Most hyped youngster that went nowhere?

[Matiunz]

There are 2 stand outs for me

Ali Lauititi who was the Dally M second rower of the year at a time when the NRL was littered with gun second rowers and the 'Michael Jordan of NZ Rugby league' but buggered off to SL at age 23.

Karl Filiga ( has had a few mentions already ) signed the biggest contract in NRL history for a teenager and ended up only playing 11 minutes of first grade.

The Lauititi one was a shocker, Warriors were going through a bit of a slump in 04 and he was called into the GMs office and asked his priorities. He put church as #1 so they booted him on the spot for not saying the Warriors as #1 to make a statement- massive mistake.
At the time they would not release a player to a rival NRL club only Superleague which is why you saw quite a few from that successful ‘01-‘03 side play out the days in uk

 

[mave]

Addison Demitriou.

Was hyped big time in the NYC.

Now at Newtown from memory. The man loves his KFC a little too much.

 

[PANTHERMIKE]

Special Mention..

 

[Smug Panther]

Special Mention..

View attachment 61146

Had 1 decent year with us actually

 

[snickers007]

Some harsh critics in here when we have guys being named that have played SOO and Test football.

 

[The Lounge Lizard]

Remi Casty.

Close the thread....

 

[T-Boon]

A better thread than this would be “who had best junior career”?
You would think someone like Fittler.

 

[Floodwaters]

The Lauititi one was a shocker, Warriors were going through a bit of a slump in 04 and he was called into the GMs office and asked his priorities. He put church as #1 so they booted him on the spot for not saying the Warriors as #1 to make a statement- massive mistake.
At the time they would not release a player to a rival NRL club only Superleague which is why you saw quite a few from that successful ‘01-‘03 side play out the days in uk

I never heard of the guy but he still had a quality career by the looks 407 first grade games.

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

Ashley Albert

 

[Get Rid of The Donkeys]

French was/is fast and skillful and evasive and entertaining as hell but he doesn't have the physicality you need to play NRL these days as there are no positions for average sized humans. That is a massive weakness for the code requiring rule changes.

Get rid of interchanges so that forwards have to 80 minutes. Just have four or six replacements for injuries. That will force the forwards to trim to trim down and bring the little blokes back.

 

[innsaneink]

Blake Lazarus

 

[Mark B]

Back in the day I grew up with an absolute gun of a player. He was a natural athlete and was head and shoulders above any other schoolboy on the North Coast. Not only that he is a genuine good bloke. He made the Australian Schoolboys and was one of the first youngsters that the Knights signed prior to their admission into the comp in 88. Killed it in U23‘s and reserves for the Knights. Then he decided to try his hand for Workington Town in the Uk. Did very well for them and is regarded as their best fullback of that era. Never came back to the NRL and once his career in league was done went back home and worked the family farm.

 

[Manu Vatuvei]

Yeah, but he peaked early, with us. At one stage, he was seriously considered among the top props in the game. He was my favourite player. Dropped off after that though- probably around the time they banned the shoulder charge.

Still a bit of a weird nomination. 248 first grade games, 23 tests, Warriors player of the year twice. Progressed from promising youngster to first grade and test regular to elite front rower. He ticked both boxes of longevity and reaching the elite level. Sure his career fizzled out earlier than expected but he was already like a 200 game first grader by the time it started fizzling.

 

[Meth]

Still a bit of a weird nomination. 248 first grade games, 23 tests, Warriors player of the year twice. Progressed from promising youngster to first grade and test regular to elite front rower. He ticked both boxes of longevity and reaching the elite level. Sure his career fizzled out earlier than expected but he was already like a 200 game first grader by the time it started fizzling.

I get that. It felt different than the others I nominated along with him. I guess I was just super disappointed when he did fizzle out. Was my favourite player at the time when he was being talked about as the best prop in the game and he basically just became another prop- maybe not even the most productive in any given rotation.

Quite clearly, he didn't go 'nowhere'. He went somewhere, but it just seems to pale in comparison to where he was capable of going...or at least, where we thought he'd go

 

[Smug Panther]

SJ just showed why he's the king. What an absolute fraudulent human

 

[Big Pete]

Addison Demitriou.

Was hyped big time in the NYC.

Now at Newtown from memory. The man loves his KFC a little too much.

He was one of the best U/16s prospects coming through but he seemingly peaked at that level. He did resurface at Manly as this Talakai esque centre who would just rack up the metres but didn't have a whole lot else going for him. After that he'd pop up from club to club but was usually in Ron Massey or the BRL comps.

Another U/16s who was meant to be the next big thing was Tyrone Phillips. He was one of those players who was being fast-tracked through the grades and was going to be the next big thing at Souths only to seemingly fall away. In the end he ended up coming through at Canterbury and at best was a decent depth option before finishing up at the Panthers before their sheer dominance of the competition.

I'm still disappointed Magnus Stromquist never had his day in the NRL. Played for every affiliate club but none of the NRL coaches were brazen enough to harness the power of Magnus. Definitely some premiership opportunities gone begging.

 

[fourplay]

Addison Demitriou.

Was hyped big time in the NYC.

Now at Newtown from memory. The man loves his KFC a little too much.

Yeah he was one of the best NYC players ever. He would stream roll opposition centres with ease. He was pretty fast too. Like the other guy said he was like a Talakai type centre.

In one u20's game he ran for 299 metres, scored two tries and broke 26 tackles, the most in a single game in the history of under-20s.

He's playing NSW Cup this year for Newtown Jets. He scored 3 tries in this game

NSW Cup Highlights Jets v Magpies Round Five

Catch up on all the best plays from Newtown Jets v Western Suburbs Magpies in Round Five of The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup.

www.nswrl.com.au

 

[mongoose]

SJ just showed why he's the king. What an absolute fraudulent human

nah, he has never found consistency at NRL level but he's had a solid career. To me this thread is players hyped in lower grades who barely even played NRL.

 

[THE CHAMP]

also won a man of steel award. Would be great in the game today, the bloke could hit a 40m field goal in his sleep.

Hit a long range one from the sideline in Super league that won the game. It was ridiculous

 

[Vee]

The old boy reckoned Dave Woods from Parra was a gun but he just couldn't stay on the field. Apparently Parra had a guy that was better than Kenny but injures killed his career. Can't remember his name but I know he went on to be a big wig for woolies. I remember seeing Kenny and him saying he was a brickies labourer.
Funny how life turns out

One of my favourites. The only bloke that could stand with Sterlo, Bert, ZipZip and the Guru. Such a shame injury cruelled his career.