Roos Sticks With The Tried And True

The Age

Saturday June 21, 2008

Michael Cowley, Sydney

SYDNEY coach Paul Roos has the same philosophy for both the team he has picked to play Melbourne tomorrow and the latest calls to move the grand final to a twilight timeslot for the benefit of the AFL's broadcast partners: "If it's not broken, don't fix it."

Roos yesterday stuck with the 22 players who clinically picked apart St Kilda last weekend for the clash with the Demons at Canberra's Manuka Oval tomorrow afternoon.

He also believes changes should not be made to the traditional afternoon timeslot of the grand final on the last Saturday of September each year.

Roos' comments come after AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou revealed he expected the Seven and Ten networks to push for a twilight grand final, starting about 5pm and ending about 7.30pm, before their football broadcasting contract expires in 2011.

He said when, and if, that occurred, the league would consider it, but Roos, who has experienced two of the past three deciders with his Swans, was adamant the game should remain precisely when it is.

"I think where it is at the moment . . . if it's not broken, don't fix it," Roos said when asked his thoughts on a switch.

"I think it's a great event.

"I've been fortunate to go to a lot of events around the world and the grand final stacks up more than favourably to most of the ones I've ever been to, so I think it would be a shame to change what is a great event."

Roos also opted against making changes for Sydney's final match before the team gets a week off for the bye round.

He had named experienced players Nic Fosdike and Ben Mathews, along with Luke Brennan, in a 25-man squad, and there was a thought he may bring one of them in for this match.

But with the senior team doing so well with five consecutive wins, finding a place in the top team is not easy, and he stuck with the same 22 as last week.

"No, we won't make any changes this week," Roos said. "It is probably frustrating for some of the players, but for the coaching staff, it's a little bit easier when you've got a lot more players to pick from.

"But there's a long way to go in the season and things can change pretty quickly, so those guys (in the seconds who are trying to break into the senior team) have got to stay positive and keep playing well in the seconds."

While Sydney is a warm favourite to beat the bottom-of-the-ladder Demons, Roos said his concerns would not be about his team disrespecting Melbourne, but more so the players looking at what's ahead.

"You've got five wins, you're reasonably well placed on the ladder, so you hope they are focusing on the game rather than the weekend off," he said.

"We need to win on Sunday to take advantage of some really good form and some improvement with a lot of our players, and some good efforts from some of our younger players."

© 2008 The Age

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