It's time to put some heat on the selection committee

[covid19]

No excuses at all on my part, having players like Reid on our list is inexcusable. To be fair the injuries suffered by Howe and JDG this year were not because they were injury prone (JDG has had soft tissue problems but not this year) and arguably they are the ones that have hurt us the most.

We can't discuss the selection committee which is this thread's topic without referring to the injuries that have necessitated the choping and changing of our structures.

We have many more than Reid who continually suffer injuries. Of the players missing, Treloar, Greenwood, Reid, Langdon, Scharenberg, Sier, Kelly and De Goey have either had their career destroyed by injury or have suffered numerous soft tissue and knee injuries during the last few years. Several players currently in the team such as Varcoe and Dunn have also spent much of the latter part of their career on the sidelines, or Broomhead, omitted, who has played about as many senior games as he has spent years on the list. I won't include Moore, Elliott and Adams because they have managed to remain on the field this year despite appearing to be previously under threat due to career threatening injuries. On top of the expected injuries, we always have players who acquire some unexpected serious injury or illness - De Goey, Stephenson and Howe, or misbehave - Sidebottom. I take it as given every year that by final's time the team is going to be severely trimmed of fit playing personnel.

 

[jathanas]

Yep, we have felt the frustration of our list getting decimated by injury every year since 2017. I don't know how you spot a potentially injury prone player in the draft but we should be more clinical in cutting our losses once a role player proves to be unable of providing continuity.

We have many more than Reid who continually suffer injuries. Of the players missing, Treloar, Greenwood, Reid, Langdon, Scharenberg, Sier, Kelly and De Goey have either had their career destroyed by injury or have suffered numerous soft tissue and knee injuries during the last few years. Several players currently in the team such as Varcoe and Dunn have also spent much of the latter part of their career on the sidelines, or Broomhead, omitted, who has played about as many senior games as he has spent years on the list. I won't include Moore, Elliott and Adams because they have managed to remain on the field this year despite appearing to be previously under threat due to career threatening injuries. On top of the expected injuries, we always have players who acquire some unexpected serious injury or illness - De Goey, Stephenson and Howe, or misbehave - Sidebottom. I take it as given every year that by final's time the team is going to be severely trimmed of fit playing personnel.

 

[rand corp]

The way I read it, we have been desperately trying to manage loads by resting and rotating players and it has been failing miserably.

Not only failing in preventing injuries but, also in preserving or hitting good or near top form. That said, it also seems obvious to me that some players are coping better than others with the hubs, isolation, travel etc. and as a result, guys we would have thought could be depended on are playing poorly this season or in recent weeks at least.

If by some divine intervention, we manage to arrive at the end of the season in the eight and with fit, hungry, stars returning and hitting top form, Buckley may well be considered a genius however, at this very moment, we look very much like a club not able to adapt and cope with the challenges Covid-19 has presented us with this season, certainly not as well as some others.

 

[jackcass]

I think the biggest issue facing selectors is the form, fitness, and availability of players. From memory we’ve used 37 players this year with only a couple of sides (Swans, Crows, Bombers ?? From memory) having used as many or even more, and we’re the only side in the 8 who have used 35 or more.

 

[jackcass]

Adapt yes. There is always an element of Horses for Courses. You may need to go smaller against some sides, and taller against others.

But you need to have some idea of what your best structure looks like. I feel at the moment we are still fishing for whether we play 1, 2 or 3 talls up forward. I think personnel is a key reason. We simply don't have anyone in form, so we are throwing a number of darts at the board and hoping one sticks.

Either way, the chopping and changing in structure at the selection table has been baffling. I don't have any issues with 4 or 5 changes, but i do have major problems when the changes completely change the system week in and week out. How can we expect consistency from our players when there isn't consistency in team selection.

This is not to discount injury, which is clearly a factor. It is much easier to keep a solidified system when you have the same 22 running out each week. But some selections have just been baffling.

I’m confident we know exactly what our best structure is and who is in our best 22. But with the constant turnover of personnel we’re just not able to maintain that structure or deliver as it should. As much about chemistry as anything else.

 

[DaVe86]

I’m confident we know exactly what our best structure is and who is in our best 22. But with the constant turnover of personnel we’re just not able to maintain that structure or deliver as it should. As much about chemistry as anything else.

Yes, and it is impossible to build chemistry with different structures week in week out.

 

[jackcass]

Yes, and it is impossible to build chemistry with different structures week in week out.

I’m not sure the structure is changing as much as the personnel. You could argue that playing Checkers, Cameron and Reid is a change but I don’t see it as that much different than playing Checkers, Cox and JDG with an expectation JDG essentially plays a KP role.