The damage done by Quinn.

[billyduckworth]

Excellent post, staggy.
There are many factors at work. Quinn is just one of them.
We need to look at ALL aspects and spend whatever it takes to fix this.
Otherwise, we will never challenge again for a premiership.

[Lenni]

OK, many may not agree with me, but... I think there are many contributing factors at play. Oh, I do believe Quinn had to go, but we also have a very young list of lads and many of them will still be growing so that means that even with conditioning etc their bodies are more prone to muscle and skeletal issues. And also, there has always been a diffence between AFL and nonAFL football comps, except that with the speed, endurance and skill required to be a player nowdays it is so much more an elite athlete situation, and what other finely tuned elite athletes in the world have so much body contact with a competitor? Maybe we need to look at where and how all these young bodies are coming up through the ranks and also try to close the ever widening gap between what's required at an under 18 and also a VFL reserves level compared to an AFL level.

[pevfan]

The example I always refer to is Scott Camporeale. Hardly had an injury in over 200 game career with the Scum. Comes across to Essendon and does his hammy almost straight away. Something wrong there surely.

The bloke I'm keeping my eye on now is Hansen at Norf cos it was seemingly a toss up between he and Gumbleton as to which one we would chose as our 1st round draft pick. Well, Hanson looks like he is just starting to find his feet now. At least he is getting onto the park and being given every chance to make it, which sadly, is more than we can say about Gumby ATM

[hop]

who and/or what is a Gumbleton?

The first thing MY football club needs to do is to stop the denial with injuries.

[juff]

my gut feel is that I l think its our lack of 24-27 year olds at the club which is the root of our injury concerns.
imo young blokes and old blokes get injured.

and as i think i've quoted, the EFC is one hard at it footy club. 3rd in contest possessions, 1st in tackling for the year. comes at a price if you have a bunch of blokes not ready for it.

I think Tom has hit on a key point here. We do have alot of young players with maturing bodies who under Knighta seem to be playing as hard as they can in an unrelentinly fast fatiguing brand of footy. That tough attitude is great to see, but will also increase their chances of those bone breaking non-S/T injuries that we are currently plagued with. As they head towards that 24-27 bracket when their bodies toughen up, and when they can use greater team smarts and individual skill to reduce some of those hard collisions (like Geelong) then hopefully we will see a better run with those types of injuries.

[MH_Bomber]

If that is true about Winderlich not doing a warm down then its a reflection of the whole training methodology. The warm up and warm down are part of training and are as important as any drill in the middle. No player should be allowed to leave without a warm down.

Core strength is the key to everything. Without good core strength a lot of the other injuries to soft tissues ensue because too much stress is placed on legs and there is no structural stability to compensate.

We need to address the injury problem big time because it is damaging our chances to be a truly competitive and winning club.

[Rossoneri]

who and/or what is a Gumbleton?

The first thing MY football club needs to do is to stop the denial with injuries.

When have we denied an injury since Sheeds left?

[BenDoolan]

If that is true about Winderlich not doing a warm down then its a reflection of the whole training methodology. The warm up and warm down are part of training and are as important as any drill in the middle. No player should be allowed to leave without a warm down.

http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/d ... 14154.html

His first season at the club was punctuated by injury, loneliness and regular visits home. But, in the words of the club's fitness chief, John Quinn: "I'll take a hamstring every day rather than depression and all those other injuries you can't see."

In fact, at one stage, Winderlich was heading home so regularly and with such desperation that he would barely hang around to warm down after training or playing. Young teammates, who would call him to catch a film or a meal on weekends after matches, soon gave up because he was rarely there.

"I didn't really embrace the Essendon Football Club," Winderlich recalled this week. "I was pretty homesick and any chance I had to go home, I would go home to spend time with my mates. I always had an excuse. I wasn't exactly an angel growing up and I hadn't changed."

Then came the week in 2003 when Quinn diagnosed Winderlich with a stress fracture of the tibia and ordered him to remain in Melbourne for rehabilitation. Winderlich refused, saying he was desperate to get home. Quinn insisted he needed to be part of the club.

Winderlich's response? "I don't give a stuff about what's going on here." Quinn replied that that attitude was part of the problem and the fitness coach won the argument that time.

[MH_Bomber]

I just what I was saying Ben was that the warm down should not have be seen as an optional after thought. Interesting article about Winder's transformation from disinterested renegade to dedicated young leader.