Doyle added to tall timber

[Reggi]

Doyle added to tall timber
7:06:45 PM Thu 8 April, 2004
Sportal
Sydney will unleash its awesome ruck division on Saturday night with Stephen Doyle selected in the team for Saturday night?s SCG clash with Geelong.

He will join Adam Goodes and Jason Ball in the side up against the Cats who will be missing their star ruckman Steven King.


Doyle, who has played just 20 games in four seasons because of a succession of knee injuries, will replace Lewis Roberts-Thomson who has been dropped.

The Cats have named athletic utility Andrew Mackie for his first game for the club and have regained much-needed experience with Peter Riccardi and Darren Milburn named in the side.

Brent Moloney is serving a two-match suspension and will be missing from the side, while James Bartel, Jarad Rooke and Matt McCarthy have been dropped.

SYDNEY v GEELONG
Saturday, 7:10pm, SCG

SYDNEY
B: Mathews, James, Crouch
HB: Barry, Bolton, Kennelly
C: Maxfield, Kirk, Ablett
HF: Goodes, Hall, Williams
F: O?Keefe, O?Loughlin, Saddington
FOLL: Ball, Fosdike, Bolton
I/C: Bevan, Schneider, Doyle, McVeigh
EMG: Buchanan, Roberts-Thomson, Rogers
IN: Doyle
OUT: Roberts-Thomson

GEELONG
B: Harley, Scarlett, D.Johnson
HB: Rahilly, Mooney, Milburn
C: Chapman, Enright, Kelly
HF: Tenace, Kingsley, Haynes
F: Gardiner, Playfair, Riccardi
FOLL: Chambers, Corey, Ling
I/C: Spriggs, Hunt, Wojcinski, Mackie
EMG: Bartel, Koulouriotis, Rooke
IN: Riccardi, Milburn, Wojcinski, Mackie
OUT: Moloney (suspended), Bartel, Rooke, McCarthy
NEW: Andrew Mackie (Glenelg)

http://sydneyswans.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=142251

[Reggi]

Good change IMO LRT could do with some full games in the reserves, still needs to learn a bit..

Will be surprised if O'Laughlin played.

Geelong are $5:00. Really looking forward to seeing Doyle play

[Captain]

If O'Laughin plays, I hope that they bring in Rogers or Buchanan. I reckon they deserve a chance at the top level. LRT definately needs a couple of weeks in the reserves.

[midaro]

LRT out for Doyle - good move.
IMO LRT won't play seniors again while Goodes, Ball & Doyle are all in the team. If we're lucky with injuries (wood has been touched), that won't be until next year (I reckon Ball will retire at the end of the season). LRT is a talent, but IMO a full year in the ressies will only help him long term.

Tip: Buchanan in for Micky. THere's no way Micky will be risked, if its something independent of the chronic knee.

[sharpie]

Originally posted by midaro
LRT out for Doyle - good move.
IMO LRT won't play seniors again while Goodes, Ball & Doyle are all in the team. If we're lucky with injuries (wood has been touched), that won't be until next year (I reckon Ball will retire at the end of the season). LRT is a talent, but IMO a full year in the ressies will only help him long term.

Tip: Buchanan in for Micky. THere's no way Micky will be risked, if its something independent of the chronic knee.

I'd agree with everything there. Not a bad situation to have both LRT and MJ as back up ruckmen ready to go if something bad happens to our big blokes. I'm still marvelling at this change from a few years ago when we just about had the shortest team on the park week in, week out.

[liz]

Originally posted by midaro
LRT out for Doyle - good move.
IMO LRT won't play seniors again while Goodes, Ball & Doyle are all in the team. If we're lucky with injuries (wood has been touched), that won't be until next year (I reckon Ball will retire at the end of the season). LRT is a talent, but IMO a full year in the ressies will only help him long term.

Don't think LRT will ever be anything more than a makeshift ruckman and Ireland's comments at the brunch last week support the fact that is not the position they are grooming him for. So in theory there is room for him even with Goodes, Doyle and Ball in the team.

That said, he is the "right" player to make way for Doyle this week.

[chammond]

More than anything else LRT needs ground time and to be around the action.

Neither CHB nor CHF are positions for inexperienced novices. At this stage in his career he won't learn anything by being a passenger in the seniors - he's past that initiation/rising star phase. Now he's got to knuckle down and become a professional footballer.

I suspect that he'll be in and out of the first team all season.

[stellation]

Originally posted by lizz
Don't think LRT will ever be anything more than a makeshift ruckman and Ireland's comments at the brunch last week support the fact that is not the position they are grooming him for. So in theory there is room for him even with Goodes, Doyle and Ball in the team.

Agree totally. I see no reason at all why LRT cannot play in the team when the other 3 run, he really is a (fairly decent) makeshift ruckman. I hope after a few games in the 2s he is back in seniors.

[midaro]

What position does LRT play?
Ruck? Ahead of him: Goodes, Ball, Doyle (maybe Mieklejohn)
Wing? Ahead of him: Everyone in the team under 190cm + a few that aren't (Saddo)
Tall forward? Has he ever goaled from a contested mark?

IMO he adds nothing to the team ATM. His original inclusion was the result of our ruck troubles last year IIRC. That problem has passed for the moment and so he should go back to the reserves and find a position - CHB or CHF - and come back next year.

BTW: The tone of this post is far harsher than I intended

[Charlie]

We need to be patient with LRT.

He had very little experience of the code when we picked him up. Neither had Kennelly, but whereas Kennelly comes from a background in the game considered closest to Australian Rules, LRT comes from a Union background.

He was always going to be a long term project. I really don't expect him to hit his straps and start to win matches for us until he's 22-23. He's still only 20, and he's still only played 18 matches of AFL footy. On the plus side, he's big, he's got decent pace and strong hands.

If he plays 15 games and gets a bit more experience in various parts of the ground this year, he'll be on track. He WILL be a 200 game player for us, barring injuries.