QAFL Gold Coast’s most underrated players for 2021 season

Who are the QAFL’s most underrated players? The men who play their role every week without fuss but are critical to their side’s success? The Bulletin has highlighted three from each of the Gold Coast QAFL teams who fit the bill. SEE THEM ALL HERE.

Tom Boswell

@TomBoswellGCB

3 min read

August 18, 2021 - 8:22AM

Gold Coast Bulletin

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WHO are the QAFL’s most underrated players? The men who play their role every week without fuss but are critical to their side’s success?

The Bulletin has highlighted three from each of the Gold Coast QAFL teams who fit the bill.

BROADBEACH

Sam Jasper: A man who routinely kicks a couple of goals most weeks and brings first class pressure skills to the Cats.

Darcy Irwin: As unselfish as they come. Irwin is happy to play in the back or forward line, puts his hand up to play on some of the competition’s best forwards then will go down to the forward line to kick goals the next week.

Max Lower: A player many might be surprised to see placed in this category. Lower gets 30 possessions most weeks and won the Cats best and fairest in 2020 but there is not a lot of hype surrounding him. He isn’t underrated at Broadbeach but is definitely in that mix to opposition sides.

PALM BEACH CURRUMBIN

Brinn Little: An 18-year-old centre half-back who takes the best forward each week. His ability to play on those with much more experience shows how good he is going to be for the club in the future.

Jack Granville: A 19-year-old half-back flanker who hasn’t missed a beat in his first year of senior football.

Ben McInneny: A man many don’t know a lot about. He trained with Southport in the pre-season and played in the backline earlier in the year for the Lions before shifting forward. He is Palm Beach Currumbin’s barometer. When McInneny is up and going then you know the team is travelling well. A classy player who plays as a tall forward and has a work rate like some of the best midfielders.

LABRADOR

Andy Hollis: Rated as one of the best ruckman in the QAFL. Hollis’ follow-up work is unbelievable, with the big man not afraid to lay a lot of tackles each week.

Matthew Lee and Charlie Lang: The Tigers wingers are the ultimate role players. Both Lee and Lang play disciplined, selfless roles every week and while they don’t get the plaudits, inside the four walls of Labrador they are held in high esteem.

SURFERS PARADISE

Nicolas Harrison: A quality member of the Demons back six. Harrison plays his role every week and while he doesn’t do anything fancy, he is one of the side’s most reliable talents. Surfers Paradise has some great defenders but Harrison picks himself every week with the way he goes about it.

Harrison Fraser: A man who goes unnoticed a lot of the time but is extremely talented. Fraser does a lot of work on the inside in the middle of the ground.

Sam Hilton-Joyce: He still has a lot of development left in him but he has been fantastic for Surfers Paradise in front of goal.

EARLIER:

IT’S been another strange year in the QAFL with Covid imposing itself on the league for a second straight year.

The restrictions and lockdowns have been a challenge for all 11 teams in the league but the bulk of Gold Coast’s four sides have produced some of the best performances of 2021.

Labrador and Surfers Paradise have managed to get through 14 games while Palm Beach Currumbin and Broadbeach have played 13.

So who has starred for your side this year?

With two official rounds left before finals, the Bulletin predicts the five players from each of the Gold Coast teams, in no particular order, who could win their club’s best and fairest title.

PALM BEACH CURRUMBIN

- Jon Croad

Jon Croad (left) has been a superstar for PBC in 2021. Picture: AAP Image/Richard Gosling

- Ben Mcinneny

- Jason Burge

- Ashton Crossley

- Corey Joyce

SURFERS PARADISE

- Kain Ford

Surfers Paradise player Kain Ford has been a picture of consistency. Picture, John Gass

- Thompson Smith

- Daniel Charlesworth

- Matt Green

Surfers Paradise tall Matt Green. Picture: Mike Batterham.

- Jack Yelland

In Pictures: Best Gold Coast sports photos from November

LABRADOR

- Tom Simpson

- Jayden Young

The Labrador Tigers QAFL (Australian rules) team training session. Pictured second from left is Billy Hicks, third from left is Jayden Young, far right is Emmanuel Baru. Picture: Scott Powick Newscorp

- Pearce Hanley