Bolton out for six weeks

[Bloody Hell]

Booooooooooooooo!!!

I keep seeing Mike Pyke's name in the best for ressies apparently playing as CHB? I'm not seeing Ted's name in the best...though proven.

[Bloody Hell]

That said - in the past 3 years the loss of CBolton would have been by far the worst out we could have possibly had. As noted by others the emergence of Grundy and LRT has lessened the impact. I've had nightmares about losing him over the past few years...is he not the reigning AA CHB?

[Nico]

Roos and Ireland were quoted last week that players from the reserves will be picked on form, so maybe that counts Ted out. Then again wasn't it reported that he went off at half time in the 2's and didn't come back on, or was that insurance in case Bolton wasn't right?

[CJK]

Let the great depth experiment begin!

[hammo]

You want your best team on tha park at all times DA. What if we'd rested him and we lost some of those games. Serious qns would be asked!!

Leaving out injured players isn't resting them. A week or 2 off to get over the niggleis a much better option than missing 6 weeks.

[Bloody Hell]

Yep- in my mind it is use Smith as the 3rd defender and bring in Patty but ifyou expect 3 talks and that Smith may struggle then bring in Ted instead. Keep Smith in and add Patty is the default option.

This is probably a negative result for Smith. He's made it into the team as a midfielder after much effort now, due to his talent, he'll be left in a back pocket. It's been noted by the ressie watchers that he is undoubtedly a midfielder....shame in one sense, but it'll certainly give his position some security.

[DST]

Ted in Bolton it will be.

They might tempted to not go with a plan B against the Lions and play Reg and LRT only. Possibly to throw White down there if one struggles.

IMHO to much of a risk not having the third tall defender, even to just to provide a chop out for Reg and LRT when going one on one.

DST

[ScottH]

So you play your best players regardless of any injuries they're carrying?

Leaving out injured players isn't resting them. A week or 2 off to get over the niggleis a much better option than missing 6 weeks.

I wasn't aware he was "officially" carrying an injury.

[ScottH]

Booooooooooooooo!!!

I keep seeing Mike Pyke's name in the best for ressies apparently playing as CHB? I'm not seeing Ted's name in the best...though proven.

Roos and Ireland were quoted last week that players from the reserves will be picked on form, so maybe that counts Ted out. Then again wasn't it reported that he went off at half time in the 2's and didn't come back on, or was that insurance in case Bolton wasn't right?

Ted did go off at half time. I only saw the 2nd term when he played, and our back line was struggling. 7 goals to 3 they conceded.

On Pyke, I have been on the he's pretty average bandwagon since he debuted. However, I was impressed with how confident he looked on Saturday. Marked with confidence.
He even came from behind to snare a mark that an ainslie player was about to swallow. Be interesting to see if he can carry that into the seniors.

[Old Royboy]

If the team neds a big defender to take a Mitch Clark type, on form only Pyke is the shoe in. He looks very comfortable in defence and his marking is very good. Only problem is that he is still a rookie, C Bolts would have to be declared as a LTI for Pyke to get a run.

[DST]

If the team neds a big defender to take a Mitch Clark type, on form only Pyke is the shoe in. He looks very comfortable in defence and his marking is very good. Only problem is that he is still a rookie, C Bolts would have to be declared as a LTI for Pyke to get a run.

I thought we had room for two pre nominated rookies at the start of the year that could be played without a player dropping off due to injury?.

Pyke was one of them (Playfair the other).

DST

[Hartijon]

Why not Pyke?He has form,big body,speed and could be given instructions to negate Brown all day and he would follow these to the letter.I would love to see him meet Fev running flat out! The more I think about it,the more I like it!

[dimelb]

If we need a third tall defender, I'd rather see Pyke do it than Ted.

[Jewels]

If we need a third tall defender, I'd rather see Pyke do it than Ted.

Why?
He has played in the backline for a few games in the reserves and now you want him in the last line of defence against Fev and Brown!
Sure, he's very athletic and can take a good grab (in the reserves), but what does he do after the grab?
IMO he still can't kick!

[elastic]

Pyke is still learning the game. Ted is a certainty to come in for Bolton. It had been noted that Craig had not been moving so well the past few weeks and now I know why. Hopefully he'll be back to 100% before too long.
It is really noticeable when a player is not fully fit, the way the game is played now. I'd much prefer players to be rested if they a carrying an injury that would respond to rest. i think we have the depth to cover injuries to most of our players.
The flipside is that players may not want to lose their place in the side by taking a much needed week off in case they can't get back in.