Mantis
19-02-2008, 03:55 PM
Injury opens door for young Dogs
February 19, 2008 03:15pm
THE Western Bulldogs will enter Friday night's NAB Cup clash with Essendon without at least four players who helped them win in Darwin last weekend. While coach Rodney Eade said his side wanted to stay in the knock-out competition as long as possible, he said they would be taking no risks with players less than fully fit.
Young midfielder Farren Ray will be out for four to six weeks with a cracked fibula, in what Eade said was a significant blow, given his flying start to the year.
"He's had a big pre-season and his form on Friday night was quite encouraging," the coach said.
Also unavailable to play the Bombers will be Lindsay Gilbee and Jarrod Harbrow, with minor injury niggles, while Ryan Griffen cannot play because of family reasons.
Eade said untried players Paul O'Shea and Jarrad Grant were likely to be given an opportunity, while ruckman Will Minson was set to play his first game for the year after an injury-plagued 2007.
"We'll probably be down to bare numbers to be honest," Eade said.
"Hopefully Shaun Higgins will be alright, Andrew McDougall we were hoping he'd come back but he may not get up ... there will certainly be some young players playing."
Eade said the Bulldogs were happy with their opening round performance against the Kangaroos, despite wet, humid conditions making it a scrappy affair.
He said the pleasing aspect of the match was that his side was tested physically, an area it had been concentrating on improving over the pre-season.
"(North) are a side that prides themselves on their physical presence and the way they attack the ball and they did that," he said.
"They were pretty keen to obviously play well and we were able to match that I would have thought.
"The skills were down a bit but I think overall the intensity was pretty good."
Meanwhile, Eade shrugged off comments made last week by former Bulldogs Brownlow medallist Tony Liberatore that both he, Eade, and chief executive Campbell Rose were under severe pressure to keep their jobs.
"I've got another year to go (on my contract) after this, anyone making those comments doesn't make the decisions, so it's not a big issue," Eade said.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,23240255-19742,00.html
February 19, 2008 03:15pm
THE Western Bulldogs will enter Friday night's NAB Cup clash with Essendon without at least four players who helped them win in Darwin last weekend. While coach Rodney Eade said his side wanted to stay in the knock-out competition as long as possible, he said they would be taking no risks with players less than fully fit.
Young midfielder Farren Ray will be out for four to six weeks with a cracked fibula, in what Eade said was a significant blow, given his flying start to the year.
"He's had a big pre-season and his form on Friday night was quite encouraging," the coach said.
Also unavailable to play the Bombers will be Lindsay Gilbee and Jarrod Harbrow, with minor injury niggles, while Ryan Griffen cannot play because of family reasons.
Eade said untried players Paul O'Shea and Jarrad Grant were likely to be given an opportunity, while ruckman Will Minson was set to play his first game for the year after an injury-plagued 2007.
"We'll probably be down to bare numbers to be honest," Eade said.
"Hopefully Shaun Higgins will be alright, Andrew McDougall we were hoping he'd come back but he may not get up ... there will certainly be some young players playing."
Eade said the Bulldogs were happy with their opening round performance against the Kangaroos, despite wet, humid conditions making it a scrappy affair.
He said the pleasing aspect of the match was that his side was tested physically, an area it had been concentrating on improving over the pre-season.
"(North) are a side that prides themselves on their physical presence and the way they attack the ball and they did that," he said.
"They were pretty keen to obviously play well and we were able to match that I would have thought.
"The skills were down a bit but I think overall the intensity was pretty good."
Meanwhile, Eade shrugged off comments made last week by former Bulldogs Brownlow medallist Tony Liberatore that both he, Eade, and chief executive Campbell Rose were under severe pressure to keep their jobs.
"I've got another year to go (on my contract) after this, anyone making those comments doesn't make the decisions, so it's not a big issue," Eade said.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,23240255-19742,00.html