Pamam
Premiership Player
http://sportal.com.au/AFL-news-display/blues-dismiss-judd-injury-rumours-42809
Carlton coach Brett Ratten has dismissed speculation surrounding the fitness of his superstar midfielder Chris Judd.
Ratten insisted that Judd was on track in his rehabilitation from groin surgery he underwent at the end of last season and expected the former West Coast premiership captain to have at least one hit out before the start of the season.
"He's in a program that's trying to get him to round one right on time, (he'll) play a couple of practice matches so he's right on track for us… everyone keeps saying there's hiccups here and hiccups there, yeah, well we don't know about it," Ratten said.
"He needs to play at least one practice match, probably two… if he can do the training required in Adelaide he'll come with us (for the first round NAB Cup clash with the Power at AAMI Stadium)."
Ratten was not reading too much into Judd's reported frustration with his injury that has kept him out of a fair chunk of group activities over the summer.
"Some players are a little impatient with their injuries and it is frustrating when it's the first time that you've been kept out of the team environment, sometimes, for a long period of time," Ratten explained.
"I think that's what's probably frustrated Chris the most, he wants to get out there and mingle and do all the training with all the boys but these are things that we look at long term to make sure that we get him right for round one."
Judd may be a 50-50 proposition to partake in the Blues' opening NAB Cup match against Port Adelaide but team-mates Nick Stevens, who will be the first cab off the rank in Carlton's pre-season captaincy rotation, Matthew Kreuzer and Brendan Fevola will all be available.
The Carlton coach conceded that one of the toughest aspects of this year's pre-season competition to contend with will be the restrictions on the interchange that will see all clubs limited to a maximum of 16 rotations a quarter and 64 per match.
"I suppose the AFL are looking to see… if it's aesthetically (beneficial) for the game to make sure they can't see all these players running off and on, I don't know, but they've set the rules and we'll just abide by them," he said.
"I think the hardest thing, I suppose, with the cap is how many interchanges you leave within the last five minutes of a quarter. That's a difficult one where you say 'well, let's leave two interchanges or one interchange with three minutes to go' and you get two injuries, how does that sit with the AFL when you've got to pull players off because they're a chance to do a hamstring?"
Carlton returned on Monday night from its pre-season trip to South Africa and Ratten described the experience as both beneficial and eye-opening.
The new Blues coach was impressed with what he saw at some of the footy clinics held in their time over there and he forecast potential for the African republic to start producing players that could one day grace the fields of the AFL.
"I was very surprised how quickly some six-, seven-, eight-, nine-year-old kids were handling the footy (and) jumping around. I think it's their athleticism that gives them that chance to play the game," said Ratten.
"Maybe the AFL should give an extra spot to entice teams to maybe bring a player over on their list and whether the AFL can half fund a player on a list so then we can educate them here for 12 months as well to give them that springboard to maybe fast-track kids into our game."
Carlton coach Brett Ratten has dismissed speculation surrounding the fitness of his superstar midfielder Chris Judd.
Ratten insisted that Judd was on track in his rehabilitation from groin surgery he underwent at the end of last season and expected the former West Coast premiership captain to have at least one hit out before the start of the season.
"He's in a program that's trying to get him to round one right on time, (he'll) play a couple of practice matches so he's right on track for us… everyone keeps saying there's hiccups here and hiccups there, yeah, well we don't know about it," Ratten said.
"He needs to play at least one practice match, probably two… if he can do the training required in Adelaide he'll come with us (for the first round NAB Cup clash with the Power at AAMI Stadium)."
Ratten was not reading too much into Judd's reported frustration with his injury that has kept him out of a fair chunk of group activities over the summer.
"Some players are a little impatient with their injuries and it is frustrating when it's the first time that you've been kept out of the team environment, sometimes, for a long period of time," Ratten explained.
"I think that's what's probably frustrated Chris the most, he wants to get out there and mingle and do all the training with all the boys but these are things that we look at long term to make sure that we get him right for round one."
Judd may be a 50-50 proposition to partake in the Blues' opening NAB Cup match against Port Adelaide but team-mates Nick Stevens, who will be the first cab off the rank in Carlton's pre-season captaincy rotation, Matthew Kreuzer and Brendan Fevola will all be available.
The Carlton coach conceded that one of the toughest aspects of this year's pre-season competition to contend with will be the restrictions on the interchange that will see all clubs limited to a maximum of 16 rotations a quarter and 64 per match.
"I suppose the AFL are looking to see… if it's aesthetically (beneficial) for the game to make sure they can't see all these players running off and on, I don't know, but they've set the rules and we'll just abide by them," he said.
"I think the hardest thing, I suppose, with the cap is how many interchanges you leave within the last five minutes of a quarter. That's a difficult one where you say 'well, let's leave two interchanges or one interchange with three minutes to go' and you get two injuries, how does that sit with the AFL when you've got to pull players off because they're a chance to do a hamstring?"
Carlton returned on Monday night from its pre-season trip to South Africa and Ratten described the experience as both beneficial and eye-opening.
The new Blues coach was impressed with what he saw at some of the footy clinics held in their time over there and he forecast potential for the African republic to start producing players that could one day grace the fields of the AFL.
"I was very surprised how quickly some six-, seven-, eight-, nine-year-old kids were handling the footy (and) jumping around. I think it's their athleticism that gives them that chance to play the game," said Ratten.
"Maybe the AFL should give an extra spot to entice teams to maybe bring a player over on their list and whether the AFL can half fund a player on a list so then we can educate them here for 12 months as well to give them that springboard to maybe fast-track kids into our game."
