Clubs hope practice makes perfect
March 18 2003
With the season proper only 10 days away, Rohan Connolly looks at how the 16 teams fared in their lead-up matches.
All pre-season, we're told not to compare apples with oranges; that different teams will by necessity be at different stages of their preparation, fielding vastly different line-ups, and that the scoreboard is of little consequence.
That's OK if you're a Melbourne supporter trying to rationalise why your team lost a scratch match in these parts to West Coast the other night (the Demons had exactly half of their best 22 out of action); not nearly as much consolation if you follow St Kilda and read about a 90-point rout against a Kangaroo line-up tipped by many to finish lower than the Saints.
Does one Wizard Cup win equal two practice match victories? Or is the chance to fine-tune a plan for the season proper free of any obligations to prizemoney a greater win still. And have all those players scraped out, cleaned up and rested, returned as expected? Or at all? With the pre-season officially over and everyone's first premiership game a week-and-a-half away, now at least we can compare fruits of the same variety.
RICHMOND
Need you say more than the fact coaching rumours have already started before Danny Frawley has lost a single game? The Tigers were particularly bad in their night loss to Melbourne, ordinary in losses to Fremantle and Sydney, and not super-impressive in beating Carlton. The Tiges have lost key man Brad Ottens for half the season, while important recruit Justin Blumfield has barely seen action and Ben Holland is still on the comeback trail. For Richmond, it's been almost as bad a summer as was last winter.
March 18 2003
With the season proper only 10 days away, Rohan Connolly looks at how the 16 teams fared in their lead-up matches.
All pre-season, we're told not to compare apples with oranges; that different teams will by necessity be at different stages of their preparation, fielding vastly different line-ups, and that the scoreboard is of little consequence.
That's OK if you're a Melbourne supporter trying to rationalise why your team lost a scratch match in these parts to West Coast the other night (the Demons had exactly half of their best 22 out of action); not nearly as much consolation if you follow St Kilda and read about a 90-point rout against a Kangaroo line-up tipped by many to finish lower than the Saints.
Does one Wizard Cup win equal two practice match victories? Or is the chance to fine-tune a plan for the season proper free of any obligations to prizemoney a greater win still. And have all those players scraped out, cleaned up and rested, returned as expected? Or at all? With the pre-season officially over and everyone's first premiership game a week-and-a-half away, now at least we can compare fruits of the same variety.
RICHMOND
Need you say more than the fact coaching rumours have already started before Danny Frawley has lost a single game? The Tigers were particularly bad in their night loss to Melbourne, ordinary in losses to Fremantle and Sydney, and not super-impressive in beating Carlton. The Tiges have lost key man Brad Ottens for half the season, while important recruit Justin Blumfield has barely seen action and Ben Holland is still on the comeback trail. For Richmond, it's been almost as bad a summer as was last winter.
