Injuries reveal Bombers' true depth

Updated June 01, 2012 16:49:07

When Essendon's horror run of injuries finally abates, it could prove a blessing in disguise for the league high-flyers.

The Bombers have used 31 players so far this season in marching to eight wins from nine matches and have not yet been able to field their best side because of a spate of injuries - mainly soft tissue.

But these injuries have allowed coach James Hird to sift through the players at his disposal, and discover a deep pool of talent which should make the Bombers even more formidable when all are fully fit.

Conventional wisdom among coaches is that clubs need at least 32 players ready to immediately slot into senior football to be finals and premiership-capable.

Hird believes he now has 35.

But he was careful when pressed about whether that was the magic number for the finals tilt surely coming after the Bombers' sizzling start to the season.

"You'd like to think you've got 35 guys who are ready to come in," Hird said on Friday.

"I'm not sure of how good we can be or where we can go. I suppose that we think we've got 34 or 35 players who can play.

"Whether they're good enough or not, or whether as a team we're good enough or not, the next 15 weeks of the season will play out and we'll see what happens from there."

Virtually all the Bombers' wins this season have come with a good player missing.

It happens again for their clash with winless Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday night, with young defender Dyson Heppell and experienced Mark McVeigh the latest casualties.

Heppell will miss his second successive match with a knee injury, while Hird said McVeigh was being spelled to overcome complications from off-season hip surgery.

Heppell should return next week, with midfielder McVeigh out for no more than a fortnight.

But the plus side of the ledger is a return for veteran defender Dustin Fletcher against the Demons.

And Hird said injury-troubled forward Scott Gumbleton was approaching full fitness, along with experienced ruckman David Hille and speedy midfielder Jason Winderlich.

Hird sees all three as playing some role in the second half of the season.

"Depth in your team, and depth with that sort of class in Hille, Winderlich and Gumbleton who a few years ago were a huge part of this team, is very exciting," Hird said.

AAP

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

First posted June 01, 2012 16:49:07

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Cats' depth embarrasses Crows

Updated June 26, 2011 17:56:00

Geelong overcame the omission of a handful of key players to smash Adelaide by 52 points at Kardinia Park on Sunday afternoon, turning up the heat on embattled Crows coach Neil Craig.

Cats stars James Kelly (ankle) and Brad Ottens (soreness) were late withdrawals joining Jimmy Bartel, Josh Hunt, Mathew Stokes and Darren Milburn on the sidelines, but Geelong's depth was more than capable of completing the 19.11 (125) to 10.13 (73) cakewalk.

Adelaide's fate was sealed by quarter-time as the Cats ran amok in a seven-goals-to-one opening term.

The Cats led by 38 points at quarter-time, 46 by half-time and extended the margin beyond 10 goals by the final change.

Geelong led by as much as 80 points in the final term before the Crows lifted with the game lost, booting five of the last six goals as the Cats appeared to put the cue in the rack.

It was Adelaide's 10th defeat of the season and sixth on the trot, leaving the club wallowing in 14th spot.

The ladder-leading Cats are now undefeated in 13 games this season, as well as in their last 27 games at home, and still sit four points in front of reigning premier Collingwood.

Newcomer Mitchell Brown kicked three goals for Geelong with Daniel Menzel also continuing his outstanding form with three of his own.

Allen Christensen led the charge of the young Cats with two goals and 16 touches while veterans Corey Enright, Cameron Ling and Joel Corey were all clinical.

Cats coach Chris Scott admitted the future and depth of the Cats heading towards the business end of the season were both hugely encouraging.

"We have a lot of young players ready to play at AFL level and I think we saw that a little bit today," Scott said.

"It does give our supporters an insight into what our side might look like in three to four years, and we think the signs are pretty positive."

Bernie Vince kicked two goals to add to his 34 disposals and was easily the best for the Crows.

Adelaide coach Neil Craig admitted he was no closer to bridging the gap between the Crows' best and their worst - the latter on show for large parts of Sunday's match.

"Apart from the competitive nature of our effort (late in the game), there wasn't much good stuff today," Craig said.

"Our best - I'm happy to say is very, very good. Our worst is sub-standard AFL, and that's a huge gap."

Cats: 19.11 (125) - D Menzel 3, M Brown 3, A Christensen 2, C Ling 2, S Johnson 2, T Varcoe 2, A Mackie, D Wojcinski, J Podsiadly, M Duncan, S Motlop.

Crows: 10.13 (73) - B Reilly 2, B Vince 2, I Callinan, J Gunston, N van Berlo, P Dangerfield, R Douglas, R Sloane.

-ABC/AAP

Tags: sport, australian-football-league, australia, sa, adelaide-5000, vic, geelong-3220

First posted June 26, 2011 16:00:00

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