Fabulous wrote:
ballistic blues wrote:
playing the likes of a Prenda, Sporn, longmuir and Banno keeps the morale up amongst the group.
Thats a good point. It shows any Carlton listed player will be rewarded with senior selection if they play well in the VFL, regardless of age or reputation.
This means the kids must continue to work hard rather than be just given a game fo the sake of it! The kids must deserve it.
Agreed.
While it is a great theory to 'keep playing the kids', I have a strong belief in being patient, and not having young bodies get beaten up on a weekly basis, both physically and mentally.
There are very few 18-19 year-olds who are ready for senior football, and plenty of players who went onto be champions had long spells in the reserves (Bruce Doull and Michael Tuck for examples).
Just because kids aren't being played every game, doesn't mean we have to become hysterical, nor does it mean they haven't been given the right preparation for their football careers. While there are things I query about Pagan's methods, his handling of youth over the years is impressive. Look at his time with North Melbourne, both as Under 19 and senior coach, and his record is unsurpassed.
While Terry Wallace maybe getting good performances out of Hyde, who's to say it wasn't due to how he was educated by his previous coach that allowed him to blossom?
While we all want to see our young players become stars as fast as possible, the occasional spell in the reserves won't do them any harm.