Maybe it’s because he doesn’t accumulate a heap of possessions or kick flashy goals.
Or maybe it’s easy for fans to take his contribution for granted, considering he’s missed a total of just 10 senior matches since making his debut with the Club back in Round 8 of 2006.
Either way, you won’t generally see too many Lions supporters with the Number 24 on the backs of their jumper.
But that could all soon change following Patfull’s popular Merrett-Murray Medal triumph at Friday’s Club Champion dinner, with the 27 year-old set to shed the ‘quiet achiever’ tag and finally get the recognition he deserves.
It comes after a career-best season which saw him prove the rock in the Lions’ defence while regular full-back Daniel Merrett plied his trade up forward.
Despite giving away height and size to his opponents most weeks, Patfull was rarely beaten and his role contributed greatly to the Club’s improved season.
Among his prize scalps this season were Matthew Pavlich (14 disposals, two marks, one goal), James Podsiadly (11 disposals, one mark and zero goals), Nick Riewoldt (11 disposals, two marks, two goals), and Jarrad Waite (10 disposals, six marks, one goal).
He also played an effective shut down role on plenty of other players - evidenced by the fact polled at least one vote in 18 of his 22 senior matches.
While some fans might have been surprised by the 27 year-old’s maiden Best & Fairest award, his team-mates certainly weren’t - with many correctly predicting the winner earlier in the week.
