Too brave. Saints count cost

[saynta]

And some accuse AFL players of being soft.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/ ... 62ec9950a6

(Extract... part pf first para only)


"St Kilda will have at least six first-choice names out of its Round 1 clash against Collingwood after a dirty night with injuries against Essendon.

Emerging midfielder Hunter Clark is facing up to six weeks on the sidelines with scans on Sunday expected to confirm he has snapped his AC joint after a bruising collision with Darcy Parish.

Jack Billings pulled up sore with a tight hamstring and is in doubt for Round 1, with coach Brett Ratten expecting him to miss some time.

The Saints played an excellent brand of football in their AAMI Series win over Essendon but will go into their Round 1 clash against the Pies without key personnel.

Clark and Billings will join Zak Jones (personal leave), Nick Coffield (ACL), Paddy Ryder (achilles) and Dan Hannebery (conditioning) as Round 1 outs for the Saints."

[chook23]

Clark has a poor technique in protecting himself...

Contributed to this latest injury

[Wayne42]

Hannebery is probably aiming to be available for the Round 20 clash against Hawthorn.

[bigcarl]

Clark has a poor technique in protecting himself...

Contributed to this latest injury

Too brave for his own good. Needs to stop copping it and start dishing it out, but it’s not in his personality. Too much of the ball player

[D.B.Cooper]

Dan Hannebery (conditioning) as Round 1 outs for the Saints."

Interesting choice of words for Hannebery.
Stating he is an OUT is suggesting he was at some time an IN, is it not?

[whiskers3614]

Dan Hannebery (conditioning) as Round 1 outs for the Saints."

Interesting choice of words for Hannebery.
Stating he is an OUT is suggesting he was at some time an IN, is it not?

The joke of the century!
Whoever made the recruitment decision is guilty of negligence at best and possibly fraudulent use of funds!

[whiskers3614]

Dan Hannebery (conditioning) as Round 1 outs for the Saints."

Interesting choice of words for Hannebery.
Stating he is an OUT is suggesting he was at some time an IN, is it not?

The joke of the century!
Whoever made the recruitment decision is guilty of negligence at best and possibly fraudulent use of funds!

[st.byron]

"Dan Hannebery ( conditioning)"

Just how much conditioning does he need? An entire off season isn't enough?

[skeptic]

"Dan Hannebery ( conditioning)"

Just how much conditioning does he need? An entire off season isn't enough?

Not to mention the 3 years before that

[saint6709]

Clark has a poor technique in protecting himself...

Contributed to this latest injury

I agree with this - can’t fault his bravery - but he needs to protect himself for impacts a little more - leaves himself open I think

If he doesn’t address this I’m concerned he is going to spend a lot of time on the injury list throughout his career

[perfectionist]

Clark has a poor technique in protecting himself...

Contributed to this latest injury

It was also the difference in size and strength. Unfortunately for Hunter he was closest to the ball and was bending to get it. He was open to be side bumped and that was on the shoulder.

[saynta]

This thread is about Clark, bravery and the Saints continuing run of bad luck with injuries, and not another opportunity for the
usual suspects to put s*** on the club and certain players FFS.

Becomes boring to see genuine footy threads being derailed by crap and/or smart arse comments.

[skeptic]

Lol... even your observations are repeats. Got any original material, or actual thoughts of your own?

[B.M]

It was a side to side impact

What exactly was he supposed to do, didn’t leave himself open and get split down the middle or go head first and get concussed

Maybe he’s not ‘flint hard’ and couldn’t withstand the impact

That’s a conditioning issue

Clark has never looked AFL fit

[Ghost Like]

Clark's body has taken numerous hits because of the way he plays. He's copped a broken jaw & now an ACL. Where's this "flint hard" rubbish come from? He likely would have still copped both injuries if he was inside Kouta's body.

We want genuine class footballers, not a Mr Universe or Insta star. There's many a very good AFL player, premiership player, without a "flint hard" body & many who have had one who are now forgotten, they are your Janes inside Wes Fellowe's body.

[CQ SAINT]

In the 2 hits which have caused his injuries there was 3 players involved. The other 2 took measures to protect themselves and in my opinion they are no less courageous than Clark. At the speed the game is played at, you had better hone all your instincts. Surely he has enough spatial awareness to expect contact. Maybe the role of sweeping off half back is actually better suited to his skill set.

[Scollop]

If Clark was built like Arnold Schwarzenegger perhaps he'd be ok from the bump.... but I'm not sure looking like a Hulk suits a running game like AFL

Like most things in life and in professional sport it's a good lesson for him and for all young players

I think you have to constantly be aware in collision sports and muscling up in the gym is not the answer.

It's always better to be consciously thinking of doing the hitting rather than just bracing yourself and hoping for the best

Ben Long and Josh Battle do it all the time. It's a technique that needs to be learned by Hunter... and practiced on the track.

[Impatient Sainter]

It was a side to side impact

What exactly was he supposed to do, didn’t leave himself open and get split down the middle or go head first and get concussed

Maybe he’s not ‘flint hard’ and couldn’t withstand the impact

That’s a conditioning issue

Clark has never looked AFL fit

I totally agree BM he has doesn't have the body to play permanent midfield. It doesn't matter how you spin it, he simply hasn't worked hard enough or been pushed hard enough to develop an AFL ready physique.

[Banger9798]

He got unlucky, not sure what he could have done better.
Got it flush on the shoulder and popped his AC.
It happens.
He'll be back

[cwrcyn]

Was leaning forward reaching for the ball and didn't bring his arm in quickly enough to brace for impact. Was hit slightly from behind while his arm was not in the correct position. This left the joint exposed. If his arm was by his side and properly tensed he would have got up up and kept playing. It was a technique issue rather than a physical size/shape issue. The way he leans forward in those situations leaves him exposed if his opponents decide they'd rather pick him off than go for the ball. I can't see it being a six week injury after surgery. It's more likely to be 10 to 12 weeks. He'll lose a fair bit of conditioning in the next month.

[lloyd21]

Long time since posted just going to park it here.

We are in great shape Walsh from Giants very very good pick up.

Hannebery is on completely different program this year , they’re not worried about the practice game stuff they want
him available when real stuff begins …same thing with Ryder ..

Only disappointment is Jones & Clark ..but the depth of side is fantastic.

Didn’t have Billings in team , hasn’t done the work this summer …Long has ..Sharman has ..

[saint6709]

Was leaning forward reaching for the ball and didn't bring his arm in quickly enough to brace for impact. Was hit slightly from behind while his arm was not in the correct position. This left the joint exposed. If his arm was by his side and properly tensed he would have got up up and kept playing. It was a technique issue rather than a physical size/shape issue. The way he leans forward in those situations leaves him exposed if his opponents decide they'd rather pick him off than go for the ball. I can't see it being a six week injury after surgery. It's more likely to be 10 to 12 weeks. He'll lose a fair bit of conditioning in the next month.

As I have said already above I think he needs to work on his technique - so agree with you

Parish is running eyes for the ball ( as was Clark) but at the last split second it looks to me that parish sees Clark and braces for impact - Clark doesnt do that he keeps his arms open to grab the ball.

If Ben Long had of come in from where Clark was, on that angle - he would have probably left Parish hurt on the ground

And thats not because Long plays the man but in a collision game sometimes the collision is more important than the ball and as soon as the collision is dealt with - then get the ball

[skeptic]

Was leaning forward reaching for the ball and didn't bring his arm in quickly enough to brace for impact. Was hit slightly from behind while his arm was not in the correct position. This left the joint exposed. If his arm was by his side and properly tensed he would have got up up and kept playing. It was a technique issue rather than a physical size/shape issue. The way he leans forward in those situations leaves him exposed if his opponents decide they'd rather pick him off than go for the ball. I can't see it being a six week injury after surgery. It's more likely to be 10 to 12 weeks. He'll lose a fair bit of conditioning in the next month.

As I have said already above I think he needs to work on his technique - so agree with you

Parish is running eyes for the ball ( as was Clark) but at the last split second it looks to me that parish sees Clark and braces for impact - Clark doesnt do that he keeps his arms open to grab the ball.

If Ben Long had of come in from where Clark was, on that angle - he would have probably left Parish hurt on the ground

And thats not because Long plays the man but in a collision game sometimes the collision is more important than the ball and as soon as the collision is dealt with - then get the ball

Really good post.

There’s something to be said about really adjusting your style/technique to reduce the potential for getting hurt as much as possible.

A player that does this pretty well is Max King. Most of us were seriously worried that the bean pole that came to the club was a gust of wind away from re-injuring his knee… and many still worry

You watch him play though… he doesn’t go a bash and crash style that sees him having high impact falls. He actually tends to keep his feet in most instances and basis his style around getting into a good position and using his size advantage to take marks

Obviously there’s still risk there as collisions etc are a part of the game but at least to now… his style doesn’t look like an accident waiting to happen.
Quite the opposite of a guy like McCartin who really crashes into packs and went for that high impact, high collision style.

[WellardSaint]

Was leaning forward reaching for the ball and didn't bring his arm in quickly enough to brace for impact. Was hit slightly from behind while his arm was not in the correct position. This left the joint exposed. If his arm was by his side and properly tensed he would have got up up and kept playing. It was a technique issue rather than a physical size/shape issue. The way he leans forward in those situations leaves him exposed if his opponents decide they'd rather pick him off than go for the ball. I can't see it being a six week injury after surgery. It's more likely to be 10 to 12 weeks. He'll lose a fair bit of conditioning in the next month.

I got hit by a car and did my AC in the shoulder.
I braced, but hey...
He was just unlucky, no amoint of bracing would have prevented the injury

[skeptic]

Perhaps your technique would be improved by checking both ways before crossing the road