Changes versus St Kilda

[Legs Akimbo]

He got us a Premiership with a list of battlers less than 4 years ago! (The Greatest day of my life!) Get off his back and give him a chance to rebuild!!!

So, out of interest, if P Roos continued on this vein, how long would it take for you to turn sour on him?

[DST]

Glad to see that Roos has the future in mind What a stupid selection.

Fact - we have 4 weeks remaining this year after this week.
Fact - Roos has said it is hard to learn anything about our list in Canberra
Fact - There are half a dozen players who need a run to get an idea of whether they should be on the list next year.

Fact - the gap between Roos' rhetoric and actions grows wider by the day. The guy is a walking talking contradiction.

He is wearing thin on me. As the great Alan Jeans said, you haven't coached until you've coached a bottom side (paraphrasing MM). Well, I don't think Roos is covering himself in glory at the task so far.

Out of interest who in the reserves do we need to see play to see if they are going to remain on our list next year?

As for Crouch, he was always going to play this week with a forward line boasting Scheinder and Milne, Nick Smith can't play on both at once and Crouch is a very good match up for Milne.

I would have liked to have seen Ablett out and Thornton retained but we have seen enough of Thornton so far to suggest that he can play at senior level and will be retained next year.

DST

[Legs Akimbo]

Out of interest who in the reserves do we need to see play to see if they are going to remain on our list next year?

DST

DOK, Murphy, MOD are three. Laidlaw? Of those DOK most pressing.

PS Schmidt

[10Totti10]

He got us a Premiership with a list of battlers less than 4 years ago! (The Greatest day of my life!) Get off his back and give him a chance to rebuild!!!

LIST OF BATTLERS...
Hall (nearly won a brownlow, 500+ goal kicker)
Goodes ( dual brownlow)
Kirk, Jude (best taggers at the time)
Bolton (best defenders beside scarlett)
MOL (legend, awesome at the time)
Ball (top ruckman)
LRT (very good form that year)
Kennelly (brilliant)

the list goes on

We had a very good list, Roos just made it work. Now is the real test for him. He inherited most of the 2005 list, he didn't have to rebuild. He is not the coach to rebuild around.

Oh and legs akimbo u shud add schmidt to that list.

[DST]

DOK, Murphy, MOD are three. Laidlaw?

DOK - spent the last 2 years injured and has only just returned to playing more than 4 games in a row. Too soon to call whether he can play at senior level but will be retained and given time in the reserves to get his body right

Murphy - getting close but a shoulder reconstruction has written his year off at senior level. Has another year on his contract so will be staying

MOD - His papers are stamped, can't dispose of it and therefore will not be around next year

Laidlaw - Has shown enough to suggest he can play football at senior level if his body holds up. Will be retained for next year and should be given time in the ressies to string 10 games together without having to worry about trying to get a kick at senior level

Curiie, Merideth, Schmiidt and Johnston are all injured or just coming back so are ruled out.

The only other one I can make a case for senior selection on the basis of needing to have a look at him is Brabazon and it's marginal as to whether like MOD his papers are stamped already due to poor disposal.

For what it's worth I think we will have 5 retirements and 2 delistments (MOD and Braba) with the rest to go on.

Oh and Thornton to play this week for Hannaberry.

DST

[Mike_B]

Part of me thinks its about not exposing the kids to the Saints and part of me thinks they've convinced themselves they are still mathematical chances for finals so that means they should take a low risk approach.

Either way, IMO it's a cop out - here's a chance to see what some of the kids have against a top team. No point seeing what they have in low pressure games (eg last week) when you still have question marks over their ability come the big games.

[Legs Akimbo]

DOK - spent the last 2 years injured and has only just returned to playing more than 4 games in a row. Too soon to call whether he can play at senior level but will be retained and given time in the reserves to get his body right

Murphy - getting close but a shoulder reconstruction has written his year off at senior level. Has another year on his contract so will be staying

MOD - His papers are stamped, can't dispose of it and therefore will not be around next year

Laidlaw - Has shown enough to suggest he can play football at senior level if his body holds up. Will be retained for next year and should be given time in the ressies to string 10 games together without having to worry about trying to get a kick at senior level

Curiie, Merideth, Schmiidt and Johnston are all injured or just coming back so are ruled out.

The only other one I can make a case for senior selection on the basis of needing to have a look at him is Brabazon and it's marginal as to whether like MOD his papers are stamped already due to poor disposal.

For what it's worth I think we will have 5 retirements and 2 delistments (MOD and Braba) with the rest to go on.

Oh and Thornton to play this week for Hannaberry.

DST

A reminder - this year a place on the list is gold due to the GC17 next year. We cnanot afford to hang on to players if there are question marks against them.

DOK - remains untested at senior level. I think taking a look at how he adjusts to the pace of the AFL after stringing good games together in Canberra is just critical. Moreover, it gives DOK an idea of what he needs to do to succeed. He is the only one who has not played a senior game. Given Laidlaw has only played one - against Geelong in foul weather, he would get the same benefit.

Murphy - by all accounts, this guy is losing the faith. If we wish to retain him, a senior game or two will do him a world of motivational good. Certainly, I believe the club will benefit more than giving another game to Crouch

...and therein lies the issue. Crouch in / Courch out - we are going to lose. Even if we win, it means squat. May as well focus on next year and the year after and the year after.

I'd be more interested at this stage in seeing some new players given a run than watching Crouch battling it out in the declining years of his career. gives me hope that we are laying the foundation for future success.

That is why this decision is just mind boggling.

I am not saying Roos hasn't started the process. Rather that he seems to be tepid and rather too uncertain in his approach.

[DST]

Part of me thinks its about not exposing the kids to the Saints and part of me thinks they've convinced themselves they are still mathematical chances for finals so that means they should take a low risk approach.

Either way, IMO it's a cop out - here's a chance to see what some of the kids have against a top team. No point seeing what they have in low pressure games (eg last week) when you still have question marks over their ability come the big games.

Problem is though none of Currie, Laidlaw, Schmidt, Merideth, DOK, Johnston, Murphy are in a position to be considered for senior selection due to current or recent injuries.

All of the remaining kids (or new to the game) in White, Pyke, Bird, Jack, Smith, Hannaberry, Thornton and Vespremi are getting game time.

That just leaves MOD and Brabazon and as I have said before MOD is a certain de-listment and Brabazon is very close as well due to both having poor disposal.

DST

[Dalai Lama]

Arsenic Boys

Unfortunatly the change we had to have is to be to no avail - the Arsenic Boys will kill us?
How?
Arsenic poisoning kills by allosteric inhibition of essential metabolic enzymes, leading to death from multi-system organ failure. It primarily inhibits enzymes that require lipoic acid as a cofactor, such as pyruvate and alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase. Because of this, substrates before the dehydrogenase steps accumulate, such as pyruvate (and lactate). It particularly affects the brain, causing neurological disturbances and death.

[Legs Akimbo]

Problem is though none of Currie, Laidlaw, Schmidt, Merideth, DOK, Johnston, Murphy are in a position to be considered for senior selection due to current or recent injuries.

All of the remaining kids (or new to the game) in White, Pyke, Bird, Jack, Smith, Hannaberry, Thornton and Vespremi are getting game time.

That just leaves MOD and Brabazon and as I have said before MOD is a certain de-listment and Brabazon is very close as well due to both having poor disposal.

DST

Why can't Laidlaw, DOK or Murphy play? Are they injured?

[DST]

A reminder - this year a place on the list is gold due to the GC17 next year. We cnanot afford to hang on to players if there are question marks against them.

DOK - remains untested at senior level. I think taking a look at how he adjusts to the pace of the AFL after stringing good games together in Canberra is just critical. Moreover, it gives DOK an idea of what he needs to do to succeed. He is the only one who has not played a senior game. Given Laidlaw has only played one - against Geelong in foul weather, he would get the same benefit.

Murphy - by all accounts, this guy is losing the faith. If we wish to retain him, a senior game or two will do him a world of motivational good. Certainly, I believe the club will benefit more than giving another game to Crouch

...and therein lies the issue. Crouch in / Courch out - we are going to lose. Even if we win, it means squat. May as well focus on next year and the year after and the year after.

I'd be more interested at this stage in seeing some new players given a run than watching Crouch battling it out in the declining years of his career. gives me hope that we are laying the foundation for future success.

That is why this decision is just mind boggling.

I am not saying Roos hasn't started the process. Rather that he seems to be tepid and rather too uncertain in his approach.

You could say he has been tepid in his approach, but frankly the last 24 months of constant injuries to "generation next" has tied his hands this year with playing these guys as they just don't have the legs.

Case in point is Vespremi, that 12 week lay off has meant he was going up and down in the one spot after a couple of weeks back in the seniors and it was doing us nor his development any good.

I can see both DOK and Murphy being given a game before seasons end to dangle a carrot in front of them for next year, I just don't see it being the St Kilda game this week.

DST

[DST]

Why can't Laidlaw, DOK or Murphy play? Are they injured?

As I understand it, Laidlaw while stringing a patch of games together early this year has spent another couple of weeks out again with soft tissue injuries a couple of times.

Murphy missed most of the pre-season with a shoulder reco, spent a fair whack of time back home and has only just returned in the last 5 weeks.

DOK, well where do you start? Hasn't strung more than a handfull of games together in the ressies for two years and now that he might finally be getting his body right you want to throw him against a mature team who are 17-0! Give him a senior game this year as a teaser but for gods sake let him work back into playing football in the ressies for an extended period of time before throwing him to the lions (so to speak).

DST

[troyjones2525]

So, out of interest, if P Roos continued on this vein, how long would it take for you to turn sour on him?

Well 4 or 5 rounds of playing kids this year isn't really the be all and end all of rebuilding the team. We have to at least give Roosy a go for another 3 years minimum and a few more drafts to see if can bring us back up to the promised land again. I think all swans supporters owe him that chance! As we all know, we haven't exactly bottomed out like a lot of other clubs for a long time so that has made it even harder for him. I as much as anyone else have enjoyed seeing us introduce some youngsters this season (and still hope to see a few more by years end!) but i am also glad that he is giving some of the warriors who have given us so many happy weekends over the past decade a chance for us to send them off for one last time! We start our rebuilding at the Nov draft this year!

[ugg]

I'm pretty sure Murphy is out of contract at the end of this year.

[liz]

Why can't Laidlaw, DOK or Murphy play? Are they injured?

Laidlaw has only had the one game back after his latest injury. DOK rolled an ankle in the last reserves game and is still listed as "test". Murphy has had a few games back but doesn't look particularly fit to me. Looks as if he is carrying a bit of extra weight around his backside and upper legs and has been nowhere as quick as he looked last year. I hope he still gets a game or two before the end of the season, but I don't think that against the Saints is the time to bring a debutant into the team.

Don't have a particular issue with Crouch coming in, especially if he's in specifically to play on Milne. Should allow Smith to go to Schneids instead, which is a match-up I'll look forward to.

My main beef is with Ablett's inclusion, given how poor he was last week. Given he's been playing in the forward line, I find it hard to believe we'll get any more out of him than we would someone like Vezspremi. I'd even rather see Bevan back in, especially to play a smallish, defensive forward role.

Thornton did struggle badly last week - most of his disposals were awful and it is hard to see him doing any better against the pressure skills of the Saints. He's done enough to secure his spot on the list next year - just needs to get a bit fitter and a bit stronger to make a more consistent impact at senior level.