Why do injured players always "fly home"?

jayteecork

Why can't they stay around and follow the team?
Go and get a little bit of treatment locally, and enjoy a holiday down under.

Seems a shame to fly all the way out and then fly home again.

Reminds me of putting down race horses when they break a leg.

mink_man

its too far to walk!

davyjose

i thought this myself; would be nice to stick around and soak it up.

But then I suppose, they are professional athletes and need treatment for whatever injuries they might have. The sort of treatment you wouldn't get on the road.

thomond2006

Very simple really.

If a guy can't play he is no use. If he is no use he goes home.

Having injured players around would damage the morale of the team as well.
The management don't want fit players feeling sorry for injured players, they feel pity and lose focus on their own fitness and performance.

Stealdo

thomond2006 wrote: »

Having injured players around would damage the morale of the team as well.
The management don't want fit players feeling sorry for injured players, they feel pity and lose focus on their own fitness and performance.

That's a fair point from the Lions perspective, but don't forget that these guys' clubs effectively own them. I would imagine that each and every one has a commitment to report back to the club in the case of getting injured on tour, or while with their international set up if they're ruled out of the remainder of that particular duty.

BOD stayed on last time out, but then he was tour captain, Woodward and Campbell wanted to make a dancing monkey out of him to try and wind up the all blacks.

johnpauls

You could also ask why do tennis and snooker players always "crash out" of competitions.

danthefan

thomond2006 wrote: »

Very simple really.

If a guy can't play he is no use. If he is no use he goes home.

Having injured players around would damage the morale of the team as well.
The management don't want fit players feeling sorry for injured players, they feel pity and lose focus on their own fitness and performance.

Is that why Flannery and TOL are out with the Irish Churchill Cup team in Denver?

twinytwo

danthefan wrote: »

Is that why Flannery and TOL are out with the Irish Churchill Cup team in Denver?

that is for the two players themselves it is better than having them sitting at home feeling sorry for themselves

danthefan

twinytwo wrote: »

that is for the two players themselves it is better than having them sitting at home feeling sorry for themselves

But surely they're no use and damaging the morale of the team by being there, no? Are they not causing the players there to lose focus and become unfit?

ALH-06

thomond2006 wrote: »

Very simple really.

If a guy can't play he is no use. If he is no use he goes home.

Having injured players around would damage the morale of the team as well.
The management don't want fit players feeling sorry for injured players, they feel pity and lose focus on their own fitness and performance.

I'm not too sure about that. Presuming we're believing the reports that this Lions squad gets on well together and are quite a closely-knit group, I can't see the morale benefit of shipping off injured players back home straight away, once they've outgrown their usefulness on the pitch.

I also can't see how having injured players around would damage morale. Injury is a regular occurence in rugby and an accepted risk of the game. Every rugby player has been injured at some point - these guys don't fear injury and are clearly not put off by the prospect / sight of it.

The reason would have to be treatment orientated. I'd imagine the players' clubs' physios would have the most detailed knowledge about each player, and so would be better placed to treat their own players. And the clubs would probably want their injured players to return straight away to begin treatment - they are the most valuable commodities in the professional game after all.

"Leigh will travel with us to Cape Town (on Thursday) and then return to the UK to continue his rehabilitation with the Cardiff Blues.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/rugby/2009/0610/1224248559664.html

TarfHead

danthefan wrote: »

Is that why Flannery and TOL are out with the Irish Churchill Cup team in Denver?

Source ?

And that situation, if it exists, is different to the Lions one.

danthefan

TarfHead wrote: »

Source ?

And that situation, if it exists, is different to the Lions one.

There were training photo's knocking around with them there, I'm trying to find them now.

twinytwo

TarfHead wrote: »

Source ?

And that situation, if it exists, is different to the Lions one.

They are there Kidney said he was taking them with him

tipex

TarfHead wrote: »

Source ?

And that situation, if it exists, is different to the Lions one.

TOL was on morning ireland (rte 1) last tuesday/wednesday talking about the trip and having access to constant physio out there

EdgarAllenPoo

Seems to me that a call up to the lions is a bit of a curse, a guy could go a whole season injury free but it seems that once he's named in the lions touring squad or an actual 22 he gets hit with an injury. Maybe I'm seeing something that's not there but there seems to be a lot more injuries with the lions than most teams would have in a whole season.

Kdub

I'd say its more of a financial situation where they would have to pay for the player to be out there and if they are not fit then logistically it isnt viable.

Micky Dolenz

danthefan wrote: »

Is that why Flannery and TOL are out with the Irish Churchill Cup team in Denver?

The IRFU "own" both these players.

Kdub

GDM wrote: »

Seems to me that a call up to the lions is a bit of a curse, a guy could go a whole season injury free but it seems that once he's named in the lions touring squad or an actual 22 he gets hit with an injury. Maybe I'm seeing something that's not there but there seems to be a lot more injuries with the lions than most teams would have in a whole season.

I'd say after a long season players are more prone to injury, also with the physicality of the lions training taking a big toll on alot of the players.

Eoin

Kdub wrote: »

I'd say its more of a financial situation where they would have to pay for the player to be out there and if they are not fit then logistically it isnt viable.

That's got to be a factor - and maybe the players wouldn't mind some time off as well. If you are injured in the first few weeks of a tour, it's a long enough time to be strolling around in a blazer until the tour ends away from your family and so on.

Chucky the tree

danthefan wrote: »

Is that why Flannery and TOL are out with the Irish Churchill Cup team in Denver?

Yes, lets compare a Lions tour with the churchill cup. The churchill cup is like a holiday training camp for the players, I'm sure it will be taken in a light-hearted way and the atmosphere will be a lot easier then a lions tour. Injuried lions players being kept around would be a huge distraction.

ch2008

The IRFU physios are in the US so i'd say that probably has something to do with it. Good question though

WeeBushy

You couldn't keep them around, they would just be a distraction wandering around camp bored looking for something to do/drink while them squad are trying to concentrate on beating the springboks. Any night out etc. would again just distract the rest of the team.
Also, i would think, they themselves would want to go home. I wouldn't want to be there being constantly reminded of what I'm missing out on through an injury. I would just want to get home, get fit and forget about it.

OldJay

jayteecork wrote: »

Why can't they stay around and follow the team?
Go and get a little bit of treatment locally, and enjoy a holiday down under.

Seems a shame to fly all the way out and then fly home again.

Reminds me of putting down race horses when they break a leg.

If a player gets injured, the union they are contracted to will want to handle all treatment & recovery.

suppafly

TarfHead wrote: »

Source ?

And that situation, if it exists, is different to the Lions one.

saw the 2 of them watching the Ireland A match there last night. Looks like they're in good spirits as at one stage O'Leary held up a piece of paper that said "Fla wears girls sunglasses". Thought it was well funny!!! So did the commentators. So it seems they're taking it fairly easy

Shanagarry80

Well Ferris was still around with the Lions at the weekend, he did the charity gig on Friday. Not sure if he is flying back now though rather than travelling on with them.