- Mar 16, 2014
- 8,833
- 9,051
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
A mate of mine has a chronic neck injury, and had to give up contact sport. "If only it wasn't for the disc in my neck, I'd be fine. Everything else is in top shape!"
The thing is, damage your spine and you're in strife.
And so the Might Magpies face a similar situation: our bloody spine, broken, busted, brittle. If only it wasn't for that, we'd be fine. McStay, Howe, Cameron, Cox, Murphy, Dean, Begg ... did I miss any? It's not the number of injuries, it's the fact they are to our Key Position Players, our talls. It's like someone has been taking them out with precision drone attacks: Secretary of State Rumsfeld says just the talls, fellas. Just take out the talls. Leave the children alone if you can. We'll get the kids later ....
And so we enter Anzac Day facing a rampaging Essendon, who have two rucks that were dominant last week, one of whom gave Darcy Cameron a right royal beatdown last year. And we're in trouble. How do we face this crisis? Here's what we're likely to do:
Out: McStay, Adams (suspended), Murphy. (Wilson gets a reprieve, somehow, though Macrae might stake a claim)
In: De Goey, Ruscoe, Kruger (or Kelly if Kruger isn't fit).
Ruscoe will play the Murphy role, and Kruger will take McStay's place. DeGoey for Adams is an upgrade. But will the whole thing hold together ? I don't trust Kruger but then again, I'm not sold on McStay. Ruscoe is a decent role player, but he doesn't have Murphy's kamikaze marking or the "100% I don't care about CTE or brain injuries" attack on the ball. At least Ruscoe deserves a shot after his VFL performance and we know he can do his job. Kruger would be selected on prayers alone and we all know Kelly has been one hell of a disappointment.
All in all, it's shaky, it's brittle, it relies on our smalls (especially forwards) taking a lot of the load. Elliot, Ginnivan, will need to play tall. We know they can, but it's a lot of pressure on them.
The Dons
One of my best mates is a Dons supporter, and back around 1990-2001 I used to watch them ritually flog us. The Johnsons would bulldozer us, Mercury and Misitti and Caracella would out-class us, and my mate would sit back and laugh as I slowly stewed and brooded and wanted to punch the wall. I think I may actually have punched the wall. Ok, okay, I punched the bejeezus out of that wall. I was younger and had trouble regulating my emotions. And to be honest, we were a team of battlers.
But like Carlton, the Dons did themselves down, unravelled themselves like a cheap synthetic t-shirt, and the naivety of Hird and the coaching staff was, frankly, something I loved. They trashed their club for the best part of two decades, right to the point where I no longer took them seriously. We should take a moment to appreciate that not only did we win a Premiership in that time, and had several GF appearances, but Carlton and Essendon were the Laurel and Hardy of the competition. You just laughed at them - the fools! Get them their dunce caps! Let's take a moment this Anzac day to remember those who died on the battlefield for our freedom, and by this I don't mean Gallipoli, I mean the players in those Essendon and Carlton teams whose hope died as they went over the top on suicidal bayonet charges against better teams. They let us rise up the ladder in peace. Someone play the last post! Lest we forget! #ihonestlyfeelsorryforthem
But now both the Blues and Dons are back. Unlike the Suns, Essendon realised they needed a hardened, experienced, but still dynamic coach. They got Scott and suddenly the talent on their list is there to see. Their midfield is firing, Stringer is their (more annoying and less talented) match for DeGoey. They'll have us in the ruck and in the key posts and that's the bit that should have us worried. At full strength I wouldn't worry. But we have a month of concerns ahead of us now.
The Washup
I hate to say it, but we can't keep cobbling together a spine and hope it holds together -- and I think this week we're in trouble. We'll give as good as we get, but it's been death by a thousand KPP cuts, and somewhere along the line, we'll come off the boil. Steam will turn back into water.
I said I'd always call it as I see it. No false optimism and no deep pessimism. Just a cold hard look at the truth. So ...
Essendon by 11 points.
Bring back Hird for chrissakes. We need another supplement scandal! Otherwise I'm gonna punch the wall!
The thing is, damage your spine and you're in strife.
And so the Might Magpies face a similar situation: our bloody spine, broken, busted, brittle. If only it wasn't for that, we'd be fine. McStay, Howe, Cameron, Cox, Murphy, Dean, Begg ... did I miss any? It's not the number of injuries, it's the fact they are to our Key Position Players, our talls. It's like someone has been taking them out with precision drone attacks: Secretary of State Rumsfeld says just the talls, fellas. Just take out the talls. Leave the children alone if you can. We'll get the kids later ....
And so we enter Anzac Day facing a rampaging Essendon, who have two rucks that were dominant last week, one of whom gave Darcy Cameron a right royal beatdown last year. And we're in trouble. How do we face this crisis? Here's what we're likely to do:
Out: McStay, Adams (suspended), Murphy. (Wilson gets a reprieve, somehow, though Macrae might stake a claim)
In: De Goey, Ruscoe, Kruger (or Kelly if Kruger isn't fit).
Ruscoe will play the Murphy role, and Kruger will take McStay's place. DeGoey for Adams is an upgrade. But will the whole thing hold together ? I don't trust Kruger but then again, I'm not sold on McStay. Ruscoe is a decent role player, but he doesn't have Murphy's kamikaze marking or the "100% I don't care about CTE or brain injuries" attack on the ball. At least Ruscoe deserves a shot after his VFL performance and we know he can do his job. Kruger would be selected on prayers alone and we all know Kelly has been one hell of a disappointment.
All in all, it's shaky, it's brittle, it relies on our smalls (especially forwards) taking a lot of the load. Elliot, Ginnivan, will need to play tall. We know they can, but it's a lot of pressure on them.
The Dons
One of my best mates is a Dons supporter, and back around 1990-2001 I used to watch them ritually flog us. The Johnsons would bulldozer us, Mercury and Misitti and Caracella would out-class us, and my mate would sit back and laugh as I slowly stewed and brooded and wanted to punch the wall. I think I may actually have punched the wall. Ok, okay, I punched the bejeezus out of that wall. I was younger and had trouble regulating my emotions. And to be honest, we were a team of battlers.
But like Carlton, the Dons did themselves down, unravelled themselves like a cheap synthetic t-shirt, and the naivety of Hird and the coaching staff was, frankly, something I loved. They trashed their club for the best part of two decades, right to the point where I no longer took them seriously. We should take a moment to appreciate that not only did we win a Premiership in that time, and had several GF appearances, but Carlton and Essendon were the Laurel and Hardy of the competition. You just laughed at them - the fools! Get them their dunce caps! Let's take a moment this Anzac day to remember those who died on the battlefield for our freedom, and by this I don't mean Gallipoli, I mean the players in those Essendon and Carlton teams whose hope died as they went over the top on suicidal bayonet charges against better teams. They let us rise up the ladder in peace. Someone play the last post! Lest we forget! #ihonestlyfeelsorryforthem
But now both the Blues and Dons are back. Unlike the Suns, Essendon realised they needed a hardened, experienced, but still dynamic coach. They got Scott and suddenly the talent on their list is there to see. Their midfield is firing, Stringer is their (more annoying and less talented) match for DeGoey. They'll have us in the ruck and in the key posts and that's the bit that should have us worried. At full strength I wouldn't worry. But we have a month of concerns ahead of us now.
The Washup
I hate to say it, but we can't keep cobbling together a spine and hope it holds together -- and I think this week we're in trouble. We'll give as good as we get, but it's been death by a thousand KPP cuts, and somewhere along the line, we'll come off the boil. Steam will turn back into water.
I said I'd always call it as I see it. No false optimism and no deep pessimism. Just a cold hard look at the truth. So ...
Essendon by 11 points.
Bring back Hird for chrissakes. We need another supplement scandal! Otherwise I'm gonna punch the wall!
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