Preview Changes v Sydney

[1970crow]

If Tex and Sloane are sore we have to give them the week off surely.

I guess not every injury will improve with a week off or potentially get worse playing with it.

 

[Paladin]

I guess not every injury will improve with a week off or potentially get worse playing with it.

True.

 

[Jack is Back]

Club has not said he has turf toe. Simply a stubbed toe.

Turf toe or stubbed toe? Could be both.

Turf toe is damage to the ligaments attached to the big toe. If you stub your toe you could bruise it, break it or damage the ligaments. In isolation you would scan the toe and if Tex feels O.K. then play him. The question mark is why did Tex have a scan on his "foot" prior to the Essendon match? It is quite possible that he has two problems with his foot. Another possibility is that the "stubbed toe" diagnosis may be BS and designed to hide the real injury.

The question for our selectors is whether to
1) Play our best 22 against both Sydney and West Coast
2) Rest some players against Sydney or
3) Rest some players against West Coast

IMHO winning against Sydney will have far, far less effect on our chances of winning the flag compared to losing Tex, Talia or Sloane for a final(s). If we lose to Sydney there is a small chance that we will play them in the Qualifying Final (if Richmond lose to either Freo or St Kilda, Port lose one of their last two matches and Sydney beat Carlton) but is this such a bad thing? I would prefer to play Sydney in the QF rather than in a knockout final (I would be delighted to play them in the Grand Final). Ironically, if we lose to Sydney then we may be able to avoid Sydney in week 1 by losing to West Coast (assuming GWS beat Geelong).

Frankly, I think it is better preparation for week 1 of the finals for us to rest any players with niggles this week and then play our best 22 against West Coast.

 

[fabs33]

No matter what the circumstances may be, there's always someone opposed to resting players, almost like it's taboo. We've got a golden opportunity here and if there's anything to be gained by resting a player, then we should do it. Let's not concern ourselves with who we might or might not play in finals, premierships aren't won by avoiding your opposition.

 

[1970crow]

Currently, the Crows only have 5-6 games left to play. with 7 weeks left in the season. Rest them this week and that could be 4 games in 7 weeks
This time of year if they are fit enough play the best Team you don't mess with form. And besides, we may be playing Sydney again in the finals and a win this week will go a long way in exorcising the demons from last years lose at home and the Demons get a little bit bigger.

We beat them at home last year.

 

[SloaneysDanger]

You didnt see them get injured on Saturday? Did you watch? Have you seen Sloane state he will need to do a huge amount of recovery to get up? Surely its better to get him 100% fit for the finals when win or lose we are set as top 2.

This seems very hard for you to comprehend! What's the reward for taking a risk with our 2 biggest assets? If we needed the 4 points sure but we dont

Nothing about this is hard for me to comprehend at all. If they are fit to play they play and if not they won't. Pretty simple really.

 

[SloaneysDanger]

That they won't take any risks with players but if they are fit they will play?

So what are we arguing about? If there are risks with any players they shouldn't play.

I'm really not sure. All I've said is if they overcome their injuries they play and if not they won't.

 

[1970crow]

Roo even said it during the Port game, they carried injured players because they had to keep winning.

Should we do the same when we don't need to keep winning?

I'm very surprised with the lack of vision by some all for the feel good factor of beating Sydney.

4 points, gotta get the 4 points.

 

[Heafy83]

Turf toe or stubbed toe? Could be both.

Turf toe is damage to the ligaments attached to the big toe. If you stub your toe you could bruise it, break it or damage the ligaments. In isolation you would scan the toe and if Tex feels O.K. then play him. The question mark is why did Tex have a scan on his "foot" prior to the Essendon match? It is quite possible that he has two problems with his foot. Another possibility is that the "stubbed toe" diagnosis may be BS and designed to hide the real injury.

The question for our selectors is whether to
1) Play our best 22 against both Sydney and West Coast
2) Rest some players against Sydney or
3) Rest some players against West Coast

IMHO winning against Sydney will have far, far less effect on our chances of winning the flag compared to losing Tex, Talia or Sloane for a final(s). If we lose to Sydney there is a small chance that we will play them in the Qualifying Final (if Richmond lose to either Freo or St Kilda, Port lose one of their last two matches and Sydney beat Carlton) but is this such a bad thing? I would prefer to play Sydney in the QF rather than in a knockout final (I would be delighted to play them in the Grand Final). Ironically, if we lose to Sydney then we may be able to avoid Sydney in week 1 by losing to West Coast (assuming GWS beat Geelong).

Frankly, I think it is better preparation for week 1 of the finals for us to rest any players with niggles this week and then play our best 22 against West Coast.

Or it could be simply be he had a sore foot and they wanted to make sure there was nothing further to it.

Certainly not playing like he has anything more serious than a stubbed toe.

Keeping Sydney away from that top 4 it HUGELY important. You do not want to be giving a team like the Swans two chances.

 

[SloaneysDanger]

Clearly we played people last season who should have been rested and I'm sure that our public statements are unchanged.

Will we again?

If players need to be rested because of injuries that's fine. What you don't do is rest 'sore' players since that's just normal at this stage of the season...

 

[Paladin]

Nothing about this is hard for me to comprehend at all. If they are fit to play they play and if not they won't. Pretty simple really.

They have injuries they could play with. On this occasion because nothing is riding on the result for us they shouldn't play. Pretty simple.

 

[ad victoriam]

I couldn't give a fig if we finish 1st or 2nd. There's no practical difference, given the way the finals are structured. The only differences are the awarding of the McLellan Trophy, and getting to play Richmond in the 1st week of the finals.

What I do care about is not giving Sydney a mental edge. Lose this, and the demons from last year's final grow bigger. Win, and they're exorcised, and Sydney have something to think about.

Agree while I would like to finish 1st, the mental edge is the bigger issue, as I believe we could be playing them later in the Finals.

 

[SloaneysDanger]

 

[Heafy83]

All going to come to nothing.

Tex and Sloane trained fully today and came through fine

Both will play.

 

[SloaneysDanger]

They have injuries they could play with. On this occasion because nothing is riding on the result for us they shouldn't play. Pretty simple.

I guess beating Sydney and finishing top is now nothing. Good to know.

 

[Vader]

4 points, gotta get the 4 points.

It's not about the 4 points - it's about team continuity, maintaining winning form, and (most importantly) getting a mental edge over Sydney (which they currently hold over us), and keeping Sydney out of the top-4. The 4 points are almost incidental.

 

[Paladin]

I guess beating Sydney and finishing top is now nothing. Good to know.

Correct Neil this weeks result will have absolutely zero bearing on our finals results. Good to see your learning

 

[Vader]

They have injuries they could play with. On this occasion because nothing is riding on the result for us they shouldn't play. Pretty simple.

Bolded bit is wrong, and doesn't become right no matter how many times you repeat it (or variations on it).

 

[GameofSloanes]

It's an interesting choice of words. You'd think if they are needing to get over an injury, then they'd have a fair bit of not doing work to do.

My take is that they want to play, but the club thinks they have some work to do to convince the selectors they're fit enough

 

[fabs33]

You've got to love the old "you don't flirt with form" chestnut. We probably had the best form anyone had seen in a long time in the first six rounds and look what that got us: a ten goal, first quarter thrashing at the hands of the Kangaroos. Wins are based on a myriad of things done right, form is just the winning trend that people notice afterwards.

 

[Vader]

Do not underestimate how important the mental aspect of the game is.

Adelaide lost to Melbourne & North Melbourne this year, because we weren't mentally switched on going into those games. If we go into this game understrength, and lose, we'll be reinforcing the doubts that Sydney put in our minds with that final last year. This is something we need to avoid if at all possible.

 

[Syd]

Would have loved to have gotten you out of the way nice and early.

Everyone we played did

 

[Paladin]

Do not underestimate how important the mental aspect of the game is.

Adelaide lost to Melbourne & North Melbourne this year, because we weren't mentally switched on going into those games. If we go into this game understrength, and lose, we'll be reinforcing the doubts that Sydney put in our minds with that final last year. This is something we need to avoid if at all possible.

Is it like when we beat west coast in the last round of 2005? When that helped us when we had to do it again 3 weeks later?

 

[Paladin]

You've got to love the old "you don't flirt with form" chestnut. We probably had the best form anyone had seen in a long time in the first six rounds and look what that got us: a ten goal, first quarter thrashing at the hands of the Kangaroos. Wins are based on a myriad of things done right, form is just the winning trend that people notice afterwards.

Every win brings you closer to a loss. I hope we rest Tex and Sloane, drop this game then fire up again for the West C game.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

If players need to be rested because of injuries that's fine. What you don't do is rest 'sore' players since that's just normal at this stage of the season...

There is no clear category where 'just sore and can play' is separate from' injured and could use a rest.'

There is a huge area in the middle where it depends on the pain threshold of the player, type of injury and, the key here, the importance of the game. If it was a preliminary final this week I'm sure Sloane and Walker would play. If we needed to win to make the top two I'm sure Sloane and Walker would play.