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.
Nathan Murphy has emerged as an integral part of Collingwood's back six this season, sharing the load of playing on the game's biggest forwards alongside Darcy Moore. Murphy emerged as a wildcard for the Magpies last season, replacing the injured Jack Madgen in Round 10 against Fremantle and going on to play every game for the remainder of the season including finals.
Murphy has only missed one game this season after entering concussion protocols but was brought straight back into the side by coach Craig McRae, proving how important he is to this Collingwood lineup.
Heading into the 2023 season, we ranked Murphy as Collingwood's most underrated player but he has earnt the recognition he deserves for his effort. Whilst Murphy doesn't rank high on the stats sheet, his defensive one percenters and his will to put his body on the line have earnt the praise of the AFL world, his ten concussions a sign of his hard-bodied efforts.
Murphy played what McRae believed to be the best game of his career against Port Adelaide last weekend, finishing with 16 spoils, eight intercept possessions and 11 disposals at 90 percent efficiency. Murphy was awarded the Collingwood Coaches MVP for the second time this season off the back of that strong performance. Murphy also earnt the Coaches MVP back in Round 3 against Richmond after he had 12 one percenters, nine spoils, 11 pressure acts and three tackles.
Connor Idun is another player who had consistent seasons across 2021 and 2022 but has emerged as a key player for GWS in season 2023. Idun has played every game for the Giants this year and stood up when key defenders Nick Haynes and Sam Taylor have been injured.
Idun was a standout for the Giants in their Round 5 win against Hawthorn, finishing the game with 23 disposals, nine marks and four tackles. However, his performance against reigning premiers Geelong at GMHBA is what has earnt him his praise and seen him emerge as a mainstay for the Giants' back six. Idun had a team-high nine intercept possessions, 19 disposals and three tackles to earn six coaches' votes.
Proving that it wasn't a one-off performance, Idun was assigned the match-up on Dustin Martin the following week against Richmond. Idun kept Dusty to 19 disposals and held him goalless, for what was only the third time at that point of the season.
Since then, Idun has continued to improve and has held his place in a GWS team that has now won six games in a row to keep their finals hopes well and truly alive. Idun will have his hands full this weekend when they take on the Western Bulldogs when he comes up against the likes of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Aaron Naughton.
Jeremy Finlayson has renewed his career as a key forward after crossing from GWS to Port Adelaide at the end of the 2021 season. After a consistent 2022 season, Finlayson has emerged as an important key forward alongside Charlie Dixon this season and already has 33 goals to his name to lead the Power's goalkicking.
With Charlie Dixon and Todd Marshall both missing games due to injury this year, Finlayson stood up to kick 11 goals across four weeks and has proven to be an integral part of Port Adelaide's rise up the ladder this season. Finlayson has also shown he can shoulder the ruck duty, having filled in for Scott Lycett in the latter part of the 2022 season and continues to occasionally appear in the contests this year.
Finlayson continues to perform whilst dealing with wife Kellie's terminal bowel cancer diagnosis off the field, telling Channel 7 that his footy "is just reward of sticking tough. Doing it for Kel and Soph back home."
Finlayson's best game of the year, and possibly one of the best games of his career, was in Port Adelaide's 55-point demolition of Hawthorn in Round 12. Finlayson was ranked second on the ground, only behind teammate Zak Butters, after he finished with 17 disposals, nine marks, five tackles and most importantly a career-high five goals.
Kade Chandler had a difficult start to the AFL, playing just 10 games across 2019-2022 for the Demons. However, this year he has already managed to play 16 games for Melbourne. Poor performances in Round 15 and 16, as well as a goalless stint from Round 11 to 16, saw him dropped to VFL level.
However, Chandler's return to AFL level last weekend should see him maintain his spot in the team for Round 20, with his performance against Adelaide seeing him named as one of Melbourne's best. Chandler led the goalkicking for his side with three goals whilst he also had 16 disposals, six marks and two goal assists alongside that.
A statistic that highlights Chandler's rise is his goalkicking. Prior to this season, Chandler had never kicked a goal but now finds himself with 18 to his name this season, which includes three-goal hauls on four different occasions.
Melbourne have shown their faith in Chandler's football abilities, re-signing him last month on a three-year contract extension to keep him at Melbourne until at least the end of 2026. "It is a credit to Kade and his terrific character, that he stuck at it and earned his opportunity, and he is now reaping the rewards," Melbourne list manager Tim Lamb said on the extension.
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.