Every week we hear about the efforts of great names like Nick Daicos, Christian Petracca, Patrick Cripps and Marcus Bontempelli. However, there are many players who don't necessarily find themselves high on the stats sheet, or their strong performances have gone under the radar for so long.
This season, there have been a host of players who have started off underrated or at the lower end of the best 22 for their teams but have now found themselves as consistent and important performers, starting to earn the recognition of the AFL world.
Nathan Murphy, Jeremy Finlayson, Connor Idun, Kade Chandler and Lewis Young are just a few of the underrated players who have now found themselves as incredibly valuable players.
We've broken down their 2023 seasons and how they are faring.
5. Lewis Young
Whilst he is not in Carlton's side every week, Lewis Young has already played more games in his two seasons at the Blues than he did across five seasons at the Western Bulldogs, seemingly rejuvenating his career after the trade.
Young played every game from Round 1 to 13 this season, helping to keep Tom Hawkins to just one goal in Carlton's victory over Geelong in Round 2. His strongest performance this season was against North Melbourne in the Good Friday Match back in Round 4, where he was named one of the Blues' best after having 22 disposals, ten marks and nine spoils.
Given the superstar names at Carlton such as Sam Walsh, Patrick Cripps, Charlie Curnow and Sam Docherty, Young's strong defensive acts have gone heavily under the radar. Young was unlucky to be omitted after Carlton's win against Fremantle, after he had 13 disposals, four marks, and five tackles, as well as 14 hitouts after assisting in the ruck.
Young came back in as the sub last weekend, so it'll be interesting to see if he starts there again this weekend, comes into the side, or is dropped to the VFL. Regardless, he is a player who has flown under the radar.
