The Serve

Ricciuto decision was spot on

It’s been well documented over the years that playing unfit players is a costly exercise that rarely comes off. However, I agree with the selection of Mark Ricciuto in the Crows side last week, despite Adelaide’s exit from the competition.

Ricciuto’s contribution was minimal. Six minutes of on field time in the second half, four touches for the match, with no goals and two behinds. On statistical evidence, Craig’s decision looks horribly wrong.

Consider this:

Ricciuto’s value to Adelaide is similar to Nathan Buckley’s contribution to Collingwood. His leadership qualities and mere presence alone cannot be measured in stats. We seem to forget that only the week before, Ricciuto played a pinch hitting cameo role, where he kicked two vital goals. So it’s obvious Craig would have planned to have Ricciuto play a similar role against Hawthorn.

Look at how Collingwood have gone since Buckley returned. Sure, Rocca, Cloke and co. are banging home goals, but you can’t tell me that Buckley’s presence and voice are not influencing the team, a team that has always had a habit of being erratic in big games.

That’s the plus I’m talking about.

I can refer back to Carl Dietrich. Coach Allan Jeans used to say he couldn’t kick, couldn’t mark, couldn’t run, didn’t even understand the game. But he was always first picked, because every time he stepped over the white line, it was worth five goals, on intimidation alone.

Ask yourself this: If Buddy Franklin didn’t land his last minute goal, would this even be a topic?

I’ll even go as far as to say that if the Crows survived the Hawthorn game, I would’ve played Ricciuto again.