We still have injuries - that excuse is for losers!

[E]

I found it very interesting to observe that we have no fewer than 11 senior list players out with injuries right now. At the end of last season, you might even have been able to mount a case that our entire best forward line is out injured.

Varcoe Moore, Elliot
Faz Moore Wells

What is interesting is that we aren't complaining about injuries this year and yet over the past several years we have been lamenting Nathan Buckley's horrific luck with injuries. I think that was rubbish.

I think what we are proving this year is when you have a core group of players all executing a game plan and playing their defined roles, you can cover injuries without too much of a drop off.

So we are missing Aish - Mayne come in and plays the Aish role.

So Reid cant get up - Mihocek comes in and plays his role.

Moore is down. No problem, Howe can play as a tall and Scharenberg can be the intercept guy.

No Faz or Elliot - oh well, we have Thomas and Stevo and WHE to step up.

I guess what i am saying is that i can see why others roll their eyes and laugh when people complain about injuries.......

onwards and upwards.

[simon tonna]

That's right!

The team has galvanized some what and it's seen off challenges brought forward by what would normally set a team backward.
This is where bucks and the brains trust have trumped the naysayers.

[qldmagpie67]

E it's interesting that during preseason training we rotated players in a variety of roles.
Warburton lad noted many times in his training reports that players were switched into different roles.
It has sort of made as a much versatile side and less reliant on one or 2 players.
Injuries now are covered so much better.
We have (as supporters) bemoaned that when playerA goes down we don't have the depth or a suitable replacement
As you highlighted one goes down another steps up
The other thing is we now share the workload a lot more
Be it in the midfield or up forward we have options if someone is being held or having a quieter night someone else steps up
It's a good place to be

[Haff]

Reckon it speaks to he players out. Moore should be traded IMO (even if you have him in two positions ) as I don’t see where he fits? Maybe as an upgrade to Dunn but right now the team is balanced and he throws that balance out.

[glasseyevfx]

^ I can see why you would be considering that but whenever I question the effectiveness of a player I flip the coin and ask myself if I want to play against him. Moore is a difficult match up to anyone that comes along - I'd rather him playing for us. He has a lot of upside.

[K]

Hip surgery ends Maynard's season...




... Okay, just brother Corey....

[RudeBoy]

It's not rubbish that injuries cruelled our last couple of seasons - because we simply did not have the depth of quality players to cover injured players.

While it's no doubt true that our team is playing better football, and more reliant on system and structure, than individual talent, it's also true that our list of quality players runs far deeper than previous years.

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

Our list runs marginally deeper than other years, but it's cocky to say that we can cope with a lot of injuries by being able to slot in other players who can play similar roles. We have a small core of players holding the team together as every other AFL team has. Lose that core group of players is like opening a flood gate. GWS lost Josh Kelly and Whitfield and despite their depth they couldn't cope. That's why it's important to get Aish, Elliot and Moore back as soon as possible.

[Pies2016]

Injuries in footy is a topic with many layers.
On occasions, injuries are a convenient excuse ( mainly because all teams get them at some point ) and on other occasions, they are a valid reason for a loss.
The injuries that really hurt you are the ones that occur early in a game and by half time, you end up trying to outrun a quality team with two less players on the park.
Those injuries have a big impact on the likely loss at the end of the game. I don’t call that an excuse for losing, more like a part reason for losing ON THE DAY ONLY. Then the club gets a full week to replace those injured players for the following weekend and it’s 22 against 22 once again.

I don’t buy into the better structures and systems being the ( only ) reason as to why we are covering our injuries better. If that injured player is replaced by someone who isn’t ready to play that role, then that system will break down anyway.
This year finally and as R B says, our list profile has evolved to be better prepared for injuries, so we aren’t exposing players who aren’t up to the challenge.

Then there are the players who are totally irreplaceable and they are usually quality ruckman. Eagles couldn’t win without Natnui. Tigers won a flag on the back of recruiting a decent ruckman. Port struggled without Ryder and if we lose Grundy, we are screwed. Whether you would call his injury an excuse or a reason for losing, is up to the individual.

[inxs88]

[E]

[RudeBoy]

[foreigner]

I think there have been more than one reason for us being able to cover for the injuries this year compared to previous seasons,

1. Some good recruiting and the recruits being ready to go at the highest level
2. Players maturing and understanding each others capabilities
3. A relaxed senior coach making the players enjoy their game (maybe that happened in parallel with us starting to win a few games)
4. Player confidence growing - this helps heaps in keeping momentum
5. A pro-active and agile game plan (the restructured coaching dept would be the key in this), and a sustainable one
6. Player willingness and ability to fit into different but specific roles as needed (coaching and training would have helped in this)
7. Belief that we can beat anyone and everyone playing for each other, celebrating achievements, sharing workload - a positive environment to be in

It has all clicked this year, whereas in previous seasons we didn't seem to be heading in any direction, just trying to scrape through and every win came due a gigantic effort which would have worn out most players.

[Piesnchess]

Hmm. perhaps, but I still think with the likes of Moore, Aish, Fasolo and Elliott in the team, with Thomas, Monicher on the bench we would be even stronger than we are now. Just saying.

[K]

If Richmond swapped injury lists with GWS or Adelaide, their ladder positions would also be swapped (to a good approx.).