Well Ruck Me.

[Mofra]

Thanks for the explanation. I'll be interested to see how the six, six, six rule plays out and if we have read it right with our approach to the ruck position. I wonder if it will also expose the defenders to the more one in one contests as you have indicated?

I'm not even sure it will favour 'strong' ruckmen. The same rules apply outside of the centre square bounce, with the difference being there is space on the flanks in the HF area which is a 'no man's land' often anyway.

I suspect mobile ruckmen and/or those that react quickly to the fall of the ball will benefit. He was never fashionable but I suspect Ben Hudson would love the new rules given he was very good at applying pressure after a ball up.

[The Underdog]

Double post

[The Underdog]

You forget (well I have) how good Darcy was.

Possibly because he’s become such an awful commentator, but yeah, he sure could play

[GVGjr]

Interesting article on AFL.com

THE FIRST domino from the AFL's suite of new rules is set to fall.

As AFL.com.au suggested in mid-October might happen, many of the 18 clubs are set to experiment with two genuine ruckmen in their side during the JLT Community Series.

The combination of big men now being able to grab the ball out of any ruck contest with the benefit of prior opportunity, plus the new starting positions at centre bounces is proving a game-changer.

There is a fear the undersized Shaun Grigg-types who were so adept in spelling first-choice ruckmen, at least in short bursts, will be exposed under the revamped conditions.

Reigning premier West Coast's success with a two-headed ruck monster, whether it was Nic Naitanui and Scott Lycett, or later Lycett and Nathan Vardy, didn't hurt either.

Lycett is preparing to partner Paddy Ryder in Port Adelaide's ruck department in 2019 after defecting from the Eagles.

It is match simulation season, and several teams – evidenced most recently at Waverley Park on Friday – are using a ruckman as the forward who must be in the attacking goalsquare before each bounce.

The Hawks have flirted with the Ben McEvoy-Jon Ceglar pairing in the past, although they went away from that strategy down the stretch last year.

Fifth-year ruckman Marc Pittonet might even be primed to break up that duopoly, judging by his impressive performance on Friday.

Melbourne, considered one of the competition's most innovative sides, is also figuring out how to find a spot for ex-Kangaroo Braydon Preuss alongside dual All Australian Max Gawn.

The challenge in the aerobic-obsessed modern game is a second big man could mean sacrificing a midfielder, unless coaches are confident that player can capably replace a marking forward.

That's why Fremantle is more likely to turn to Rory Lobb than Sean Darcy as a second ruckman to Aaron Sandilands, and Essendon may prefer Shaun McKernan over Zac Clarke or Sam Draper alongside Tom Bellchambers.

Josh Jenkins (Adelaide), Mason Cox (Collingwood), Peter Wright (Gold Coast), Callum Sinclair (Sydney) and Tom Boyd (Western Bulldogs) can also command a position as a forward who can ruck.

Who could the clubs pair?

Adelaide: Sam Jacobs, Josh Jenkins
Brisbane: Stefan Martin, Oscar McInerney
Carlton: Matthew Kreuzer, Andrew Phillips
Collingwood: Brodie Grundy, Mason Cox
Essendon: Tom Bellchambers, Shaun McKernan
Fremantle: Aaron Sandilands, Rory Lobb
Geelong: Rhys Stanley, Darcy Fort
Gold Coast: Jarrod Witts, Peter Wright
GWS Giants: Shane Mumford, Dawson Simpson
Hawthorn: Ben McEvoy, Jon Ceglar
Melbourne: Max Gawn, Braydon Preuss
North Melbourne: Todd Goldstein, Tom Campbell
Port Adelaide: Paddy Ryder, Scott Lycett
Richmond: Toby Nankervis, Ivan Soldo
St Kilda: Billy Longer, Rowan Marshall
Sydney: Sam Naismith, Callum Sinclair
West Coast: Nathan Vardy, Tom Hickey*
Western Bulldogs: Tim English, Tom Boyd

* While Nic Naitanui (knee) is out

[Hotdog60]

Boyd won't be much use for us if he doesn't get over his back issue.
He will already be behind the eight ball with fitness and no pre season.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sweet gets a good look at it in the JTL. If he goes well enough he may get the nod with English.

It will be interesting on what Bevo will do. He could concede the ruck to have more runners and hope to win the ball back after the first touch.

[bornadog]

Trengove is an ideal second ruck.

[GVGjr]

Trengove is an ideal second ruck.

Where do you think he will he play when he isn't rucking?

[bornadog]

Where do you think he will he play when he isn't rucking?

I think he could go back or forward. I see him as a very versatile big man.

[Doc26]

I’m struggling to see our plan and contingency in the ruck for 2019.

With high hopes on Tim English’s development he is still injury prone and immature at this stage to be relied upon to carry our primary ruck position.

Similarly Tom Boyd is battling with injuries, and with no surety that he will be available for the first half of the season or be in a position to carry the ruck role for the bulk of the season if he has a chronic back condition.

This leaves a lot on Jackson to carry the load of the ruck, and especially when up against the elite in Grundy, Gawn, Martin etc.

Further if we lose a Naughton or Cordy we would seem very exposed (again), made worse of course with no Roughy or Campbell when required.

I’m not evening bringing Sweet into this conversation yet as we haven’t even seen him at the level and nor is he even on our primary list.

I hope that I’m missing something but our ruck position, especially with the changes introduced for 2019 that are likely to favour the traditional ruckman, is the are that makes me most concerned for 2019.

[Dry Rot]

Interesting article on AFL.com

THE FIRST domino from the AFL's suite of new rules is set to fall.

As AFL.com.au suggested in mid-October might happen, many of the 18 clubs are set to experiment with two genuine ruckmen in their side during the JLT Community Series.

The combination of big men now being able to grab the ball out of any ruck contest with the benefit of prior opportunity, plus the new starting positions at centre bounces is proving a game-changer.

There is a fear the undersized Shaun Grigg-types who were so adept in spelling first-choice ruckmen, at least in short bursts, will be exposed under the revamped conditions.

Reigning premier West Coast's success with a two-headed ruck monster, whether it was Nic Naitanui and Scott Lycett, or later Lycett and Nathan Vardy, didn't hurt either.

Lycett is preparing to partner Paddy Ryder in Port Adelaide's ruck department in 2019 after defecting from the Eagles.

It is match simulation season, and several teams – evidenced most recently at Waverley Park on Friday – are using a ruckman as the forward who must be in the attacking goalsquare before each bounce.

The Hawks have flirted with the Ben McEvoy-Jon Ceglar pairing in the past, although they went away from that strategy down the stretch last year.

Fifth-year ruckman Marc Pittonet might even be primed to break up that duopoly, judging by his impressive performance on Friday.

Melbourne, considered one of the competition's most innovative sides, is also figuring out how to find a spot for ex-Kangaroo Braydon Preuss alongside dual All Australian Max Gawn.

The challenge in the aerobic-obsessed modern game is a second big man could mean sacrificing a midfielder, unless coaches are confident that player can capably replace a marking forward.

That's why Fremantle is more likely to turn to Rory Lobb than Sean Darcy as a second ruckman to Aaron Sandilands, and Essendon may prefer Shaun McKernan over Zac Clarke or Sam Draper alongside Tom Bellchambers.

Josh Jenkins (Adelaide), Mason Cox (Collingwood), Peter Wright (Gold Coast), Callum Sinclair (Sydney) and Tom Boyd (Western Bulldogs) can also command a position as a forward who can ruck.

Does this mean sides now need a really tall perhaps less mobile defender?

Who do we play on Sinclair up forward in Round 1? Sinclair is pretty handy up forward and a good mark.

[boydogs]

I hope that I’m missing something but our ruck position, especially with the changes introduced for 2019 that are likely to favour the traditional ruckman, is the are that makes me most concerned for 2019.

Trengove & English is a good plan, the contingency options aren't great behind Boyd but Cordy & Schache have done it before

[GVGjr]

Does this mean sides now need a really tall perhaps less mobile defender?

Who do we play on Sinclair up forward in Round 1? Sinclair is pretty handy up forward and a good mark.

With our zoning type defensive set-up I wouldn't be worried about who mans up in Sinclair when he is up forward but it will probably be Naughton

[GVGjr]

I’m struggling to see our plan and contingency in the ruck for 2019.

With high hopes on Tim English’s development he is still injury prone and immature at this stage to be relied upon to carry our primary ruck position.

Similarly Tom Boyd is battling with injuries, and with no surety that he will be available for the first half of the season or be in a position to carry the ruck role for the bulk of the season if he has a chronic back condition.

This leaves a lot on Jackson to carry the load of the ruck, and especially when up against the elite in Grundy, Gawn, Martin etc.

Further if we lose a Naughton or Cordy we would seem very exposed (again), made worse of course with no Roughy or Campbell when required.

I’m not evening bringing Sweet into this conversation yet as we haven’t even seen him at the level and nor is he even on our primary list.

I hope that I’m missing something but our ruck position, especially with the changes introduced for 2019 that are likely to favour the traditional ruckman, is the are that makes me most concerned for 2019.

Clearly there was no genuine contingency to cover the position and there has to have been a view across the list management recruiting team that they already had the players to cover the position which I think is a very flawed thought process.
I don't think spots are that tight on a list that we couldn't have either tried to keep Roughead or at least looked to cover this position via a trade. Other teams looked to beef up their ruck options but we didn't. While the draft didn't have a lot of ruck options we didn't really position ourselves to look at that either.

I agree that we can't really count on Sweet being of much value this year but I wonder what the back up options might have been if Sweet had have been selected by another club?

So the questions I have are around if we do cop an injury or two to our ruckman would it be acceptable to have the 2019 season derailed because we gambled on the fitness and form of a youngster, a player better known as being a defender and a high profiled key forward who was struggling big time with a back injury? On top of that we did it knowing that there were also some rule changes that might make it a more relevant position?

With our recent history of injuries it seems like we have been prepared to gamble that our medical department can keep the right players on the field or either that we have some contingency in mind.

[bornadog]

I have asked this before, but I am still unclear - how many rucks should a team have on it's list?

Forgetting injuries we have: English, Trengove, Boyd, Sweet?

[GVGjr]

I have asked this before, but I am still unclear - how many rucks should a team have on it's list?

Forgetting injuries we have: English, Trengove, Boyd, Sweet?

I think it depends on their experience, durability and versatility not to mention ability but to me based on the above we are down by at least one.

Lets break it down in your order:

English has played just 9 senior games so misses on experience, he's probably a one position player as well and he has had his share of injuries. So to me assessing his likely output in 2019 then it's a bit of a gamble that he can hold down the number one spot.
An outstanding prospect but its likely that he needs another year of development

Trengove has played mainly as a key defender but has also covered the ruck and forward spots. He's got the experience and the versatility but there might be a question mark on his durability.
Given we also didn't replace Adams we will probably test his versatility as we are a touch light on for key defenders as well

Boyd has probably got the experience factor covered (just) and he's versatile enough but he had a significant injury to his back prior to the trade period and this should have been a red flag. There are now doubts on when he will be available for this season so it's risky that he can help cover the position. I don't think you can dismiss the fact that there were doubts on him recovering from him back injury when we are looking at our options.

Sweet was a rookie pick and of course overlooked by many clubs. Despite his attitude and focus to play senior football I think he currently lacks mobility required but he does need a season or two to see if he has the ability.

I don't want to see the likes of Schache and Bontempelli in the ruck and I'm sure you don't want to either but can I ask you why you think English and Trengove are enough for us?

Surely we could have acquired some assurance until English develops further and Boyd has recovered?