Port V Adelaide round 18 2007

[LBT]

I would like to see the crows make some changes again this week -

For me Hinge across half back / back pocket - Griff back in to the ruck and swapping up forward with Maric - Porplyzia forward pocket.

Doea any one know if Sellar is injured ???

Hingey...well...i dunno, solid Sanfl player, yet to break a game apart....only young tho...Sellar is struggling a little, playing in the 2's at the mo, dropped last week...still only 18....For example Westoff is 20. plenty of time left...he's a brighton boy so very unlikely to be another Angwin

[JK]

I quite like the look of Hinge as a footballer and certainly think he has an AFL future ... As mentioned, Pfeiffer has been playing some pretty good footy in recent weeks, I'd imagine he'd surely have to get a run after the Power wins on Saturday.

[sydney-dog]

hondo71

mate, good to be back

last two weeeks I have been travelling a fair bit for work, WA, QLD, VIC and SA, it's been pretty hetic, but I have heard plenty of footy goss while on the road

However, probably only about 10% is true

[Dutchy]

Good to see the Crows stick with the youth, keep Gill, reinstate Shirley and dump Campbell...unreal

[BPBRB]

Good to see the Crows stick with the youth, keep Gill, reinstate Shirley and dump Campbell...unreal

Recycling Shirley, Douglas and Porplycia seems to be the go at Crow land - in one week then dropped and so on and on. I can't believe that Campbell wasn't retained and I thought from limited on field time he did well. Surely Craig cannot have made his mind up on him from just that one limited appearance?

[sydney-dog]

Dutchy

Lets present the full facts, rather than picking and chosing snipets that support your dig, you would make an outstanding Politician

Yes Shirley comes in, however Doughty was dropped, this is a one for one swap, same age, same type of player, that will play as specific role this weekend

However, Campbell out, Douglas comes in..., last time I checked Douglas was only 19

Radar out injured, Proplyzia comes in, once again a younger player with less than 50 games

This week's side consist of
Maric, Van Berlo, Knights, Douglas, Proplyzia, Gill, Hudson and Bock who have all played less than 50 games and are young in AFL terms

[NFC]

Well done Craigy, you've outdone yourself in terms of stupidity.

Worst selection night I have ever seen.

[NFC]

This week's side consist of
Maric, Van Berlo, Knights, Douglas, Proplyzia, Gill, Hudson and Bock who have all played less than 50 games and are young in AFL terms

Cmon mate...

Porplyzia is 22, Bock 24, Gill 24 (almost 25) and Hudson 28.

They are hardly young, especially the last 3.

[Dutchy]

SD...so your comfortabel with Campbell getting dropped after one game?

[Hondo]

It's gotta be a match-up issue and I admit I haven't thought through who will match up on which Port player so the selectors would have better insight that me. They must feel that Douglas as more of a crumbing forward type is a better option than Campbell?

But, ignoring that, in principle it seems a hard call on Campbell for mine. I agreed with dropping Mattner first, Douglas and then Shirley but I'm not sure then why they then get brought back after 1 game out.

I agree with Doughty out but Shirley seems lucky to me. He usually takes S Burgoyne I think so again sounds like a match-up issue.

[Hondo]

We'd need to get the stats to settle it but I can't be bothered

I could...so far up to/including round 17.
Gibbs - Carlton - 17 games hasn't missed one.
Selwood - Geelong - 14 games
Frawley - Melbourne - 8 games
All other first round draft picks EXCEPT Sellar - Adelaide, O'Keefe - Sydney & Brown - Collingwood,
have made their debut this year...

Ahhh

Penny drops ......

FIRST ROUND draft picks - sorry all I thought Blue-boy meant ALL draft picks, not just first round

[sydney-dog]

NFC

Agree Hudson, Proplyzia and Bock are not young, however in terms of AFL games they are still inexperienced

Hudson, in terms of footy years Hudson has only been playing AFL for 5 or 6 years

Dutchy

On Campbell, yes last week he did not get much game time last and I was a little surprised to see him get dropped after one week, however I was also surprised to see him get selected, my preference would of been young Pfieffer

This year Griffen has had a taste, Knights and Van Berlo have played every game, Maric is now getting an opportunity, Douglas has had more of an opportunity, Hinge made his debut and was injured at the wrong time

Who's Left
Tippett - Ievery chance he may of debut if it was not for his injury
Pfieffer - another player who has had a bad run with sickness and injury
McIntyre - injured at the wrong time
Meesen - started year with a long term injury and still yet to prove himself
Sellar - again, injured early, not yet up to AFL standard
Campbell - again, spent a lot of time on the sideline injured

My view, it's hard to judge as some of these young blokes have not been available at the right time

[dinglinga]

bit of a worry that alot of those players are already getting injuries....

[Dutchy]

dinga...its been happening for 3 years, the Crows seem to be always fighting with injured players...theres has got to be a stage when it is not bad luck anymore

[sydney-dog]

Dutchy

I would say two years

2005 - we had a very good run with injuries
2006 - first half of the year was good, it started going bad during the second half of the year
2007 - Shocking

The club needs to do a full assessment, all clubs do, the work load on players is huge

Lets look at Rhan Hooper from the Lions, he quit the club early in December and missed most of pre-season, now he is flying and playing awesome footy, this begs the question, are the players over-trained?

Specific to the crows, they need to assess the type of injuries and possible root cause, once they understand this, hopefully they may be able to minimise the injury toll, than again, footy is a collision sport, players will always be at risk of injury

[NFC]

The development of our young players is rubbish. Given Pfeiffer’s form and talent he would be getting a game at any other club, and to think he’s not getting a game at the 12th placed club is just ridiculous.

[sydney-dog]

NFC

I can't argue with that

[Dutchy]

The development of our young players is rubbish. Given Pfeiffer’s form and talent he would be getting a game at any other club, and to think he’s not getting a game at the 12th placed club is just ridiculous.

and Shirley would not get a game with any other club

[Hondo]

One thing we need to remember is that being young shouldn't be the sole reason for playing someone - they have to be fit and ready and not getting a game just for the sake of it

Young players are coming through the system for the Crows despite how it might look from week to week - for example, McIntyre was close to being promoted from the rookie list before being injured. Plus the other examples S-D listed.

When results go south then this sort of scrutiny comes in to play and so it should. As should scrutiny on the injury list - impact injuries are bad luck but from an outsider's POV I have to question if over-emphasis on fitness is leading to over-training. Having said that, Geelong players are on record as saying their improved fitness has been a big contributor to their success this season. Maybe there's a middle ground the Crows need to find - I think there was a ramp-up of training around the middle of this season as there was late last season and there should be a review to see if that can be linked to the form and fitness issues that have cropped up since late last season.

It's been a disappointing season hopefully some good lessons are being learned for 2008!

[Psyber]

One thing we need to remember is that being young shouldn't be the sole reason for playing someone - they have to be fit and ready and not getting a game just for the sake of it

Young players are coming through the system for the Crows despite how it might look from week to week - for example, McIntyre was close to being promoted from the rookie list before being injured. Plus the other examples S-D listed.

When results go south then this sort of scrutiny comes in to play and so it should. As should scrutiny on the injury list - impact injuries are bad luck but from an outsider's POV I have to question if over-emphasis on fitness is leading to over-training. Having said that, Geelong players are on record as saying their improved fitness has been a big contributor to their success this season. Maybe there's a middle ground the Crows need to find - I think there was a ramp-up of training around the middle of this season as there was late last season and there should be a review to see if that can be linked to the form and fitness issues that have cropped up since late last season.

It's been a disappointing season hopefully some good lessons are being learned for 2008!

I think you are right - players need to be fit but there is an optimum point for each person. Everyone's body is different - push the wrong player too far in the pursuit of cardio-respiratory fitness and you start to get repetition strain injuries that reduce their overall fitness. I suspect their may be a lack of that flexibility in the Crows approach, and that some players may get selected on aerobic fitness and not on football skills.

For example, my own experience - I was never a good sprinter and would never have met the sprint standards they set these days, but I was good over about two miles and could keep the pressure on. I was also not a high leaper, but better at long jump, and I could turn sharply and keep balance, and was hardly ever knocked over in any sport.