Dogs give Cooney all clear

[bornadog]

Emma Quayle June 25, 2012



THE Western Bulldogs have no concerns over the fitness of Adam Cooney, after the midfielder appeared hampered during the Bulldogs' loss to Brisbane on Saturday.
Cooney has worked hard to manage his right knee, which he has openly struggled with since fracturing his kneecap late in 2008, but football manager James Fantasia said yesterday it was not a factor in his form against the Lions.
''Absolutely not. But that doesn't mean he still hasn't got improvement to come in his form, or with his fitness,'' he said.

''He's fit to play and each week he's been in the same position, so there's no question at all on his fitness. He's getting back to where he needs to get back to and wants to get back to. It's not going to happen quickly, but he's working on it.''
The Bulldogs got through Saturday's loss with no fresh injuries, and are not far off regaining key defenders Tom Williams and Lukas Markovic. Both are expected to return either this week or next, via the VFL.

Essendon, meanwhile, is optimistic Angus Monfries has escaped any significant hamstring trouble, after he was subbed out of the Bombers' breakthrough win against Fremantle at Patersons Stadium on Saturday night.

''He's got a tight hamstring. He hasn't had an incident. He just complained of not being able to go 100 per cent. We'll scan it and see what it is,'' said coach James Hird.
The Bombers must also assess Scott Gumbleton, who received a knock to the head playing for Bendigo in a VFL game at Windy Hill.

Simon Black's comeback match for the Lions on Saturday involved a clash with Bulldog opponent Liam Picken. Black flung his left arm back into Picken at a stoppage during the Etihad Stadium match, catching Picken in the nose with his hand.

[Sedat]

Phew what a reilef. Thanks James.

For a minute there I thought the bloke in the #17 on Saturday resembled Mick Nolan with his athleticism, but it's great to read that he has nothing wrong physically and that the 2008 jet we saw in the same jumper will be reappearing soon

[SlimPickens]

It was a dark day for Adam but he did have plenty of mates.

I'd persist with him as a forward, it's a fine line footy sometimes. If Adam had of kicked straight he would have been a worth while contributor instead of one of our poorer players.

[Remi Moses]

Wow, there's a pig flying outside my back window!
For crying out loud

[chef]

What a load of crap.

[Sedat]

I'd persist with him as a forward, it's a fine line footy sometimes. If Adam had of kicked straight he would have been a worth while contributor instead of one of our poorer players.

He genuinely looked like our most dangerous marking target on Saturday, which is an indictment on the big talls on the day - unfortunately as soon as it hit the deck his opponent ran it out with ease. That very strong mark he took that was called a push out in the 2nd qtr was a wretched decision.

[LostDoggy]

He genuinely looked like our most dangerous marking target on Saturday, which is an indictment on the big talls on the day - unfortunately as soon as it hit the deck his opponent ran it out with ease. That very strong mark he took that was called a push out in the 2nd qtr was a wretched decision.

wretched??

Dom Casissi would have described it a the worst thing he has seen in football

[Go_Dogs]

Phew what a reilef. Thanks James.

For a minute there I thought the bloke in the #17 on Saturday resembled Mick Nolan with his athleticism, but it's great to read that he has nothing wrong physically and that the 2008 jet we saw in the same jumper will be reappearing soon

I can't agree with your summation of what was said. To me, he was simply saying that at the moment he is fit enough, I presume there is a certain level of testing that he would have needed to achieve to be up for selection, and he still has scope for greater fitness.

What these loose words actually translate to is anybodies guess, but I think Cooney has shown in tiny spurts the movement that made him such a good player. Not on the weekend gone, sure. But to suggest the weekend gone will be the ceiling on his movement for the rest of his career is a long bow to draw.

[Remi Moses]

Disagree^^ . Adam has spurts but can't contain it, hence why he's playing forward.
Personally think the club should make a call at the end of the season.
The same with Gia, he has moved like he's aged 10 years in one season.

[Greystache]

Nice post Griff#16

I agree with you.

[Dancin' Douggy]

If Adam Cooney has any slim chance of fixing his knee and extending his career, we/he should start that process now. Pull the pin on his year and start the rehab now. If we grind him into the ground, week after week so we can finish 13th instead of 15th, it's criminal. Give the guy a proper chance to fix his knee, and if he can't, let him retire before he's a cripple.

[LostDoggy]

I thought that in todays marvels of medical science some spakfiller to fill in gaps or a dremel to grind away sharp items could be used???

[Sedat]

I can't agree with your summation of what was said. To me, he was simply saying that at the moment he is fit enough, I presume there is a certain level of testing that he would have needed to achieve to be up for selection, and he still has scope for greater fitness.

What these loose words actually translate to is anybodies guess, but I think Cooney has shown in tiny spurts the movement that made him such a good player. Not on the weekend gone, sure. But to suggest the weekend gone will be the ceiling on his movement for the rest of his career is a long bow to draw.

He's clearly labouring, is nowhere near his best and probably will never get there again, so I'm not exactly sure what benefit there is in making light of his physical fitness in the media. Did we go out of our way to run the story to somehow appease our fans, or were we simply responding to questions from a scribe and not wanting to 'make excuses'? If it is the former, we have treated our fans like they just walked in from the cotton fields.

[Remi Moses]

It's heartbreaking, I heard Rocket say tonight he can't get that fitness into himself.The knee swells up until mid week!

[Sedat]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226408335937

Good article today by Wawrick Green. Coons is simply too talented a player not to be given every opportunity to overcome his chronic knee injury. I'm reticent to throw him on the scrapheap to hastily. There is so much untapped potential upside in getting Coons' knee right so I hope we leave no stone unturned as a club to do so. If, after every effort has been made in the next 18 months, Coons still cannot funstion effectively as an AFL footballer then we make the call, but not right now.