I listened to Mark Riley's press conference and his reference (not for the first time) to injuries, settled teams and confidence. Myth or reality I thought. So for nothing more than a point of interest these players didn't play in these weeks (with apologies for errors):

Round 1 v Saints 93 v 62: Frawley, Sylvia, Rivers, Wheatley, Pickett.

McLean, Whelan injured first half, someone early second half.

Round 2 v Hawks 116 v 94: McLean, Frawley, Sylvia, Yze, Bartram, Pickett. I

njured Neitz first half and Robbo last quarter.

Round 3 v Geelong 109 v 57: McLean, Frawley, Neitz, Sylvia, Bartram, Robbo, Rivers, Pickett

Round 4 v Freo 137 v 92: McLean, Neitz, Johnstone, Bartram, Moloney, Robbo, Rivers, Frawley.

Round 5 v Swans 109 v 60: Jones, McLean, Frawley, Neitz, Green, Bartram, Robbo, Wheatley, Whelan

Round 6 v PA 76 v 71: McLean, Frawley, Green, Bartram, Robbo, Wheatley, Whelan.

Round 7 v Bullies 112 v 106: McLean, Frawley, Green, Bartram, Robbo, Rivers, Wheatley, Pickett, Whelan

Round 8 v WC 137 v 60: McLean, Frawley, Bartram, Moloney, Robbo, Rivers, Wheatley, Pickett, Whelan

Round 9 v Kangas 79 v 78: Bate, Sylvia, Yze, Bartram, Moloney, Rivers, Wheatley, Pickett, Whelan

Round 10: v Adelaide 89 v 72: Miller, Yze, Bartram, Moloney, Rivers, Pickett, Whelan

Round 11 v Collingwood 94 v 81: Miller, Yze, Bartram, Moloney, Rivers, Pickett, Whelan

Round 12 v Richmond 124 v 75: MIller, Neitz, Johnstone, Bartram, Moloney, Rivers, Whelan

Round 13 v Essendon 125 v 123: Miller, Frawley, Yze, Bartram, Moloney, Pickett, Rivers, Whelan

Round 14 v Carlton 124 v 101: Neitz, Yze, Johnstone, Green, Bartram, Bell, Moloney, Rivers, Bruce, Pickett, Whelan

Round 15 v Lions 126 v 82: Neitz, Yze, Petterd, Johnstone, Green, Bartram, Bell, Moloney, Rivers, Bruce, Pickett, Whelan

Round 16 v Kanga's 126 v 62: Yze, Petterd, Johnstone, Bartram, Bell, Rivers, Pickett, Davey, Whelan

Round 17 v PA 163 v 74: Yze, Petterd, Johnstone, Bartram, Rivers, Pickett, Davey, Carroll, Whelan

Round 18 v Swans 112 v 64: Frawley, Sylvia, Yze, Petterd, Johnstone, Bartram, Robertson, Rivers, Bruce, Whelan

So my conclusion is there is no myth, it's actually fact. If I had said at the beginning of the season that those players wouldn't play those games I wonder what expectations people would have had. Compounding the physical injuries is the psychological effect of such a situation.

I'm just going to put this season away, never to be opened once it's finished. What a shocker!!

Very well put, Fan.

BTW the player that we missed in the second half of round 1 was Bartram. About a week ago when Melbourne were the wipping boys and the "basket case" topic a caller rang into SEN to say, "oh Melbournes season hasn't been cause by injuries, but they're just a crap team". He then said, that what reason did we have for losing in round 1, we had all our player in. But i think he kind of forgot the fact that we were down to one player on the bench at 3 quarter time and were playing people that needed to rest.

I'll admit that we played crap that night, but sometimes the footy gods aren't smiling on you. Maybe the fact that we've had it all year will mean we get all the good stuff next year!

I'm just going to put this season away, never to be opened once it's finished. What a shocker!!

Beg to differ.

Surely we are going to learn more about the club in its time of adversity.

There should be a widespread review of the season to determine what went wrong and how to avoid or minimise it in the future.

i was wondering if walking under a ladder was an excercise on the pre season camp?

Beg to differ.

Surely we are going to learn more about the club in its time of adversity.

There should be a widespread review of the season to determine what went wrong and how to avoid or minimise it in the future.

Spot on, I was talking from a supporters perspective really.

The difficult thing about a season like this is to know where to "lay the blame". If everything goes right you can accurately see your weaknesses. When things have gone as wrong as they have for us this year how can you determine where you need to improve? What the analysis I've done shows is that we've never really had our best team on the ground over consecutive weeks. That makes it impossible to accurately judge the list. Adelaide and Collingwood were the only consecutive weeks where we didn't lose someone.

I've one mate who thinks we were a rabble based on the first half v Saints. I disagree. A half of footy is no basis to judge.

Clearly changes need to be made. We've already changed our coach, we now need to assess the playing list, our preseason program, player development, drafting, trading and medical conditioning.

But what I think is clear is that we are not nearly as bad as we seem.

But what I think is clear is that we are not nearly as bad as we seem.

I agree with that.

However, I also think that we were vastly over-rated coming into this season.

I was optimistic at the start of the season and there's no doubt that injuries have cruelled us. The nucleus of our side for 08 is substantially weighted to the Under 23 brigade: Mclean, Sylvia, Jones, Bartram, Rivers, Bell, Frawley, Moloney, Newton, Petterd, Bate, Garland and Dunn- they still have a lot to learn. Like all lists however, there are still deficiencies.

I think if we could get the opportunity to draft the likes of Cotchin and Henderson then we will have come close to addressing at least half of the problems. To do that though we may have to trade some of our more established (maybe even popular) players to get the extra draft pick. And we will certainly have to make some far tougher calls in pruning some older players from the list.

Round 19 v Swans 112 v 64: Frawley, Sylvia, Yze, Petterd, Johnstone, Bartram, Robertson, Rivers, Bruce, Whelan

So my conclusion is there is no myth, it's actually fact. If I had said at the beginning of the season that those players wouldn't play those games I wonder what expectations people would have had. Compounding the physical injuries is the psychological effect of such a situation.

I'm just going to put this season away, never to be opened once it's finished. What a shocker!!

Round 19 v Bullies - lose Bate and Godfrey at selection, McLean before the game, Frawley (ankle) during it and I think Robbo might have done hammy (?)

It just goes on and on and on ...

We haven't had many games when our best back six have played together IMO these are Whelan Carroll Bell, Wheatley Rivers Bartram. Also our best Midfielders in Mclean, McDonald, Bruce, Sylvia, Jones, Green, Johnstone, Moloney, Bate haven't been on the park together this year. Our two best forwards Neita and Robertson haven't been fully fit since the Hawthorn game. I still believe if we can get our best 22 fit and playing together we can beat any team,