View Full Version : The folly of carrying unfit players in finals
Mr Ripper
6 Sep 2003, 23:13
Would have been nice to have a couple of fit players to call on late in the game.
Pies played all over us in the second half and deserved their win.
Funny how the frees evened up.
Gotta rest Vossy next week NO MATTER WHAT. :mad:
Sorry to intrude, but I agree Ripper, you need Vossy 100% for the prelim against Port, and a rest would do him good.
SpecialBruce
6 Sep 2003, 23:36
Yep thats exactly right. Rest Voss, we need him fit. It won't happen because as I've been saying all year, Leigh Matthews doesn't have faith in our young players. I'd be very surprised if Voss is rested this week based on that assumption.
Mr Ripper
6 Sep 2003, 23:39
One week's rest won't get Vossy "fit", SB, but it'd be a help. He was as useful as the pope's testicles out there tonight.
Yeah some fit players playing would be a nicity.
Matthews has been listening to Sheedy too much, with the essendon flu. They can't lie straight in bed.
For goodness sakes, if a player is carrying an injury, let him get over it, and then he can play at full capacity for us. This rubbish of playing injured players always lets us down.
rchowell
8 Sep 2003, 15:51
Erm... Problem Number 1 - Next cab off the rank is Richard Hadley. Or Jason Gram. 3 career games between them. Good luck playing in a final.
Problem Number 2 - If the Lions were to rest every player with an injury they'd run out of blokes on the list. Seemed to me as though by the end of the game on Saturday night there were only half a dozen blokes or so who were 100% fit.
I'm not arguing with people here all I'm saying is this is the time of year when you just have to play your best 22, and if they're not good enough well they're not good enough. What you have to look at is whether a fully fit Hadley or Gram is as good as a 30% fit Michael Voss. Or a 60% Michael Voss. It's a big call.
The fact of the matter is that the error was made earlier in the season when blokes with niggling injuries kept playing, kept aggravating the injury each week by playing, when by taking a week off might have helped them get over it. That would have been far preferable to having them miss 3 or 4 games when it matters most. I guess if the Lions are to learn anything out of this season, regardless of the final outcome, is that not only do you not play injured players in finals, you don't play them in the regular season either. It just comes back to haunt you, and I think Essendon fell for the same trap in 2001.
Originally posted by rchowell
.. Essendon fell for the same trap in 2001.
Exactly - it's a carbon copy. My feeling is that the squad was given the opportunity to do it 'one more time'.. but the Gods have decided otherwise. Who ISN'T injured is more the point. Even in a soft game - v Dogs and v Blues - we suffered multiple injuries. The Bombers have stepped up some lads this year and it cost them early but now they're on a bit of a roll. Reckon we could do with a Bolton ( isn't he going well - thrashed Cornes AGAIN ! ) or a Cupido ( but they'd probably be injured as well ) ?
LionHeart20
8 Sep 2003, 18:42
Voss has been ruled out.
IMO, we may as well play Voss this week (even if he spends 95% of the game on the bench), as I don't think it's going to make much difference in the long run anyway. This week is a do-or-die final. While I don't doubt that the likes of Gram and Hadley are talented players, it is questionable as to how much value they can contribute at this point in time.
While they'd certainly be able to provide "fresh legs", it is virtually impossible to make a call on what other value they may be able to contribute, as they have had virtually no experience in the senior side, let alone in finals, especially coming up against a quality, experienced outfit such as Adelaide.
The facts are, that Voss should have been rested, and given more recovery time EARLIER in the year. This would have also given the likes of Gram and Hadley some experience, just in case they needed to be called on later on. The way it is now, Voss is cut-down, and the players who we have to fill in with, have very little experience in the senior line-up.