Bombers wary of repetitive injuries

Updated February 17, 2012 17:59:01

Essendon is confident this year it will not suffer the slump which hit it hard last season.

The Bombers were surprise preseason cup grand finalists - beaten by Collingwood - and made a fast start to 2011 to be third on the ladder after eight rounds.

But they were halted by serious knee injuries to pacey pair Courtenay Dempster and Jason Winderlich, who were sidelined for the season.

Essendon veteran Mark McVeigh says an overhaul of the club's fitness sector and a rigid new regime was aimed at preventing similar high-impact problems.

"All players learnt a lot from that in that you've really got to watch your body," McVeigh said on Friday.

"We know we had that down period and we'd been up for so long.

"Things may be a little bit different this year.

"Since then we've got new fitness staff and they have brought in a whole different variety of monitoring programs for us all.

"We're certainly monitored pretty heavily in the way we're feeling and body-wise."

McVeigh said the preseason grand final was not a priority for the club - their main objective before the premiership season was to develop the younger players.

Essendon is grouped with West Coast and Fremantle in the opening round of the preseason cup at Subiaco Oval on Sunday.

"We're taking a very young group over and most of our list of young guys will play on the weekend," McVeigh said.

"We're looking at it in terms of really being able to develop our young guys.

"We'll be going out there to play some of our best footy but it's also a great time to see where our young guys are at and give them an opportunity to be able to put their hand up for selection during the year."

Essendon has mapped out specific programs for each of its players for the preseason event.

"Last year we went into the NAB Cup just wanting to play all the guys we possibly could," he said.

"This year you might see an even balance in terms of the whole list playing.

"Some of our real gun players won't be playing this weekend. We'll play the majority of our young guys.

"Some guys will be playing a half on the weekend, some will play a half in a couple of weeks time. It's going to be a real mixture this year."

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, essendon-3040, vic, australia

First posted February 17, 2012 17:59:01

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Saints duo miss Essendon clash

Updated March 02, 2012 17:16:31

Star St Kilda forward Justin Koschitzke will miss Saturday's preseason cup clash with Essendon at Wangaratta through injury.

Saints coach Scott Watters said that Koschitzke had been withdrawn from the match because of slight calf soreness and was a week away from returning.

Small forward Ahmed Saad has also been pulled, with the club anxious to manage his workload effectively.

Watters said Koschitzke was poised to play at peak form this season and his withdrawal was a minor hiccup.

"It's more soreness," Watters said.

"He trained during the week ... but he's just missed a couple of training sessions, so we erred on the side of caution."

Watters said Koschitzke would complete a full training program next week and would line up in the game against West Coast.

The forward-cum-ruckman had an interrupted 2011, playing only half the season due to an ankle injury, but Watters believes the 29-year-old is set for a standout season.

"He's lean and his running capacity is as good as it's been for two or three years.

"Like a number of our players he's had a really strong, consistent pre-season which stands him in good stead."

He said the club was acting cautiously with Saad, a 22-year-old drafted from the VFL side Northern Bullants who only started playing the code five years ago after switching from soccer.

"We're probably wary of Ahmed playing all four NAB Cup games," he said.

"We think he's in contention for round one if he continues to hold his form so he's going to need a rest at some point.

"More than likely he'll play the following week."

Essendon will take a much stronger side into this weekend's game after losing both their round one games and have included captain Jobe Watson, veteran Dustin Fletcher and Michael Hurley.

Hurley missed the opening round of the pre-season competition with a hamstring strain and Bombers coach James Hird said the forward would play as much of the game as possible.

"We'll wait and see, it just depends on how often the ball is down there," Hird said.

"Hopefully it's down there the whole half and he can play a half but if it's not he might play three quarters.

"But this will be his first hit-out and he's been back training for a month so we're confident that he's up for a full game but whether he plays a half, three quarters or a full game we'll wait and see till the day."

Hurley has not committed to Essendon beyond this year and is a major target for Greater Western Sydney.

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, st-kilda-3182

First posted March 02, 2012 17:07:29

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Bulldogs to set tough tone early

Updated February 17, 2012 18:04:27

New Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney wants his troops to take a hard-nosed attitude into Saturday night's AFL preseason clash with a largely second-string Collingwood and a youth-stacked Greater Western Sydney.

After an off-season spent implementing a new game-plan, with a heavy focus on tough, contested football, the Blacktown fixture will be the Bulldogs' first outing under their first-year coach.

The former Geelong and Essendon assistant said it was important that the team started their year the way they intended to continue.

"Good habits are best learnt from day one and practised and bad habits can sneak in pretty quickly too," McCartney told reporters on Friday.

"We want our older and more experienced players to develop our younger players and we want our younger players to see how the game is played from day one.

"Does that mean we'll be playing seriously when the ball bounces? I expect our boys to be hard at the ball and do what they're asked to do."

While missing a few big names, the Bulldogs' squad is closer to full-strength than the Magpies', who named only nine members of last year's grand final side, while for many of the Giants, it is their first game at this level.

But McCartney was more interested in honing his own side's game than worrying about how the opposition stacked up.

"We picked people who are ready to play, who we want to see perform for our footy club and practice what we've been working on for four or five months now," he said.

The new coach said he put his squad through a "revision test" on Friday morning, asking players to front the group and explain aspects of the team's playing style, to ensure they were clear on it.

Along with numerous experienced players, McCartney was looking forward to seeing how some emerging players fared, citing Ayce Cordy and Christian Howard as two who had taken steps in their development.

New draftees Clay Smith, Michael Talia and Tory Dickson will also play.

McCartney predicted tough midfielder Smith, the Dogs' top draft pick, would quickly become a fan favourite.

"He plays football the way you like to see it played - he sees the ball and attacks it," he said.

"I'm sure our supporters will get a real appreciation for Clay very early in his career."

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, footscray-3011, vic, australia

First posted February 17, 2012 18:04:27

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Good signs for Hayes after trial game

Updated February 10, 2012 18:45:30

St Kilda coach Scott Watters says Lenny Hayes is on track to play in the preseason cup after recovering from a knee injury which restricted the ex-skipper to just two games last AFL season.

On-baller Hayes played the first three quarters of an intra-club trial game at St Kilda's Seaford training base on Friday.

The 32-year-old ran laps of the oval during the last quarter with other key players including goal sneak Stephen Milne and captain Nick Riewoldt.

Watters says Hayes is having an excellent preseason.

"He's very keen to play. We've just got to hold him back a little bit at the moment," Watters said.

"He's going well. It has been a really solid preparation for him and he has got a lot of confidence out of it.

"He'll play some of it (preseason cup). He won't play all of it.

"We've got to prepare him for round one and hopefully to play early in the season so it will be the right preparation to get him ready for round one."

Horsham Demons teenager Seb Ross was handed the big task of tagging dual All-Australian Brendon Goddard in midfield.

"He kicked a good goal at the end, Seb. I thought Seb was really solid," Watters said.

"He's a really mature young kid. He has already probably got a body that can handle AFL football.

"He's really composed in a contest. He did his selection chances no harm at all today."

Watters said he was impressed with mature-aged recruits Ahmed Saad, 22, and Terry Milera, 24.

"Both of them were good. Beau Wilkes (a 25-year-old who has played 23 games with West Coast) was really solid down back," Watters said.

The 194cm Wilkes can play at either end but, at this stage, he is being primed for the backline, Watters said.

While the first-year coach said he was happy his squad avoided any major injuries on Friday, one concern was utility Nicholas Winmar who left the field with suspected mild concussion.

"We got through healthy. That's probably the most pleasing thing," Watters said.

"It was a good solid hit-out."

Watters said he was almost certain Winmar did not suffer a facial injury.

"He's dazed - maybe mild concussion," Watters said.

The Saints play Geelong and Sydney in the first round of the preseason cup on February 24 at Docklands.

St Kilda travel to Football Park to take on Port Adelaide in round one of the AFL season on April 1.

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, st-kilda-3182, vic

First posted February 10, 2012 17:14:58

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Blues' Laidler sidelined for six weeks

Updated March 05, 2012 22:31:30

Carlton defender Jeremy Laidler will have surgery and is out of action for up to six weeks because of his dislocated kneecap.

The Blues announced that Laidler would undergo an arthroscopy on Tuesday afternoon after suffering the gruesome injury during Sunday's preseason game against the Western Bulldogs.

Laidler met with a specialist and Carlton medical staff on Monday night.

He fell awkwardly during a marking contest in the first quarter of the game at Docklands.

Laidler's left kneecap was bulging to the lateral side as he battled severe pain, with fans gasping in horror at the replays on the video scoreboard.

Coach Brett Ratten said the Blues were able to put the kneecap back in place before Laidler was taken to hospital during Sunday's game.

Blues team-mate Ed Curnow said Laidler was a key member of Carlton's defence.

"He's shattered," Curnow said.

Curnow said he had been running around in midfield when Laidler was injured.

"I did have a quick look on the big screen and I got grossed out a bit myself," he said.

"I'm sure he's going to bounce back.

"We've got a lot of guys who can play that role, down back, that I'm sure will step up."

The Blues expect to regain forwards Jarrad Waite and Andrew Walker, onballers Chris Judd and Mitch Robinson and defender Nick Duigan for Saturday's round-three preseason cup game against Brisbane at Maroochydore.

Carlton's best defender Michael Jamison trained at Visy Park on Monday morning and is on track to overcome a back injury in time to play in round one against Richmond at the MCG on March 29, Curnow said.

The Blues are chasing a spot in the top four in 2012 after finishing strongly in fifth place last season following a heartbreaking three-point semi-final loss to West Coast in Perth.

The Blues have lost all three of their preseason cup games by single-figure margins and Curnow said experimenting with positional changes is a key factor at this stage of the year.

"We'll probably want to go into the season with a bit of winning form," he said.

"But we also want to try out guys in different positions, send Shaun Hampson up forward for a bit longer than he usually would play, little things like that."

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, carlton-3053, vic, australia

First posted March 05, 2012 22:31:30

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Magpies release Krakouer on personal leave

Updated February 10, 2012 18:17:20

Collingwood has granted Andrew Krakouer a four-week leave of absence to deal with personal issues.

"The issues that Andrew is dealing with are of a personal nature, and we will be supporting him in every way possible during this period," Collingwood director of football Geoff Walsh said in a statement.

"Andrew is held in high regard at Collingwood and we look forward to his return to team training in due course."

The Magpies said Krakouer would be given a revised training program during the month away from normal training sessions.

Krakouer had an outstanding first season back in the AFL in 2011 after serving a jail sentence.

The exciting 28-year-old was a livewire in the Collingwood forward line last year, but is now unlikely to be playing a substantial part for the Magpies until well into the season.

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First posted February 10, 2012 18:02:42

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Folau likely to leap into ruck

Updated March 02, 2012 18:04:39

Greater Western Sydney will leave no stone unturned as it seeks to find Israel Folau's best fit on the AFL field.

Folau was expected to play predominantly as a key forward this year, having looked his best in attack during the 2011 NEAFL season, but coach Kevin Sheedy revealed that may not be the case.

"He'll learn to play AFL in lots of positions," Sheedy said.

"We'll play him in the ruck, so he'll learn about that. He's got a fantastic spring. He's got magnificent, huge hands - so he can push the ball down.

"We're exploring all of those avenues for him to develop and keep improving."

Former Port Adelaide veteran Dean Brogan is the side's premier ruckman, while mature-age recruit Jonathan Giles was one of the Giants' most impressive in their competitive preseason start.

Giles, who spent four seasons on the Power's books without playing a game, is likely to shoulder the brunt of the ruck work this year.

Young ruck duo Tom Downie and Andrew Phillips have both been selected for GWS's clash with Hawthorn in Launceston on Saturday, meaning Folau might have to bide his time before entering the ruck.

Folau's imposing frame, height, reach and leap will be more than handy assets at a centre bounce, and the move is not without history.

The former rugby league international had stints in the ruck in the NEAFL last year.

Meanwhile, Sheedy expects his side will face a fired-up Hawks in Tasmania.

"I think that the Hawthorn machine will be down there in full force," he said.

"They'll want to try and make sure they nail the NAB Cup, setting them up for an excellent season.

"And I don't blame them.

"I've been in that position myself. When you've been beaten in the preliminary final by a kick, you want to make sure you get back into that next grand final.

"We're alert to all of that."

AAP

Tags: australian-football-league, sport, sydney-2000

First posted March 02, 2012 18:04:39

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