Preseason Training 2021

[GVGjr]

Well, if you set the bar low enough it's pretty easy to jump over the darn thing.

I never felt like we did the right thing by Bruce or the playing group by selecting him when he was so out of form and potentially not fit enough. I know there is a strong support on WOOF for whatever selections are made by our MC but if we are are already commenting that he looks fitter and slimmer now then why was the MC immune from criticism for selecting him regardless last season?

[Bulldog Joe]

I never felt like we did the right thing by Bruce or the playing group by selecting him when he was so out of form and potentially not fit enough. I know there is a strong support on WOOF for whatever selections are made by our MC but if we are are already commenting that he looks fitter and slimmer now then why was the MC immune from criticism for selecting him regardless last season?

I think there was plenty of criticism of his continued selection.

May have been lost in the overall criticism of Match Committee selections.

[Mofra]

I never felt like we did the right thing by Bruce or the playing group by selecting him when he was so out of form and potentially not fit enough. I know there is a strong support on WOOF for whatever selections are made by our MC but if we are are already commenting that he looks fitter and slimmer now then why was the MC immune from criticism for selecting him regardless last season?

I just don't think we had other fit options. If we did, he would have been "rested" more often (as he was against Adelaide).

[GVGjr]

I just don't think we had other fit options. If we did, he would have been "rested" more often (as he was against Adelaide).

Young and JT spring to mind and Cordy could have been moved forward or we could have gone with a smaller line-up
I don't think we were well served by playing someone so out of form

[soupman]

I just don't think we had other fit options. If we did, he would have been "rested" more often (as he was against Adelaide).

I don't buy that as an excuse.

As shown by the rounds where we picked no first ruck and just had English floating around in the side while Dunkley and co picked up the slack instead of selecting Sweet or JT we are happy to try something different in lieu of playing a shit option in their preferred position. I don't see why we were so flexible there to enable us to not play someone while at the same time were so inflexible with our forward roles that Bruce was undroppable.

Whoever replaced him didn't need to be a tall forward, it could have been anything like throwing Cordy forward, bringing Weightman or Dale or Lloyd in and playing a smaller forwardline, playing Gowers in the same role who whilst infuriating contributed just as much as Bruce did in the few games he played. We could have tried literally anything and instead we just persisted.

Taking something that wasn't working at all all season and just hoping this would be the week it would get better is dumb, and we did that for an entire season.

[mjp]

...why was the MC immune from criticism for selecting him regardless last season?

I was frustrated with his continued selection but I rarely comment on selection. Well - I don't think I do.

As I have said numerous times, selection is REALLY hard and I just don't know enough about what is going on at the club - particularly in 2020 with no VFL form-lines - to say much.

It was annoying at times that Bruce could seemingly do 'nothing' and be selected whilst the bar was so much higher for other players (Schache in particular). That said, I have (again, I think) been consistent in saying that when Schache was dropped this year AND it was seemingly for the same 'effort-based' issues that had seen him out of the side previously (both with us and with the Lions) I suspected he would be out of the side for a L-O-N-G time.

[jeemak]

I was frustrated with his continued selection but I rarely comment on selection. Well - I don't think I do.

As I have said numerous times, selection is REALLY hard and I just don't know enough about what is going on at the club - particularly in 2020 with no VFL form-lines - to say much.

It was annoying at times that Bruce could seemingly do 'nothing' and be selected whilst the bar was so much higher for other players (Schache in particular). That said, I have (again, I think) been consistent in saying that when Schache was dropped this year AND it was seemingly for the same 'effort-based' issues that had seen him out of the side previously (both with us and with the Lions) I suspected he would be out of the side for a L-O-N-G time.

As misguided and cumbersome as some of his effort was, Bruce I don't think was really criticised for not having an honest crack on game day......as it was obvious he was.

I find it interesting that after at least anecdotal reports from the likes of Mofra and others around Lewis Young's conditioning and effort throughout the 2020 season and the stigma Schache carries (or Trengove's papers being stamped rightly or wrongly) that we search for reasons other than what's probably staring us in the face to understand Bruce's ongoing selection. I'm not saying it was right, rather, just saying there's probably no ulterior motive or face saving associated with it.

[Happy Days]

As misguided and cumbersome as some of his effort was, Bruce I don't think was really criticised for not having an honest crack on game day......as it was obvious he was.

Oh man yes he was, by me anyway. His half arsed final contest against the Saints that, in a vacuum, cost us the game had me ready to throw my tv off the balcony.

[comrade]

Oh man yes he was, by me anyway. His half arsed final contest against the Saints that, in a vacuum, cost us the game had me ready to throw my tv off the balcony.

Peeling off and letting Membrey go up uncontested still burns. He'd crashed every marking attempt (including his own teammates) all day, then decides to hang back at a critical moment in the game.

[GVGjr]

I was frustrated with his continued selection but I rarely comment on selection. Well - I don't think I do.

As I have said numerous times, selection is REALLY hard and I just don't know enough about what is going on at the club - particularly in 2020 with no VFL form-lines - to say much.

It was annoying at times that Bruce could seemingly do 'nothing' and be selected whilst the bar was so much higher for other players (Schache in particular). That said, I have (again, I think) been consistent in saying that when Schache was dropped this year AND it was seemingly for the same 'effort-based' issues that had seen him out of the side previously (both with us and with the Lions) I suspected he would be out of the side for a L-O-N-G time.

While I agree that at times selections might at times be difficult if you stick to the fundamentals of form and results let alone the many questions being asked about his weight and fitness I don't think a decision to drop him and make him earn his spot would have been a difficult one.

I think there is a chance we didn't want the media focusing on his omission and hoped he would work his way out of a slump