Adam Goodes

[Diego]

Adam Goodes has become a liability to us in the past 3 weeks and even more so after he did his second knee. Logic would say that he should not be playing at all with one crook knee let alone two, but it seems the doctors, the coaching stuff and Adam himself has defied logic and kept playing.

Now we have seen the consequences. I fear everytime he goes into a marking contest as he is beating or will land awkwardly on one of the knees. His mobility is shot and so is his confidence due to him being conscious of his injuries.

Is it worth persisting with this? Do we risk in losing a champion player for good just so we can limp into the finals? Is he really worth the risk for 2004?

Would you prefer to see Roos just sit him out and get him right, thus being an integral piece in our march for a flag in a couple of years or just see him play ATM and not be able to do the things he once was able in a couple of years.

Knee injuries are bad and once you get one you lose a % of the mobility you once had. I really don't want to see goodes become another Anthony Koutafidis. I know for the clubs future i would rather wait and see him firing in 2005.

Any thoughts?

[Mike_B]

I would prefer to see him rested, but if they won't do that, at least put him in a position on the field where he is the one being the chasee not the chaser. His mobility is really starting to cost us.

What will the club do? Keep playing him while we are in the finals race. I just hope that if we do look certain of missing with 2-3 weeks to go that they let him finish the season early. He is too valuable for us to run him into the ground so early in his career.

[dimelb]

We should stop playing players who aren't fit enough. OK, some always do play with injuries, but this season (which has to be one of the worst on record for us as far as injuries go) we have played people we shouldn't have - Goodes, Williams, Davis, O'Loughlin - the list goes on. Maybe we have to start using the youngsters, and maybe they'll get flogged. At this stage of our season it doesn't make a lot of difference. At least they'll get valuable experience. We have not had our best team on the park at any stage this year. Let's make the best use of the talent we have and take the rebuilding goal seriously.

[Slick Swans]

I know we've been told he won't play in the ruck again but if he was garenteed to play ruck again if we rested him then for sure, that where he won a brownlow.

[port1978]

He was absolutley buggered after the game....sat down as soon as he got into the Irish Club after the game.

[liz]

One would surely have to presume that the risk of him doing further damage is no greater than if he were fully fit. Otherwise the coaching and medical staff have rocks in their head.

I'm not sure his confidence is down. It seems better than it was early in the season, before he "did" his first knee. But clearly his mobility - and particularly his ability to turn - are severely compromised at the moment.

Assuming his injuries don't pose a risk, I think he's a talented enough footballer to warrant keeping in the team but I agree that his current position isn't helping the team. I'd love to see James come back in and get a chance to play alongside Schaubs. Moving Goodes to a HBF - and maybe simultaneously taking the opportunity to move Kennelly further up the ground - might work. He could play on the opposition's "worst" forward (which Tiger usually seems to do) and focus on running in straight lines to provide some drive up the ground.

[swansrule100]

its not about if his knee cant get hurt more because its obviously bad enough to stop him playing anywhere near his best

rest him... before he looses all confidence