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The Roar

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I rest my case - the flag is more important than the final week

Expert
5th September, 2015
24

The outcry this week over Fremantle and North Melbourne resting players in the lead-up to finals has been baffling.

So long as the team running out on the field and the coaches walking up to the box don’t have the intention of losing, we can officially tone down the hyperbole and appreciate the fact both teams have a bigger goal in mind.

Here’s a quiz for you: Name the nine sides who won in Round 23 last year.

Do you remember them? More than half of them even?

Here’s another quiz: Name the last nine premiership sides.

Is that one easier?

No one will remember your team winning or not winning a mostly meaningless end-of-season game. But premiership glory is far more important.

And it also happens to be what coaches and footy department staff are paid to deliver. We can’t really blame them for doing what they’re paid to do, can we?

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A newspaper front page cheekily called the restings a footy fiasco and the Adelaide Crows – who stand to miss out on a home final after North Melbourne’s loss last night – expressed their opposition publicly.

But again, there’s no use complaining before the event because unless the players and coaches go into the match not legitimately intending to win, it’s a non-issue.

The Western Bulldogs have three senior players out due to general soreness this week – in one case, Bob Murphy, there’s a known risk of missing the first week of finals – but of course that hasn’t been brought into the debate.

Sides on the eve of finals, with bigger things to play for, are entitled to rest players.

That shouldn’t be a controversial statement. Around the world it happens in other leagues and no one bats an eyelid.

Which is worth noting because footy is a particularly brutal game that would certainly take a toll over the course of 21 home-and-away season matches. There wouldn’t be a single player at this time of year that couldn’t do with a freshening up.

Plus, when you went to the source, North coach Brad Scott had a solid defence to his club’s choices during the week.

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“I don’t think anyone should be under any illusions about our intent (on the field) – we’re going out to win the game, there is absolutely no doubt about that,” Scott said.

“I make no apologies for the fact that I’m going to do the best thing by our club, the best thing by our players, the best thing by our team and our supporters and that is to be in the best possible shape we can be in the first week of finals.”

We can rest the case at that.

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