injuryupdate
16-03-2005, 10:26 AM
Article by Rohan Connolly below. However, it looks to have actually have been a good year for pre-season injuries, as not all clubs even rate a mention below (i.e. quite a few clubs will enter round 1 with their top team in).
Surviving pre-season injuries a test of depth
By Rohan Connolly
March 16, 2005
No team expects to get through an AFL season without some sort of serious injury. It's when they happen, and to whom, that sorts out those teams that can recover from those whose hopes suffer a mortal blow.
Which is why Collingwood must be starting to feel more than a little jittery about a season just over a week away. For the second year in a row, the Magpies have endured a less-than-ideal preparation, and the consequences a year ago haunted them throughout 2004.
Then, it was a late start to training because of their 2003 grand final appearance and subsequent trip to London, and a host of players whose returns were delayed through post-season surgery. That wasn't the case this time, most of the key Pies up and running before Christmas. But the attrition rate since then has all but cancelled out that advantage.
Skipper Nathan Buckley has done little and played less since tearing his hamstring six weeks ago. Chris Tarrant has just returned from a spell out with a groin and back injury. Back-up ruckman Guy Richards already has had surgery to a torn posterior cruciate ligament. And now his senior partner Josh Fraser has bitten the dust for the next couple of months.
Buckley's importance goes without saying, a slow start by Tarrant would greatly increase the pressure upon fellow key forward Anthony Rocca, while the absence of Fraser and Richards might well force Collingwood to pit recently upgraded rookie David Fanning against one the best ruckman around in Luke Darcy in the first game.
But Collingwood isn't the only team cursing its wretched pre-season luck. Even Wizard Cup winner Carlton's joy would have been tempered a little by the knee injury to key defender Bret Thornton, who'll miss at least the first month. While still little-heralded beyond Optus Oval, at centre half-back, Thornton is of critical strategic importance to the Blues.
Carlton has potential replacements, but in each case would be robbing Peter to pay Paul, David Teague and Karl Norman better suited to flanks, Digby Morrell a handy "swingman" forward or back, Ian Prendergast's athleticism making him more value around the ball, and skipper Anthony Koutoufides, himself under an injury cloud, the potential icing on the forward cake.
The Kangaroos' loss of Daniel Motlop until at least round 18 after a shoulder reconstruction is also, like that of Thornton, one probably only fully appreciated by the Roos' inner-sanctum, his capacity to turn on some magic exactly the sort of "game-breaking" quality the Roos needed alongside Daniel Wells and Brent Harvey.
Richmond, too, has had to do some serious revising of its pre-season plans after losing key defender Jay Schulz and exciting little man David Rodan over consecutive weekends.
Schulz's broken ankle, which will keep him out of at least the first six rounds, is even more problematic. He had been groomed all summer as centre half-back by new coach Terry Wallace. Since his injury, the Tigers have tried Shane Morrison and Ray Hall there, and still haven't settled on a replacement for round one.
Only a year ago, the loss of a midfielder such as Richard Hadley for the season barely would have caused the Brisbane Lions a hiccup. It's a much bigger problem now, with skipper Michael Voss' battered body reducing him to midfield cameos, Simon Black out suspended for the first three games, Nigel Lappin returning only now from injury and old stagers Shaun Hart and Craig McRae no longer at the club.
And the significance of Matthew Lloyd's broken arm to Essendon barely needs stating. The fact that coach Kevin Sheedy could bowl up Aaron Henneman, a fringe player who has tallied only 48 games in five seasons, is a comment itself on the paucity of obvious replacements.
Just how well those clubs affected survive the pre-season casualty toll and a consequently tougher start to the 2005 season will go a long way to determining how they finish.
But in a race in which everyone supposedly starts equal, they've already been handicapped.
PRE-SEASON INJURIES
BRISBANE LIONS
Richard Hadley (knee) season
CARLTON Anthony Koutoufides (knee) avail
Bret Thornton (knee) 6-8 weeks
COLLINGWOOD Nathan Buckley (hamstring) test
Chris Tarrant (groin/back) available
Guy Richards (knee) 2-3 weeks
Josh Fraser (knee) 6-8 weeks
ESSENDON
Matthew Lloyd (arm) 6 weeks
KANGAROOS
Daniel Motlop (shoulder) 18 weeks
RICHMOND
Jay Schulz (ankle) 6 weeks
David Rodan (knee) season
Surviving pre-season injuries a test of depth
By Rohan Connolly
March 16, 2005
No team expects to get through an AFL season without some sort of serious injury. It's when they happen, and to whom, that sorts out those teams that can recover from those whose hopes suffer a mortal blow.
Which is why Collingwood must be starting to feel more than a little jittery about a season just over a week away. For the second year in a row, the Magpies have endured a less-than-ideal preparation, and the consequences a year ago haunted them throughout 2004.
Then, it was a late start to training because of their 2003 grand final appearance and subsequent trip to London, and a host of players whose returns were delayed through post-season surgery. That wasn't the case this time, most of the key Pies up and running before Christmas. But the attrition rate since then has all but cancelled out that advantage.
Skipper Nathan Buckley has done little and played less since tearing his hamstring six weeks ago. Chris Tarrant has just returned from a spell out with a groin and back injury. Back-up ruckman Guy Richards already has had surgery to a torn posterior cruciate ligament. And now his senior partner Josh Fraser has bitten the dust for the next couple of months.
Buckley's importance goes without saying, a slow start by Tarrant would greatly increase the pressure upon fellow key forward Anthony Rocca, while the absence of Fraser and Richards might well force Collingwood to pit recently upgraded rookie David Fanning against one the best ruckman around in Luke Darcy in the first game.
But Collingwood isn't the only team cursing its wretched pre-season luck. Even Wizard Cup winner Carlton's joy would have been tempered a little by the knee injury to key defender Bret Thornton, who'll miss at least the first month. While still little-heralded beyond Optus Oval, at centre half-back, Thornton is of critical strategic importance to the Blues.
Carlton has potential replacements, but in each case would be robbing Peter to pay Paul, David Teague and Karl Norman better suited to flanks, Digby Morrell a handy "swingman" forward or back, Ian Prendergast's athleticism making him more value around the ball, and skipper Anthony Koutoufides, himself under an injury cloud, the potential icing on the forward cake.
The Kangaroos' loss of Daniel Motlop until at least round 18 after a shoulder reconstruction is also, like that of Thornton, one probably only fully appreciated by the Roos' inner-sanctum, his capacity to turn on some magic exactly the sort of "game-breaking" quality the Roos needed alongside Daniel Wells and Brent Harvey.
Richmond, too, has had to do some serious revising of its pre-season plans after losing key defender Jay Schulz and exciting little man David Rodan over consecutive weekends.
Schulz's broken ankle, which will keep him out of at least the first six rounds, is even more problematic. He had been groomed all summer as centre half-back by new coach Terry Wallace. Since his injury, the Tigers have tried Shane Morrison and Ray Hall there, and still haven't settled on a replacement for round one.
Only a year ago, the loss of a midfielder such as Richard Hadley for the season barely would have caused the Brisbane Lions a hiccup. It's a much bigger problem now, with skipper Michael Voss' battered body reducing him to midfield cameos, Simon Black out suspended for the first three games, Nigel Lappin returning only now from injury and old stagers Shaun Hart and Craig McRae no longer at the club.
And the significance of Matthew Lloyd's broken arm to Essendon barely needs stating. The fact that coach Kevin Sheedy could bowl up Aaron Henneman, a fringe player who has tallied only 48 games in five seasons, is a comment itself on the paucity of obvious replacements.
Just how well those clubs affected survive the pre-season casualty toll and a consequently tougher start to the 2005 season will go a long way to determining how they finish.
But in a race in which everyone supposedly starts equal, they've already been handicapped.
PRE-SEASON INJURIES
BRISBANE LIONS
Richard Hadley (knee) season
CARLTON Anthony Koutoufides (knee) avail
Bret Thornton (knee) 6-8 weeks
COLLINGWOOD Nathan Buckley (hamstring) test
Chris Tarrant (groin/back) available
Guy Richards (knee) 2-3 weeks
Josh Fraser (knee) 6-8 weeks
ESSENDON
Matthew Lloyd (arm) 6 weeks
KANGAROOS
Daniel Motlop (shoulder) 18 weeks
RICHMOND
Jay Schulz (ankle) 6 weeks
David Rodan (knee) season