Remove this Banner Ad

Headlands Replacement

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

anchor man

anchor man

Norm Smith Medallist
Veteran
Apr 6, 2001
5,627
7,349
Success WA
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Dockers ∧South Fremantle
I think it is time we brought in a replacement for Des Headland.My opinion is that he is finished,and we should bring in someone from the rooky list to replace him,NOW.
They are saying it will be sometime before he is ready.They have been saying that all season and pre season.If he come back in two weeks he will have to have a run for Subiaco for a few weeks.SO why wait,bring in another rooky.
 
Even when Headland gets back it's dubious what sort of performances we will get from him. Either way, say he plays back to his old best (unlikely as it is) what benefit does this give our club when he is retiring this year or next? He will just take the spot of someone who may benefit from the game time.
 
Headland will take about 4 or 5 weeks of playing before he gets back to a decent standard, unless we can get someone from the other team to mention his tats.
 

Log in to remove this Banner Ad

carbonrod29ty.gif
 
Poor old Dessie he isnt even playing and he gets a hard time. He is 28 and I live in hope that Freo will be better sooner rather than latter so I hope he still has something left in the tank when we are a contender again.

I feel with our notable lack of skill Des might be worthwhile having around. My biggest knock on him is he doesnt get it enough especially when we needed him to be a midfielder delivering it to Pav. I see him spending a fair bit of time playing forward or maybe in a McLeod role off halfback although that worries me as his defensive talents are questionable.

Best bet sit him forward as a leadup forward who has decent hands nice kick for goal and isnt to bad below the knees. Will have to play Solly forward at the same time as Des wont touch anyone. I see him filling this role quite well especially now Taz has gone back.
 
Having guys like Headland around at the club can speed up their development.

I enjoy going to the footy to watch people who can actually play. It WILL be a welcome sight seeing Dez running in and kicking a goal from 50 on the boundary line.

Even as a forward he will offer a lot going forward.
 
Rowdy,I think it is a pretty fair question.He missed a very major part of last season and,has not looked like getting on the park so far this season.
I can understand some wanting to hold onto him,but i don't think he has anything left in the tank to give.He really has been a big disappointment since coming to Freo and can not see it improving if he does come up soon.
 
it is questionable as to whether headland will ever play in the AFL again. In his time in the AFL he has only ever produced 1, top ten best and fairest effort. He is not know for his ability to step up when times are tough, he is well liked by the players and has skills but his inability to perform when the team requires him, will only be worse if and when he does come back. the club needs to make hard decisions, i think retiring des would be the first step in a long line of hard decisions required by our club to make
 
Why would you replace a player on the list who may still play, with a rookie who isn't ready?

Pearce has just come back through the WAFL reserves and has played just the one league match. Swan Districts had the bye this weekend - he is not match fit.

Sibosado is playing Claremont reserves.

We have 1 more rookie that can be elevated this year. Let them work for it along with Pratt and Van Berlo and when they have earned it, elevate one then.

We'll still have a spot available later in the season due to the LTI list - whether it be for Headland, Bucovaz or whoever. We only have to elevate them before Rd.11 (I think?).
 
Ogrebait said:
Why would you replace a player on the list who may still play, with a rookie who isn't ready?

...
Click to expand...

I agree. I highly suspicious that Des will come back, but he's got to be given a chance. This fascination with playing young underdeveloped players not ready for AFL is getting out of hand regardless of how bad we are AFAIC. We could set some of these guys back years buy playing them too early; they loose confidence, pick up injuries or early onset of ones that come up later. If they're not read they're not read. We all just need to be patient.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

He needs to be playing, as soon as he is ready get him in.

He is the sort of player i go to the footy to watch. We are going to need his type if we are going to get fans through the gates later in the season.
If we get Des, Mayne and Ballantyne in i think times will be much more exciting for our fans.
 
Mescalito said:
Why get rid of him, he has no draft value. We may as well get the most out of him until he does retire, whether its on the field or off. A lot of the young players would view him as a mentor.
Click to expand...

if his knee was given the all clear, you would pay him the absolute minimum wage, or retire him, has never given us enough and i cant see why he would start now when we are in our darkest time since he ahs been at the club
 
Kickett Punches Read said:
if his knee was given the all clear, you would pay him the absolute minimum wage, or retire him, has never given us enough and i cant see why he would start now when we are in our darkest time since he ahs been at the club
Click to expand...

Its idiots like you that just have no idea.

Can you tell me when for a sustained period of time during his Fremantle career that Des has been fit? I don't recall him being fully healthy for more the 4-5 weeks during his times @ FFC.
His first two seasons he carried ankle injuries from the word go. He has had knee, quad, groin injuries during his time. Anyone that says he simply hasn;t performed has little to no idea.
 
Wizard said:
Its idiots like you that just have no idea.

Can you tell me when for a sustained period of time during his Fremantle career that Des has been fit? I don't recall him being fully healthy for more the 4-5 weeks during his times @ FFC.
His first two seasons he carried ankle injuries from the word go. He has had knee, quad, groin injuries during his time. Anyone that says he simply hasn;t performed has little to no idea.
Click to expand...

You act like injuries are these magical things which just happen to people. Most injuries are self inflicted ,mostly through poor preparation like lack of sleep, alcohol/other drugs and poor nutrition. The ones which are random, like Hasleby doing his knee are separate issues.

Headland has admitted to having an alcohol problem in the last few years.
 
In the past he had had an alcohol problem. This problem is non-existent now.

So a guy rolling his ankle is a problem from him drinking? Or the issue in his knee is from his drinking is it?
Soft tissue injuries can be associated to this but you cant go much further then that.
 

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

Kickett Punches Read said:
if his knee was given the all clear, you would pay him the absolute minimum wage, or retire him, has never given us enough and i cant see why he would start now when we are in our darkest time since he ahs been at the club
Click to expand...

This is rubbish. Des may well not make it back, but I'm not sure if you've noticed, but some of our younger players are looking like rabbits caught in the headlights at the moment. The season and probably next are lost causes as far as serious finals action are concerned, so a player who pushes himself through pain, can mentor some of the young'ns and provide some on field maturity is worth having around AFAIC. You can't have every player running out there under the age of 21, it will stuff them up short and long term,
 
Maybe it is because he has ALWAYS had injuried since being at Freo that he has no value to the club.Maybe he could be a mentor to the younger boys especially the Aboriginal boys,but would he teach them the right things?
He had so much to offerbut gave so little.
 
Wizard said:
In the past he had had an alcohol problem. This problem is non-existent now.

So a guy rolling his ankle is a problem from him drinking? Or the issue in his knee is from his drinking is it?
Soft tissue injuries can be associated to this but you cant go much further then that.
Click to expand...

What sort of world do you live in where you pretend bone/joints have little to do with your nutrition and hormones? In this reality do drugs and alcohol also not affect these things?

The other issue of course is you can sustain joint/bone injuries when you are drunk and do things like fall down the stairs, twist your ankle on the curb, etc, etc. Anyone who comes out and basically admits to an "alcohol problem" means they have had some very bad drunk times in their past.
 
Wizard said:
Bullshit.
Des plays with his heart on his sleeve every week he crosses the line.

We could do much worse then getting him fit and playing.
Click to expand...

I'm sure chops plays with his heart on his sleeve when he crosses the line too. However it takes more than crossing the line to be an elite athlete. It requires restraint when it comes to alcohol and drugs, it requires physical preparation and rigid dieting guidelines. Most would say Des failed on most of those counts, which all happened before going onto the field.
 
Memories said:
What sort of world do you live in where you pretend bone/joints have little to do with your nutrition and hormones? In this reality do drugs and alcohol also not affect these things?

The other issue of course is you can sustain joint/bone injuries when you are drunk and do things like fall down the stairs, twist your ankle on the curb, etc, etc. Anyone who comes out and basically admits to an "alcohol problem" means they have had some very bad drunk times in their past.
Click to expand...

Nutrition and hormones yes. Drugs is not an issue with Des, if it were we would be fully aware of it by now.
Alcohol consumption will not affect bone density at such a young age. In fact alcohol has certain levels of vitamin B, iron, potassium etc which will do your bones no harm at all.
The rest of your argument is just guess work.

Don't pretend to know about things you don't mate.
 

Remove this Banner Ad

Headlands Replacement

🥰 Love BigFooty? Join now for free.

Back
Top