Griffen to Miss Opener

[Mofra]

It's official now:


RYAN Griffen has been ruled out of the Western Bulldogs' opening round clash with West Coast on Sunday.

The star midfielder sustained a fractured finger on his left hand after receiving an accidental kick in the final NAB Cup match against Geelong.

Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney ended speculation about Griffen's availability for round one by confirming he would miss the game against the Eagles.

However, McCartney was confident the 25-year-old would be passed fit for the round-two contest with the Adelaide Crows at AAMI Stadium.

"He won’t play on the weekend, we don’t mind saying that," McCartney said at Whitten Oval.

"But he'll be a strong chance to be available the week after … This time next week, we expect it'll be really ready to go."

http://www.westernbulldogs.com.au/westernbulldogsnewsfeatures/newsarticle/tabid/4112/newsid/131446/default.aspx

[MrMahatma]

That hurts a fair bit.

[Bulldog Joe]

Gives the opportunity for someone else to play. Probably guarantees both Dickson and Smith to debut.

[DragzLS1]

Damn it! Atleast we have him against Adelaide.. Will leave a big hole in the midfield for this game.. Hope Clay Smith gets a good run love watching this kid and am liking Tory Dickson. Lets hope Cooney and Dahlhaus do a great job and we grind out a win, then have Griff back for Adelaide! 2-0 start ;)

[Cyberdoggie]

Big omission, this one is going to hurt us.

Not a lot of line breaking running power in the side now.

I'm tipping we might see Dahlhaus play a role further up the ground at times.

[Go_Dogs]

I'm tipping we might see Dahlhaus play a role further up the ground at times.

If we're to be a chance, he'll have to spend some big minutes in the midfield for mine. Hopefully Cooney can spend about 50% TOG through the middle too.

Whilst it's going to hurt not having Griff this week, it seems the right decision to wait until he's ready to go. He's too important to miss an extended part of the season if he's brought back early and injures it further.

[bornadog]

Rocket on AFL 360 tonight, said when Sheahan put out his top 50 and had Griffen down in 30 something, Rocket rang him and said Griffen is at least in the top 20 in the AFL and at 25 is starting to peak.

Rocket alsopraised Griffen in being our best player in all the finals. Yes we will miss him this week but lets hope he stays injury free for the rest of the year.

[FrediKanoute]

Is this announcement a bit of naivity on the part of Macca? Rocket would have kept this under wraps so that he could keep WCE guessing.

[Maddog37]

No I think it sends a message to the playing group that we do not need to play games and that each player will need to pick up the slack accordingly.

Also lying to the media is not a good way to set an example of integrity etc which is a what Bmac wants to teach the group as people.

[Rocco Jones]

Is this announcement a bit of naivity on the part of Macca? Rocket would have kept this under wraps so that he could keep WCE guessing.


No I think it sends a message to the playing group that we do not need to play games and that each player will need to pick up the slack accordingly

I am with Maddog here. I am pretty sure BMac knows making a last minute change is an option but what message does it send to our own players?

Also, Rocket ended up doing it so often that it actually became really predictable.

[bornadog]

I am with Maddog here. I am pretty sure BMac knows making a last minute change is an option but what message does it send to our own players?

Also, Rocket ended up doing it so often that it actually became really predictable.

I think this situation is a bit different. It was plainly obvious at training the other day that Griffen was trying not to mark the ball with his sore hand.

[Rocco Jones]

I think this situation is a bit different. It was plainly obvious at training the other day that Griffen was trying not to mark the ball with his sore hand.

Very true.

[ledge]

Is this announcement a bit of naivity on the part of Macca? Rocket would have kept this under wraps so that he could keep WCE guessing.

I am sure someone in the media would have seen him training, pretty obvious he would miss.
Unless Macca told Griff to act like it.:D