Tigers get Goodes news with star outMartin Blake
The Age
May 8, 2012RICHMOND has just won the footballing equivalent of the lottery. On the eve of an important game against the third-placed Swans, Sydney's talisman Adam Goodes will miss because of injury.
Scans revealed yesterday that Goodes has a tear, high on his quadriceps, which caused him to hobble from the field in the opening minutes of the final quarter of Sydney's loss to Adelaide at the SCG on Saturday night.
''He will probably be out for about six weeks. It's hard to predict …,'' Swans coach John Longmire said. '' 'Goodesy' normally recovers really well, but with this injury we have to be careful not to push him too hard even when he's feeling well.
''We know how important Adam Goodes is for us, so we won't be putting him at risk any more than what we need to.''
Brad Scott, the North Melbourne coach, did not bother disguising his schadenfreude when Goodes was suspended for the Swans' match against the Kangaroos in round four. ''It shortened our match committee [meeting] by about an hour this morning,'' Scott said at the time.
While no such pronouncements have yet come out of Punt Road, they may be quietly wondering about karma today (although for perspective, it is worth remembering North lost to Sydney).
Goodes has played some huge games against Richmond, as he has against all teams. As recently as 2009 he was best afield in a game against the Tigers. Needless to say he has been Sydney's best player and match winner for more than a decade.
But Richmond, which once had a major problem with the Swans, losing eight straight games from 2007-2010, has put itself back in that particular contest, starting with a win at the MCG in 2010 when Goodes was contained. The Tigers repeated that home win in round 21 last year with Goodes kept to 16 disposals, winning by seven goals. Squeezed between those two Richmond wins the Swans beat the Tigers at the SCG last year by 10 points.
How important is Goodes to Sydney? By popular consensus he is the main man, yet it has been difficult to judge because he so rarely misses any football. He has an incredible record of durability matched only by Brad Johnson in recent years; it is possible the length of his absence from this injury will double his career tally of missed games.
In the seven games he has missed in a 14-season career, Sydney has won four and lost three.
Most recently, the Swans beat the Kangaroos without him in round four. When he missed three games in the 2008 season, the Swans went 1-2, but they were not a great side then.
Perhaps more importantly the Swans are coming back to the MCG where their recent record is terrible.
In Sydney's last 14 games at the mecca of Australian football, it has won one, drawn one and lost 12. It has not managed a win there in the last eight starts.
Richmond will never get a better chance to get itself back in the finals race.
As for Sydney, it confronts Richmond, Melbourne, St Kilda, the Western Bulldogs and Essendon in the five matches before the bye, with two of those at the SCG and three in Melbourne.
It has Trent Dennis-Lane, Jesse White and Mitch Morton, who kicked 10 goals in his most recent reserves game, as potential replacements, and there are winnable games in that bunch.
But it is going to be a tough road.
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