> > > I posted a similar thing in 1999 (re. Jason McCartney) and now seems a
> > > good time to toss it in again with the Rocca thing (though I think
> > > Brisbane will win).

> > > IMHO, Premiership medals should go to every player at the club who
> > > took the field during the year. This notion that only the 22 on GF day
> > > are "Premiership players" is just ridiculous. All players contribute
> > > to premiership success, not just those who are in the 22 on GF day.

> > > On Monday night, Eddie called Ricciuto a "1998 premiership player".
> > > That annoyed me. Roo was injured for the 1997 finals, but he was a big
> > > part of Adelaide getting there. In fact he was one of Adelaide's 2
> > > all-Australians in 1997. The other was Tony Modra, who did his knee in
> > > the Prelim. Ricciuto at least got to play the 1998 GF. Modra (like
> > > McCartney, and possibly Rocca) was a huge part of his team's
> > > Premiership success but has no medal to show for it. It's a joke that
> > > relative hacks like A.Keating, Rintoul and Sampson are "Premiership
> > > Players" because they happened to be fit on GF day in 1997, yet Modra
> > > is not.

> > > The usual argument is that giving more medals devalues the Premiership
> > > medal, or that those outside the 22 didn't contribute on the day. I
> > > disagree. Hey, if we only give medals to those who only contribute on
> > > the day, why not take a few more away? IIRC, David Pittman was on the
> > > bench for all of Adelaide's 2nd half comeback in 1998. No (1998) medal
> > > for him then? And ditto Rod Jamieson who was injured in the opening
> > > minutes in 1997? (My Crows bias is coming through here, I'm sure
> > > there's examples from other clubs).

> > > I haven't noticed anyone complain that the Brownlow is devalued now
> > > that it is awarded to those who "lose" the tie-break. And I'm sure no
> > > "Premiership Players" will begrudge Premiership medals to teammates
> > > who, for whatever reason, didn't happen to be in the team on GF day.

> > > If Collingwood win on Saturday, it'd be great if Rocca could still
> > > come up and get a medal. Cause he'd have contributed a lot more to the
> > > Premiership than lots of the players on the day.

> Why the hell should players who did not participate on the ground for
their
> team on Grand Final day receive anything? I can't believe this issue is
> raised every year ...

> The 22 players who contribute to their winning team on the day that counts
> should be the only ones to receive medals - suspended players, players not
> picked in the team (but have played during the year) because there not
good
> enough get no sympathy at all from me.
> I feel most sorry for injured players (eg. Tarkyn Lockyer) who IF fit
would
> easily slot into the Collingwood team. Unfortunately for them, they won't
> get anything - but that's life unfortunately.

> The system at the moment is the way to go.