{"id":406684,"date":"2024-06-26T22:48:43","date_gmt":"2024-06-26T22:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=406684"},"modified":"2024-06-27T01:07:13","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T01:07:13","slug":"flip-that-script-coach-explains-veterans-omission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=406684","title":{"rendered":"'Flip that script': Coach explains veteran's omission"},"content":{"rendered":"

E\ufeffssendon<\/a> are set to make another big statement, choosing to leave veteran ruckman Todd Goldstein<\/a> out of the side for their clash against Geelong<\/a> on Saturday night at the MCG.<\/p>\n

Goldstein, 35, did not ruck in the Bombers' 30-point win over the Eagles on Sunday, with coach Brad Scott now choosing to keep him in cotton wool to rest ahead of a likely September campaign.<\/p>\n

For the Cats, this clash will be the biggest test of their tenacity and ability to compete with 2024's best.<\/p>\n

PLAYER RATINGS:<\/strong> 'Not good enough': Savage rating for Maroons star<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'How good's that': Mitchell booed after Origin win<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Gus cautions elated Blues as 'Achilles heel' revealed<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\ufeffBut if they drop this game, a rebuild could be on the cards for one of the most successful clubs of the modern era.<\/p>\n

It could be why Scott is electing to leave out Goldstein, \ufeffconsidering the Cats are struggling with their own ruck stocks.<\/p>\n

\"Todd<\/p>\n

Geelong was forced to use key defender Sam De Koning to ruck against his brother Tom in their 63-point loss to Carlton in round 15.<\/p>\n

Ageing big man Rhys Stanley was injured for last week's loss, but ended up playing VFL, while young ruckman Toby Conway was also out with a hip complaint.<\/p>\n

Despite the Cats winning 12 of the last 14 meetings between the two clubs, the Bombers going in with just one ruckman is a sign that they believe they can likely overcome a depleted Cats side with ease.<\/p>\n

\"Stanley<\/p>\n

Essendon coach Scott\ufeff confirmed that Goldstein will be rested, with younger ruck Sam Draper to go at Geelong alone.<\/p>\n

"(Draper's) pulled up better than he has in my time here, so he's in good shape," Scott said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

As for their reasoning behind Goldstein's rest, Scott simply wants to manage the 35-year-old's load.<\/p>\n

"He's actually been a player who has just pushed on, done every session, played every game\ufeff, played high minutes," he said.<\/p>\n

"We're trying to flip that script (and get him ready for finals)."<\/p>\n

The Cats have just one win from their past seven outings, while the Bombers sit in third on the ladder with a 9-4-1 record.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

E\ufeffssendon are set to make another big statement, choosing to leave veteran ruckman Todd Goldstein out of the side for their clash against Geelong on […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":394575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406684"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=406684"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":406687,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406684\/revisions\/406687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/394575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=406684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=406684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=406684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}