Melbourne Injuries

[NMWBloods]

I think they'll leave Davey and Pickett out until rd 22. Give them a run to get some match fitness and then have them ready for finals.

Tougher decision on Robbo. He's been playing injured all season as it is. However a fresh injury adds to a pretty big burden he's carrying and so he really does need a week off, which he might get.

[ugg]

Melbourne will look really silly if they play Davey and he aggravates the injury. From a Swans point of view I hope he doesn't play as he was excellent against us earlier this year (as was Pickett).

[giant]

This game is absolutely critical for Melbourne - if they lose this, that means 3 losses in 4 games & deep pscychological damage as they threaten to spiral out of control in August for another year.

Rest assured, they will view this game just as critically as we do - for both clubs, this could realistically decide their premiership chances in 2006.

Davey looked to me like he could've played last week at a stretch & if any of you saw the Carlton game you'll know just how badly they missed him - they scored 10 goals from 50+ inside 50s!!! Without Davey, the ball rebounded out of their frwd line like one of those tennis ball hitting machines. Expect Davey to be there!

However, Johstone was another big omission from the Melbourne team on saturday - I have no idea why he wasn't there but he would be a good "out" for us especially at the MCG.

[Lucky Knickers]

Crouch back for Davey if he plays would be the go.

As for how good they were earlier this year...not sure. They just beat us and we were pathetic and woeful. As usual we will continue the trend and beat Melbourne at the MCG.

[giant]

This site has Johnstone as "diagnosis unknown" - presumably the same bug that struck down Crouch. They have him returning this week but I suspect that's a guess.

http://www.injuryupdate.com.au/afl.php?team=Melbourne&mascot=Demons

[bigswan]

Davey and Pickett definitely won't play. It would be a huge break for us if Jonstone was still out. Robertson has played with his injuries all season.This is a huge game for us. Melbourne at MCG is a different proposition than at the Dome.

[Snowy]

Davey won't play, he's already had one major hammy last year, plus another one last week. If he did it again it would be curtains for this season. Are you sure the footage is not old file footage? Sometimes they show old film when reporting on a player. Dees hate TD, they'll be tougher at the 'G.

[liz]

Originally posted by Lucky Knickers
Crouch back for Davey if he plays would be the go.

As for how good they were earlier this year...not sure. They just beat us and we were pathetic and woeful. As usual we will continue the trend and beat Melbourne at the MCG.

I thought that game was a 50/50 game that either side would have been a little stiff to lose. Swans had more than their fair share of scoring opportunities and squandered many they should have kicked.

Dees played reasonably well but not brilliantly. Swans played reasonably well but not brilliantly. We were nothing like as woeful as against Port a couple of weeks earlier, and were probably better than in the win the previous week against Carlton.

[ScottH]

Robertson forlorn

The key forward looked forlorn at Melbourne's training session yesterday as he nursed what club officials said was merely a jarred right shoulder.

But Robertson was unable to use his right hand to even pick up the ball as he slowly walked laps at the Junction Oval.

[floppinab]

Melbourne will go into this game very unsettled with these playmakers under clouds.

If we are a real threat this year we should account for them pretty easily, importantly this is our last visit to the 'G pre-finals, again important to show good form there.

[SimonH]

If I were a Melbourne supporter, I'd rather see a fully-fit second-stringer in their forward line this week rather than Robbo, who's clearly not been 100% and has struggled to have the impact he had in 2005, with this latest setback on top of that. Just dragging yourself half-fit over the white line almost always backfires in big games. Of course he will draw a quality defender (maybe Leo if LRT takes Neitz), but I'm not too concerned about him playing.

A fit Travis Johnstone will be far more of a challenge for us.

While The Curse of Playing the Swans has hit Melbourne to some limited extent, as a total playing list they have fewer injuries than most clubs. They have certainly been unlucky with the importance of those players they have lost (in particular Pickett who's been in fearsome form), but I don't think there'll be any need to put an asterisk against this one, if we do win.

[Snowy]

According to today's press Robbo really struggled to lift his arm at training yesterday.

[giant]

Originally posted by Snowy
According to today's press Robbo really struggled to lift his arm at training yesterday.

Tho to be fair to Robbo according to this article they were practising judo holds.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20065123-36035,00.html

[Grant]

The news got a bit better today(or worse for dees fans)that Robertson,Johnstone,and Cameron Bruce are all in serious doubt for this week.SEN had a reporter at their training today and said he doubts any of them would play,and Daniher almost conceded the the same thing.
Whelan is also in a little bit of doubt and didnt train either.

[hammo]

Originally posted by Grant
The news got a bit better today(or worse for dees fans)that Robertson,Johnstone,and Cameron Bruce are all in serious doubt for this week.SEN had a reporter at their training today and said he doubts any of them would play,and Daniher almost conceded the the same thing.
Whelan is also in a little bit of doubt and didnt train either.

I think the Swans at $5.50 for a 40+ win looks bloody good value if that's the case!