stevethemanjordan

Yes, see above ^

Edited. Must have been knee and thigh given the nature of his injury which I'd forgotten about.

Had some of the morning off so I decided to venture down to have a quick look at the boys. Didn’t stay the entire time and was only really looking for the players in question for round 1. Harmes/Jetta/Garlett/Tyson - Made their way to Gosh’s eventually with the rest of the guys who played the practice match. Obviously a light day today but none of them looked to be limping/strapped/inhibited in movement in any way. I imagine they’ll all play on Sunday being best 22 or thereabouts. ANB/Lewis/Jones/O-Mac - Were all in the main group while I was there and participated fully in the drills I was there for. Oliver/T-Mac/Viney - All in rehab group. We’re all aware of the Viney situation, however at one point I observed a trainer closely inspecting his foot whilst he was sitting on the ground. From there he headed back to AAMI headquarters. So not sure what the situation is or if I’m reading too much into that observation. Oliver had his thigh/knee strapped and Tom was training in runners. The rehabbers weren’t doing much in the way of ‘work’. Light ball movement and kicking drills with Crossy. I may have missed any intense training that took place before or after. But from my limited time there, it seems Oliver and T- Mac are the question marks at this point. Mystery no show was Brayshaw unless I have a vision impairment. Which is a genuine possibility.

The curse is real.

I may as well have quoted your post word-for-word. I'll start scrolling up from now..

"Rehabilitation and return to play" "Timeframes for rehabilitation and return to sport vary depending on the nature and severity of the strain. As a general rule, Grade 1 hamstring strains should be rested from sporting activity for about three weeks.." http://sma.org.au/resources-advice/injury-fact-sheets/hamstring-strain/ Geelong will play games right up until Sunday's match I imagine. But there's no way they're going to risk the best player in the competition for a single match of a home and away season. He won't be playing and neither will Stanley. Both grade 1 tears. Both highly susceptible to reinjury if they come back too early. Think about how much wear and tear there is on the body when playing a full AFL game on the G?

Again, gotta love that we hear about this through external outlets and not the club.

Compete in a global market? lol. Nobody cares about the game outside of Australia and that's why it is such a sacred and special game given the popularity of it in our home country. I think you mean nationally, we are competing with soccer, which is a global game? The only reason the AFL continue to 'Americanise' the game is to make it more attractive globally and because $$$. As Australians, we kiss so much US dick it's disgusting.

Definitely thread-worthy.

One of many great qualities I possess.

Apologies for slight digression but I do believe it was valid for that particular example. I don't believe it was entirely a mindset thing all of those years ago against Hawthorn. It was as much a difference in list quality/class. We simply weren't anywhere near them, even if they had a few key players missing. We were both mentally frail and skill-less going into every game. And the Hawks seemed to play even harder when missing any of their stars against all teams. I understand the complacency warning in general.

Nonsense. Every year there are teams who are both strengthened and weakened by injury to individuals. Are you suggesting we wouldn't have fared better last season with full years from Viney, Hogan and Gawn? Any side playing Geelong without Dangerfield will be naturally better off. The bloke is the best player in the competition. Richmond last year had one player injured for the back-half of their year which was clearly a contributing factor to them winning the premiership. Does that make it any less sweet because of their injury luck? No. Referring back to when we played Hawthorn a few years ago is a pointless exercise as we were the laughing stock of the competition with a seriously poor list and Hawthorn were at the top of their powers. I'll take any advantage possible going into this home and away season. Dangerfield missing round 1 would be a major plus for us.

I hate to wish injury upon any player... But I really hope Dangerfield has an injury.

Watts is neat and tidy and is finishing off the hard work of his team. He’s clearly a clinical finisher. It doesn’t change the fact that when the going gets tough, he’ll go missing. He is getting very easy ball this game. It’s a good game from him. But watch Port supporters get way too excited about it.

Again, thanks for sharing nothing we don’t already know. “He’s a chance to play (in the pre-season competition) but definitely round 1.” That’s a direct quote from Goodwin from Feb 21. What is the purpose in saying such things if it’s at odds with the reality of his situation? I don’t understand it. The club need to be better at communicating. It’s not that hard to say; “Jack will be assessed closer to the eve of the season due to the lack of conditioning he’s had over the pre-season.”

You don’t need a medical degree to see the risks involved in bringing a player back too early from a foot injury. Do you? The medical staff are paid for those kinds of decisions. Paid well. The lack of foresight was quite astonishing if you ask me. I also find it weird that Goodwin and Mahoney initially said Viney would be ready to play round 1 and maybe even a JLT game a few weeks ago. Yet now the msg is that he hasn’t had enough conditioning or kms to be considered ready. If he hasn’t had any hiccups, then wouldn’t they have known that he wouldn’t be in contention for round 1 given the lack of conditioning he’s had thus far in pre-season? I know plenty of supporters don’t care about this stuff. But the lack of clarity and mixed msges surrounding injury at the MFC has always been an annoyance imo.

Unfortunately when it’s this tight to select a 22 from virtually a full list, you have to compare an orange to an apple. For real. I understand they’re different players. Which is why it’s worth asking what the team misses out on if one or the other were to be left out. We disagree on the importance of Tyson to our side. He’s really valuable when he’s at the top of his game, but anything under that and he becomes a liability due to his lack of versatility. Which is why I’d prefer someone like Harmes in the side side over him. Now that Viney is missing however, Tyson is clearly next in line as a pure ball winning mid.

Harmes > Tyson. Harmes offers our side so much more. Quicker, better skills, more dangerous around goal, a threat in the air. The love for Tyson is over the top.

Fine to have that view but whose spot does he take for round 1?

- Round 1 - B Jetta O Mac Hibberd HB Lewis Lever Hunt C Salem Viney Jones HF Hannan T Mac Melksham F Garlett Hogan Fritsch Foll Gawn Oliver Petracca Int Brayshaw Vince ANB Harmes

I genuinely don't right at this point and it stands to reason. Given how healthy our list is going into round one, the reality of the situation is that Dom is vying for a spot against team-mates who simply add more versatility to our side. And I'm not sure that can be argued with? Dom is one-paced, he isn't overly strong overhead, nimble or agile and he can't play half-back due to his kicking. So where does that leave him? We already have Jones, Viney and Oliver as definite starting mids. With a rotation of guys who offer more in other areas of the ground because of their attribute diversity. Salem, ANB, Harmes, Brayshaw, Petracca, Hannan and Melksham. If Dom is a definite starter for you, who have you left out and more importantly, how does that impact the versatility of our side which is now such a strength of ours?

Oscar and Lever work better together. So the outs for me are without doubt; Stretch, Bugg, Frost, Wagner and Maynard. Pederson touch and go.

JLT or not, it has always been a ‘Melbourne thing’ to allow an opposition to score a ridiculous run of goals to get back into a game. 7 tonight I think. That’s something that we clearly need to sort the [censored] out.

He’s clearly closer if he’s training with the main group.

Cringeworthy to say, but ‘spiritually’ speaking, it’d be huge to have him play round 1 even if he’s slightly underdone. His value to the side exceeds his game-day performance imo. Just like Selwood for Geelong. He’d lift his team mates, the crowd and he’d make certain opposition players nervous. Hopefully it’s not all just optimistic fluff.