play them again sam...err..i mean ross

[stinger]

Saints in tune with unchanged melody


Courtney Walsh | May 11, 2009
Article from: The Australian

WHILE a number of clubs are rejoicing that their big names returned to football on the weekend, another is delighted to be using the same word each week on its team list: unchanged.

Certainly Geelong's leadership team of Tom Harley and Cameron Ling were effective against the Swans and they seem likely to prove pivotal players as the Cats seek to reclaim the flag.

Ben Cousins, too, showed promising signs in his return from a hamstring injury for Richmond, although the ageing champion is unlikely to be able to swing a match at Tigerland in the manner he once did in the west.

Tonight Anthony Rocca and Heath Shaw return for Collingwood in a crucial match against St Kilda.

The worth of their presence will be judged in part by the final siren at Etihad Stadium.

But it is the selection status at St Kilda that highlights why the Saints will head the ladder tonight if they defeat the strengthened Magpies outfit.

Unchanged. Again. It is significant given stability is seen as an ingredient crucial to success.

When the Swans claimed a famous premiership in 2005, they made just one change in the final seven weeks and that was due to form, not injury.

"Part of the reason the side is going so well is that it has been nearly the same team for 10 games," club doctor Nathan Gibbs said at the time.

"The ones who are playing have had 10 consecutive weeks, at least, of playing and training, so that is why they have been running teams down in last quarters: because they are as fit as you could imagine."

Following Hawthorn's shock loss to Essendon on Friday night - a defeat that leaves the reigning premier outside the eight with a difficult assignment against the Dockers in Perth to come - coach Alastair Clarkson lamented that injury had cruelled his side's chances to date.

Clarkson pointed to the fact the Hawks had been forced into 23 personnel changes in the past month as a reason for the inconsistent start to their premiership defence.

In a bid to rectify his side's sinking chances against the Bombers, Clarkson threw most of his players into defence at some stage with no success.

"We had two-thirds of the side that played in the back half and if you go through any sides that consistently win games of footy, you don't have a lot of rotations through your back six or seven players," he said.

"Last year the key fact of our success was a lot of the back six hardly missed any games of football. We're looking forward to our defenders getting back on the park and playing some consistent footy together."

North Melbourne coach Dean Laidley has cited a similar refrain this season, though the perennial finalist was able to cling to victory against Port Adelaide on Saturday night despite having just 25 fit players from which to choose.

There are no such problems for St Kilda coach Ross Lyon as he looks to a seventh-straight win tonight.

A quarter of the way through the season, the Saints have used just 24 players, three fewer than the Bulldogs and Swans and well short of the 33 players Terry Wallace has used at Richmond, in a bid to find a competitive outfit.

Only Justin Koschitzke, Lenny Hayes and Steven King - all absent for a match - have missed a game among the Saints' best 22, with fringe performers Robert Eddy and Raphael Clarke sharing the crumbs left by that talented trio to play three games between them.

Although the season is not yet two months old, this is in stark contrast to last year, when Lyon was forced to use 37 of the 38 players on St Kilda's list due to several regular performers missing for weeks at a time.

Consider the difference Michael Gardiner, who managed just nine games last season, has made in tandem with King in the ruck.

Or that negating defender Steven Baker could play only two games in 2008 yet has returned to his combative best this season.

Star midfielder Luke Ball missed six games last season. Key defender Sam Gilbert the same. Both are fit and in form.

The news continues to improve at Moorabbin. The injury plagued Matt Maguire, who has managed just 14 games since 2006, showed he could be more than just a key defender when booting five goals from 20 possessions while playing for Sandringham in the VFL.

"I've played five VFL games and five practice games this season and my body is slowly coming back," Maguire told a Sunday newspaper. "It's the type of footy I want to play."

It is undoubtedly the type of football Lyon wants to see as well from a reserve, even though the Saints coach will be hoping there is no need to use him in the short-term given his side's stability.