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Kane Cornes’ 10 most underrated players in the AFL
SEN • February 20th, 2025 10:27 am
Who are the most underrated players in the AFL?
Leading footy analyst Kane Cornes has undertaken the task of putting together his list of the league’s 10 most underrated players in no particular order.
See the list from Kane’s Countdown on SEN’s Sportsday below:
Callum Wilkie (St Kilda)
“I don’t care that he’s an All-Australian or a best and fairest winner - he is underrated.
“One-on-one he is magnificent, he plays under-sized, he takes the best opposition forward every week.
“He’s very sure with ball in hand, he makes good decisions, he’s really a flawless footballer. That’s a big statement.
“He doesn’t have the star power but he’s an A-grade gun.”
Connor Macdonald (Hawthorn)
“Watch him this year, he’s going to be one of the stories of the year.
“This guy is absolutely charging. He’s got a great change of direction, he knows where the goals are.
“I hope that there’s a little bit more midfield exposure albeit I know that’s hard for good sides. He can certainly go inside.
“He’s got enormous running capability, there’s an air of confidence about him. I really like him and I think he’s going to be one of the storylines for the year for the Hawks.”
Jack Buckley (GWS)
“He absolutely can be an All-Australian shot this year. It’s a brilliant story.
“Good luck getting a kick on him. To be a great defender now you’ve got to be defensively sound, you’ve got to win one-on-ones and you need to intercept mark the ball.
“He does all of that.”
Willem Drew (Port Adelaide)
“You speak to anyone there and they love this guy, they reckon he’s a winner.
“He’s often overlooked because we do Horne-Francis, we do Butters, we do Rozee, but we don’t do Drew.
“He gets tough jobs, he’s incredibly tough, consistent and really clean.
“If he walked down a busy street in Melbourne, I doubt whether anyone would recognise him.”
Max Michalanney (Adelaide)
“He is that good. He reminds me of Ben Hart.
“They didn’t bid on him early in the draft so I’m not sure other clubs know how good this kid was going to be.
“Ben Hart was an All-Australian in his first two seasons, I don’t know if that will ever happen again, but Michalanney reminds me so much of Ben Hart.”
Aliir Aliir (Port Adelaide)
“He is an All-Australian and nobody is giving him credit.
“Aliir Aliir is a top-five key defender in football right now, I think he’s Port Adelaide’s most important player structurally. If Aliir goes down, good luck.
“His back half of last season was extraordinary. He’s just not getting the plaudits that he deserves.
“I never hear about him being spoken about with Sam Taylor, Jacob Weltering, Harris Andrews and the players, but he should be. He’s 100 per cent in that category.”
Brandon Starcevich (Brisbane)
“To me he is the toughest small to medium defender to get a kick on in football.
“I think he’s incredibly versatile and if I am Chris Fagan the (Starcevich) magnet goes straight to the most dangerous small forward every week.
“I also think he’s better than that. He can also play a midfield or high half-forward tagging role as well on a Dylan Moore or a Gryan Miers.”
“I think he’s a gun.”
Wil Powell (Gold Coast)
“I rave about this guy every year. I hope he gets a good run at it after broken legs and knee injuries.
“He can play midfield, I think he can be the Hayden Young for Gold Coast. Uses the ball extremely well, he’s great in the air, defensively sound.
“I rate him so highly. He’s played 100 games now so I think he’s ready to explode.
“He’s an excellent half-back and that’s the only role he’s played, but I think he has Hayden Young capabilities so he can go inside (and play forward of centre).”
Will Hayward (Sydney)
“Any small forward that kicks 40 goals and doesn’t get spoken about regularly is underrated.
“He’s a fire starter for them, defensively he’s just a tenacious warrior. Internally they love him.”
Brent Daniels (GWS)
“We’re all starting to talk about him.
“He gets historical love today. Whilst we’re probably rating him now, for five years we didn’t rate him.
“He’s getting the recognition he should have got two or three years ago.”
