Speaking of players like Brett Firman.
How about some other names in recent years who had big reputations but never materialised into anything special?
Like Jermaine Ale from the Canberra Raiders? A young outside back who absolutely terrorised teams in the lower grades but was barely a blip when it came to first grade?
Or PeeWee Moke from the Roosters Jersey Flegg team with the odd name but oodles of talent? Cronulla signed him thinking they had somebody of substance, instead he's just an obscure name that will only come out in threads like this.
Back to Cronulla again and what about Jacob Selmes? The guy had a lot of wraps on him and was expected to be a big part of Cronulla moving forward. Instead the most famous thing Selmes is remembered for is coming to blows with Ben Ross.
Then there's brothers. We're all aware of players like Matt Johns, Kevin Walters & Josh Morris but what about James Aubusson? The young hooker/half had plenty of wraps on him and was expected to be just as good as his younger brother Mitchell. However he seemingly dropped off the map never to be seen or heard from again.
Similar story with Dustin Cooper, the older brother of Gavin who went from club to club.
Finally, South Sydney had plenty of false dawns during the early days of their revival. The likes of Joe Williams, Yileen Gordon and Scott Geddes are well known but what about Damon Alley-Tovio? The young backrow was rated alongside the likes of Beau Champion and John Sutton as players to watch out for and despite stints at the Raiders, Bulldogs, Dragons and Knights he never made a fist of it as a first grader. Unfortunately for Damon, he did make a fist of Dave Gleeson and got himself into a bit of trouble!