Kevin Sheedy said on Channel 7 news tonight that while it had been a difficult decision to drop Jobe Watson, selectors simply could not ignore the form of Ted Richards. ""If you actually know the form of Ted you would understand that he deserves to be played. He has been very unlucky in terms of selection for the past few weeks. It is not only about Jobe, it is about a young player who deserves a game. It is about rewarding players for their efforts in the VFL,"" Sheedy said.

""Jobe Watson was a little bit stiff in terms of it would have been nice to give him two games in a row. A lot of fans and the experts don't get to see what happens in these VFL games,"" he said.

""Jobe is an excellent young man and he will be back in the team very soon. He has got that first game out of the way and got a tatse of the pace and things like that. He does also have a minor injury that we didn't want to risk in his second game.""

Sheedy also expalined the omission of Paul Barnard. ""Paul Barnard has been on the bench for the last two or three weeks and was outed the previous two. he really needs to go and get a whole game under his belt. It is not through lack of form - it is getting his fitness back to the level it needs to be at to play AFL football.""

Sheedy again made mention of the head high contact made with matthew Lloyd during last week's match against Geelong. ""I made mention that he (Lloyd) had been struck in head during the week just to let the AFL know that in the end, if you get hit above the shoulders it is a free kick. I'm not wanting any player to get reported but when you are down the bottom in free kicks for and up the top in free kicks against - I just wanted to let people know in some small way that their are some free kicks that perhaps we should get. There was also an incident in the last minute of play last week when Peverill had his hands on the ball and got kicked - I mean that is exactly how he had his arm broken last year,"" Sheedy said.

""We get players who go up and get reported for some issues and with other clubs - well, we don't even get a free kick for it. I'm not trying to put the umpiring department under too much pressure but you have the right to defend your players. To mention these things once every now and then is not too bad - that is what communications is all about, sitting down and discussing issues. You don't have to make a song and dance about it. But if you have openly spoken about it on a number of occasions - that is when your patience gets tested.""