Crows fans would love to see Jason Porplyzia in full flight again
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CROWS skipper Simon Goodwin says his team is committed to making the finals so that injured star Jason Porplyzia can play again this season.
Scans on Monday revealed Porplyzia had suffered bruising to the brain following a clash with Carlton’s Steven Browne, which saw the young Blue sanctioned with a four-match ban.
Porplyzia, who has battled through the past fortnight with a painful shoulder injury, is expected to miss three to four weeks with his latest setback. But Goodwin said the gutsy 23-year-old was hopeful of playing again in 2008.
“I haven’t actually had a chance to speak to Jason yet, but from all reports, he’s going OK,” Goodwin said on Tuesday.
“It wasn’t the greatest news yesterday for Jason, but he’s a tough nut. He’ll soldier on and he’s very keen to play later in the year.
“Hopefully, we can do the right thing by him and still be there.
“The stuff that Jason has showed over the last couple of weeks is definitely about our culture. To play with injury and kick five goals in a really important game for our footy club just shows the real spirit that a guy like Jason has got and also the spirit it brings to the footy club.
“Jason has left a big mark on us this year and we’ll continue to play with that spirit.”
The AFL’s head-high contact rule has had its critics this season having claimed several high profile scalps, including Crow Brett Burton. But Goodwin said Porplyzia’s injury highlighted the need for such a rule.
“You don’t want to see head-high incidents and you don’t want to see people with brain bruising,” he said.
“It’s important that the AFL do protect the head and I think we can all see that now. They are heading down the right track with that rule.
“The incident with Jason was one of those things in footy. It was hard to get good vision of it, but Jason has been a terrific player for us and it’s a big loss for us.
“He’s played with some injuries this year and now he’s suffered another one. We feel for Jason as a playing group, but we’ll move on and it will give an opportunity to someone else.”
Defender Graham Johncock will be free to play alongside Andrew McLeod in his 300th game on Sunday after been giving the all clear to resume from the club’s leadership group.
The clash with Richmond will also mark Neil Craig’s 100th game as coach and could even set the Crows up for a top-four finish.
Goodwin said the gutsy win over Carlton last week had given the team great belief going into the final four rounds.
“It was a very tough last quarter last week. We were down to two men on the interchange for two and a half quarters and statistics say you don’t win too many games like that. The courage that the playing group showed to hand on in a tough situation was terrific and we take enormous belief out of that,” he said.
“But we haven’t even thought about the top four, to be honest. There’s a really tight bunch there with five teams on 10 wins, so it’s really important for us to keep playing the footy we want to play.
“If we keep doing that, then we’ll see what happens at the end of the year.”
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