“Some hard decisions have to be made at the selection table. At times,it can shock the players into doing something,” Rhys-Jones said on Monday.
“I don’t like naming players that should be dropped,it’s unfair on the group,on those players in particular,but the guys that I have mentioned are over that 30-year-age bracket and they are not producing. That’s what you have to start looking at –[not] keeping them in the team,and turning over 21 and 22-year-olds. How would they feel week in,week out,knowing if they don’t have a great game,they are straight out,whereas other blokes are getting a continuous run with poor form.
“We haven’t been blown out of the water but it’s just the mistakes,missed goals. We have older blokes in there that are not producing – you look at Murphy,Betts and Casboult as the three that stand out,aren’t they?”
Betts,34,finished with 0.4 in an18-point loss to the Brisbane Lions on Saturday,including missing back-to-back shots early in the third term,later prompting coach David Teague to say the 335-game veteran wasn’t alone in lacking confidence. He has only two goals in four matches and is part of the problem Teague lamented when he said the Blues were not winning enough ground ball inside attacking 50 and capitalising on their work up the ground.
“He is missing goals that were his bread and butter. That’s what happens when a bit older too – you are not quite there,” Rhys-Jones said.
Murphy,having struggled in a new half-forward role,was used on a wing and at stoppages on Saturday. The 33-year-old,nine matches shy of 300,had 19 touches (averaging 15.5) and was far from the worst Blue but his defensive work wasn’t always as sharp as it should have been.