What’s this, just one player stuff.
Let’s see if Raz and Joe fly anytime soon.
Merret, Heppel and Smith had troubled offseasons
Gleeson is cooked
Where’s TBC at?
Redman and Lav get injured looking at a footy.
Speaking of LAV, he should be rested this week. Never to play Geelong again
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Agree 
Not good enough.
I want him basted in cotton wool, then rolled up in bubble wrap, then placed inside a sumo wrestler suit.
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Fkn panic central
Collingwood made the GF with all their main kpd’s missing
Midfield & fwd pressure protected their defence.
We were the number 1 pressure side in the comp for a period of season last year
If Hooker is missing we adjust
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Nice try, but unfortunately for Stewart he’s not even the correct answer to this - maybe RTBC is right after all
Pretty much.
Out of all of our key senior players, Cale is the closest to retirement and will be the most urgent succession plan.
We now have a chance to see if either of the backups (Ambrose, Hartley) are going to finally step up into the void, or if the plan will rely on the younger brigade (Zerk, Francis, Ridley.)
So while it’s a real sh*t short-term, it’s a good long-term opportunity, and as long as Hooker plays a chunk of footy in the second half of the year, I don’t think it’ll hurt us (or him.)
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Oh yes, we are very good at adjusting.
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I knew there’d be someone…
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After analysis of this thread and the Lid On thread new statistics provided by BlitzData* reveals that Cale Hooker is indeed our most important player.
This is based on the number of posters who have been unsighted during the heady days of preseason until now.
They failed to respond to the ongoing discussions of ‘Would Joe Daniher ever walk again?’
The mystery of Conor’s ailment, Fantasia’s leg, or Saad’s weight failed to motivate them.
The valiant and uplifting efforts of our training correspondents failed to incite reply.
But one practice game loss, and aHooker calf strain, has brought them flooding back.
*BlitzData is an alternative to Champion Data, and involves a highly sophisticated, secret and subjective methodology of using statistics to mean whatever you want them to.
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Agree. Hooker is obviously important for our side. But our success this year cannot be absolutely dependent on him, or any one player for that matter. It’s not how you set up a competitive/winning side. If you have then you are asking for trouble because injuries happen. We have options, and the player(s) have to step up and adjust to have an effective backline.
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Agreed, it’s good enough to make finals. I just don’t think it’s good enough (all being equal) to finish higher than Tigers, Pies, WC, Dees and Crows. So 6 onwards for me. Hooker out for a few weeks and JD underdone is a concern for the first month or so.
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Who knows how he will go coming back. But as others have said his age and this type of injury is not a good combination. It could well be a case of Cale being more out than in. We should plan for that scenario.
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I think we’ve got to be prepared to play a couple of kids and let them get the experience we need them to learn. Our bottom three players are probably looking at the VFL unless we have a stack of injuries.
I wish Ambrose would teach a few some mongrel, something we sadly lack.
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I would try Stewart in defence like the Pies did with Moore.
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It’s a good idea. I don’t like him as a forward but he’s a good player. It would be a long term project though.
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He’s not bad in a 1v1 which is what all good defenders have plus he’s athletic for a big guy.
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I think we have the talent to be top 4. It’s whether we are prepared to work hard enough (and have a bit of luck along the way) that will determine if we do
The talent is most definitely there