Well Ruck Me.

[Rocco Jones]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

He is a high quality footballer - he just isn't a bankable finals/big game no 1 ruckman, and after 6 years of consistent failure on the big stage in this role, I don't think he ever will be. It looked an awful lot like Bevo came to the same realisation at half time on Friday night as well.

I thought the same too.

As Darcy develops, I think we will see more of a ruck time share and possibly even Darcy as R1.

The positive is, we have a few guys who can spend time in the ruck as well as add value elsewhere. English, Darcy and Lobb. We also have Croft developing.

Hopefully we see the best real value version of English with him spending more time forward.

[Bornadog]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

Or learn to jump? I think Smith is promising, but the lad doesn't look to be a great athlete. I think there's a place for him - Lloyd Meek is about 203cm, but he's a fairly slow burn.

So far in the VFL he seems to be ok for a young bloke (18) and is ranked 9th for HO (I don't have HTAs).

Agree he is not a pure athletic ruckman but has already shown potential. As we know these talls take time to mature, so we just have to nurture him along.

[Sedat]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

Sadly that was my assessment, when Naughton went into the ruck.

Meek, the journeyman who could not get a game at Freo, had beaten English. Snippet from the article : "He played nine games in 2021 for a total of 15 across five seasons at Fremantle, developing from a skinny teenager who played WAFL reserves football in his first two seasons into a player many believe is capable of becoming a regular senior fixture at Hawthorn in 2023." Freo invested 5 seasons into him. We invested 4 years into Sweet before he was traded and we bought in Lobb .

Easy to talk in hindsight. But Meek, has competitive traits and wanted to be Number 1 ruckman vs others in his team. With English, there is no competition internally.


https://www.afl.com.au/news/871989/w...tunity-beckons

Meek was a skinny teenager playing WAFL Reserves for 2 years, which sounds like where Croft is now, hence the merit of BT's left-field suggestion.

So we have Croft as a potentially developing option for 2+ years time, Lachlan Smith probably a year more advanced and also developing. We have English and Darcy who are notionally our first 2 choice rucks now (with Lobbovich leading our key defence). There is a list spot available for another seasoned, genuinely competitive ruckman to allow Darcy to remain more often in F50, and also give the opportunity for English to be deployed elsewhere so his elite tank can actually burn opponents whilst also preserving him from the competitive body-on-body stoppage donkey work and ruck craft, which obviously doesn't come naturally to him and he clearly isn't very good at. Maybe English finds a role sweeping down back (Jones is 33yo) or as a link-up wingman who runs the arcs hard both directions. Or as that 2nd ruck/damaging forward that he has previously shown he is very capable of being.

Expecting English to suddenly become a high quality, fiercely competitive stoppage ruckman who can dominate his direct opponent and dictate positioning/drop of the ball at stoppage in his 9th season is a fool's errand IMO. Time to use him where he is better suited and makes the most of his elite traits.

[Bornadog]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

Sweet 51 HO, 15 HTA - only 7 disposals

Stanley 28 HO, 3 HTA

Geelong win by 80 plus points

You don't need a ruck like Sweet - ruck is over rated

[Danjul]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

yes they do

I suspected that. But when I consulted Dr Google the response was that they stop at 18 because the growth plates set.

I hope you are correct because I have liked the little I have seen of Smith.

[Bornadog]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

I suspected that. But when I consulted Dr Google the response was that they stop at 18 because the growth plates set.

I hope you are correct because I have liked the little I have seen of Smith.

Does a late bloomer have the potential of experiencing a late growth spurt at 18-20? It's unusual to have a growth spurt this late in life, but it does happen.

Hopefully he does grow a few cm, but I don't think it's neither here nor there.

The main thing is whether he can play ruck, and I think he has had a good season at 18 years old upo against some old timers like Darcy Forte, TC etc

[Danjul]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

Sweet 51 HO, 15 HTA - only 7 disposals

Stanley 28 HO, 3 HTA

Geelong win by 80 plus points

You don't need a ruck like Sweet - ruck is over rated

Sweet was the only player who gave Port some momentum. But Geelong?s game was the best I have seen in years.

[GVGjr]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

Agreed. Moreso, around do we spend his preseason as a defender or forward. Or do we see the ruck as an issue and call him a ruck now and start his journey to first ruck now and he plays when he plays. Or do we pick say defence and train him there as the 5th KPD on the list or 4th KPF on the list. I think we need to recruit a first ruck, failing that (I really don?t want to waste Darcy as a ruck) with Lobb as a KPD we need to do something to give us options even if it?s not immediate.

At the moment and before any trades or drafting occurs I'd say he needs to train mainly as a forward with the occasional stint in the back line.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

At the moment and before any trades or drafting occurs I'd say he needs to train mainly as a forward with the occasional stint in the back line.

You think we need another KPF? For injury cover or we should have four on the list generally?

[Bornadog]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

At the moment and before any trades or drafting occurs I'd say he needs to train mainly as a forward with the occasional stint in the back line.

I prefer he was trained as a Backman

You think we need another KPF? For injury cover or we should have four on the list generally?

Surely not

[GVGjr]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

You think we need another KPF? For injury cover or we should have four on the list generally?

I don't think Croft is a serious contender to play much senior footy next year so it's not something we have to lock in. I tend to think he will move between roles based on needs. There is no pressing short term need so he just needs to get some VFL games into him until his body develops. He's probably better suited to a defenders role as BAD points out but there might be something brewing away that switches things up. I remain open minded on Croft for a few roles just not the ruck.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

I don't think Croft is a serious contender to play much senior footy next year so it's not something we have to lock in. I tend to think he will move between roles based on needs. There is no pressing short term need so he just needs to get some VFL games into him until his body develops. He's probably better suited to a defenders role as BAD points out but there might be something brewing away that switches things up. I remain open minded on Croft for a few roles just not the ruck.

Alright. Do tell.

[azabob]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

English has absolutely elite AFL traits that we and 17 other clubs need. He is a high quality footballer - he just isn't a bankable finals/big game no 1 ruckman, and after 6 years of consistent failure on the big stage in this role, I don't think he ever will be. It looked an awful lot like Bevo came to the same realisation at half time on Friday night as well.

Ah.... the exact same scenario played out in round 23 last year at your home ground when Lobb went into the ruck...

de ja vu

[Mofra]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

Meek was a skinny teenager playing WAFL Reserves for 2 years, which sounds like where Croft is now, hence the merit of BT's left-field suggestion.

So we have Croft as a potentially developing option for 2+ years time, Lachlan Smith probably a year more advanced and also developing. We have English and Darcy who are notionally our first 2 choice rucks now (with Lobbovich leading our key defence). There is a list spot available for another seasoned, genuinely competitive ruckman to allow Darcy to remain more often in F50, and also give the opportunity for English to be deployed elsewhere so his elite tank can actually burn opponents whilst also preserving him from the competitive body-on-body stoppage donkey work and ruck craft, which obviously doesn't come naturally to him and he clearly isn't very good at. Maybe English finds a role sweeping down back (Jones is 33yo) or as a link-up wingman who runs the arcs hard both directions. Or as that 2nd ruck/damaging forward that he has previously shown he is very capable of being.

Expecting English to suddenly become a high quality, fiercely competitive stoppage ruckman who can dominate his direct opponent and dictate positioning/drop of the ball at stoppage in his 9th season is a fool's errand IMO. Time to use him where he is better suited and makes the most of his elite traits.

Meek was listed at 106kgs in his overage year and was a full time ruck.

He was never skinny like Croft.

[Sedat]

Re: Well Ruck Me.

Meek was listed at 106kgs in his overage year and was a full time ruck.

He was never skinny like Croft.

Thanks Mof, just going by what was written in that article. I can't believe an AFEL accredited journo could make such a mistake on a fringe listed player from a low-click interstate club - they normally get things wrong much closer to home and at bigger clubs.