With the ever-increasing demands of the modern game, it is becoming more important for clubs to manage the workload of their players - particularly those who have recently overcome injuries or are in the twilight of their careers.
The Brisbane Lions were one of a handful of clubs to be missing players through ‘soreness’ in Round 6 - with defender Josh Drummond being afforded a short stint on the sidelines.
Senior Coach Michael Voss said that while Drummond was legitimately ‘sore’, it is essential for teams to ease certain players through the season.
“Certainly with selected players we have to smart with their management,” Voss told Barrett & Lethal on their regular Friday panel show on afl.com.au.
“The fact is with Josh, he hasn’t been able to get a lot of continuity in his football over the course of a fairly long time. So we have to be fairly smart with how we manage him.”
“He was a little bit sore last week coming into the game and pulled up a bit sore after the game. Part of our plan for him was to try and get 17-18 games into him this year, rather than thinking we’ll get 20 games.”
“That’s been our primary focus and that plan’s been in place for a while. The most difficult challenge for us is to make sure we see it through,” he said.
“We had to make sure we looked after him.”
