Injury 2025 Injury Thread

[sumavich]

The fact that there will be serious pressure for spots will help us make the 8

 

[EastcoastDocker]

Be tough for Sturt to crack a game with our forwards going how they are especially if Switta is fit and Walters is in the queue.

Would love to see sturt train as a fat side winger in preseason with a mandate to push forward hard like Ollie Dempsey. Treacy to come up to meet the ball at half forward/wing.

We all like to see Treacy kick bags of goals but I think he provide better value providing an outlet and contest further up the ground

 

[Wizard]

Would love to see sturt train as a fat side winger in preseason with a mandate to push forward hard like Ollie Dempsey. Treacy to come up to meet the ball at half forward/wing.

We all like to see Treacy kick bags of goals but I think he provide better value providing an outlet and contest further up the ground

His body would never allow him to do the running required for that role.

 

[FreoRicci]

Yep,
Same with Simpson in six weeks when we will have Walker back. Both of those will struggle to break in.

Simpson and Walker ?
Walker easily in for Banfield.
Simpson is a solid bench option.

Switta, at his best, is in. Sturt would be a bonus but he ll need 2-3 weeks for Peel first

 

[Docker82]

Simpson and Walker ?
Walker easily in for Banfield.
Simpson is a solid bench option.

Switta, at his best, is in. Sturt would be a bonus but he ll need 2-3 weeks for Peel first

This board won't all agree with match committee but we all know Switta is one of the first players picked. He'll be back in as soon as he's ready - probably without a WAFL stint too.

 

[freo84]

It's a nice problem to have though isn't it.

We as a group on here can't agree on which players make our best 22. There are the obvious ones like Young and Pearce that are walk up starters. But Darcy, Simpson, Walker, Sturt, Switta, O'meara, Walters and Duds aren't unanimously agreed on.

Depth is what wins flags and I think we have some decent depth now. I left out a couple like OMac as well.

 

[Purple Suit]

Simpson and Walker ?
Walker easily in for Banfield.
Simpson is a solid bench option.

Switta, at his best, is in. Sturt would be a bonus but he ll need 2-3 weeks for Peel first

No it was Sturt and Simpson. Switta will be in when fit, same with Walker and obviously Young.

We will be hopefully healthier coming into finals but selections are going to be tough.

 

[ubiquitous226]

No it was Sturt and Simpson. Switta will be in when fit, same with Walker and obviously Young.

We will be hopefully healthier coming into finals but selections are going to be tough.

I think Walker is the least guaranteed, but I think he balances our team better if he's fit and in decent form.
He should get a couple games in the WAFL though to build back up and prove what he has before he pushes out someone like Worner.

 

[Purple Suit]

I think Walker is the least guaranteed, but I think he balances our team better if he's fit and in decent form.
He should get a couple games in the WAFL though to build back up and prove what he has before he pushes out someone like Worner.

I think he’s pushing out Banners first though, at least from defence. I’d be tempted to bring him in this week as Saints have good smalls.

 

[ubiquitous226]

I think he’s pushing out Banners first though, at least from defence. I’d be tempted to bring him in this week as Saints have good smalls.

Yeah that's fair, with Walker's timeline now he may be the first back.
I think we have to keep our eyes firmly on trying to achieve something from the season, which means backing the team as is to beat St Kilda at home and keep building towards good footy at the end of the year.

 

[Purple Suit]

Yeah that's fair, with Walker's timeline now he may be the first back.
I think we have to keep our eyes firmly on trying to achieve something from the season, which means backing the team as is to beat St Kilda at home and keep building towards good footy at the end of the year.

Yep,
No point rushing him back if it risks injury. I do leave those decisions up to the club though, impossible from the sidelines without all the info and medical degrees. I assume if you are playing full games in WAFL it’s just a touch / confidence thing rather than injury.

 

[ubiquitous226]

Yep,
No point rushing him back if it risks injury. I do leave those decisions up to the club though, impossible from the sidelines without all the info and medical degrees. I assume if you are playing full games in WAFL it’s just a touch / confidence thing rather than injury.

Agreed, I think with any reasonable length of injury there's a big element of testing and getting confidence in your body in an environment where there is a little more flexibility to manage minutes and roles.
It does depend on the injury and the player though of course.

 

[StingBitten]

Sturt at his best could seriously challenge Frederick for a spot. Excellent kick for a goal - his defensive forward pressure is no worse than Freddy's.

Wouldn't discount him just yet.

 

[fleur]

Sturt at his best could seriously challenge Frederick for a spot. Excellent kick for a goal - his defensive forward pressure is no worse than Freddy's.

Wouldn't discount him just yet.

Yeah Freddy is the one who has
to look over his shoulder. Sturt is faster than him and is as good a goal kick

 

[Fred Ziffel]

This board won't all agree with match committee but we all know Switta is one of the first players picked. He'll be back in as soon as he's ready - probably without a WAFL stint too.

I think Switta’s slow build to form in his last return from injury was probably lingering effects from concussion.
This time, considering his recent form we would bring him straight back in with confidence.

 

[anchor man]

Yeah Freddy is the one who has
to look over his shoulder. Sturt is faster than him and is as good a goal kick

I would dispute that Sturt is faster than Freddy.But Sturt has a real football mind, Freddy doesn't.
And they do not play the same role.
But the thing is, with the injury list getting shorter, how hard will it be to replace those already with spots.
Pearce is a walk up start. Maybe not this week but next.Hopefully he can be ready this week.
Is there any returnees that could take the spots of Worner and Wagner?
Who does does Switta replace.
Same with Sturt and Deadly, who do they replace?
I honestly don't see a spot for Sonny.
Walker!!!, Simpson !!
Great spot to be in.

 

[ubiquitous226]

I would dispute that Sturt is faster than Freddy.But Sturt has a real football mind, Freddy doesn't.
And they do not play the same role.
But the thing is, with the injury list getting shorter, how hard will it be to replace those already with spots.
Pearce is a walk up start. Maybe not this week but next.Hopefully he can be ready this week.
Is there any returnees that could take the spots of Worner and Wagner?
Who does does Switta replace.
Same with Sturt and Deadly, who do they replace?
I honestly don't see a spot for Sonny.
Walker!!!, Simpson !!
Great spot to be in.

They don't play quite the same role, but Sturt would allow other positions to be shuffled which could have the same effect.

I just think Frederick isn't perfect, nor a contested player, but he still has some weapons that are very useful.
He cops a lot from those who don't like his weaknesses but I think he's quite useful overall.

 

[Docker82]

It's a nice problem to have though isn't it.

We as a group on here can't agree on which players make our best 22. There are the obvious ones like Young and Pearce that are walk up starters. But Darcy, Simpson, Walker, Sturt, Switta, O'meara, Walters and Duds aren't unanimously agreed on.

Depth is what wins flags and I think we have some decent depth now. I left out a couple like OMac as well.

We've been here a while IMO. We just needed our B Graders and other A Graders to step up when some of our A Graders are unavailable.

A depth player cant replace Alex Pearce for example. If the rest of the defence (particularly Cox) stands up though we still function well as a team.

Brayshaw and Serong have lifted slightly without Young in the side.

Since JL took over (in 2019 as well IMO) we've always had the depth players to make choosing a best 22 difficult but not the talent in the best 22 to cover the loss of over best players.

We talk about depth as probably players 20-32ish on the list but I see some pretty sh** players win flags and listed as emergencies in Grand Final sides. The ability of the best 22 players to perform without 4-5 best 22 being unavailable is probably more important IMO. Only some of that is players outside the best 22.

 

[freoextra]

Sturt at his best could seriously challenge Frederick for a spot. Excellent kick for a goal - his defensive forward pressure is no worse than Freddy's.

Wouldn't discount him just yet.

Hmm, my memory of Sturt coming back from injury is that he will be a slow burn and will take 4+ weeks before he is even playing reasonably well and close for selection.

 

[Snuffaluphagus]

If Sturt was having the year Freddy is having, there is not one person on this board that would suggest his position is in danger.

 

[freoextra]

They don't play quite the same role, but Sturt would allow other positions to be shuffled which could have the same effect.

I just think Frederick isn't perfect, nor a contested player, but he still has some weapons that are very useful.
He cops a lot from those who don't like his weaknesses but I think he's quite useful overall.

Agreed, I distinctly remember Simpson’s smirk at a past Derby when told Freddy is not playing. He remains a real headache for opposition coaches due to his speed and goal kicking ability. He is still second on our goal kicking list.

 

[Dockeroo]

Sturt actually plays more like Amiss than Frederick when I think of him at his best.
He plays quite tall for his size of 188cm, and tends to lead at the footy very well (to be fair Amiss often does too but we don’t honour his leads for some reason)

I just liked Sturt mostly for his excellent conversion rate. Chances are at a premium in big games and having a guy you can rely on to finish the teams good work when he gets a mark in front of goal is so undervalued by many footy fans.

Anyway I think at this point Sturty just needs to get back and play a couple of weeks of decent footy in peel then see where we are at.

Inevitably there will be opportunities through further injuries etc it always happens.

 

[Docker82]

Agreed, I distinctly remember Simpson’s smirk at a past Derby when told Freddy is not playing. He remains a real headache for opposition coaches due to his speed and goal kicking ability. He is still second on our goal kicking list.

He's got 19 goals so far. I remember when our leading goalkicker for the season barely passed 20...

Happy to have him in the team tbh.

 

[go_the_dockers]

 

[DragoDelph]

Expected tbh. Shouldn’t have played either of our leg injury players in that slog.