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Voss a danger even on one leg
By TIM MORRISSEY
March 25, 2004
PAUL Roos is anticipating Brisbane will move champion midfielder Michael Voss to the forward pocket for Saturday night's round one blockbuster at the Gabba.
That might be good news for Sydney's taggers, but the Swans coach doesn't believe Voss will be any less dangerous up the field and rates the Lions skipper as a six or seven goal threat.
"We expect Vossy to play and based on our reading of his situation I expect him to play mainly in the forwards," said Roos.
"He's still a very, very dangerous player. No matter where he plays, he's capable of kicking six or seven goals."
Roos' game plan to upstage the defending triple premiers in front of their home crowd is banking that Voss, who was declared a definite starter this week, will spend the majority of time in the forward line.
It's not the preferred position for the 28-year-old champion Brownlow medal winning midfielder but with Voss' lack of match fitness Roos believes he will be more effective playing up forward.
"He'll certainly still give you a headache even if he's not in the midfield," said Roos.
"It'll be hard for Vossy to play a fair amount of time in the midfield so I'd expect him to go maybe for five minutes at a time in the midfield."
Roos' game plan also presumes that veteran Lions full forward Alastair Lynch, who suffered a thigh strain last week, and tough defender Justin Leppitsch will both play in the season opener.
Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews considers Lynch, the oldest player in the competition at 35 years of age, a long-shot to play while he says Leppitsch will play ? it's just a question of whether it's in the seniors or the seconds.
"I don't think Alastair will play this week unless he makes a very quick recovery from a little bit of a muscle strain that he got in the middle of last week," Matthews said.
On Leppitsch, Matthews added: "He's been given a medical clearance to play this week, so from our point of view it's more a selection decision: does he play in the reserves or seniors?
"My information at this early stage is that he's ready to play."
But Roos isn't taking any chances when it comes to Lynch who is just seven goals short of becoming the 23rd player in AFL history to reach the 600-goal mark and Leppitsch or Voss for that matter.
"You have to make sure it's not a distraction and we can't worry too much about them," said Roos. "We just have to prepare for all of them."
By TIM MORRISSEY
March 25, 2004
PAUL Roos is anticipating Brisbane will move champion midfielder Michael Voss to the forward pocket for Saturday night's round one blockbuster at the Gabba.
That might be good news for Sydney's taggers, but the Swans coach doesn't believe Voss will be any less dangerous up the field and rates the Lions skipper as a six or seven goal threat.
"We expect Vossy to play and based on our reading of his situation I expect him to play mainly in the forwards," said Roos.
"He's still a very, very dangerous player. No matter where he plays, he's capable of kicking six or seven goals."
Roos' game plan to upstage the defending triple premiers in front of their home crowd is banking that Voss, who was declared a definite starter this week, will spend the majority of time in the forward line.
It's not the preferred position for the 28-year-old champion Brownlow medal winning midfielder but with Voss' lack of match fitness Roos believes he will be more effective playing up forward.
"He'll certainly still give you a headache even if he's not in the midfield," said Roos.
"It'll be hard for Vossy to play a fair amount of time in the midfield so I'd expect him to go maybe for five minutes at a time in the midfield."
Roos' game plan also presumes that veteran Lions full forward Alastair Lynch, who suffered a thigh strain last week, and tough defender Justin Leppitsch will both play in the season opener.
Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews considers Lynch, the oldest player in the competition at 35 years of age, a long-shot to play while he says Leppitsch will play ? it's just a question of whether it's in the seniors or the seconds.
"I don't think Alastair will play this week unless he makes a very quick recovery from a little bit of a muscle strain that he got in the middle of last week," Matthews said.
On Leppitsch, Matthews added: "He's been given a medical clearance to play this week, so from our point of view it's more a selection decision: does he play in the reserves or seniors?
"My information at this early stage is that he's ready to play."
But Roos isn't taking any chances when it comes to Lynch who is just seven goals short of becoming the 23rd player in AFL history to reach the 600-goal mark and Leppitsch or Voss for that matter.
"You have to make sure it's not a distraction and we can't worry too much about them," said Roos. "We just have to prepare for all of them."
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