A COMBINATION of two six-day breaks and body management were the catalyst for Western Bulldogs captain Robert Murphy being listed as a 'travelling emergency' for Saturday's clash with the Brisbane Lions, says coach Luke Beveridge.
Speaking before Bulldogs training on Friday, Beveridge seemed aggrieved at the need to explain team selection.
Murphy has played the past three games for the premiers, but some lingering pain from a mid-season cleanout on his reconstructed knee, coupled with short turnarounds between last Sunday's win over Essendon and next Friday's clash with Greater Western Sydney, gave the club the chance to rest him.
The 35-year-old, who joined in a light training session on Friday morning, will join the team on the flight to Brisbane later that day, and will be the player on standby if one of several sore teammates don't come up.
"He's definitely not omitted but we've decided that we might as well give him this week off, and go into next Friday feeling fresh," Beveridge said.
"As much as we want him to play this week, he hasn't quite come up as 'cherry ripe' as we'd like.
"He's got a bit of residual soreness from that knee procedure (he underwent) a little bit earlier in the year.
"So as far as taking someone up to Brisbane, there is still a chance he might play, because we've still got a couple of boys who are a little bit sore, but generally they're pretty right (to go).
"If we need him, he'll play.
"It's a shame we need to provide explanations these days."
Also contributing to Murphy's week off is the club's need to manage the game time of several players returning from suspension and coming off a long injury list.
Inclusions for the Gabba clash, Jack Redpath and Clay Smith, both missed last week through bans at AFL and VFL level respectively, while premiership midfielder Josh Dunkley will play his first game in three months in the VFL after shoulder surgery.
Draftees Patrick Lipinski and Fergus Greene will line up for their second state league match since returning from injury layoffs.
"We've got three players coming back at VFL level who are on limited game time," Beveridge said.
"We've had two players in recent times out with suspension, Jack Redpath and Clay Smith - who are now fresh.
"We've got a VFL bye next week, we've got two six-day breaks at AFL level, so with Bob we really wanted to play this week, but we figured there might be a chance he needed to miss one of these two (games) because of a short turnaround."
Redpath's return to the senior side will see him partnered with fellow key forward Travis Cloke for the first time since the round nine loss to Geelong.
Both had limited impact in their only outing together that day, and the duo were dropped the following week, but Beveridge believes they have learnt from the experience.
"It's take two with (them playing together)," Beveridge said.
"They'll be expected to be as productive defensively as (offensively), but their games won't be measured or assessed on how many times they hit the scoreboard, it will be how much they contribute our total score.
"It will definitely be an improvement on the last outing."
