Given his hard man reputation you have to question why he was sumped from the leadership group.
I'll still be a leader, vows Yze
13 February 2006 Herald Sun
Jon Ralph
FIVE months ago Adem Yze led Melbourne into an elimination final against Geelong as the acting captain, having overcome a groin strain that should have ended his consecutive games record at an even 200.
New focus: Adem Yze tries a different game on the Gold Coast. He is confident of playing more consistently this season.
Picture: Tim Carrafa
Not only had Yze just been dumped entirely from the club's leadership role, but he had to cope with the fallout of a drastic form slump last year that mirrored his side's seven-game losing streak.
While Melbourne finally recovered to grab a finals berth, Yze had no impact in that humbling thrashing at the hands of Geelong, after taking over the helm from an injured David Neitz.
But rather than spend an off-season despairing about his performance or his demotion from the leadership group, Yze has gone about identifying the reasons behind them. He says he is well-placed to eradicate the inconsistency of 2005.
He might still be smarting about losing his vice-captaincy, but says he will carry on as a leader at the club, regardless of title.
"They have gone with more of a youth policy so they have put a couple of younger guys in there, so they have made it a smaller group," he said yesterday after the club's corporate golf day in Robina Woods on the Gold Coast.
"I was a little bit disappointed at the start and would have loved to have still been vice-captain, but that is the decision they have made.
"So I will just have to worry about getting myself up, and maybe it might prolong my career.
"I remember Garry Lyon saying he felt the pressure of being the captain of the club, when he was trying to get back from injury, was too much for him.
"So I am 28 now and still think I have a lot of footy left in me, and I will still be the same bloke around the club."
Yze started the season in a blaze with a pair of four-goal bags from the forward pocket to kick-start the year. But as Melbourne's momentum dried up mid-year, he was pushed to half-back to stem the bleeding.
He found that after loitering in the forward pocket letting his fitness ebb away, he did not have the tank to match it with his fleet-footed opponents.
"I just think I got stale playing forward pocket. I got stuck down there, and if you are playing there for half a year, you do lose a lot of fitness.
"I actually pulled the pin in a couple of games. I went into the midfield and I just couldn't do it. I just felt I didn't have enough to stay with my man, so I had to change and go forward again.
"From chatting to the coach, so far I have been training at half-back and playing half-back, maybe for the first half of the year. I should keep my fitness, and if I do move forward later in the year, I can do that. We just figured that out the hard way."
Yze, with 232 AFL games, including 201 in a row, needs only 41 more to break Robert Flower's club games record and 44 to eclipse Jim Stynes' record of 244 consecutive games.
The 28-year-old says right now he could not care less about setting records for the club. "I will be really proud of how many games I have played, but I won't look at how many games I have played in a row," he said.
I'll still be a leader, vows Yze
13 February 2006 Herald Sun
Jon Ralph
FIVE months ago Adem Yze led Melbourne into an elimination final against Geelong as the acting captain, having overcome a groin strain that should have ended his consecutive games record at an even 200.
New focus: Adem Yze tries a different game on the Gold Coast. He is confident of playing more consistently this season.
Picture: Tim Carrafa
Not only had Yze just been dumped entirely from the club's leadership role, but he had to cope with the fallout of a drastic form slump last year that mirrored his side's seven-game losing streak.
While Melbourne finally recovered to grab a finals berth, Yze had no impact in that humbling thrashing at the hands of Geelong, after taking over the helm from an injured David Neitz.
But rather than spend an off-season despairing about his performance or his demotion from the leadership group, Yze has gone about identifying the reasons behind them. He says he is well-placed to eradicate the inconsistency of 2005.
He might still be smarting about losing his vice-captaincy, but says he will carry on as a leader at the club, regardless of title.
"They have gone with more of a youth policy so they have put a couple of younger guys in there, so they have made it a smaller group," he said yesterday after the club's corporate golf day in Robina Woods on the Gold Coast.
"I was a little bit disappointed at the start and would have loved to have still been vice-captain, but that is the decision they have made.
"So I will just have to worry about getting myself up, and maybe it might prolong my career.
"I remember Garry Lyon saying he felt the pressure of being the captain of the club, when he was trying to get back from injury, was too much for him.
"So I am 28 now and still think I have a lot of footy left in me, and I will still be the same bloke around the club."
Yze started the season in a blaze with a pair of four-goal bags from the forward pocket to kick-start the year. But as Melbourne's momentum dried up mid-year, he was pushed to half-back to stem the bleeding.
He found that after loitering in the forward pocket letting his fitness ebb away, he did not have the tank to match it with his fleet-footed opponents.
"I just think I got stale playing forward pocket. I got stuck down there, and if you are playing there for half a year, you do lose a lot of fitness.
"I actually pulled the pin in a couple of games. I went into the midfield and I just couldn't do it. I just felt I didn't have enough to stay with my man, so I had to change and go forward again.
"From chatting to the coach, so far I have been training at half-back and playing half-back, maybe for the first half of the year. I should keep my fitness, and if I do move forward later in the year, I can do that. We just figured that out the hard way."
Yze, with 232 AFL games, including 201 in a row, needs only 41 more to break Robert Flower's club games record and 44 to eclipse Jim Stynes' record of 244 consecutive games.
The 28-year-old says right now he could not care less about setting records for the club. "I will be really proud of how many games I have played, but I won't look at how many games I have played in a row," he said.
