Playing injured Players

[Chilcott]

I may be wrong here, but it seemed to me that we continually played injured players (especially later in the season), who provided very little input (or less than normal).

Craig Bolton, Tadhg Kennelly, Adam Goodes and Ryan O'Keefe and others, played most games in the second half of the season and played at a level lower than we expect.

In light of comments made by said players and others, it was clear that they were carrying groin or similar injuries, but we kept playing them.

Those 4 are probaly the best 4 we have, but to me, we would have been better off resting them for several weeks to get over the injuries, instead of the 1 week here and there.

Had we done this, other players would have had more opportunities to taste senior football.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

[Bloods05]

I may be wrong here, but it seemed to me that we continually played injured players (especially later in the season), who provided very little input (or less than normal).

Craig Bolton, Tadhg Kennelly, Adam Goodes and Ryan O'Keefe and others, played most games in the second half of the season and played at a level lower than we expect.

In light of comments made by said players and others, it was clear that they were carrying groin or similar injuries, but we kept playing them.

Those 4 are probaly the best 4 we have, but to me, we would have been better off resting them for several weeks to get over the injuries, instead of the 1 week here and there.

Had we done this, other players would have had more opportunities to taste senior football.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

Every team does it.

[laughingnome]

Every team does it.

To be fair, that doesn't mean we have to do it as well. The progress of the game happens because teams do something different. Maybe there is merit in properly resting injured players until they are match-fit rather then hiding them on the field in the forward or back pockets?

[AnnieH]

To be fair, that doesn't mean we have to do it as well. The progress of the game happens because teams do something different. Maybe there is merit in properly resting injured players until they are match-fit rather then hiding them on the field in the forward or back pockets?

Still, I'd rather have a half-fit Goodesy sitting in the goal square than no Goodesy at all.

Keeping players like him on (whether 100% fit or not) means that the opposition coach still has to worry about manning him up.

With finals approaching, unfortunately we didn't have much choice but to play the "injured" - we needed their experience, even at half strength.

[2005]

To be fair, that doesn't mean we have to do it as well. The progress of the game happens because teams do something different. Maybe there is merit in properly resting injured players until they are match-fit rather then hiding them on the field in the forward or back pockets?

Their is some merit to resting players agreed , though all teams play injured players all the time. We one a flag with broken down players.

Hawthorn Grand Final Day :
Hodge (Ribs )
Bateman (Ankle )
Croad (Foot )
Brown ( Foot )
Franklin (Shoulder )
Dew ( Fat )
and they beat the best team going around comfortably.

[Matty10]

Still, I'd rather have a half-fit Goodesy sitting in the goal square than no Goodesy at all.

So would I - provided that he was at least half-fit. There were times this year when he played too injured and was simply a liability. Players still need to compete, or be played as a legitimate decoy - if you can't do either then you shouldn't be on the park.

[Darren Thomson]

So would I - provided that he was at least half-fit. There were times this year when he played too injured and was simply a liability. Players still need to compete, or be played as a legitimate decoy - if you can't do either then you shouldn't be on the park.

This is where our apparent lack of depth is killing us. We simply did not have players to put on the park that would be of any concern to opponents. If the player says he is fit to play, espcially a Goodes or Bolts, you have to put him on the park and hope he's right. We need to blood a lot of young blokes soon, meaning this year, and risk losing a few games.