Who has the final say whether someone plays or not? The player, coaches and/or medical staff?
I know most players will say they're right because they don't want to miss games and Club staff will go with that but when you look at how the Club has handled Cogs' groin complaint this year and Gas' knee in the week leading up to the Roos' match last year when he then did it completely, you've got to question why we appear to stuff up when compared to other clubs. We appear in these cases to risk the long term unavailability of our players just so we can score a single win in the up coming match such is the pressure the Club is under not to lose.
Unless it’s a final, no game is worth long-term injury to any player. Clubs tread a fine line when leaving it up to players to say if they’re right or not.
Surely they have to go with what the medicos say, otherwise why have them there, other than to bandage up players?
Telstra Dome is supposedly the hardest ground in the AFL. Yet I’ve lost count of the number of times we brought players in who were coming back from hamstring, leg-related injuries. In those circumstances, wouldn’t you err on the side of caution and give players an extra week, rather than taking a risk when they’re less than 100% fit and risk further, long-term damage?
Taking into account the pre season comp and home and away games, I think we played about 4 of our first 6 or so games at Telstra Dome. Cogs wasn’t right so they play him for about half a game or so, each week. Wouldn’t the fact he was spending nearly as much time on the bench as he was on the ground tell you he’s not right.
I remember the Club telling us early in the year that Cogs injury would get "better" the more games he played 
.
I’m not sure how they came up with that MT, when, in the end, he couldn’t chase, turn and do all those things he would normally do when fit. So they finally relent and rest him?
The Gas and Cambo examples just highlight that the decision should always be left to the medical staff.
…you can't afford to take injured players into a game....not unless you're playing the Pies anyway 
POW! Right in the kisser. Nice shot bg25.
