This will no doubt please plenty of Telstra Dome critics. I reckon they should just provide a penetrometer reading on every AFL ground, every week like they do in horse racing, so punters have an idea of what conditions the teams are being subjected to, and so clubs can alter their fitness/rehabilitation regime during and after the game more accurately:
ESSENDON will investigate if the hard playing surface at Telstra Dome has contributed to its shocking run of soft-tissue injuries, coach Matthew Knights said yesterday.
The Bombers are regular tenants of the Dome and have played three of their first four matches at the stadium this season.
While Knights admitted it is "a fact" that his side, along with the Western Bulldogs and St Kilda, who are also tenants at Telstra Dome, are in the top four clubs in terms of soft-tissue injuries, he added it would be unfair to blame the stadium without further research.
"That is certainly fact," Knights said yesterday. "I mean, I like to deal in facts rather than hearsay or sensationalism … and it is a fact.
"I couldn't say that I've done the research to say that it is definitely this much harder than this ground or so forth. So that is one area that we have to look at.
"We will certainly look into it but I'm not going to point the blame at the Telstra Dome when we haven't done the research. I don't think that is fair."
Knights added the surface at Essendon's training oval Windy Hill "is a touch harder than we would have liked" due to water restrictions and dry weather. The combination of the two hard grounds, along with three six-day breaks, was a concern for the new coach.
He called on the AFL to be more aware of scheduling, particularly early in the season, saying the short turnaround between matches may also have been a factor in the spike in hamstring and calf injuries at the club.
"I've been watching a lot of the other football games every weekend and there's not many games that aren't like finals intensity. And when you have three six-day breaks, I think that should be looked at. I think the way you structure the draw, I don't think that is utopia in regards to teams having three six-day breaks early in the year.
"Particularly when your players aren't fully conditioned, they are still finding their feet a bit in the first three or four rounds."
Essendon captain Matthew Lloyd received positive news from scans on his injured calf on Monday, but Knights said he would have to get through the club's training sessions ahead of Friday night's match to play against St Kilda — at Telstra Dome.
"The scans were really pleasing. He has got some fluid in the calf that is still a concern for the club, so he will need to train well (this week). He's certainly not over the line by any stretch," Knights said.
"We really can't take any risks with Matthew because we have to make sure he is right for the whole season and not just think about the short term this week.
"He's a club leader … We want to keep as much experience out there as possible."
Good news with all of these articles. We are getting somewhere!
I really hope they being in some external fitness consultants to have a look into all of the factors which may be contributing to the injuries. Training, playing surfaces, short breaks, new gameplan etc.
Whether or not there is a quick fix, who knows. The fact that we are now getting pro-active in tracking down the root cause of the problems is a good thing.
If you've read Hirdy's book you'll know what he thinks about the Dome's surface.
He says he complained about it to the point where he was eventually told to button it because nothing would be done about it.
Gossy wrote:Good. Now we can piss off from the Dome when the contract expires and go back to the MCG. Only problem is the contract doesn't expire soon does it?
CameronClayton wrote:As I said on BB, imagine looking at a crystal ball in 2025 & neither us, Doggies, Norf or the Saints have won a flag in the last 25 years.
Wonder how many teams will be falling over themselves to sign on the dotted line for another 25 years on the packed sand?
If the G was our home & we had our own Reserves team, we will bag a flag or 2 in the next 5 years.
Without these 2 things, well watch this space (& let's hope we aren't waiting for another 17 years).
Whats having our own reserves team got to do with it?
Essendon Football Club- We arent arrogant, just deluded.
There are times during the year when we can only play a maximum of 12 Essendon players for Bendigo, & so we have blokes that are able & willing to play, sitting on the sidelines. Atm with all our injuries, this isn't an issue now, but simple mathematics dictate that it will happen again in the future.
Correct me if i'm wrong; we have 38 listed players plus 4 rookies = 42
If no injuries at all, then 22 in seniors, 12 in Bendigo & 8 blokes twiddling their thumbs on the sidelines.
Ever wonder why Collingwood gave Willi the flick & went back to their own Reserves team this year?
CameronClayton wrote:There are times during the year when we can only play a maximum of 12 Essendon players for Bendigo, & so we have blokes that are able & willing to play, sitting on the sidelines. Atm with all our injuries, this isn't an issue now, but simple mathematics dictate that it will happen again in the future.
Correct me if i'm wrong; we have 38 listed players plus 4 rookies = 42
If no injuries at all, then 22 in seniors, 12 in Bendigo & 8 blokes twiddling their thumbs on the sidelines.
Ever wonder why Collingwood gave Willi the flick & went back to their own Reserves team this year?
Thats a VFL rule not a Bendigo rule so it wouldn't matter if we have our own 2nds side or not. At least the players that miss out can play in the VFL 2nds
Gossy wrote:Good. Now we can piss off from the Dome when the contract expires and go back to the MCG. Only problem is the contract doesn't expire soon does it?
Not unless you count 2025 as "soon".
I say we break the contract, getting funding to make Windy Hill hold 100,000 and play our home games there.
CameronClayton wrote:There are times during the year when we can only play a maximum of 12 Essendon players for Bendigo, & so we have blokes that are able & willing to play, sitting on the sidelines. Atm with all our injuries, this isn't an issue now, but simple mathematics dictate that it will happen again in the future.
Correct me if i'm wrong; we have 38 listed players plus 4 rookies = 42
If no injuries at all, then 22 in seniors, 12 in Bendigo & 8 blokes twiddling their thumbs on the sidelines.
Ever wonder why Collingwood gave Willi the flick & went back to their own Reserves team this year?
Thats a VFL rule not a Bendigo rule so it wouldn't matter if we have our own 2nds side or not. At least the players that miss out can play in the VFL 2nds
Exactly. To do what you want Cameron we'd need a Essendon AFL side, Essendon VFL side, Essendon VFL Reserves.
Sound like a viable option?
We have 22 blokes yes. plus 12 which is 34 which your right in saying leaves 8 blokes short. Bout how often is it that we have a full 42 players fit? We on average would always have 5/6 that would be injuried. Which leaves us with what? 36 players and 2 that miss out on playing VFL seniors. But can still play reserves.
Essendon Football Club- We arent arrogant, just deluded.
Gossy wrote:Good. Now we can piss off from the Dome when the contract expires and go back to the MCG. Only problem is the contract doesn't expire soon does it?
Not unless you count 2025 as "soon".
I say we break the contract, getting funding to make Windy Hill hold 100,000 and play our home games there.
Would be nice but how many houses would need to be knocked down to built such a stadium?
CameronClayton wrote:There are times during the year when we can only play a maximum of 12 Essendon players for Bendigo, & so we have blokes that are able & willing to play, sitting on the sidelines. Atm with all our injuries, this isn't an issue now, but simple mathematics dictate that it will happen again in the future.
Correct me if i'm wrong; we have 38 listed players plus 4 rookies = 42
If no injuries at all, then 22 in seniors, 12 in Bendigo & 8 blokes twiddling their thumbs on the sidelines.
Ever wonder why Collingwood gave Willi the flick & went back to their own Reserves team this year?
Thats a VFL rule not a Bendigo rule so it wouldn't matter if we have our own 2nds side or not. At least the players that miss out can play in the VFL 2nds
Exactly. To do what you want Cameron we'd need a Essendon AFL side, Essendon VFL side, Essendon VFL Reserves. Sound like a viable option?
We have 22 blokes yes. plus 12 which is 34 which your right in saying leaves 8 blokes short. Bout how often is it that we have a full 42 players fit? We on average would always have 5/6 that would be injuried. Which leaves us with what? 36 players and 2 that miss out on playing VFL seniors. But can still play reserves.
It sounds like a viable option to me. It's not like we cant afford it. I think it would be great if we based the 3 clubs at Essendon. What the hell have we got to do with Bendigo? It's not as if we get a zoned player or anything out of it. Our reserves have to travel a total of 4 hours to play a home game. If they were at Windy Hill, all of our top medical staff and facilities are right there. We could select the best young kids out of the EDFC to play in our VFL, and VFL reserves teams, and would put us much more in touch with what IS our community than what we are now. Not to mention the massive finanical boom if would be for our social club. The main focus would be on getting our AFL listed players up and going, and we could take a much more hands on approach if this was the case. IMO their is a tremendous upside to doing this.
a. I don't think that abovementioned 12/10 VFL rule applies for stand alone clubs, or for that matter the home and away season. I know it is a factor in VFL Finals if the corrosponding AFL team has already been knocked out. (Take last year's VFL Grand Final. Geelong could field as many AFL listed players as they saw fit, Coburg (Richmond) could not)
b. We would not have to field a "Essendon reserves reserves" if we do not wish to do so. If you remember back when Essendon did have a stand alone VFL side, it was only one side. (Collingwood, Geelong and Tasmania do not currently field a reserves side)
robrulz5 wrote:Would be nice but how many houses would need to be knocked down to built such a stadium?
Not as many as you would think, although there is a school in the way. And a bowling green but that dosen't really matter. Not to mention three roads (well, four really). And no parking.
robrulz5 wrote:Would be nice but how many houses would need to be knocked down to built such a stadium?
Not as many as you would think, although there is a school in the way. And a bowling green but that dosen't really matter. Not to mention three roads (well, four really). And no parking.
Could be done though.
Build a stadium in Essendon Fields - plenty of land. It will be amongst the buzz boxes that take off from time to time. It's the real home of the "Bombers".
we won a flag playing our home games on the Dome in 2000 and believe me, the condition of that ground was worse then and we had almost an injury free season
We would have won the 2000 flag on the Bacchus Marsh swamp.
People who want to retain our links to Bendigo, have to ask why did the filth give Willi the flick? Even though I can never see or imagine the filth ever winning a premiership with Malthouse at the reigns (too defensively minded, which is a great help in getting to the finals, but very rarely gets you a flag - 2005/6 being the exception, when it was a battle of man-on-man midfields that decided the outcome), they definitely give themselves a good as chance as any with their set up there. Too bad their playing list is only average, hence the desperate need to recruit Cousins (& Judd) or Jonathan Brown - they are always chasing a 'saviour', cause they know they just don't have the talent on the paddock.
