North Melbourne warned against resting players for final round Matt Murnane
The Age
September 1, 2015 - 12:07PM North Melbourne will rest players at their own peril in the final round, and are not good enough to simply "flick the switch" back on in the first week of finals if they enter September with back-to-back losses against fellow premiership aspirants.
That is the view of goal-kicking legend Jason Dunstall, a man who knows more about finals than most, having won four premierships for Hawthorn as a player and played a crucial off-field role in setting up the club's current successful period.
Media reports have suggested the Roos are considering resting key players for Friday night's match against Richmond, given they cannot fall any lower than their current 8th position and moving any higher with a win over the Tigers could potentially mean a road trip to Adelaide for an elimination final against the in-form Crows.
A loss to 5th-placed Richmond on the other hand, would almost certainly set up a week one showdown with the Tigers, or the Western Bulldogs, probably at the MCG.
The Roos have beaten Richmond in six of their past seven matches, while their only two games against the Crows at Adelaide Oval have produced losses.
While Brad Scott's team knocked off minor premiers Fremantle in round 21 to cap a seven-game winning streak, they lost some momentum by getting over-run by the 6th-placed Western Bulldogs last week.
Dunstall advised North to place a high priority on recapturing the standard they had set before the loss to the Dogs, rather than managing the health of their list.
"You need to be playing your best footy come September," Dunstall said on Monday night, in his role as a panellist for Fox Footy's On The Couch.
"You don't have to be the best team all year to win the flag, you've got to be the best team in September. But you don't just flick a switch when you get there," he said.
"North need to fight back after a pretty disappointing performance against the Western Bulldogs."
The Roos have not officially declared their intentions on the subject, although veteran Drew Petrie gave an insight into what approach the club might take when asked about the unique situation ahead of the Tigers match.
The key forward seemed adamant that the Roos should not be contemplating anything less than a win, even if it meant the more appealing option of staying in Melbourne next week could be jeopardised.
"Is that how it's going to work?" Petrie responded, when told that a loss to Richmond could mean avoiding a road trip to Adelaide.
"So it's going to be a good thing to lose, you reckon? No, not in these four walls," he said.
"We are just treating it like any other game. We want to be a side that has a winning culture and you want to take good form into the finals.
"After the loss to the Western Bulldogs ... we need to get a win back and finish as high up the ladder as we can."
Despite those comments, players have still been thrown up in the media as possible options to sit out the match at Etihad Stadium to rest bodies that are either sore or fatigued and would benefit from a freshen up before finals.
They include Brownlow Medal contender Todd Goldstein as well as veterans Brent Harvey, Jarrad Waite, Nick Dal Santo, Andrew Swallow and Petrie.
Petrie said on Monday that he would not be rested, adding "I can't wait to play Friday night".
Resting players is high on the agenda this week after Fremantle revealed they had asked permission from the AFL to leave out as many as 11 main squad players for their final round game against Port Adelaide.
The AFL signed off on the Dockers' plans on Monday, however any similar philosophy the Roos might adopt would be handled differently given the result of the North-Richmond match will have a direct impact on the elimination final match-ups, and potentially even the top four picture if Gold Coast were to shock 4th-placed Sydney at the SCG.
Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy was another leading expert who warned that the Roos would find it hard to back up against the Tigers in week one of the finals if they conceded a loss to them this week.
"North Melbourne can't afford to go in [to finals] with two bad losses. Momentum is what it's all about at this time of year," Healy said on Monday night's On The Couch program.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/north-melbourne-warned-against-resting-players-for-final-round-20150831-gjc3ed.html
