WATERMAN TO BACK IN LIONS' VETERANS
Written by Simonette Cox
New Subiaco coach Chris Waterman is keen for his star premiership players to get as much out of their careers as possible and will back them in as long as they are still contributing in 2010.
Waterman walked into an environment at Subiaco after four years in charge of Peel that was used to success, but he also felt that some of the veteran players that had been a massive part of the Lions' premierships in 2004, 06, 07 and 08 had been told they should retire after last year's grand final.
Star full-forward Brad Smith's body meant that he had to, centre half-forward David Mapleston was not going to be around much in 2010 so he had to, Caine Hayes decided to focus on his family and work and it was time for Daniel Chick, but Waterman has encouraged the others to play on.
Dual Sandover Medallist Allistair Pickett did announce his retirement ahead of the grand final last year, which Subiaco lost to South Fremantle, but on talking to Waterman he has decided to go around one more year.
Triple premiership captain Marc Webb was also weighing up his future, but is now going on for at least one more season and Waterman is more than happy to keep them on while they are still playing well, and leading from the front.
"There's no point keeping them if they don’t feel fresh in the mind and feel as though they can offer something with their football ability, which I'm sure they both can. From the leadership side of it, losing Mapleston and Smith does leave a gap up forward and I could be proven wrong with Webby and Alli going on, but it's my opinion that they have something to offer," Waterman said.
"I'd say that I have two blokes that look as though they've been freshened up a little bit and have a lot to offer. Regardless of what anyone here last year thought of them, there's a new coaching staff here and we think differently. We're prepared to back in guys who have been good for a long period of time and make sure the young guys earn their stripes, they won't be handed league games."
Pickett has missed the majority of the pre-season and didn’t play in the practice matches, so he's likely to start the season in the reserves as could other players who haven’t had the time on the park either in matches or at training Waterman would like.
"He'll (Pickett) be available for Round 1, but he'll lack game time so we are anticipating two or three reserves games for him. Then he has to play well, it's not just a matter of getting through the game. He has to shine a little bit," he said.
"I've still got some thinking to do about our 22 that we'll play and training will be interesting leading into that first game to see if we can get some guys up and going. All things being equal, three or four of them will be underdone so we'll have to look at a reserves game or two for them.
"Stack is suspended and we aren’t sure about the AFL contingent. The first month or six weeks will be a real challenge. We're going to have to scratch, bite, kick and do everything we can to get a score on the board."
Phil Read's broken foot saw him miss the majority of the second half of last season and put his career in jeopardy, and while he is still yet to get it to 100 per cent, Waterman is confident that will happen shortly.
"His foot has been given the all clear in terms of bone damage, he just has a couple of little tendon problems so he hasn’t done a lot of training," he said.
"He's the type of person that certainly keeps fit, though, and it's getting close to the stage where he needs to get his hands on the footy to get his touch right. He will be touch and go for Round 1 I'd say."
Multi-premiership and state ruckman Luke Newick will also miss the start of the season after knee surgery, but with all those senior players Waterman aims to have them up and firing by around Round 5 or 6 and then for the crucial parts of the season.
Waterman is also looking forward to the prospect of the best ruck combination in the league in Michael Rix and Newick.
"Luke will miss probably the first game and he'll probably need two to four weeks in the reserves just to get a real solid foundation behind him. The plan with guys like him, Read, Alli and Webby is to get 15-plus games out of all of them barring any other injuries," he said.
"That's one that a lot of people here have been looking forward to because Luke carried this knee last year and Rixy didn’t get here until mid-season. Rixy has had a good pre-season after some surgery himself and he's fit and ready to go. His leadership skills are coming to the fore. Those two could do some damage this year and that's an area we can improve significantly."
