Are his injuries related to his first season? My memory is he had a couple of ankle/contact type injuries in the 2022 pre season and then has only started having the back issues in the 2023 preseason.
But a stitch in time saves nine.
5 Likes
We pushed him onto the field instead of focusing on getting his body ready. So we didnāt injure his back in his first year, but we neglected the foundation work that would keep him healthy long term. We knew he was a slow burn, but rushed him.
On the surface Iād agree this is highly plausible.
Sometimes the āplay the kidsā mantra is not the best path of development. I think we are witnessing a patient approach now, which unfortunately is now reactive instead of proactive.
1 Like
by that logic you shouldnāt be playing any newly drafted kids in the first year, which is obviously not feesible.
his issues have seemingly started in the off season of 2022, in the prime building phase in your example, cos once he did show signs of 1 year burn out he was dropped and didnāt return, from vague memory i think he was still available and or playing vfl around the time of finals so could have been picked.
but there is something in peoples concerns re drafting.
I know people hold up the curnow stuff as the beacon of hope, but they seem to forget curnows injuries were self inflicted by being a ratbag off the field, wasnāt it a skating accident or something that ā ā ā ā ā ā him up.
the mckays, kings, de konings, weitering and a whole bunch of other talls donāt seem to have missed as much footy (granted i didnāt look that much into it) through growing pains and either played afl or vfl footy in that time.
Itās probably a bigger indication the fitness department has been ā ā ā ā , and the 2 most at risk kids cos of height have suffered due to it.
Thatās why it was a shock with all the sackings/leavings that murphy kept his job. thatās why iām skeptical about the ātaking a caustious lineā from the club.
iām more inclined to think they donāt want heat/backlash for not moving murphy on, so that line is getting trotted out.
cos if they were being cautious and results donāt matter this year cos itās building for the long term, why did stringer, after brad admits he was playing injured last year, and also getting injured in preseason and questionable looking physique for a professional footballer, only play one game in the vfl, when even people on here thought he was still labouring and then other posters on here pointed out he always starts slow when coming back into the afl ?
if you were cautious and even supporters can see stuff in stringer, why was his ācautious approachā only 1 week in the vfl ?
why not get him cherry ripe in the vfl before getting him back, again considering itās not about a sugar hit this year and about long term development ?
Thereās a difference between blindly not playing kids and making sure they are ready.
Tsatas looks to have had leg development weaknesses that made him vulnerable to his knee injury. That should have been identified and a program in place to build him up properly so he could handle full training. Instead we are doing the strength stuff after the injury, rather than before.
Cox and Reid have both suffered back injuries that are likely preventable with adequate strengthening. That strengthening program may have made them unavailable for games or main training for a block. Instead, weāve injured them and now they are missing due to rehab AND the strength program that should have happened at the start.
We donāt need to rush our draftees into the team in round 1. Being injury free for the first years is more valuable than scaling back football over a 6 month block due to focusing on getting their physique ready.
1 Like
Footage of Nik strengthening his back:
13 Likes
There was a point where gumby took a mark in preseason and we all thought he would be the new John Coleman.
Reckon this pick will end up the same.
That sounds like baseless speculation to me.
4 Likes
you couldnāt tell he was playing injured last year?
Again this seems like complete speculation. His legs could have been perfectly strong and he just landed on a funny angle or something that made his knee go, you cant prevent every injury.
4 Likes
Pretty bloody obvious cause and effect to me. This isnāt an elaborate conspiracy theory. Weāve got young players who have not been physically developed when they arrived and theyāve broken down in the exact way youād predict from those weaknesses.
1 Like
He literally missed most of 2022 with an injury to that leg. Heās now in a strengthening program to protect that leg. This isnāt stuff that couldnāt be predicted.
1 Like
You could sayā¦ a stitch in time, saves nine.
Awww crap
1 Like
Was that injury from being played every week in his first season or was it a totally unrelated injury? I dont pretend to know, im not really sure why anyone would.
1 Like
Iād question whether those of us on the sidelines would really know if this statement is right or wrong.
2 Likes
If he had a back injury during his first season that I dont know about and we played him anyway then that would be obvious cause and effect. As far as I know he didnt.
Cox and Reid have both broken down with stress fractures. Theyāve both been pulled out of training to build that up properly. Thatās a pretty good indication that they hadnāt been prepared properly.
2 Likes