Vic U18 Cup: Metro eases midfielders' workload
09 May 2005 Herald Sun
Rebecca Williams
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/footy/common/story_page/0,8033,15220707%255E19897,00.html
VICTORIA Metro coach David Dickson rested some of his top midfielders on Saturday when the city squad began its campaign for the July under-18 national championships.
Wary of burning out players, Dickson rested Oakleigh's Marc Murphy and limited the workload of Heath Hocking (Eastern) and Gareth Bowes (Calder) for the intra-squad practice match at Preston.
The hitout was the first step in the selection process for Metro, which will trim its squad for the national carnival from 50 to 35 in the next two weeks.
Dickson said it was important to keep his players fresh, especially the midfielders with the engine room shaping as the key for Metro in July.
"We decided to rest a few of our midfielders," Dickson said. "The kids get so much football that now and again you've just got to give them a bit of a break.
"So Heath Hocking didn't do much, Gareth Bowes didn't do much and Marc Murphy didn't come on the ground at all.
"I didn't see any sense in playing Marc yet. He was on the Australian tour of Ireland, he's come back and had a lot of football with school and the Oakleigh Chargers."
Dickson said he was particularly impressed with 204cm ruckman Robert Warnock from the Sandringham Dragons.
Oakleigh's Beau Dowler also showed his versatility, playing at centre half-forward and centre half-back.
A late inclusion to the Metro squad, Ben McKinley from the Northern Knights, impressed at full-forward.
The Victoria Country squad had its first training session at Preston on Saturday.
Dickson was impressed with what he saw of the Country group.
"They looked good," he said.
"They've got a lot of 191cm, 192cm running players, who are very athletic, very mobile, very good footballers. They'll be very exciting."
Metro and Country meet in a trial match on the Queen's Birthday weekend in June.
The teams will battle Western Australia and South Australia for the Division One crown at the national carnival.
