Resting/freshening up for finals.

[saintbrat]

I hate that the Geelong players have a rest up their sleeve. Annoying.

They were injured.

their pride was

[StSteven]

I hate that the Geelong players have a rest up their sleeve. Annoying.

They were injured.

Oh yeah.....quick recovery for this week for so many. Get some of that Geelong water. It must have great recovery powers.

[spert]

I think you will find some Cat players pulled up sore and Bomber had every right to field a fit team rather than risk players who are not 100%. Saints players probably pulled up a little better than the Cats after the big game, and I'm sure RL wouldn't play sore players, as it would be going against the grain this year.

[terry smith rules]

I intend to get 8 hours sleep a night right througout August.

Drink lots of fresh juice.

Eat my greens and salads.

Pray to the great football God in the sky that September will be a joyous month.

I think that will get me ready both physically and mentally.

[ausfatcat]

Leigh Matthews said this, he never did it.

[saint75]

Interesting that Leigh states that now. I don't remember him resting his players during their premiership run.

[InkerSaint]

I hate that the Geelong players have a rest up their sleeve. Annoying.

So we can all take it as read that Chapman, Bartel and Selwood are expendable? After all, they didn't get a "rest".

More hypotheticals. AFAIK no team has won the 2009 flag yet.

[Devilhead]

I hate that the Geelong players have a rest up their sleeve. Annoying.

I think you will find that we also rested lots of players on the weekend

[saintspremiers]

Maybe they are resting ball?

Ball should be scratched after resting.

[bob__71]

I hate that the Geelong players have a rest up their sleeve. Annoying.

I think you will find that we also rested lots of players on the weekend

anyone know where you can get gametime statistics?

[3rd generation saint]

resting players is flirting with form and may be totally useless in the long run.
After all just because these guys have had a week off wont stop them getting injured later in the year, if Ablett or Chapman do a hammy between now and the finals, the rest would have done nothing for them.
It may also show that maybe they're some chinks in that Geelong armour where the match committee feel their players cannot play out the season.
For me you get your break, rest after winning the Qualifying Final, then during the final 20 minutes of the Preliminary when the game is secure.

[remboy]

Don't flirt with winning form. Quite often teams that win flags are the ones that have kept their side together.
I remember Adelaide actually doing the opposite to resting players in 97 and 98. They'd flog them on the track for a month starting from about two months out from the finals. Then they'd taper their training and freshen them up for the finals. They used to play a couple of ordinary H&A games during the heavy training weeks but ran over the top of sides in the finals (especially the two grand finals).

[StSteven]

The debate goes on:

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/ ... fault.aspx

Extract:


This year St Kilda entrenched in first position with 15 wins and Geelong in second place with 13 wins, three ahead of the third-placed Western Bulldogs, are two teams who have the rare but very real option of resting players.

The round 14 contest between the unbeaten Saints and Cats was a watershed match.

For the winner an undefeated season was still possible and for the loser it was more about peaking in September.

The game itself was as physically and mentally gruelling as a game of footy can be, and that includes many grand finals.

It is undeniable that the two midfields in particular tackled and pounded each other into exhaustion. I have rarely seen such enormous heat around the footy as this game provided for its entire two hours.

The challenge of maintaining winning momentum with preservation of fitness and long-term energy levels is a delicate balancing act.

After their round 14 footy war, the Cats and the Saints adopted vastly different approaches to the following round.

St Kilda, maybe with an eye to maintaining their unbeaten run, fielded virtually the same team against the Eagles in Perth. In an error-ridden game they did enough to win but clearly had a down day.

The results of the accumulated wear and tear that came from the last two weekends will never be absolutely quantifiable but I will be surprised if not carefully managed, that it will not lead to negative repercussions down the track.

At least with a full strength team on the field the Saints had the ability to spread the load over many good players.

Geelong seemed to take the opposite tack, eventually withdrawing seven players from their match against the Brisbane Lions. This put even more load on the remaining regulars.

Publicly the Cats rested no one – all seven were listed as either injured or sore. It is hard to believe that, as they all finished the game the week before, if it had been a final they would have all missed.

[kaos theory]

FFS can we drop this BS about 'resting'?

If the cats were 'resting' players how come Harry Tayor, who was knocked out played?

Their players were injuried, so they didn't play, simple. If we have players that are struggling because of injury, which will improve with a rest, then they will not play either. Simple.

But let's assume they did rest players. How well did that go for them? Do you think their coach looked happy with their performance?

This is the same as the BS about its good to 'drop' a few games, because the pressure builds & affects the confidence of the players......That's crap!

The pressure builds & you lose confidence when you continually LOSE games!

The cats didn't lose the GF last yr, becuase they didn't lose many games during the yr or because they didn't 'rest' players. They lost because they couldn't kick striaght and take advantage of their forward entries and shots on goal up to half time. The game should have been decided at half time.

[kaos theory]

Don't flirt with winning form. Quite often teams that win flags are the ones that have kept their side together.
I remember Adelaide actually doing the opposite to resting players in 97 and 98. They'd flog them on the track for a month starting from about two months out from the finals. Then they'd taper their training and freshen them up for the finals. They used to play a couple of ordinary H&A games during the heavy training weeks but ran over the top of sides in the finals (especially the two grand finals).

And if spider didn't break his collar bone, and they didn't have jarmen, then we would all be the lauding the st.kilda 'method' for preparing teams for the gf.

Too often, irrelevant or minor factors are built up into a major cause of an event.

[SainterK]

FFS can we drop this BS about 'resting'?

If the cats were 'resting' players how come Harry Tayor, who was knocked out played?

Their players were injuried, so they didn't play, simple. If we have players that are struggling because of injury, which will improve with a rest, then they will not play either. Simple.

But let's assume they did rest players. How well did that go for them? Do you think their coach looked happy with their performance?

This is the same as the BS about its good to 'drop' a few games, because the pressure builds & affects the confidence of the players......That's crap!

The pressure builds & you lose confidence when you continually LOSE games!

The cats didn't lose the GF last yr, becuase they didn't lose many games during the yr or because they didn't 'rest' players. They lost because they couldn't kick striaght and take advantage of their forward entries and shots on goal up to half time. The game should have been decided at half time.

Exactly, totally agree with you.

Taylor would not have played if it was about "resting" players, goodness knows he earned a rest after that bump. Ablett has had a niggling groin injury all year, so it's not the first time he has missed a game!

And as for all the conspiracy theories about Steve Johnson not playing against us, they were also rubbish. He is still not going to play this week, so the hip injury must be worse than first anticipated.

The media just cannot bring itself to even hint that the cats may be in trouble, even if it's just injury woes and not actual form.

[Maxstar22]

Just going to play alittle devils advocate here....Don't shoot me down, just thought I would put another perspective out there....

Are AFL players not professional men, who train very hard, are very fit, get paid big dollars all for 2 hours of footy a week?

This is their job. So why would you rest them?

They have ample time off in the off season as well as most senior players not doing a great deal in the pre season qll in preparation for them to be ok to play 22+ games for the year.

I work 60+ hours a week and although it may not be a psyhical job, it is extremely stressfull and mentally tough. I don't get time off to "rest" because a hard and busy period is coming up. I still have to get up at 5am every morning and get on with it.

So what I am saying is why would you rest people in the job that they are trained for and are required (by contract mind you) to do??

Of course if they are injured or have a niggle, but all means give them a break, but to rest for the sake of resting because they have had a few tough games seems alittle weak to me.

I am getting prepared for some abuse on this one

[maz1685]

I wasn't sure about what was going on at Geelong re: injury or resting, but I'm a little swayed by an article I found from today or yesterday saying that Jimmy Bartel needs to tick a few boxes for thsi weekend's game due to a hip complaint. I wouldn't be surprised if he misses altogether, but also depends on whether anymore join him or others miss next week. Anyway, just thought that was interesting.

[Mr Magic]

I think the media and the wider football community have 'bought into' the Geelong PR bullshyte.

I have absolutely no doubt that the game against us took a lot out of Geelong - far more than they're willing to publicly acknowledge.

IMO they have been more than happy to allow the speculation on whether they are resting players to continue on unabated becasue it takes the focus away from the fact that they initiated a physical contest with us, in the belief that they could again bully us into submission, and it didn't work.

It's much better to portray ,we didn't lose' and what's more 'we care so little about the list that we'll let 7 players have a rest' than admit publicly that we are no longer invincible against the Saints.

[SainterK]

I think the media and the wider football community have 'bought into' the Geelong PR bullshyte.

I have absolutely no doubt that the game against us took a lot out of Geelong - far more than they're willing to publicly acknowledge.

IMO they have been more than happy to allow the speculation on whether they are resting players to continue on unabated becasue it takes the focus away from the fact that they initiated a physical contest with us, in the belief that they could again bully us into submission, and it didn't work.

It's much better to portray ,we didn't lose' and what's more 'we care so little about the list that we'll let 7 players have a rest' than admit publicly that we are no longer invincible against the Saints.

Completely agree, they are suffering from the first hard contest they have had in years. I wouldn't be surprised if Bartel misses, he was not great against Brisbane. I don't care what the perception in the media is regarding Bomber, he isn't happy and he isn't relaxed. Very evident to see in the footage of him at half time last week giving sprays to anyone that happened to be close by.

If they don't take ownership of the fact that we are serious contenders, it (or we) will come back to haunt them big time.

[joffaboy]

I think the media and the wider football community have 'bought into' the Geelong PR bullshyte.

I have absolutely no doubt that the game against us took a lot out of Geelong - far more than they're willing to publicly acknowledge.

IMO they have been more than happy to allow the speculation on whether they are resting players to continue on unabated becasue it takes the focus away from the fact that they initiated a physical contest with us, in the belief that they could again bully us into submission, and it didn't work.

It's much better to portray ,we didn't lose' and what's more 'we care so little about the list that we'll let 7 players have a rest' than admit publicly that we are no longer invincible against the Saints.

So close to the truth it isn't funny. Catters were sore and sorry after the game against the Saints - burst an offa valve and never once headed us. Many of their players went in so hard that they couldn't come up the following week.

The facts are this. The Cats have physically intimidated us over the past three or four years. Thought they could do so again and stated such before the game. they copped a physical beating and also a psychological one as well.

All this we dont care about the result was so much BS . The utter dejection on their faces at the end of the game showed us all that this was not the case. They were bewildered, they were confused. they had physically dominated every team for three years but here they were beaten up. Their confidence in their invincibility dented.

So what do they do? they put up a BS defence about "resting" players, get flogged and then Harley says how "dark" they are on losing.

So they were OK about losing to a real premiership threat but upset about losing to a team after they had "rested" half the team. Interesting.

Just one other thing. They would have cast a glance at the saints team and noticed not one player out through injury (Geary dropped and Schneider personal). They would have seen the Saints travel interstate and power over the top of the local team in the 4th qtr (when they were supposed to be knackered) in 22 deg heat.

if you scratch the surface, you can see that they are only fooling themselves at the moment.

[SainterK]

The Cats feel about the Saints, pretty much the way they feel about taking a set shot

[markp]

I think the media and the wider football community have 'bought into' the Geelong PR bullshyte.

I have absolutely no doubt that the game against us took a lot out of Geelong - far more than they're willing to publicly acknowledge.

IMO they have been more than happy to allow the speculation on whether they are resting players to continue on unabated becasue it takes the focus away from the fact that they initiated a physical contest with us, in the belief that they could again bully us into submission, and it didn't work.

It's much better to portray ,we didn't lose' and what's more 'we care so little about the list that we'll let 7 players have a rest' than admit publicly that we are no longer invincible against the Saints.

So close to the truth it isn't funny. Catters were sore and sorry after the game against the Saints - burst an offa valve and never once headed us. Many of their players went in so hard that they couldn't come up the following week.

The facts are this. The Cats have physically intimidated us over the past three or four years. Thought they could do so again and stated such before the game. they copped a physical beating and also a psychological one as well.

All this we dont care about the result was so much BS . The utter dejection on their faces at the end of the game showed us all that this was not the case. They were bewildered, they were confused. they had physically dominated every team for three years but here they were beaten up. Their confidence in their invincibility dented.

So what do they do? they put up a BS defence about "resting" players, get flogged and then Harley says how "dark" they are on losing.

So they were OK about losing to a real premiership threat but upset about losing to a team after they had "rested" half the team. Interesting.

Just one other thing. They would have cast a glance at the saints team and noticed not one player out through injury (Geary dropped and Schneider personal). They would have seen the Saints travel interstate and power over the top of the local team in the 4th qtr (when they were supposed to be knackered) in 22 deg heat.

if you scratch the surface, you can see that they are only fooling themselves at the moment.

Yes and yes!

We left the cats left bleeding and bewildered, have no doubt.

How long ago was the mid season break anyway?

It is only the middle of July, if we need to give some players a spell (and we're in a position to) we could always do it in round 21 and 22 against the Roos and the Dees....

[saintly]

I think you will find some Cat players pulled up sore and Bomber had every right to field a fit team rather than risk players who are not 100%. Saints players probably pulled up a little better than the Cats after the big game, and I'm sure RL wouldn't play sore players, as it would be going against the grain this year.

if you think RL would not play sore players, then why is Ball getting 40% of TOG? He must be sore

[plugger66]

I think you will find some Cat players pulled up sore and Bomber had every right to field a fit team rather than risk players who are not 100%. Saints players probably pulled up a little better than the Cats after the big game, and I'm sure RL wouldn't play sore players, as it would be going against the grain this year.

if you think RL would not play sore players, then why is Ball getting 40% of TOG? He must be sore

I dont think he has ever got 40% time this year and last week he played about 60% which would be his everage for the year.