Geelong and St Kilda players fight for the ball during the AFL 1st Qualifying Final between the Geelong Cats and the St kilda Saints at the MCG. GSP Images
The AFL’s two clear-cut premiership favourites, Geelong and St Kilda, are employing directly opposite policies on player rotation this year. So one wonders which will work and lead them to 2009 glory?
Last weekend was the perfect example of it, as St Kilda took a full-strength team on the taxing journey across the Nullarbor to face the Eagles in Perth, while Geelong elected to rest several key personnel for the trip north to Brisbane.
And this weekend the Cats have given Jimmy Bartel a game off with a hip complaint troubling him.
Geelong though, have been a successful team for the last three seasons, and combined with a few long NAB Cup campaigns, have played the most competitive footy of any of the AFL clubs in the last few years.
It’s a lot of footy and sure to bring with it a couple of niggles which Geelong have moved to address by giving players rests in the last few weeks.
St Kilda on the other hand, are relative newcomers to the ‘success game’, having shot up the ladder late last season, before their undefeated 2009.
Perhaps the Cats have learnt (or been burnt) from their experiences at the top. Last season’s Grand Final failure surely still hurts and much attention will be made at Skilled Stadium to get the side peaking in September rather than Round 15 or Round 16.
And with Geelong and St Kilda dominating on the AFL ladder and practically certain to grab the home ground advantage in the second-chance finals come the end of the season, the Cats really have no incentive to risk players’ fitness.
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon on the other hand, claims he wouldn’t want to mess with form.
“You practice mediocrity and you practice it often, you blink and you’ll find yourself sliding down the ladder,” Lyon said on Wednesday.
And while the Saints coach tries to distance himself from the Cats’ tactic, it’s clear he doesn’t buy into it.
“What Geelong’s doing is irrelevant to us,” Lyon said, before adding, “I think it is disrespectful to the other teams and the competition. You’ve got to understand that if you’re off two or three percent in any game, you’re going to lose that game.”
Whether or not being disrespectful is on the top of Geelong’s list of priorities is doubtful and with the visit of last year’s wooden spooners Melbourne to Skilled Stadium this weekend, perhaps the Cats’ timing is right and they’ll be back on the winners’ list at the end of this round.
The idea of resting players and rotating your squad is quite normal in many other professional sports around the world. You see it a lot in European football and also in international one-day cricket. Yet in Aussie Rules footy, it isn’t the norm.
The assumption that rotating players meddles with form is the basis for this, but the Cats’ experience from last year has perhaps made them re-think that assumption, with keeping players niggle-free and fit a new priority.
In the short-term, Geelong’s form has been affected with losses to the Saints and Brisbane last weekend. The big question is if the Cats can regain that form and get going again.
In the long-term, with Geelong and St Kilda likely to face off at some stage in September, we’ll get a pretty good indication of who got it right.
Pippinu
Roar Guru
Good article Ben, and good question. This notion of resting players doesn't really exist in aussie rules to the extent that it exists in World football, but: 1. in some overseas comps, schedules can get unbelievably hectic, where it's possible to play 4 games in the space of 14 days; 2. a long time ago, the AFL enforced the rule of a minimum of a 5 day break for players - most teams actually get at least a 6 day break most of the time; and 3. for the most part, the AFL clubs are pretty good at making sure players are fully recovered from injuries before risking them. The unusual aspect about the Geelong case was that a few players were rested to get over the sort of niggling minor injury pretty much 80% of all players take into games with them all year round. I'm sort of agreeing that it can only do them good in a long, tough season, but there are a few good counter points made in your article: 1. form can vanish as quickly as it came - we see that year on year; and 2. a three to five percent difference in performance levels and/or quality of match day personnel is more than enough to lose a game of footy against pretty much any opposition.
Ben Somerford
Roar Guru
Yeah it's a good question onside. I suppose as I said in the article, it remains to be seen. But I'll always remember the example of the WCE a few years back when they were a top4 side who got bundled out of the finals in straight sets. It was in Judd's last year when they limped into the finals with him at 50%. And you had Cousins come into the finals and do his hammy agst PA. Makes you wonder if a rest during the regular season might've benefited them come finals time. And as someone who follows a range of sports, I find it unusual that this concept isn't really accepted in the AFL. But I can understand the argument. Confidence, momentum and form and these psychological factors are so important in modern AFL footy. But then you've got to weigh that up against physical factors. I guess in some ways I support Geelong's decision to rest (rotate or whatever you want to call it) players and I also applaud St Kilda's determination to keep going with what's working. But something tells me the Cats have been there before and experienced it all and therefore are making a wiser decision. But as I said, time will tell.
Michael C
Guest
I'm still not so sure that Geelong was just 'rotating' players - - although, granted, if the GF were played the next day, then, probably half of the guys who missed last week probably would've played. it was interesting though to see Geelong go in this week with 2 losses on the trot vs Melbourne with 2 wins on the trot - - and yet Geelong were still almost unbackable favourites.
onside
Guest
Ben Good question.\\hat do you think?
Michael DiFabrizio
Expert
Nice article, Ben. I agree that Geelong's experience of last year is influencing their decision-making now. Going into the GF with a couple of guys underdone and just limping in to the 22 hurt them. As for St Kilda, they have some pretty impressive form, and you wouldn't want that to be messed with if you could help it. Both teams are responding to their own circumstances, but as you say, we'll find out in September who really got it right.