‘The level of disappointment at a result is directly related to the level of expectation.”
I’m very disappointed.
I expected better, but…
“Injuries are no excuse”… is a nonsense cliché.
Injuries are the best excuse there is.
They affect structure, matchups and roles.
You start the year with a full list and then the injuries start….
A few significant season ending injuries to key players or role players (Docherty, Silvagni).
Minor injuries are managed through the year, but these become more significant as the season draws to a close and time for recovery runs out.
You get a serious injury to one of your key movers, (DeKoning)
Some players are one-or two weeks ‘in’ four weeks ‘out’ players. (Martin, Cunningham, Marchbank)
Others have minor injuries that see them miss the odd week or not see out games (McGovern, Saad)
Then you have those who are bought back in after a period on the sidelines and never really regain their touch, before being injured again. (Cerra, Cottrell)
Then there are the group who play injured rather than resting (and I suspect that group is larger than we realise)…before the inevitable happens. (Charlie)
Jordan Boyd was pretty much a traffic cone today (no stats at all) but he was forced to stay out there on one leg…filling a spot.
Acres was often grabbing for his pec/shoulder area today… yet had 28 which is a testament to his effort.
All of these factors mean every fit and ‘half fit’ player has to shoulder an extra burden and that eventually takes a toll and affects effort and attitude.
The surprising thing when you think about it is… that the result probably isn’t all that ‘surprising’.
So…we may not make the finals.
Normally you would think “we need that experience”…but we got that last year with essentially the same group, so it is not an essential.
If we do make it, then it will be quite likely that the injury situation after today will mean a fairly early exit.
It may be time to start thinking about a future beyond September.
I’m very disappointed.
I expected better, but…
“Injuries are no excuse”… is a nonsense cliché.
Injuries are the best excuse there is.
They affect structure, matchups and roles.
You start the year with a full list and then the injuries start….
A few significant season ending injuries to key players or role players (Docherty, Silvagni).
Minor injuries are managed through the year, but these become more significant as the season draws to a close and time for recovery runs out.
You get a serious injury to one of your key movers, (DeKoning)
Some players are one-or two weeks ‘in’ four weeks ‘out’ players. (Martin, Cunningham, Marchbank)
Others have minor injuries that see them miss the odd week or not see out games (McGovern, Saad)
Then you have those who are bought back in after a period on the sidelines and never really regain their touch, before being injured again. (Cerra, Cottrell)
Then there are the group who play injured rather than resting (and I suspect that group is larger than we realise)…before the inevitable happens. (Charlie)
Jordan Boyd was pretty much a traffic cone today (no stats at all) but he was forced to stay out there on one leg…filling a spot.
Acres was often grabbing for his pec/shoulder area today… yet had 28 which is a testament to his effort.
All of these factors mean every fit and ‘half fit’ player has to shoulder an extra burden and that eventually takes a toll and affects effort and attitude.
The surprising thing when you think about it is… that the result probably isn’t all that ‘surprising’.
So…we may not make the finals.
Normally you would think “we need that experience”…but we got that last year with essentially the same group, so it is not an essential.
If we do make it, then it will be quite likely that the injury situation after today will mean a fairly early exit.
It may be time to start thinking about a future beyond September.