Carlton Supporters Club

“Resting” Zac won’t improve his ability to stay on the park.  He was subbed off for a corked calf one week and a corked glute the next week.  Two impact injuries or Zac’s body saying enough is enough?

If we were to “manage” Zac, who comes into the team, Billy Wilson?  Perhaps we could play Kennedy in defence and bring back Carroll?

Our situation is nothing like Geelong’s.  They have almost a full list to pick from and half a dozen veterans who can benefit from an occasional spell.  We have half a dozen players who probably aren’t up to the demands of AFL, several other injured players and no veterans who need an occasional spell.

OK, let me use real world examples to help push the point across.

Zac Williams. Long injury history.
2 weeks ago he was injured in the game and subbed out.
He was picked last week.
He got injured again.
Now vossy is saying he'll be right for this week.

Why?

We keep pushing and pushing and we'll eventually break him again. You could argue that if we rested him last week the result would've been different. Do we need to say the same thing after this week?
Rest him!

Chicken and egg though.

Are geelong injury free because they rest?

Are we full of injuries because we don't?

Sure there is some colision injuries.
Sure there is some 'dumb luck' injuries.

But the more fatigued you are, the more likely you are to get injured. Facts.

That’s all true … but hard to put into practice when a lot of first choice players are out injured.

Geelong has enjoyed an almost injury free season and they can happily rest or freshen up players as necessary.

The point is, why do we play players until we break them.
Yes, some are more fragile then others.
Some are taller than others.
Some are faster than others.
Some are stronger than others.

Find out the attributes of the player and play to their advantages and cover their weaknesses.
If a weakness is their longevity, or durability, cover for it. Rest them when you need too.

Both Martin and Marchbank are very good players when they are fit....we just don't see it enough. So rather than keep doing the same thing and expecting different results, change the way we approach them......and everyone.

Doesn't have to be limited to them. Many on here were suggesting we rest cripps a couple years ago when he was clearly injured. But the club kept insisting everything was fine, and we got a half-fit cripps for the whole year, rather than being without him for 2-3.....7 weeks or whatever it needed to be to get him back to a 'fit' level where he could perform.

I've heard Marc Murphy talk about this, and its something he didn't realise until later in his career.
Players would have surgery as a 1st call to 'fix' something if it meant they could play a week earlier than had they simply sat out and rested. These surgeries can lead to further issues down the track and potentially do more harm than good in some instances.
We are obsessed with getting back and playing THIS WEEK at the expense of next week, next month or next year. Why?

As mentioned, Geelong are leading the pack in this regard. Resting Danger, Hawkins, Cameron, Selwood......hard to find some bigger names in the comp than them, but they find a way to rest them and do ok......most likely because they rest them is why they do ok. So why do we think we know better than them?

Be smarter with how we deal with our players, our seasons depend on it!