ESSENDON has already begun a review of its strength and conditioning program after this year's litany of soft-tissue injuries, Bombers football manager Paul Hamilton says.
Since high performance coach Dean Robinson joined the Bombers ahead of the 2012 season and implemented an intensive strengthening program, a host of senior players have suffered soft-tissue injuries.
David Zaharakis, Kyle Reimers, Michael Hibberd, Mark McVeigh, Michael Hurley, Patrick Ryder, Brent Stanton, Stewart Crameri, Courtenay Dempsey, David Hille, David Myers, Ben Howlett, Angus Monfries and Jason Winderlich have all been affected.
Dustin Fletcher (adductor) was the latest victim in Saturday's loss against Carlton, while fellow tall defender Jake Carlisle (ankle) also joined the Bombers' injury list.
"In terms of the amount of soft-tissue injuries in particular that we've had [a review is] underway and has been for a few weeks," Hamilton told SEN radio.
"I suppose what we need is to make sure that we come up with the right answers. It's not a matter of pointing the finger or blaming.
"It's about what's the solution going forward because we can't afford for this to happen again."
Earlier this month, Essendon coach James Hird told radio station 3AW that Robinson continued to enjoy the club's full confidence.
Meanwhile, Hamilton said Fletcher's injury was relatively minor and he could return before the end of the home and away season, but said while X-rays had cleared Carlisle of a broken ankle he had sustained ligament damage that was likely to sideline him for "a few weeks".
Hamilton acknowledged Essendon's injuries had been a factor in the club's disappointing second half of the season that has seen it slip from second on the ladder (8-1) after round nine to 10th (11-9) after round 21.
"We haven't had a settled team for a number of weeks … I think that's come across a little bit in some of the areas that we were really good at earlier in the year," Hamilton said.
"I refer to things like in defence, and that's not your backline but your team defence, and the team coordinating and working well together.
"When you having the number of the changes that we've been having it is unsettling and it has an effect."
Despite the Bombers' disappointing recent form and the likelihood they will now miss the finals, Hamilton said Essendon's list-management priority at the end of this season would be to keep its current group together.
"We're always sort of assessing what's out there but the bottom line is … we think we've got a good group of players. We need to get them up, we need to get them fit and we need to get them all together and playing as one," Hamilton said.
"We've seen what our coach has been able to do earlier in the year when we've got a side that can mould together and be on the park and that's probably the most important thing at this stage for us."
Nick Bowen is a reporter for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Nick
