The best recruits of 2024 have been well-established now. Massimo D'Ambrosio landed at Hawthorn for a pack of peanuts and produced an All-Australian squad year, Brodie Grundy recaptured top form at Sydney whilst still getting payments from Collingwood, and Jack Ginnivan flourished with the freedom granted to him by Sam Mitchell.
But there were many others that shifted across borders in the 2023 trade period that produced solid contributions to their team's success in 2024.
We've named the four most underrated recruits of 2023, reflecting on those who went under the radar at a fresh club in the season gone by.
1. James Jordon (Sydney)
Jordon further proved his worth as one of the league's best taggers, playing a crucial role in Sydney's runner-up efforts in 2024.
He played in all 26 games for the Swans this year, averaging 14.7 disposals and 3.3 tackles. However, his best performances came through limiting his direct opponents' possession.
Jordon kept Noah Anderson to just 19 disposals in Round 6, whilst limiting Sam Walsh to just 20 disposals in Round 10 - both players' lowest totals for the year. Jordon was also impressive in Sydney's finals campaign, limiting Zak Butters to 20 disposals and two score involvements in the preliminary final.
Joining the Swans as an unrestricted free agent, Jordon was a valuable pickup from the Demons and contributed significantly to Sydney's deep September charge. As a tagger, his role in the side regularly went unnoticed by the average fan, especially in a midfield of Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner and Errol Gulden. Surprisingly, as the first player to change clubs in 2023, Jordon's season often went under the radar against other recruits, albeit his tagging role on Dayne Zorko picked up media traction heading into the grand final.
