You know guys welcome back to the True Footer YouTube channel today We're gonna be taking a look at some players throughout the 2021 AFL season who proved just wrong So if it's not clear what that means is a player that people have perhaps written off or thought weren't going to perform that Well this year and that player has exceeded expectations significantly Those are the source players. I'll be focusing on the in today's video every year There are players that exceed expectations in particular a lot of older players seem to sort of bob up and have a Create nobody really expect it and this list is gonna include players like that But it's also gonna include players that people just didn't know were that good So you know the drill subscribe if you haven't already liked the video if you enjoy it and let's get into the video Now the first player on this list that we're gonna talk about is of course none other ventailla Walker of the Adelaide Crosand we do know the text Walker was a real gun forward of the competition a few years ago in particular around that 2017 period where Adelaide were right in contention but as Adelaide dropped off his form has also to some extent He dipped a bit in the 2018 season but came back fairly strongly in 2019 kick 43 goals from 22 games But in 2020 Taylor Walker average just seven and a half disposals and the goal of game from 14 games That's definitely a poor return for a player as prominent and as talented as Taylor Walker and of course He's an on field leader and the pros even plummeted to their first wooden spoon that season now Of course he was about 30 years old So when he's player around that age starts to dip in form people start to think the end is nine But he came into 2021 with vengeance getting five goals in the first round against a long as Adelaide upset the cats He then backed that up with bags of six against goal coast and Sydney and he was suddenly a favorite for the common medal He still currently sits second in the Coleman overall with 46 goals And it's considered an absolute lock for an all-estraining jump the next player We're gonna nominate is Jaden Stevenson of the North Melbourne 40 Club and as we know Jaden Stevenson was picked six back in the 2018 draft He was a rising star winner in his first year in 2018 and to keep 38 goals in a side that almost won the premier shoot But he somewhat misfired in 2020 kicking just 14 goals from 14 games and it was thrown inexplicably on the scrap heap by the Coleman 40 Club now It was a very well documented but the Zah off-season strategy from the pies trading out players as a bit of a salary cap dump and Jaden Stevenson was one of those and he was basically traded for a second round pick now After understandably taking a little while to find his feet at a new club that is currently sitting 18th on the ladder Stevenson has put in some of his best performances as a midfielder These include career best numbers in clearances inside 50s and rebound 50s His best performance of the year was undoubtedly against the West Coast Eagles in which he had 38 positions and a goal in a crucial win There's little doubt in my opinion that people are gonna look back on the Jaden Stevenson trade to North Melbourne and Scratch their heads at what the hell was calling with doing third player who proved people wrong in 2021 is Tom Hickey and Tom Hickey is no doubt one of your classic journeyman Ruckman is drawing four clubs Joining Sydney after West Coast after St. Kielder after goal coast now He was excess requirements at the Eagles with their ruck situation and Sydney identified a real need for a ruck on their list and pursued him from an Eagles perspective It didn't seem like a big loss but at the age of 30 He's putting together a career best season in a lot of stats in addition to his 23 and a half hitouts The game is averaging 17 positions again and 5.3 clearances He's been an important part of a quality side that is potentially going deep in September and he's definitely proven a lot of doubt With wrong the next player that proved people wrong in 2021 is Nick Hind from Essendon If he course he started his career at the Essendon VFL side was drafted to St. Kielder Then it was traded back to the Essendon AFL team He was a small pressure style for the Saints for a couple of seasons and while he wasn't unsuccessful he certainly wasn't a spud Few people would have seen this meteoric rise coming from him in 2021 He's been able to find a niche at the Don's as a small running pressure defender with his elite speed and creativity with the ball as well But in the context he was averaging about 10 positions a game across his two seasons at the Saints But that's jumped to nearly 23 disposal along with six intercepts and 450 metres gained per game It's been a rise that I'm sure even bombers fans wouldn't really have expected in 2021 The next player we're nominating is David Mundy of the free amount of footy club and David Mundy's obviously been a star of the comp for most of the 17 or 18 years He's been playing at AFL level but his ascension due elite status again in 2021 has taken just about everyone by surprise While he was far from poor his 2020 season averages were a fair way down on his normal career averages And given his age he could be forgiven for thinking the end of his career might be coming around the corner Instead Mundy started the 2021 AFL season just about in brown low metal form He's having his best ever season in terms of inside 50s and only Andrew Brayshaw gets more of the footy than Mundy does in the free amount of midfield While Mundy will go down undoubtedly as one of free mantles greatest ever players If anyone thought he was over the hill going into 2021 they have definitely been proven wrong The next player we're going to nominate as proving the data's wrong in 2021 would have to be Adelaide's Ben Kies Ben Kies was of course delisted by the Brisbane Lions a couple of years ago Was re drafted by the Kros and I'm sure a few people would have believed that he could get to this level of performance so quickly Having never completed a season averaging more than 16 possessions a game Kies has exploded in 2021 averaging 28 possessions and nearly six clearances a game He's ranked 11th in the entire league for total disposal and he's also a top 5 tagler in the game He's undoubtedly been one of the biggest breakout players for 2021 and the Kros have definitely been rewarded for showing faith in his potential If the seventh player were going to nominate as proving the data's wrong in 2021 Would have to be Essendons Darcy Parish and Darcy Parish would have to be one of the biggest surprise packets of the 2021 season Having been drafted as a top 5 pick back in the 2015 drafts there's no doubt it took Parish a little while to find his feet at AFL level In fact, he'd never average more than 21 possessions a game in a single season going into 2021 Having finally been given full opportunity to play as a full-time midfielder this year Darcy Parish has exploded into brownle medal calculations He's averaging 30 possessions a game along with six inside 50s and eight clearances And I tell you what at the end of last year there was a lot of talk about doubts over Essendons' young future But where we sit now with Darcy Parish emerging as an elite mid Few people would be pushing that sort of narrative now The eighth player in the lead that I'm going to nominate as proving people wrong in 2021 Would be Josh Bruce of the Western Bulldogs Now Josh Bruce has been around for a while obviously before we joined the dogs he played eight seasons at GWS And thank you all that and it proved to himself to be a quite serviceable player He was traded to the dogs a couple of years ago as they sought to pursue a genuine forward target in that team But it didn't pan out so well with just 14 goals from 17 games in 2020 As such a lot of doubts were raised around his future at AFL level but in 2021 He certainly put those doubts to bed as he currently sits top five in the common The highlight of his season was undoubtedly a bag of 10 goals against North Melbourne And he's currently on track to have his best season ever in terms of goals per game Now Josh Bruce I'm sure was applied that many people had written off as being AFL worthy But with the dog sitting on top of the ladder at this point of the season There's a small chance that Josh Bruce ends this year with a premature medallion Alright there you have it guys that is eight players who I believe in 2021 Has proven the doubt is wrong If there's anyone that perhaps you don't agree with or that you think I've missed Certainly let me know in the comments and we'll get the discussion going As always guys I ask you to like the video if you enjoy it But also subscribe if you haven't already Try to hit 15k It would really mean a lot to me and I do generally hope you're enjoying all the content that the channel has been putting out over the last couple of weeks Make sure you keep an eye out for just the tips every week of course But also the true 40 podcast with Kayden McDonald which I believe I should have uploaded by now So go check that out Subscribe if you haven't already and we'll see in the next video Thanks guys