Picture: Colleen Petch - Herald-Sun.
Gods decide injuries, but coach picks debutants
The Age
May 27, 2005
Richmond coach Terry Wallace says the availability of key players Joel Bowden and Greg Stafford for tonight's AFL match of the round against Melbourne is in the lap of the gods. But 19-year-old midfielder Nathan Foley, who started this year on the rookie list, is certain to make his AFL debut.
Bowden (cheekbone) and Stafford, who has missed the past two matches with an ankle injury, both trained yesterday, with Stafford also having a pre-training fitness test.
Wallace said while he was confident the duo would play, both could be late withdrawals. "He (Bowden) is anything but over the line, but the rules of the game say if we want to give him any chance, we've got to select him," Wallace said. "At the moment, we're going to play him. If he's available, we'll play him. It really depends on how he pulls up, how he sleeps overnight, whether he's comfortable or not."
Stafford's case was similar, the coach said. "What he did today was enough for us to select him, but if he pulls up sore on it, obviously you won't play him. Again, it's in the lap of the gods."
Wallace was less coy about Foley, who was elevated to the senior list in the pre-season after David Rodan received a long-term knee injury. The coach said the lightweight midfielder had impressed with his tenacity as a ball-winner for Richmond's reserves side Coburg, and in overcoming several early career setbacks.
"He's a young kid who has lacked opportunity just because of his size and he missed out on getting into the system in the first place," Wallace said. "He's had a lot of troubles with knee injuries along the way, had several operations on his knees and he's been knocking down the door at Coburg. He wins the footy, so we thought why not give him the opportunity to play at senior level to see whether he can do the same?"
Melbourne has its own share of injury concerns, with skipper David Neitz (hamstring) training lightly this week, but expected to play, and Daniel Bell (thigh) also under a cloud.
But the Demons will have key-position player Brad Miller back from suspension, and Wallace expects Melbourne to be at its best.
"They were probably down for a couple of weeks there, but they were only down when they had blokes out of their side," he said.
"If you have a look at their form when they've had everyone up and running, they've been as good as any side in the competition."
- AAP
http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2005/05/26/1116950816633.html
