I must admit, I liked the look of Meek in that footage. Pretty much did everything a high scoring ruckman should. Grain of salt given it's a highlights package from a praccy but geez he just looked solid (physically and as a player). I reckon I'll take him with a late pick in draft leagues. Did the same with Max Gawn before he'd played a senior game and that decision is still paying dividends.
Position 2021: Ruck Discussion
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Last comment I saw was Darcy working towards week 1. Many may question how good Darcy is, if he is out injured round 1, will be hard to pick Meek with confidence. Would prefer Hunter if he is picked, however, he is just too late in the round unless they announce early.
Expect though at some stage the Prime ruck in Darcy will fall to injury and the Meek shall Rise!
Expect though at some stage the Prime ruck in Darcy will fall to injury and the Meek shall Rise!
Last comment I saw was Darcy working towards week 1. Many may question how good Darcy is, if he is out injured round 1, will be hard to pick Meek with confidence. Would prefer Hunter if he is picked, however, he is just too late in the round unless they announce early.
Expect though at some stage the Prime ruck in Darcy will fall to injury and the Meek shall Rise!
Expect though at some stage the Prime ruck in Darcy will fall to injury and the Meek shall Rise!
I'm not entirely sure not being able to move on the mark will make that much of a difference once the season begins and should be no different to 2019 at that point I wouldn't have thought?
His ability to run as a midfielder should at least help him find space as a marking target at a minimum however I suppose that's more of a DT benefit than a SC one.
His ability to run as a midfielder should at least help him find space as a marking target at a minimum however I suppose that's more of a DT benefit than a SC one.
I can't recall who I was discussing with or what thread it was in but seemed most pertinent here regarding the low ruck scoring or, more importantly, the low amount of stoppages through the preseason. Kudos to whoever it was and sorry for forgetting because the point was very astute.
With the 9 games in the bag we've had an average of 62.33 hitouts per game, if that seems low it is because it is!
In 2020 preseason we had an average of 75.94 hitouts and in 2019 we had an average of 73.44. Now while we might say it's preseason, etc etc, the reality is that in 2020 the average hitouts per game, scaled up for shortened quarters was 74.00 per game or 59.20 without scaling up. In 2019 the average hitouts per game was 77.12
Basically the lack of polish in preseason games statistically cancels out for the extra physicality in the real games.
Now this is a potentially huge issue for rucks and also for contested clearance beasts, the guys who score most of their points at the coal face. Essentially the stats are saying we should expect 15% less stoppages, that's 15% less clearances, hit outs to advantage and prime tackling and contested possession opportunities per game.
Now I'm not certain this plays out but it certainly would have massive ramifications and it's definitely a clear trend in the preseason, we had only one game in the entire preseason that had more hitouts than the average last year. The 9 preseason games produced the 3 lowest and 5 of the 7 lowest hitout games of the 45 game sample. If it's not a trend it's a hell of a coincidence.
My explanation for this has a few possible reasons.
1. Teams are playing the corridor more, stoppages in the corridor aren't as likely to be repeat stoppages as boundary side stoppages.
2. Space to execute is meaning less kicks to contests, with no challenge from the man on the mark the kickers have a much wider kicking angle availability.
3. Faster ball movement inside 50 is meaning more scoring shots, less stoppages. Also more corridor kicking means less forward 50 stoppages also.
4. Deeper defensive 50 exits are meaning teams don't need to create repeat stoppages to set up their structures and teams are defending more overall space, meaning more gaps to kick into instead of having to go deep down the line.
There are probably other factors but overall it's the trend that's concerning.
I'm not sure there is an easy answer either. You could shade Gawn/Grundy but if it's league wide basically you're hunting for anyone who is underpriced and hoping they make some cash, the ideal scenario would be a Meek, Flynn and Treacy/Fullarton/Hunter combination all looking good at round one. I think Gawn and Grundy probably hold up better than most as well given they both score from other ways. Might even make someone like English, who probably loses points by attending ruck contests, have a bit of extra value.
With the 9 games in the bag we've had an average of 62.33 hitouts per game, if that seems low it is because it is!
In 2020 preseason we had an average of 75.94 hitouts and in 2019 we had an average of 73.44. Now while we might say it's preseason, etc etc, the reality is that in 2020 the average hitouts per game, scaled up for shortened quarters was 74.00 per game or 59.20 without scaling up. In 2019 the average hitouts per game was 77.12
Basically the lack of polish in preseason games statistically cancels out for the extra physicality in the real games.
Now this is a potentially huge issue for rucks and also for contested clearance beasts, the guys who score most of their points at the coal face. Essentially the stats are saying we should expect 15% less stoppages, that's 15% less clearances, hit outs to advantage and prime tackling and contested possession opportunities per game.
Now I'm not certain this plays out but it certainly would have massive ramifications and it's definitely a clear trend in the preseason, we had only one game in the entire preseason that had more hitouts than the average last year. The 9 preseason games produced the 3 lowest and 5 of the 7 lowest hitout games of the 45 game sample. If it's not a trend it's a hell of a coincidence.
My explanation for this has a few possible reasons.
1. Teams are playing the corridor more, stoppages in the corridor aren't as likely to be repeat stoppages as boundary side stoppages.
2. Space to execute is meaning less kicks to contests, with no challenge from the man on the mark the kickers have a much wider kicking angle availability.
3. Faster ball movement inside 50 is meaning more scoring shots, less stoppages. Also more corridor kicking means less forward 50 stoppages also.
4. Deeper defensive 50 exits are meaning teams don't need to create repeat stoppages to set up their structures and teams are defending more overall space, meaning more gaps to kick into instead of having to go deep down the line.
There are probably other factors but overall it's the trend that's concerning.
I'm not sure there is an easy answer either. You could shade Gawn/Grundy but if it's league wide basically you're hunting for anyone who is underpriced and hoping they make some cash, the ideal scenario would be a Meek, Flynn and Treacy/Fullarton/Hunter combination all looking good at round one. I think Gawn and Grundy probably hold up better than most as well given they both score from other ways. Might even make someone like English, who probably loses points by attending ruck contests, have a bit of extra value.
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I think one needs to be careful when trying to extrapolate a trend from preseason games into season proper. For example, I doubt we have been able to see the true effect on player fatigue as a result of reduced rotations and return to full length quarters; teams have had squads of 26 to play the preseason games vs 22 come round 1. I'm also interested to see how wet weather impacts teams aggressiveness through the corridor. The safe play in wet weather games has usually been to force a stoppage down the line. I'm inclined to think this trend continues despite teams playing more through the middle in preseason. All in all, definitely something to monitor and will no doubt look back with interest.
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This right here is the crux of SC 2021 I feel.
Its gonna take big balls and the downside is disaster.
For the first time in years we have 3 or so viable ruck rookies. If only they could present at a staggered interval and rinse and repeat !
I was going to post about the reduction in stoppages and see if anyone had any stats, because that was what i had also noticed, great job as always Wogitalia.
If this is the case, and there are real question marks with the rule changes, I can only see upside in not picking a $750k player priced at 140 ave, picking a Flynn/Meek type and adding a 600k mid who should ave 110+ with the extra funds.
“Shark moves”to quote another SC player and food for thought.
Its gonna take big balls and the downside is disaster.
For the first time in years we have 3 or so viable ruck rookies. If only they could present at a staggered interval and rinse and repeat !
I was going to post about the reduction in stoppages and see if anyone had any stats, because that was what i had also noticed, great job as always Wogitalia.
If this is the case, and there are real question marks with the rule changes, I can only see upside in not picking a $750k player priced at 140 ave, picking a Flynn/Meek type and adding a 600k mid who should ave 110+ with the extra funds.
“Shark moves”to quote another SC player and food for thought.