gotassieboys
All Australian
- Jul 13, 2011
- 940
- 261
- AFL Club
- Hawthorn
got me buggered how we must delist 5 AFL listed players yet our NEAFL side can only seem to get 10 listed players on the park at once?
and our injury list is 5-6 which is probably below average
There are 39 listed players and 5 rookies which makes 44 players to pick a first and a reserves side.
Seniors generally have a reserve player in case someone in the 22 get inured. That makes 23 in total.
In theory that leaves 21 players to play reserves each week. Unfortunately with long term (season ending) and the ongoing weekly injuries (short term 1-3) the reserves more often than not are playing with only 9-12 listed players. Hence the floggings when the top up players are 18 year old boys who don't have the body shape, skill and game plan (compared to listed players).
It probably reflects the club website for injured players is not all that accurate.
As mentioned on Footy Classified this week, it is sometimes easier to play well in a good winning team then a team that gets flogged every week.
Which begs the question if a player is not playing well in the seniors are they kept in the side at the expense of those in the reserves for all the above reasons. While there has to be balance in a side it could be argued some players are lucky to be in the seniors at the moment.