Blues Clues wrote:
4thchicken wrote:
King Kenny wrote:
So all I read is injuries are an excuse.
Players not available? how about the following?
Casboult <- missed most of season with a knee. Has played 2 games back - 1 in VFL, one in ants reserves)
Mitchell <- missed most of season with shoulder - been back in the ants for around a mth and still building fitness
McCarthy <- skinny, project player, not ready yet
Russell <- given games at start of year, dropped due to poor form
Bower <- given games at start of year, dropped due to poor form
Dale <- been close a few times. WIll probably get games before end of year
Ellard <- given games at start of year, dropped due to poor form
Thornton <- given games at start of year, got injured, for whatever reason hasn't been recalled yet
Buckley <- not quite ready yet. Missed 2+ mths with a torn finger ligaments
Bootsma <- played a few games, dropped b/c he was struggling with physicality. Not physically ready yet
Davies <- missed most of season with shoulder - has played 1, maybe 2 games since coming back
Kerr <- hasn't done enough
O'Keefe <- missed 2+ mths with foot injuries (til mid may). Still building back up fitness/performances
White <- missed most of season with knee - has played 1, maybe 2 games since coming back
In effect,
- 6/14 players listed have missed 2+ mths of football each and are all building back their fitness/conditioning/touch (casboult, mitchell, buckley, ROK, davies, white). You can add Rowe to that list as well.
- 4/14 have played 6+ games each (russell, thornton, bower, ellard) - most lost their places due to poor form and haven't done enough to earn a recall yet (thornton the exception, though there were reports on this board that his fitness was quite low)
- 2/14 aren't physically ready yet (bootsma/mccarthy) - bootsma was given a few games until he got monstered by the hawks
That leaves Kerr and Dale as the other 2 that have been available. Dale has been close and will get games before the end of the season. Kerr hasn't done enough and from most reports is likely to run out of time to impress.
Good post 4th, just a pity that the likes of JR & Bower haven't recaptured their previous form, who knows why.
Though, Ellard was very stiff to be axed for Pies game, it wasn't so much "poor form", but Curnow playing pretty good footy in the magoos to the point he could be ignored no longer. The problem now for Ellard is that he has Bell now showing a bit, so he'll have to work extra hard to get back in from here.
JR is surely up there in our top 3 flops of the recent era, he promised so much at draft pick8 or 9 from memory, he took a good 3 nearly 4 years to keep a spot in the seniors, he then had a very encouraging 09 (I think but was stll dropped at times on form) then as mentioned b4, had a break-out season in 2010 coming 2nd to the Judd in the B&F, had hip surgery post 2010 and to put it gently hasnt really done sweet FA since, and now, in possibly one of our most trying and desperate times, when blokes like bootsma and mkinnes are walking into the 1's without even showing particularly deserving form in the 2's - yet Jordan Russell cant even muster up the ticker to take this opportunity by the bloody scrote and DO ANYTHING!!!...........wtf is going on there???? he's either lame from the hip surgery, or his career consisted of two decent seasons, or maybe he's got beef with gibbs so plays crap in the two's so ratts has to keep laying gipper across half back which obviously is pissing him off in a major way bcoz he doesnt look like he wants to even be playing footy at the moment.
At this stage of quite possibly the most heartbreaking season since 99 there's really no point trying to blood kids with 7 or 8 games left, I considered bootsmas debut, and Mkinnes, and someone else I cant quite recall right this second (prob Collins) way ahead of its due date, neither of them strung enough games of good form together in the 2's to warrant a spot in the 1's, we just didnt have anyone else fit so they were lucky.
I persnally dont recall Ellard playing badly at any stage of him being thrown the rope this year.
maybe he has nasty nicknames for Alfred E Ratten that the boys use too much...?
How we could go into that Collingwood game (just so damn lucky they decided to play that week unanimously drunk) and then the Nth game, with key defence of Watson, and a pretty average formed Jamo & the Hendo - both rushed back from potentially career destroying injuries after only 1 or 2 weeks off, & some 3rd game kid called McKinnes, while leavingEllard, Russel Bower and the Bird, regardless of their form in the two's, in the reserves team - IS JUST BEYOND ME..................
Fwiw I see JW'31 as our 2nd or 3rd mst vital cog to ultimate success, after CJ5, and either MM3, or MK8 (who im praying ill be wrong about btw).
so after that bolognaise of hidden queries i guess my most straightforward question would just be WHY THE WAITE. Surely it hasnt taken them til now to realise he's actually about as close to a permanently injured player as there ever has been.......
I love him MASSIVELY, I rate him as important as cloke to coll, tippet to crows, petrie to Nth, so what in gods name happened , and I dont mean what happened last night, i mean what happened to the guy who wouldve, shouldve and couldve been a 2, possibly 3 time premiership CHF??
While Im at it I want to now why the got rid of setanta at a very opportunistic age (and 12 months after firing the Fevulation, and who in gods name did the expect to be stepping into their positions up fwd. If you answer me with Waite, I'll say how many more injuries to that midriff hip leg lower back/hammy area do u need to see him go down with b4 u realise he's not going to ever be fixed.......and why did u even bothertaking Lachie for Fev if u r not persiting with him in the FORWARD line. and finally are we going to wait til casboult and Mitchell are like Way=tes age and fragility before we realise they aint gonna be stars either, sorry, but I just dont see it in their futures at all.