Good News - Re: Gardiner

[iceman]

No knee brace. Great news for West Coast.

No surprises, the knee belongs to Michael Gardiner. The star West Coast Eagles ruckman hit the track with the young kids at the start of pre-season training and moved freely and looked to be in great shape.

Gardiner played just the first three games of the season in 2004 before a posterior cruciate reconstruction was forced on him.

The 25-year-old says he's coming back as a key forward, and assistant coach Peter Sumich said he's not far behind the rest of the squad.

"We start properly on 17 November with the whole squad, and Gardy will probably be 10-14 days behind those blokes in preparation," he said. "So he's not too far behind the main group, which is terrific, and we expect Gardy to be right for round one."

Sumich said West Coast's first pick in the 1996 draft had recovered well from the surgery, and that his attitude was first-rate.

"It was devastating for the kid, really, to have that operation, and his attitude has turned around greatly. He got away from the club early a little bit, which was fine, we understood that, we accepted that.

"He's come back and he's refreshed. His attitude's terrific. He's our vice-captain, so he's got to be around the club setting the example, and he's doing that now."

 

[coasting]

I still think he should play in the ruck if he can. He is the best ruckman in the game and he is kind of wasted in the forward line. Let Cox or Seaby take the centrebounce and interchange with Gardy from the forward pocket.

 

[Jabber]

I still think he should play in the ruck if he can. He is the best ruckman in the game and he is kind of wasted in the forward line. Let Cox or Seaby take the centrebounce and interchange with Gardy from the forward pocket.

Cox/Seaby take the centre bounce and then primarily play a defensive role tagging the opposition ruckman and/or drifting back to the defensive 50.

That leaves Gardy to roam everywhere from CHB to FF - in other words a mobile/active CHF. No real difference to when he was playing 1st ruck.

 

[noodle]

I still think he should play in the ruck if he can. He is the best ruckman in the game and he is kind of wasted in the forward line. Let Cox or Seaby take the centrebounce and interchange with Gardy from the forward pocket.

i kinda agree with you. in 2003 he was killing the league in the ruck. yeah cox came on in leaps and bounds but he is still a long away from where gardiner was.

unfortunately i read in the weekend paper that tim watson also agrees with you and we all know what kind of coach he was.

 

[coasting]

i kinda agree with you. in 2003 he was killing the league in the ruck. yeah cox came on in leaps and bounds but he is still a long away from where gardiner was.

unfortunately i read in the weekend paper that tim watson also agrees with you and we all know what kind of coach he was.

No arguments there, Tim Watson was a really bad coach. The year after Robert Harvey won his 2nd brownlow in the midfield Tim Watson decides he is a genius and moves him to a back pocket. He singlehandedly turned St Kilda from a grand final team into a complete rabble. Same thing with Chris Connolly, I can see him doing a similar thing to the Dockers if his crazy positional changes aren't reigned in by someone down there. All of which gets back to my point of playing players in their best position. Michael Gardiner is the best ruckman in the game, so why not play him in the ruck? Our midfield totally blitzed in 2003 when he was in there. He just shouldn't be risked at the centrebounces, which are the cause of his injuries. In the finals we should definately play him in the Ruck.

 

[BB gun]

c Micheal had a similar operation

 

[coasting]

c Micheal had a similar operation

No he didn't. Gardiner had a PCL reco. Clem Micheal had part of his kneecap removed, flown to Europe, grown larger in a lab, flown back and reinserted several months later.

 

[BB gun]

No he didn't. Gardiner had a PCL reco. Clem Micheal had part of his kneecap removed, flown to Europe, grown larger in a lab, flown back and reinserted several months later.

ok i am wrong.
how do you grow a knee cap
its amazing what they can do

 

[coasting]

ok i am wrong.
how do you grow a knee cap
its amazing what they can do

From memory cartilage was taken from his injured knee and cloned in a laboratory using cell culture techniques. This was nothing like Gardy's operation which involved the posterior knee ligament, which was also meant to be a risky procedure but not as much as Clems, so lets hope he has a bit more luck than he did.

 

[Eagles_Rock]

He better be ready for CHF next year and boy will he make a big influence.

 

[jod23]

He is a ruckmen so play him in the ruck. Its as simple as that IMO. Just dont let him take the centre bounce. But he must do all the rucking around the ground. Obviously he will also spend some time at CHF which is certainly not a bad thing as he has the ability to take games by the scruff of the neck.

He will give us a whole different look again next season. I cant wait.

 

[no1bankteller]

Far be it for us to try something innovative like playing Gardiner in a different role then he has played in the past.

FWIW the guy got injured in the ruck and so what do we do we pu him back there. Now whilst I do agree that some of the risks would be reduced by not playing him at centre bounces by playing him constantly around the ground still adds stress to his knees. I think that playing him as a full time CHF and rucking in the forward line would be a great compromise to both manage his legs and provide us with a great forward line target as well as to give us the best possible opportunity to win the ball out of a contested situation.

Personally I think that he has the potential to be one of the top 3 CHF in the league and as such should be given the opportunity to develop in that role. In addition to this I find it hard to see how any backman in the league could match up on him as he is so big, strong and athletic.

 

[Mr Q]

The ATM's got it in one.

 

[sammyg77]

I have major concerns with Gardiner playing at CHF next year. He is just too big for that position and not good enough below his knees to take on that role. The times he has shown some form up forward for us is when he has been resting in the goal square where he can use his height and bulk to his advantage and take a few grabs.

CHF requires a very strong but agile player. ie - Brown, Reiwoldt, Carey in the past. I dont think Gardiner is our answer there.

My opinion is that we use him like Sheedy used Salmon many years ago and play him out of the goal square.

Once he gets some match fitness, some trust back in his knee and is full of confidence then we can start putting him back in the ruck. Until then you are flirting with danger and risking the career of one of the clubs biggest assets. Patience will be crucial both from the clubs perspective, the fans and most importantly Gardiner.

 

[Jabber]

I have major concerns with Gardiner playing at CHF next year. He is just too big for that position and not good enough below his knees to take on that role. The times he has shown some form up forward for us is when he has been resting in the goal square where he can use his height and bulk to his advantage and take a few grabs.

CHF requires a very strong but agile player. ie - Brown, Reiwoldt, Carey in the past. I dont think Gardiner is our answer there.

My opinion is that we use him like Sheedy used Salmon many years ago and play him out of the goal square.

Once he gets some match fitness, some trust back in his knee and is full of confidence then we can start putting him back in the ruck. Until then you are flirting with danger and risking the career of one of the clubs biggest assets. Patience will be crucial both from the clubs perspective, the fans and most importantly Gardiner.

Gardiner is 1-2" taller than Brown and the same weight. I don't think he is that far out of the size ballpark to play CHF. Playing him at FF takes him out of the play and neutralizes his strengths. Sure he isn't that great below the knees, but despite his awkward looking style is very mobile and capable of racking up plenty of possessions. At CHF he can still play a similar role to when he was rucking - he can't from FF. As to putting him back in the ruck - it will depend on the future of the revised ruck rules in the Wizzard Cup.

 

[Mead]

Of course its uncertain how well Gardiner will handle CHF, but I think he has it in him to do the job.

Obviously he's tall, presents well and takes a very good pack mark, but I think he would be wasted in the goal square.

As well as those things he also
a.) covers ground very very well- as a ruckman one of his biggest strengths was his ability to range around the ground virtually as a sixth midfielder due to his exceptional fitness and mobility.

b.) Is a very good reader of the play. Its an intangible, but there is no doubt in my mind that he has one of the best footy brains in our side- he's just got a knack for being in the right place at the right time.

Those qualities say CHF for me. Where we've been vunerable this year is when balls drop in the hole between FF and the midfield- we've lacked someone capable of making a contest and staying with people like Cornes or McPharlin for four quarters.

What I'd be looking for from Gardiner is someone with the ability to continually present and create contests in that area. What we need is a big, mobile target who midfielders can bomb the ball at when they're under pressure, and I think he has the pace, fitness, smarts and overhead marking ability to handle that.

I think the ground level ability of Brown or even Carey was not particularly noteworthy, and I also think with the quality of our small forwards it isn't so much of an issue- what we need is contests- if the ball hits the deck and Matera and Sampi are in the area, its a win for us. What we need is someone capable of contesting before it gets to that stage.

 

[Eagles_Rock]

Of course its uncertain how well Gardiner will handle CHF, but I think he has it in him to do the job.

Obviously he's tall, presents well and takes a very good pack mark, but I think he would be wasted in the goal square.

As well as those things he also
a.) covers ground very very well- as a ruckman one of his biggest strengths was his ability to range around the ground virtually as a sixth midfielder due to his exceptional fitness and mobility.

b.) Is a very good reader of the play. Its an intangible, but there is no doubt in my mind that he has one of the best footy brains in our side- he's just got a knack for being in the right place at the right time.

Those qualities say CHF for me. Where we've been vunerable this year is when balls drop in the hole between FF and the midfield- we've lacked someone capable of making a contest and staying with people like Cornes or McPharlin for four quarters.

What I'd be looking for from Gardiner is someone with the ability to continually present and create contests in that area. What we need is a big, mobile target who midfielders can bomb the ball at when they're under pressure, and I think he has the pace, fitness, smarts and overhead marking ability to handle that.

I think the ground level ability of Brown or even Carey was not particularly noteworthy, and I also think with the quality of our small forwards it isn't so much of an issue- what we need is contests- if the ball hits the deck and Matera and Sampi are in the area, its a win for us. What we need is someone capable of contesting before it gets to that stage.

Once again, well said by Mead.