Players who never reached their potential

[Red&BlackBear]

In rugby league alone...

Andrew Walker
Anthony Mundine
Ryan Cross
John Sutton

 

[Danish]

You mention Braith. He's a damned fine player, but no-one could possibly live up to the predictions of greatness heaped on him as a rookie. And I don't believe I've ever seen another player cop so much unfair and excessive criticism over such a long period (seems to have stopped these days, thankfully).

Not sure how much more Braith could achieve anyway. Won a premiership, won an origin series and played for his nation all while nailing a train of hot bitches and making millions in property then starting a TV career....



..... I think I'm starting to see where the anger towards him comes from :lol:

 

[Slick]

Eric Grothe Jnr.

Could have been the dominant winger in the game. He had it all, height, speed & strength. The perfect finisher, but he wanted to play guitar.

 

[dragondad]

Daine Laurie

 

[BM1979]

Luke Goodwin
Russell Richardson

 

[aqua_duck]

Daine Laurie never had potential, he just looked different.
Ben Ikin is another that comes to mind

 

[myanonymoususername]

Todd Carney.

 

[Alex28]

Owen Craigie

Game over.

 

[VodafoneWarriors1995]

Toleafoa Leaupepe - Stands at 195cm and weighs in at 115kg. He had the size, but he didn't have the dedication. He was a bully in Auckland and was a part of the Vodafone Warriors squad in 2008, but never played in the NRL. He was sacked later that year for having pictures of him with semi-automatic weapons on Bebo. Plus, during an interview, a journalist only got 2 lines out of Leaupepe. He was lacking commitment during training one day which caused Epalahame Lauaki to beat him up.

 

[t-ba]

For Manly that I can think of:

Dallas Rennie
Ash Alberts

Nik Kosef.

What he did after four knee recos...It's scary to think what he would have been if he didn't have those injuries.

 

[Evil Borad]

Joe Williams

 

[Packy]

Toleafoa Leaupepe - Stands at 195cm and weighs in at 115kg. He had the size, but he didn't have the dedication. He was a bully in Auckland and was a part of the Vodafone Warriors squad in 2008, but never played in the NRL. He was sacked later that year for having pictures of him with semi-automatic weapons on Bebo. Plus, during an interview, a journalist only got 2 lines out of Leaupepe. He was lacking commitment during training one day which caused Epalahame Lauaki to beat him up.

Where is Lauaki?

 

[Hutty1986]

Eric Grothe Jnr.

Could have been the dominant winger in the game. He had it all, height, speed & strength. The perfect finisher, but he wanted to play guitar.

I reckon, he had all the talent in the world, big and strong to boot. Had no ticker though and wanted to be a nuffy musician instead

 

[GB!]

Andrew Walker.

If that bloke could have put down the bottle for more than a couple days at a time he'd have been the best player in the game.

this...

also tasesa lavea

 

[muzby]

• jack elsgood
• rhys wesser
• scott cram
• brett firman
• nathan brown
• karl mcnichol
• andrew walker

 

[Collateral]

Andrew Johns...Imagine if he wasnt a massive boozer...then again that might of made him crap.
John Sutton.

 

[Silent Knight]

Jermaine Ale

I went to high school and played touch footy with him. Had natural speed, agility and a brilliant step. My mates and I all agreed that if there was ever a guy amongst us that would one day make it in the NRL, it would be Jermaine. Absolute freak amongst us regular joes.

Shame really. He came so close to hitting the big time.

 

[Scarves]

Israel Folau.

Additionally from the past I think Julian O'Neill wasted so much potential on booze and you could say the same for Canterbury's Luke Goodwin who burst on the scene in 1992, played City Country but just fell off the radar after that.

 

[SET2JT]

The Wests halfback in the 90s. Glen Air i think. Was supposed to be the next Langer.

 

[Knightmare]

Eric Groethe Jnr. Could have made a name for himself as one of the great wingers in the game, but decided he couldn't wait until retirement to start focusing on playing guitar and being in a band. Just 10 years of playing great footy, then hang the boots up at age 37 (or so) and he could have not just had his own band, he could have been remembered as one of Parramatta's finest. Honestly Eric, why?

Anthony Mundine. One of the best athletes seen in the game. Could actually have made the rep teams if he deflated his ego somewhat, became more of a team player and stopped blaming being Aboriginal for his snubbing by rep. selectors. He could have gone to another level as a player if, back in 2000, he decided to cut the crap, stop blaming other people for his short-comings and dedicate himself to the Dragons instead of going walkabout and deciding he wanted to be a boxer instead.