from 2005 to 2010, but only managed 17 games thanks to a fractured collarbone, three shoulder reconstructions and a fractured cheekbone among other injuries.
Nic Negrepontis
Scott Gumbleton
Things never quite worked out for the key forward at the Bombers. Taken at pick two in the 2006 draft, Essendon were hoping Scott Gumbleton’s inclusion would help fill the void which would eventually be left by Matthew Lloyd and Scott Lucas in the years ahead. Rather than settle into life at the top level, Gumbleton only managed five senior games in his first three years and missed both 2008 and 2009 due to injury. He performed well in 2010 before a nasty lung and rib injury ended his 17-game campaign. The curtain would eventually come down on his Bombers career after just 35 games in seven seasons before he was traded to Fremantle where he failed to play a single game.
Laurence Rosen
Anthony Morabito
Morabito was everything you wanted to see in a junior modern-day midfielder – powerful, quick and tall. So it’s no shock that the Western Australia product was quickly snapped up by Fremantle with pick four in the 2010 draft. He could have hardly started his career any better, playing 23 games in a debut season which saw him nominated for the rising star award. Unfortunately for Morabito, his knee troubles would begin later that year when he tore his ACL in pre-season training. In a cruel twist of fate, he would rupture his ACL two more times before making a remarkable comeback to footy midway through the 2014 season. He missed the entirely of 2015 once again through injury and was delisted and then re-rookied ahead of the 2016 season. After failing to feature for the Dockers in 2016, he was delisted again and finished off his career at WAFL level.
Laurence Rosen
Daniel Menzel
Daniel Menzel was coming off an impressive 28-goal home-and-away season heading into Geelong’s qualifying final clash against Hawthorn in 2011. In his second season at the Cats, Menzel booted two early goals and looked set for a big night, until he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament. He would miss nearly four years before eventually returning late in 2015. The nifty small forward overcame four knee reconstructions to boot 100 goals in the next three seasons but was delisted at the end of 2018, playing 73 games in nine injury-plagued seasons. Menzel was thrown a lifeline by Sydney and managed just seven games in his one and only season in the Harbour City.
Alex Zaia
Daniel Gorringe
Daniel Gorringe entered the AFL system on the back of plenty of hype – he spent his draft year in 2010 playing senior for Norwood in the SANFL while also being one of the best-performing ruckmen during the national championships for South Australia. It seemed a no-brainer for the Suns to take the highly touted prospect with pick 10 but from there, that’s where it started to go wrong. Hamstring and ankle complaints dogged the athletic big man in his first season, but the achilles injuries that would define his career began in 2012, seeing him miss much of the season. Gorringe played just 22 games in five years for the Suns before he was delisted and subsequently picked up by the Blues. Injury problems followed him to his new club and after two years where he played just four games, he was delisted at the end of the 2017 season. It’ll always be a case of what might have been for the talented but injured-plagued tall.
Laurence Rosen
Tom Boyd
Boyd has been one of THE most talked about number one draft picks in the history of the game. He was selected by the Giants in 2013 and was undoubtedly a star-in-the-making, but he upped and left for the Western Bulldogs after just one year. GWS fans certainly would have wanted much more from a number 1 pick. He was able to be influential in a premiership with the Dogs which was a further cruel blow to the Giants organisation. On the verge of entering the prime of his footy life, Boyd opted to quit the game after just five seasons and 61 games. Purely from a selfish football lover’s perspective, it’s a crying shame we never got to see the best of him, but his health and happiness are far more important.
Andrew Slevison
Max Bailey
The Hawks were so keen for Bailey to fulfil his enormous potential that they gave him every conceivable chance of recovering from not one, not two but three knee reconstructions. Remarkably, he spent eight years on Hawthorn’s list but experienced senior footy in just five of those years, managing 43 games out of a possible 174. Bailey may not have got out of his career exactly what he wanted and what others expected, but at least he has a premiership medal to show for all the rehab he had to endure. He would retire at the best and fairest night after helping the Hawks claim the 2013 flag.
Andrew Slevison
Liam Jurrah
Liam Jurrah’s four years in the AFL were action-packed to say the least. After arriving at Melbourne through the pre-season draft in 2008 he created history by becoming the first player from a central Australian remote community to play at AFL level. He took mark of the year in 2010, while 2011 was Jurrah’s most successful year at AFL level, kicking 40 goals to be the club’s leading goalkicker. But trouble would strike on the eve of the 2012 season as Jurrah was charged for his role in a machete attack in Yuendumu. Jurrah would soon depart the Dees. He became a much-loved figure at Melbourne in his short time at the club.
Laurence Rosen
Aaron Black
Aaron Black had an excellent 2013 season in his fourth year with the Kangaroos, booting 33 goals in 18 games. The key forward backed it up in 2014, playing all 25 games and was rewarded with a four-year contract. Former North Melbourne president at the time James Brayshaw even likened Black to a young Garry Lyon. He would only play three games across the next two seasons dealing with groin and ankle injuries before making the move to Geelong in exchange for pick 92 in the draft. Even at the Cats Black’s bad luck continued, tearing his ACL coincidentally against the Roos in 2018 which was his final game of AFL footy.
Nic Negrepontis
John Butcher
It took over a year for John Butcher to make his Port Adelaide debut, but his impact was immediate. Butcher starred with six goals from six kicks in his second game and four the following week having been touted as a top young key forward prospect in the 2009 National Draft. But that was the best the Power saw of the No.8 pick who struggled with form and fitness for the following five seasons. Butcher kicked four goals in his second last game before he was delisted at the end of 2016 season, playing 31 games and booting 41 goals in seven years at Alberton.
Alex Zaia
Mark Coughlan
Coughlan was a midfielder who possessed both smooth-moving ability and hard-nosed qualities. He was as comfortable cruising past for a handball receive as he was getting down and dirty under a pack. He had played just 21 games before his breakout season in 2003 which saw him claim Richmond’s best and fairest while polling 16 Brownlow votes. Coughlan’s 2004 was derailed by osteitis pubis before he returned to his best in 2005. From then on, however, it was all downhill as his career was completely ravaged by ACL and hamstring injuries. Richmond fans often bring up Coughlan and just how good he was during his 92-game career and how much the club missed him in the aftermath.
Andrew Slevison
Nathan Freeman
Nathan Freeman decided to seek a fresh start at St Kilda after two injury-ravaged years a Collingwood. A talented junior with blistering pace, Freeman hoped a move to the Saints in 2015 would ignite his career, but would have to wait until late in 2018 to finally make his AFL debut. The top 10 pick from the 2013 National Draft was brutally delisted by St Kilda with just two games under his belt. Chronic soft tissue problems denied Freeman the chance truly show his worth at senior level having watched 423 players debut before playing his first game.
Alex Zaia
Alex Johnson
Sydney had to make the difficult decision to delist premiership defender Alex Johnson in 2018 following a wretched run with injury. The luckless defender ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in his second game back since 2012 – an injury that ultimately dashed his unfilled AFL career. Johnson played 45 of his 47 games in 2011 and 2012 – including the 10-point Grand Final triumph over Hawthorn and was ultra-consistent throughout their premiership campaign. But five knee reconstructions and 12 surgeries cruelly dogged the now 28-year-old after a promising start to his Swans career.
Alex Zaia
Troy Wilson
Troy Wilson came to the club as a 28-year-old after dominating the WAFL for years having only seriously got into footy in his early 20s. There would be many Eagles supporters wondering what Wilson could have delivered had he played AFL earlier. He kicked 40 goals in 18 games in his debut season in 2001, which included a bag of seven in his third AFL game, resulting in West Coast’s leading goalkicker award. Wilson was even more dangerous in 2002, returning 38 from 14 matches, but a string of collarbone, calf and hamstring issues restricted his output. Ultimately, Wilson’s body would let him down in 2003 and his AFL career was over as quickly as it began. He would finish with 83 majors from 37 outings.
Andrew Slevison
Jack Redpath
Jack Redpath never had a fair run at it, but always delivered when given an opportunity by the Bulldogs. The key forward kicked 57 goals across 36 games between 2014 and 2018, but was never able to get his body right for long enough to lock down a spot in the team. Multiple serious knee injuries led to degenerative issues with the knee and forced the 27-year-old to hang up the boots at a time where the Bulldogs were crying out for a key position forward to build their team around. Clay Smith is another player who Dogs fans wish had a better chance to reach his full potential.
Nic Negrepontis