There was a lot of press this week on the players that we were missing.......Misiti, Heffernan, Lloyd, Rioli, Moorcroft and then on the night there was also Blumfield and Jacobs.
Missing this many players of this quality is enough to hurt any team, but I think that instead of focusing on who was missing, we should have paid more attention to who was playing. Hird, Mercuri, Long, Caracella, The Johnsons, Solomon, Fletcher, Ramanaskas..........and why not add a couple of All Australian defenders to that group in Hardwick and Wellman. We can also throw in a bloke who kicked more than 50 goals last year in Lucas, the handiest bench player in the league in Barnard. Add to this a multitude of contributors, and all of a sudden you have a team that can match, and beat any team in the league. The injured and suspended players that we are missing are top quality players (Smokin' Joe was well on his way to a Brownlow) but I think that we have the depth to cover them. (Hopefully Joey will be back and firing for the second half of the season)
Missing this many players of this quality is enough to hurt any team, but I think that instead of focusing on who was missing, we should have paid more attention to who was playing. Hird, Mercuri, Long, Caracella, The Johnsons, Solomon, Fletcher, Ramanaskas..........and why not add a couple of All Australian defenders to that group in Hardwick and Wellman. We can also throw in a bloke who kicked more than 50 goals last year in Lucas, the handiest bench player in the league in Barnard. Add to this a multitude of contributors, and all of a sudden you have a team that can match, and beat any team in the league. The injured and suspended players that we are missing are top quality players (Smokin' Joe was well on his way to a Brownlow) but I think that we have the depth to cover them. (Hopefully Joey will be back and firing for the second half of the season)