Pre-season finished seven months ago. They will all have recovered from that. Bellamy and Bennett are multiple premiership winners, they always taper their teams by flogging them a month out and then resting the key players before the finals start. Ivan has said their policy is "to keep players playing but rest them in training". Hmmm.
What works best is a matter of science and it is hard to say what is better definitively without looking at the data showing the players physical condition before and after. It should also be said that physical condition is one thing, what about the mental strain of playing continuously? I'm not sure how you would measure that. Ivan's approach means key players are still getting belted in full contact games and the body has to repair the damage. I am no doctor, but common sense would say that approach is not as restful as sitting out some games.
Whilst I have no science to back this statement, the game results clearly favour resting from games. Bennett and Bellamy have the premierships to support their preferred approach. Our own observations on this forum all say the same the same thing, we look flat as a team. Key players like JFH, Martin and Luai look like they have played a few weeks too many. Capewell and Crichton look shot. We looked the same last year. Exhausted, playing on memory.
For 2021 at least, there are some additional factors to consider. The selfish behaviour of Api has had a major negative impact on the team. It impacted his form, disrupted the teams combinations and generally stuffed us. Thanks Romeo. Secondly, the TPJ situation was absolutely tragic and will have had a major impact on the teams mental state as well as TPJ himself. Thirdly, JFH may well have had a rest, but I can't see how going through the birth of a child is anything but stressful and mentally draining. Add in the quarantine and JFH has had his mojo drained. Anybody would be the same.
Mix this in with the injuries to key players like To'o and Cleary and we have a different situation from last year. It has been much tougher for us and I don't believe the Cleary "easy training" approach has worked for us for the second year running.
