After the emotionality of last Friday’s loss subsides a bit with the prospect of losing two top leaders, I hope some consideration is given to the following:
Pav and Luke, while getting on in years, still showed they had a lot to contribute, when fit. Managing these older players is a bit of an art and certainly the pressing need to play them in 2015 probably played a role in exacerbating their injury woes. As for finishing 1st, as we see from the Weagles, finishing second is just as good; we finished 6 points ahead of the Weagles. In hindsight now, perhaps the opportunity to ease the burden on some players would have been better than chasing top spot.
In Luke’s case, quite simply, Alex Pearce (Luke’s replacement) is not ready for a week-in, week-out grind of a season. Don’t get me wrong; I think Alex showed clear signs, but towards the end of 2015, he was injured, so couldn’t be considered for selection. Dawson apparently put in a huge 2015 preseason, and by doing so, hurt his groin and broke his thumb; and the dumb act of elbowing Cameron saw him miss two more weeks due to suspension. Dawson probably missed 80% of the home and away season; imagine if Luke didn’t have to play if Dawson was available. Perhaps Luke would have played in the Prelim and perhaps the result may have been different.
I’m certain that if Luke, for example, was nursed through 2016 (in a way that he wasn’t afforded to in 2015), he would still have a lot to contribute.
As for Pav, he regularly still gets the number 1 defender in the league, and even in the Prelim, showed the wear and tear of another long season. I heard Chris Connolly recently all but suggested that Pav only play home games and I would extend this to Luke M as well. I know this would sound radical, but surely it would prolong their influence into 2016 and keep us in contention.
Apparently, both our champs are at the end of their contracts. But I hope that decisions are made in the cold light of day rather than the dark night of a Prelim loss.
Of course, all of this is moot if our two champs decide to pull the pin.