Position Rucks Discussion

[Quarterback]

I'd given in and picked Gawn and Grundy but it just feels a bit defeatist to me, it's very hard to expect one of them to go close to justifying their starting price- let alone both. Playing as a lone ruck is very hard on the body, making backing up after a dominant season extremely difficult/nigh on impossible.

My thinking at the moment is that I may as pick one well use Westhoff as a placeholder in the hope that he'll be a top 10 forward in the end. None of the cheap ruck options are at all realistic to me.
Pierce- no certainty and isn't worth picking as he probably won't be able to keep out Long (who is genuinely terrible)
Mumford- suspension isn't ideal plus he's an injury prone 32 year old who I doubt will play every week
English- a beanpole who'll share ruck time and will need to be managed if the bulldogs don't want to ruin him physically by letting bigger ruckmen beat him up every week
Darcy- not sure how long he'll get as first ruck, his style of ruck is also a bit out of place in the modern game (see Preuss). Mumford took a long time to build up to what he became and these guys won't be any different should they succeed
The rest- won't play early unless someone goes down injured

I don't see much upside in Goldstein, Martin and the rest of the sub 600k options either. Westhoff is unlikely to average 100 again and his only other recent acceptable season was in 2015 when he averaged 94.7, so he screams spike year too. Ugh, there really aren't any simple options this year aside from hoping that Gawn and Grundy can both defy history.

They defied history last year, 2 ruck man going at 130 ave, never happened before. Hard to back up yes, but I cant see them dropping off too much, I think they both go between the 115-120 mark. That's good enough for my $1.4 million investment.
Times have changed and while these 2 guys are around, this ruckman backing up following year talk will be quashed.

 

[freowho]

I'd given in and picked Gawn and Grundy but it just feels a bit defeatist to me, it's very hard to expect one of them to go close to justifying their starting price- let alone both. Playing as a lone ruck is very hard on the body, making backing up after a dominant season extremely difficult/nigh on impossible.

My thinking at the moment is that I may as pick one well use Westhoff as a placeholder in the hope that he'll be a top 10 forward in the end. None of the cheap ruck options are at all realistic to me.
Pierce- no certainty and isn't worth picking as he probably won't be able to keep out Long (who is genuinely terrible)
Mumford- suspension isn't ideal plus he's an injury prone 32 year old who I doubt will play every week
English- a beanpole who'll share ruck time and will need to be managed if the bulldogs don't want to ruin him physically by letting bigger ruckmen beat him up every week
Darcy- not sure how long he'll get as first ruck, his style of ruck is also a bit out of place in the modern game (see Preuss). Mumford took a long time to build up to what he became and these guys won't be any different should they succeed
The rest- won't play early unless someone goes down injured

I don't see much upside in Goldstein, Martin and the rest of the sub 600k options either. Westhoff is unlikely to average 100 again and his only other recent acceptable season was in 2015 when he averaged 94.7, so he screams spike year too. Ugh, there really aren't any simple options this year aside from hoping that Gawn and Grundy can both defy history.

Not much upside to Goldstein but if Grundy can't kick and Gawn shares with Preuss...……………….....

 

[jaca]

I still have English at R2... let’s see.

 

[Yasi]

They defied history last year, 2 ruck man going at 130 ave, never happened before. Hard to back up yes, but I cant see them dropping off too much, I think they both go between the 115-120 mark. That's good enough for my $1.4 million investment.
Times have changed and while these 2 guys are around, this ruckman backing up following year talk will be quashed.

Also both playing 22 game seasons. Interested in what those not planning to start a playing R/F might do if their starting ruck misses early games assuming a rookie R3 isn’t going to pop up for cover.

700 k is a lot to have on the pine whilst eating a donut and so are people thinking they’d trade to cover for even a 1-2 week absence?

Really has me wanting to start a Lycett/Lobb type or to prioritise Westhoff (hopefully at a cheaper price) as first upgrade.

Last years reliability of the premium rucks was as unusual as the scoring IIRC.

 

[Blaze]

Grundy just left my team. I wasn't that keen on him earlier in the pre season until he was flying on the track and the majority of in the know sc'ers here and elsewhere were on him made me feel like it was safer to go with the majority. The injury stuff over the last month while minor, along with the him being at max price along with my gut feel is enough for me to jump off. Gawnstein it is for me unless one of Goldy and Gawn have an unforeseen circumstance between now and R1. Gawn I just like his form and pre season and again take the gamble that preuss won't impact this even if he plays.

Gawn & Goldy at the minute for me mate, Grundy went too high last year and the odds are very much stacked against him IMO. The money saved lets me run Moore over a rookie with a bit of cushion for corrections, looks well worth it to me. Removing Sandi from Goldys fixture makes it a pretty good run early.

Snap

 

[stephen]

I'd given in and picked Gawn and Grundy but it just feels a bit defeatist to me, it's very hard to expect one of them to go close to justifying their starting price- let alone both. Playing as a lone ruck is very hard on the body, making backing up after a dominant season extremely difficult/nigh on impossible.

My thinking at the moment is that I may as pick one well use Westhoff as a placeholder in the hope that he'll be a top 10 forward in the end. None of the cheap ruck options are at all realistic to me.
Pierce- no certainty and isn't worth picking as he probably won't be able to keep out Long (who is genuinely terrible)
Mumford- suspension isn't ideal plus he's an injury prone 32 year old who I doubt will play every week
English- a beanpole who'll share ruck time and will need to be managed if the bulldogs don't want to ruin him physically by letting bigger ruckmen beat him up every week
Darcy- not sure how long he'll get as first ruck, his style of ruck is also a bit out of place in the modern game (see Preuss). Mumford took a long time to build up to what he became and these guys won't be any different should they succeed
The rest- won't play early unless someone goes down injured

I don't see much upside in Goldstein, Martin and the rest of the sub 600k options either. Westhoff is unlikely to average 100 again and his only other recent acceptable season was in 2015 when he averaged 94.7, so he screams spike year too. Ugh, there really aren't any simple options this year aside from hoping that Gawn and Grundy can both defy history.

I'm sure there will be a pick that in hindsight was the right one but individually they seem little better than placeholders to me. I have given up too but I have fits of resistance in the night. The only thing that has me mildly interested is trying to pick someone with an easy ruck draw who can have a good spurt for 8 weeks. Witts looks like the closest, with Saints, Freo (Sandiless?), Dogs, Carlton (Kreuzerless?), Crows, Lions, Eagles before Gawn in RD8. He had five 110+ games last season, so not impossible to think of him throwing a few big ones to get him above a 105+ average for that seven-game stretch and make a (very) little coin. If Grundy lost 100k+ over that period, it would be a good win. I won't do it unless I'm drinking heavily during the round but I just want to feel like I'm fighting the good fight.

 

[Zagbag]

I'm sure there will be a pick that in hindsight was the right one but individually they seem little better than placeholders to me. I have given up too but I have fits of resistance in the night. The only thing that has me mildly interested is trying to pick someone with an easy ruck draw who can have a good spurt for 8 weeks. Witts looks like the closest, with Saints, Freo (Sandiless?), Dogs, Carlton (Kreuzerless?), Crows, Lions, Eagles before Gawn in RD8. He had five 110+ games last season, so not impossible to think of him throwing a few big ones to get him above a 105+ average for that seven-game stretch and make a (very) little coin. If Grundy lost 100k+ over that period, it would be a good win. I won't do it unless I'm drinking heavily during the round but I just want to feel like I'm fighting the good fight.

I think the only issue with this plan is that Witts has been known to "dominate" a ruck contest (at least via Hitout numbers) and still not generate a great score.

Rd 11 vs GEE - 47 hit outs for 82 pts
Rd 12 vs GWS - 64 hit outs for 103 pts
Rd 13 vs STK - 40 hit outs for 54 pts
Rd 19 vs CAR - 60 hit outs for 81 pts
Rd 23 vs GEE - 43 hit outs for 67 pts

Was enough to make me steer clear.

 

[stephen]

I think the only issue with this plan is that Witts has been known to "dominate" a ruck contest (at least via Hitout numbers) and still not generate a great score.

Rd 11 vs GEE - 47 hit outs for 82 pts
Rd 12 vs GWS - 64 hit outs for 103 pts
Rd 13 vs STK - 40 hit outs for 54 pts
Rd 19 vs CAR - 60 hit outs for 81 pts
Rd 23 vs GEE - 43 hit outs for 67 pts

Was enough to make me steer clear.

Yes and I'm noticing now that all his big games came with 15+ possessions, including when he had 21 kicks (!?) against North, and only one of them came against an obviously weak ruck line-up (WBD), so doesn't look as easily predictable as I hoped.

 

[McLovin]

I think the only issue with this plan is that Witts has been known to "dominate" a ruck contest (at least via Hitout numbers) and still not generate a great score.

Rd 11 vs GEE - 47 hit outs for 82 pts
Rd 12 vs GWS - 64 hit outs for 103 pts
Rd 13 vs STK - 40 hit outs for 54 pts
Rd 19 vs CAR - 60 hit outs for 81 pts
Rd 23 vs GEE - 43 hit outs for 67 pts

Was enough to make me steer clear.

His midfield could be a bit of an issue this season. They've turfed their top clearance player in Lyons and they don't have much in the way of inside mids now. I also saw a rumour that Brodie's on the outer, does Dew have something against inside mids?

They defied history last year, 2 ruck man going at 130 ave, never happened before. Hard to back up yes, but I cant see them dropping off too much, I think they both go between the 115-120 mark. That's good enough for my $1.4 million investment.
Times have changed and while these 2 guys are around, this ruckman backing up following year talk will be quashed.

I feel like this debate goes on every season in SC. Surely player x will justify their price despite the fact that the most expensive players rarely do and there are almost always so many changes in the top scorers from year to year. As it see it the best argument in favour of starting both isn't that they'll justify the outlay points wise, it's that it's low risk because so many others will do the same.

I'm sure there will be a pick that in hindsight was the right one but individually they seem little better than placeholders to me. I have given up too but I have fits of resistance in the night. The only thing that has me mildly interested is trying to pick someone with an easy ruck draw who can have a good spurt for 8 weeks. Witts looks like the closest, with Saints, Freo (Sandiless?), Dogs, Carlton (Kreuzerless?), Crows, Lions, Eagles before Gawn in RD8. He had five 110+ games last season, so not impossible to think of him throwing a few big ones to get him above a 105+ average for that seven-game stretch and make a (very) little coin. If Grundy lost 100k+ over that period, it would be a good win. I won't do it unless I'm drinking heavily during the round but I just want to feel like I'm fighting the good fight.

That's my questionable argument in favour of Westhoff (or Lycett, but I don't think he'll do enough to be a forward keeper). I'd be picking him precisely because he's a placeholder while I get an idea what's going on with the ruck situation this season and unlike similarly priced ruck only players I wouldn't have to sideways him to Grundy/Gawn if they become affordable or continue to be must haves. That's assuming he doesn't go back to averaging mid-low 80s of course.

There's potentially a lot of ground to be gained by avoiding one or both of Grundy and Gawn, but there will only be a few people who pick the right player/s to pull it off. I'm on board with leaving one out but I don't trust my judgement enough to go without both at this stage

 

[Bomber18]

Z.Clarke may still yet be in play...hearing Daniher has done a calf according to the dons fan forums and could be out for 4-6 weeks.

Late spanner in the works in the rucks if ZClarke is named on a Thursday.

 

[NT.Thunder]

Z.Clarke may still yet be in play...hearing Daniher has done a calf according to the dons fan forums and could be out for 4-6 weeks.

Late spanner in the works in the rucks if ZClarke is named on a Thursday.

Not what Bomber supporters would want, but if TBC went down now......we’ll, just quietly ?

 

[Bomber18]

Not want Bomber supporters would want, but if TBC went down now......we’ll, just quietly ?

Draper’s time to shine !

 

[NT.Thunder]

Problem is this will all happen between round 3-5 - just want one year with 2 decent rookie rucks

 

[Dimmawit]

Draper’s time to shine !

Suggesting Draper will be named ahead of Clarke? (Is/was Zac injured?)

 

[Bomber18]

Suggesting Draper will be named ahead of Clarke? (Is/was Zac injured?)

No, i think ZClarke is a chance should Daniher be out but Draper the better standalone ruck if TBC is out.

 

[TerryB]

Rohan Marshall (St.Kilda) would be the perfect R2 selection. Only $341k. Scores of 78, 85 and 93 in the last 3 rounds of 2018, playing in the ruck.
A score of 86, 37 hit-outs, in JLT round 2 with a projection of 130 for 100% game time, playing in the ruck.
Only 1 problem, this ruckman is not classified as a ruckman, but as a forward!
My Question is... Do some players get reclassified to DPP? If so, when?
I am toying with the idea of playing Marshall on the forward line. If he becomes a ruck DPP, move him to ruck and trade out a more expensive ruckman and use the cash to upgrade others...I know it's exceptionally risky. But is it crazy?

 

[PC]

Happens in Dreamteam every season, only incredibly rarely in Supercoach.

 

[BlueNwhiteHoops]

Not much upside to Goldstein but if Grundy can't kick and Gawn shares with Preuss...……………….....

Why can't Grundy kick?

 

[TerryB]

Thanks PC. I should probably get back onto the meds!

 

[PC]

Why can't Grundy kick?

Toe injury in the preseason when Roughead stood on his foot.