View Full Version : How many of you guys thought Rocca would still be going around
1980GFVideo
15 Feb 2006, 16:52
Went to Essendon/Collingwood game about six years ago with best mate and Rocca was saying goodbye to the crowd prematch. Must of been last game of season.
Mick gave the nice send off where he said that you pay respect to good servants of the club
But my mate said it was a load of crap and that it was rediculous to get rid of Sav when guys like Dimattina were likely to be there next year.
Given Cummings found a spot and future employment at the club by filling this so called redundant position, did you guys have that hindsight or did you feel Sav was finnished and you could at least get something for him.
Certainly didnt flourish under Shaw. 95 was his best year under Mathews. Not sure of his best effort under Shaw.
The big man speaks himself (http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=245612)
His knees were shot, and I am pretty sure that Malthouse didn't rate him.
It's not as if he has really set the world on fire at North though.
Once he retires, he will be remembered as a Pies favourite - and a Copeland Trophy winner.
Coin_Toss
15 Feb 2006, 17:06
I respect Rocca as a footballer and a person.
Sav brought good service to Collingwood when he was a player, and I respect him a lot of that. :)
Once he retires, he will be remembered as a Pies favourite
Agreed. He is one of my favourtie Collingwood players of all time.
Jumpin' Jimmy
15 Feb 2006, 17:15
His knees were shot, and I am pretty sure that Malthouse didn't rate him.
It's not as if he has really set the world on fire at North though.
Once he retires, he will be remembered as a Pies favourite - and a Copeland Trophy winner. and not as if he hasn't been more sound and kicked more goals than the crocks they replaced him with at Collingwood :rolleyes:
HorseHead
15 Feb 2006, 17:31
and not as if he hasn't been more sound and kicked more goals than the crocks they replaced him with at Collingwood :rolleyes:Fair point. I was a little bit surprised we got rid of him at the time. On balance, I think it was a mistake. A forward line with Sav, Anthony and Tarrant (when he's on song, anyway) would be pretty decent, IMO.
Lonie_from_50
15 Feb 2006, 17:46
Well, Sav was always my favourite player, and I was shocked when he got given the heave ho, so to speak, especially joining a new team.
The thing about Collingwood though, with Rocca as our no.1 Full Forward from 1995-2000, we never made the finals, even though, he did dominate, and fell short of a coleman in 1997 by a few goals. We made the Grand Final in both 2002 and 2003, and Rocca wasn't there, so looking at it that way, him being missing wasn't a problem, despite, we would all love it if Rocca had always played his career out at Collingwood.
and not as if he hasn't been more sound and kicked more goals than the crocks they replaced him with at Collingwood :rolleyes:
Sav played in one final for Collingwood in nine seasons, does that say something about our successful goalkicking forward line of the 90s?
Johnson#26
15 Feb 2006, 18:09
Good to see he's staying on. He deserves some finals success.
Sav Rocca has done well since being axed and not many at Collingwood would begrudge him his post Collingwood career but had he trained like he did at North in his last few years at Collingwood he'd probably have played a lot longer at Collingwood. Like a lot of players he got a jolt and did something about it.
The thing the Sav Rocca axing shows up is Malthouse's inability to resurrect players and his inability to spot real ability or potential. This has been confirmed with recruiting players like Williams and Morrison and retaining them and players like Kinnear.
Jumpin' Jimmy
15 Feb 2006, 19:03
Sav played in one final for Collingwood in nine seasons, does that say something about our successful goalkicking forward line of the 90s? Well it says something about the team setup but it appears Sav was made the scapegoat, even though he was averaging 65 goals a season for the last 7 seasons and Daicos 64 goals for the first two.
No-one has got within a bull's roar of that since so they still haven't solved the forward line problem.
We will never hear it admitted by Eddie or Mick but maybe, just maybe, the Pies might have nabbed that flag in 2002 if Big Sav was still their spearhead.
doppleganger
15 Feb 2006, 20:45
T.Shaws use of Sav killed the big bloke
if he had a bad quarter he would be dragged
could never get his confidence up
glad he left and continued to perform well
If Sav stayed at Collingwood he would be as useless as Ben Kinnear or Williams in time. He needed a change of clubs to spur him on. Sav's career at Kangaroos has been handy at best, but nowhere near his best nor nowhere near worth the money we were paying him at the time.
Jumpin' Jimmy
15 Feb 2006, 22:05
If Sav stayed at Collingwood he would be as useless as Ben Kinnear or Williams in time. He needed a change of clubs to spur him on. Sav's career at Kangaroos has been handy at best, but nowhere near his best nor nowhere near worth the money we were paying him at the time. Sounds like the official Collingwood denial line to me.
Most years since he left there your club has been lucky if A Rocca and Tarrant have kicked as many goals between them as Sav did on his own.
vinnie_vegas69
15 Feb 2006, 22:07
We will never hear it admitted by Eddie or Mick but maybe, just maybe, the Pies might have nabbed that flag in 2002 if Big Sav was still their spearhead.
Complete load of crap. Our forward line is set up to use various options. We would prefer to have 5 players kicking 25+ goals than 1 kicking 100 goals.
Jumpin' Jimmy
15 Feb 2006, 22:24
Complete load of crap. Our forward line is set up to use various options. We would prefer to have 5 players kicking 25+ goals than 1 kicking 100 goals. Nice theory but when has it worked?
bucksisbest
15 Feb 2006, 22:27
Nice theory but when has it worked?
With due respect to Sav who was a fine servant of the club , it went closer to working than anytime he played with us.
Jumpin' Jimmy
15 Feb 2006, 22:28
With due respect to Sav who was a fine servant of the club , it went closer to working than anytime he played with us. So you agree it has not worked yet :p
bucksisbest
15 Feb 2006, 22:43
So you agree it has not worked yet :p
Well clearly it hasn't worked until you snare a flag with the team and set-up.
DidaksLeftFoot
15 Feb 2006, 23:17
I think our forward line only had enough space for one Rocca. Anthony was younger, fitter and had more to give than Sav who was predominantly a Full Forward, whereas Anthony could play anywhere between the centre square and the goal posts.
Mind you, we could use Sav on every odd Anzac Day here and there. His game in the draw (9 goals) was a classic, and I'll never forget the 1996 Anzac Day either - goalless at the half-time siren, then kicks one from 60m on the boundary after the siren to send us into half-time pumped up, comes out and puts through another 6.
My 21-year old cousin actually hasn't changed her number 36 on her jumper since he left... she must like Dane Swan :D
vinnie_vegas69
16 Feb 2006, 01:26
Nice theory but when has it worked?
I would say it was a reasonable success in 2002 and 2003.
Surely a Richmond fan would have to consider making the finals at all, let alone the Grand Final, a measure of success?
Loved Sav's long long bombs
Loved Sav's leading hard from FF
Loved the presence he demanded standing in the forward line
Frustrated at Sav when unable to consistently take that big pack mark
Frustrated at Sav when he was on a perfect lead and the ball went through his hands
Frustrated that when the ball didn't hit him on a lead (not his fault) his turning circle was bigger than the QE2's
Love Anthony's long long bombs
Love Anthony's hard leads to the ball
Love Anthony's presence on the ground
Love Anthony's pack marks
Love Anthony's safe hands
Frustrated sometimes as his second efforts
As much as I loved watching Sav on fire - we didn't need 2 big leading forwards with suspect second efforts who could kick 60+ metres.
We kept the best one
Jumpin' Jimmy
16 Feb 2006, 20:48
I would say it was a reasonable success in 2002 and 2003. .... maybe, but not when it counted most. In the 2002 GF you only had 4 goalscorers and then Anthony Rocca was rubbed out for the 2003 GF.
Surely a Richmond fan would have to consider making the finals at all, let alone the Grand Final, a measure of success? Not really, if you dont finish 1st the season is considered a failure. Sad but true.
We came 3rd in 2001 but have struggled ever since.
It's very tough after you fail at the final hurdle. Even harder if it happens 2 years in a row. Collingwood has found that out in the last 2 years.
Alkaline
17 Feb 2006, 07:25
I think he will only have a couple more seasons left in him. But hes still going strong. Well, strong enough.