Position 2021: Ruck Discussion
- Thread starter THCLT
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Super premos overpriced due to skewed scaling last year.
Less ruck contests due to rule-change-induced opening up of play.
Rookie rucks falling out of trees at every turn.
Gawn to play more forward if Jackson plays. Who knows how Collingwood (Grundy) will be affected by their interesting off-season.
If this isn't the SC gods tempting us with forbidden fruit, I don't know what is. Normally the problem with taking a risk at R2 (or R1 and R2) is the lack of an exit strategy. Whilst it's not obvious exactly which way could work best, there seems likely to be options via a corrective trade if you get one component wrong. No different to correcting a rookie elsewhere on the ground.
I like the idea of Stef Martin at R1 so you have a bit of wriggle room. He rucked against the toughest opponent on the weekend, had 6 clangers but still scored an acceptable 70-odd. You then have the smorgasboard of Meek, Flynn, Hunter, Fullarton, Treacy, with B. Williams not far away.
The captaincy argument really depends on whether you think the first 2 points above are valid or not.
Less ruck contests due to rule-change-induced opening up of play.
Rookie rucks falling out of trees at every turn.
Gawn to play more forward if Jackson plays. Who knows how Collingwood (Grundy) will be affected by their interesting off-season.
If this isn't the SC gods tempting us with forbidden fruit, I don't know what is. Normally the problem with taking a risk at R2 (or R1 and R2) is the lack of an exit strategy. Whilst it's not obvious exactly which way could work best, there seems likely to be options via a corrective trade if you get one component wrong. No different to correcting a rookie elsewhere on the ground.
I like the idea of Stef Martin at R1 so you have a bit of wriggle room. He rucked against the toughest opponent on the weekend, had 6 clangers but still scored an acceptable 70-odd. You then have the smorgasboard of Meek, Flynn, Hunter, Fullarton, Treacy, with B. Williams not far away.
The captaincy argument really depends on whether you think the first 2 points above are valid or not.
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In that grey area of foot stress reaction hotspots in 200cm+ footballers I reckon Ratten has as much idea as the rest of us (ie. none), he's just hoping he's not out for too long and throwing a number at it.
If he's not even running before round 1 as previously reported I can't really see how he'd be ready for round 2 or 3.
If he's not even running before round 1 as previously reported I can't really see how he'd be ready for round 2 or 3.
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Perfect opportunity over the first 3 rounds to give Jackson an increased ruck role and allow them to manage Gawn’s minutes and load. Majority of the high scores (150+) by Gawn over the past 2 seasons have occurred when he has registered 20 or more disposals and will be very interesting to see if he can sustain those figures with the recent rule changes.
Do you reckon he knows something we dont ?
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/03/03/st-kilda-recruit-believes-an-early-afl-debut-is-gettable/
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2021/03/03/st-kilda-recruit-believes-an-early-afl-debut-is-gettable/
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Think I read something along these lines on our injury thread/bigfooty. Nothing concrete, since probably even the club wouldn't know.
Edit: guess what I read was correct (confirmed by Boomber18's post, thanks)
With that in mind, Hunter is a false selection, and starting him in any position when Meek, Fullarton, Tracy and Flynn are available is pretty much gambling.
Edit: guess what I read was correct (confirmed by Boomber18's post, thanks)
With that in mind, Hunter is a false selection, and starting him in any position when Meek, Fullarton, Tracy and Flynn are available is pretty much gambling.
Think it's a flaw to only compare GG to other rucks, you're selecting them over other positions also so if the whole position falls but others dont then having them over the other positions is going to hurt you.
Definitely giving it strong consideration.
Shame we don't get the teams earlier so will be relying 100% on the clubs letting us know that Flynn is the ruck. Meek not an issue, will have him before Grundy/Gawn play.
Need a fair few things for me to do it though.
1. Clarity on Darcy for Meek, ideally Darcy is picked forward for mine, ruck share should still work but if Darcy isn't picked, that's a big issue, then you need Meek to shine bright to hold the spot and with Gawn first up, that's a rough task.
2. Flynn picked, no Briggs. Want him as the safe #1 because he's got to be on-field.
3. Some more clarity on Ryder/Marshall. I actually think he'll play alongside Marshall if he was back round 2, especially being underdone and used more forward last year anyway, but Ryder the bigger question as he likely comes back fit still.
4. Treacy/Fullarton - Would be nice if they were both picked though it's not likely I can get Darcy clarity and Treacy. Fullarton at F8 or that combo both picked would add a lot of security though I don't think you want either on the field outside emergency but if you can have them the DPP makes a rescue operation a lot more plausible.
5. Other rookies dictate it to a certain extent. If there's a genuine lack and somewhere to actually deploy the funds, that would help.
I'm not opposed to it though, Flynn is probably the best rookie this year, Meek has the potential (really rated his game and Darcy is so fat and injury prone) to be the best rookie also. Hunter needs a bit to go right but he could easily be the best rookie also.
The interesting part for me would be how to spend the extra cash, I'm not sure I've got the guts to lock in 6 premium defenders and realistically I'm pushing other rookies I see as on-field options out of the equation by doing it so needs to be a real good case for them being better rookies.
Definitely giving it strong consideration.
Shame we don't get the teams earlier so will be relying 100% on the clubs letting us know that Flynn is the ruck. Meek not an issue, will have him before Grundy/Gawn play.
Need a fair few things for me to do it though.
1. Clarity on Darcy for Meek, ideally Darcy is picked forward for mine, ruck share should still work but if Darcy isn't picked, that's a big issue, then you need Meek to shine bright to hold the spot and with Gawn first up, that's a rough task.
2. Flynn picked, no Briggs. Want him as the safe #1 because he's got to be on-field.
3. Some more clarity on Ryder/Marshall. I actually think he'll play alongside Marshall if he was back round 2, especially being underdone and used more forward last year anyway, but Ryder the bigger question as he likely comes back fit still.
4. Treacy/Fullarton - Would be nice if they were both picked though it's not likely I can get Darcy clarity and Treacy. Fullarton at F8 or that combo both picked would add a lot of security though I don't think you want either on the field outside emergency but if you can have them the DPP makes a rescue operation a lot more plausible.
5. Other rookies dictate it to a certain extent. If there's a genuine lack and somewhere to actually deploy the funds, that would help.
I'm not opposed to it though, Flynn is probably the best rookie this year, Meek has the potential (really rated his game and Darcy is so fat and injury prone) to be the best rookie also. Hunter needs a bit to go right but he could easily be the best rookie also.
The interesting part for me would be how to spend the extra cash, I'm not sure I've got the guts to lock in 6 premium defenders and realistically I'm pushing other rookies I see as on-field options out of the equation by doing it so needs to be a real good case for them being better rookies.