Stevens Can not simply be replaced.....the way he grabs the pill from the centre bounce and creates play is something i cant see in any other player on our list.....


his loss will limit our chances of winning too many games this year, but its alright, bcuase at last, we the supporters can see the Bigger Picture from a distance and most of us understand where the Club at......


2008 will be a huge one for us... we might just be knocking on the finals..... as for this year, well lets just sit back and enjoy the kids play and develop

All the best Nick - you will be sorely missed

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Fair cop! Looks like Stevens' absence might be good for you then. You'll be able to marvel at the abilities of a few of our kids who will be every good as Stevens and most likely a hell of a lot better.

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People called for Stevo to be dropped last year because he wasnt accountable, didnt chase, didnt do the team things..
Lets see how good we are without him now..

As much as I love Stevo, I still think we will be ok- this team has a belief now that they can really go places, and in each of our comebacks this season players like Murph, Bentick, Cloke, Fish, Fevs have led the way.. thats not to say Stevo hasnt played his part (he is consistently good) but the boys have an infectious belief in one another now that without Stevo, Whitnall (virtually) and Kouta big thigns can still happen..

2 years ago, or even last year if Whitnall and Kouta would have as little impact on games as they have had this year, we would have thought 100+ floggings would come our way every week- this has certainly not been the case so far.
Lets see how well we go without Stevo..

Yes i certainly look forward to that....but this " hell alot better " is somehow unrealistic....The kids need few years in the system to reach Steven's Status, so dont count on miracles.....

This is a fantastic challenge to our younger players, we don't yet know how good they can be and they don't either. This could really be the making of players like Young, Blackwell, Jackson, Russell, Gibbs, Murphy and Walker. Kade Simpson now finds himself the premier midfielder at the club along with Adam Bentick and of course Heath Scotland - what a wonderful opportunity to show the football world just how good you really are.

My pick is Murphy, Walker and Russell will have stellar years with Gibbs really stepping up. The long season on young bodies will be the problem for the club in the second half of the season but I still think we'll be more than competitive.

EDIT: Forgot Carrazzo! Add him to that midfield list now I think he's ready.

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The great are great to us only because we are on our knees. Let us arise.
--Robert Collier

I had a chat with my Chiro (who treats a few footballers) this morning. He thinks that Stevens chances of playing again are less then 50/50. He says this type of damage is hard to repair and easy to reoccur if he plays again.

And that's why he's a chiro...

There are prolapses and there are prolapses......given that the club was actually thinking about the possibility of playing on or even conservative treatment...I would have to guess that it's at the lower end of the range.

Two things to keep in mind...
1) every situation is different
2) All treatments have some mlevel of unpredictability (especially surgery)

You can only take one option and lessen the chances of problems and maximise the chances of success. If these were LESS than 50/50 you would struggle to find any surgeon willing to take it one as the perception would be that the surgery "didn't work"

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“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee

It sucks. I had him all primed for the B&F this year. Let's hope he gets back next year and it all goes well.

But if we struggle this year, at least now we can blame injuries!

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Long live the Mighty Blues.

I asked my dad (a radiologist) about Stevens' diagnosis as well-
he said the procedure can bring back strength to the neck (if done right) and will be stronger in that region then he would have before he began his career..
lesson- dont listen to chiros..

Amen.

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I asked my dad, who's an IT consultant, and he had no idea.

But still sent me an invoice.

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Congratulations CK95

Lesson: Don't trust IT Consultants.

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The great are great to us only because we are on our knees. Let us arise.
--Robert Collier

Kinda off topic here, but if I ever had any problems with my joints or mobility (as far as going to see a Chiropractor) I would steer well clear of them. My experiences with Chiro's have been rather pathetic, they seemed afraid to touch me to relieve my pain and give me a good snap in my lower back.

The solution? Well it is still "manipulation" and along similar lines to a Chiropractor but MUCH better. They are called "Osteopaths" and for anyone with back pain or muscular/joint problems I recommend you look up a local one in the phone book!!

Regards, Sticks1977

Edit: just remembered... our ex-captain, Brett Ratten used to go and see an osteopath in Boronia by the name of Dennis Wright (even though Dennis supports Essendon*!)

I used to see a physio when I was playing footy back in Melbourne. She was also a club physio for Richmond at one stage. Her advice to any footballers coming in was: Don't play football. She felt it was ethically unsound to encourage anybody to participate in an activity where collisions were normal.

She fixed my hammy, however my alcoholism was out of her juristiction.

Are you for real??

Your asking a guy to take guys on that have played footy all their lives with only two years behind him?

The least we can do is increase his experiance by another 30% or so, and ease him into it next year.

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Aisake is 202cm and 102kg and doesn't turn 22 till August....he's just a big kid who is learning the trade like his big brother.....Patience!

Don't like the guy? I don't like or dislike the guy. I hope he makes it because we desperately need a real ruckman.

I'm just concerned that he hasn't shown a bit more to date, and yes I realise that he hasn't had the chance this year because of his suspension. I just look at the realities of our situation, they're aren't that many spots on our list that are going to be available at the end of the year.

Why not? We asked the same of Setanta at the same stage of his development.