Cooney?

[Dry Rot]

If he's still got OP and it restricted him last season, it sounds pretty chronic.

Would it be better to just give him a few months off and get him right for the end of the season?

[Go_Dogs]

Goodwin missed a whole year with OP. It would be sad to see Cooney do the same - but if it means prolonging his career, I'd be prepared to do it.

[Dry Rot]

Goodwin missed a whole year with OP. It would be sad to see Cooney do the same - but if it means prolonging his career, I'd be prepared to do it.

Agreed - it simply seems to be getting worse.

[Raw Toast]

Agreed - it simply seems to be getting worse.

I think Cooney's fitness is a big concern but am not convinced that his OP is necessarily getting worse. It seems to me that we've rested him for most of the pre-season up to now and that he's currenltly starting to do a bit of work and is looking happier.

While I don't take Rocket's media comments at face value, I don't think we'd be gradually increasing his work-load if we weren't confident that his body could handle it.

OP is a strange thing - someone like Luke Ball struggled for a lot of last year but seemed to start coming good at the end of the season, even though he didn't appear to be rested as much as some were calling for...

[southerncross]

It's a concern but I have been told he is still doing a lot of work but he is being very carefully managed. I suspect we will know within two weeks if this is a bigger problem than what the club is indicating.

If I cast my mind back 12 months ago to the same practice match we will be playing on Friday week, Cooney was just coming back from the same problem and played well albeit not a four quarter effort.
He might be a little bit further behind than what he was 12 months ago but it might not hinder his season too much. The good thing is that we have enough midfield depth to ease him through the early part of the season.

[Dry Rot]

I suspect we will know within two weeks if this is a bigger problem than what the club is indicating.



I reckon it is - seems worse than last year.

Worse case scenario, i suppose Aker & Higgins can cover for him.

[alwaysadog]

Unless we are applying less science to this problem than all the other ones I would be fairly confident that we have taken best and most prudent advice about how to manage him. If anything, because of last year's log jam in the medical room I think they will do waht it takes to get him right.

[bresker]

He hasn't joined in any of the main sessions yet and had only briefly appeared on the track until an extended running/rehab workout on Monday.

I doubt if he'll be ready by the NAB Cup.

I'm not too worried. He looks a lot healthier than a few weeks ago. I don't think the story about his wisdom teeth was a smokescreen. He looked like a sick pup a few weeks back.

Hopefully he'll be good to go by round one; if not, we can cover him. Nobody can fully replace a fit & firing Cooney but I'd rather ease him back into things.

[Hard Ball Get]

Its a tough one. Obviously if he is fully fit he will play no problems but if there are doubts the club can go a few ways. They can play him and see how it goes, rest him as suggested in the initial post or even give him a rest towards the middle or just before finals.

I think he would kow his own body and the docs would be watching him pretty closely. I think he will play from the season proper but perhaps with less work load. Its a weird injury, if the off season isnt enough time to recover what is?

[southerncross]

I reckon it is - seems worse than last year.

Worse case scenario, i suppose Aker & Higgins can cover for him.
I don't think we have too many problems covering him but I'm not sure the injury is much worse than last season. If he is not back on the track in two weeks though then you are probably right.

I wonder if there is any longer term impacts of chronic OP?

[Dry Rot]

Someone posted that Goodwin was rested for a year - perhaps we should do so with Cooney so he's cherry ripe for our tilt at the flag in 2008.

We invested a first draft pick in him and need to get the most out of him long term, not this season.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Someone posted that Goodwin was rested for a year - perhaps we should do so with Cooney so he's cherry ripe for our tilt at the flag in 2008.

We invested a first draft pick in him and need to get the most out of him long term, not this season.

Goodwin never missed a year.

His first year (97) he played 10 games and has played at least 19 games a year except for 2004 when he missed rounds 4-15.

I can't remember why he missed. Maybe this is what they are talking about but 12 weeks is different to a year.

[mjp]

Word I am hearing is that Cooney is 'on schedule'. Not sure exactly what that is supposed to mean, and there is no doubt his preparation has not been ideal, but the club are expecting him to be able to play throughout the season.

[westdog54]

Not having Coon Dog on the track doing full training is a massive concern. OP is still a relatively new injury in the sporting world. I agree with most others that we just need to rest him, keep him doing fitness work, and don't take any unnecessary risks with him. After all he's a number 1 pick.