Position 2021: Ruck Discussion
- Thread starter THCLT
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The two big guns went bang this week.
This is why I never really considered going in without either of them. Flynn is doing fantastic as a rookie pick and in any other position he'd be a big success. But Gawn and Grundy are premiums unlike any other. They rarely have bad games, can't be tagged, are dominant in their position, and are some of the only reliable captain options. How many other premiums are a serious chance of consistently scoring 135+? We're so lucky to have them available.
This is why I never really considered going in without either of them. Flynn is doing fantastic as a rookie pick and in any other position he'd be a big success. But Gawn and Grundy are premiums unlike any other. They rarely have bad games, can't be tagged, are dominant in their position, and are some of the only reliable captain options. How many other premiums are a serious chance of consistently scoring 135+? We're so lucky to have them available.
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Very happy on the flipside with no Gawn.
The trades to get to Gawn is the one part of not having Gawn that I'm genuinely hating right now! Would love a 90 from him next week 
The positive is I have a very clear target to work towards so I can stop burning trades on "upgrades" that cost me 50-100 points per move!
Not going Grawndy last year made me waste 7+ trades in the rucks and made for a miserable year. Learned my lesson hence why Grawndy combo was the way to go.
Very lucky to have them indeed.
Very lucky to have them indeed.
The positive is I have a very clear target to work towards so I can stop burning trades on "upgrades" that cost me 50-100 points per move!
Still feel like Gawn/Grundy have had a blessed run so far with ruck opponents and hopefully are at least down on their average by 10-20 points over the next few rounds.
That being said, they are still the top 2 rucks clearly and also have some nice ruck opponents incoming so I'm not 100% how it's going to fall!
Gawn:
R1 Meek - 90
R2 Hunter - 137
R3 Flynn - 163 (funnily enough probably the "hardest" opponent of the 3, but 2 goals and huge around the ground)
R4 Stanley who's been solid
R5 Mcevoy/Ceglar who's been ok
R6 Nank who's been ok
I'm optimsitic for some 80-115 games over the next few....
Grundy:
R1 English/Stef - 70
R2 Pittonet - 135
R3 Fullarton - 162
R4 Flynn - Potential for another big game (not as big as the last game)
R5 NicNat - Tougher matchup
R6 Wright? - Nice timing...
Grundy to get Brisbane without a ruck was a blessing... but could happen in Round 6 as well.
Flynn on the other hand does have a tough run incoming with Grundy, Hickey, English/Stef.... unfortunate...
Make or break rounds coming up
That being said, they are still the top 2 rucks clearly and also have some nice ruck opponents incoming so I'm not 100% how it's going to fall!
Gawn:
R1 Meek - 90
R2 Hunter - 137
R3 Flynn - 163 (funnily enough probably the "hardest" opponent of the 3, but 2 goals and huge around the ground)
R4 Stanley who's been solid
R5 Mcevoy/Ceglar who's been ok
R6 Nank who's been ok
I'm optimsitic for some 80-115 games over the next few....
Grundy:
R1 English/Stef - 70
R2 Pittonet - 135
R3 Fullarton
- 162R4 Flynn - Potential for another big game (not as big as the last game
)R5 NicNat - Tougher matchup
R6 Wright? - Nice timing...
Grundy to get Brisbane without a ruck was a blessing... but could happen in Round 6 as well.
Flynn on the other hand does have a tough run incoming with Grundy, Hickey, English/Stef.... unfortunate...
Make or break rounds coming up
It's tricky to assess, but I think the perfect starting team (so far anyway) would not have had Gawndy. It's such inefficient distribution of your salary cap to be pushing a 102 ave to your bench on one line, and playing 60 averaging rooks onfield on other lines.
To properly assess whether Gawndy or a rookie r2 was the better starting move, you've got to compare the completely different structures, and all the relevant differences involved.
For my team for example, I have a ruck line of Gawn (131 ave) and Grundy (122), with Flynn (102) on the bench. In my midfield I have 4 premiums, then Gulden (116), Jordon (70), Powell (59) and Berry (62) onfield. I considered starting Gawn-Flynn-Meek instead, and using that money saved to get Macrae (121) in place of Berry. Macrae's price is very similar to Grundy's, so it's an easy comparison. So the comparison for onfield points becomes Gawn-Grundy-Berry vs Gawn-Flynn-Macrae. The rookie r2 structure wins pretty comfortably, averaging 354 so far to Gawn-Grundy-Berry's 315. And you're effectively getting Meek in place of your last-selected mid bench rookie, which is probably another win in terms of cash generation. Meek is averaging 65, which is more than 6 of my 8 bench players.
I'm happy to get Gawn and Grundy's scores this week. But if I'd known Flynn was gonna look this good, and Meek would keep getting games as a backup E, I would've started Gawn-Flynn-Meek.
To properly assess whether Gawndy or a rookie r2 was the better starting move, you've got to compare the completely different structures, and all the relevant differences involved.
For my team for example, I have a ruck line of Gawn (131 ave) and Grundy (122), with Flynn (102) on the bench. In my midfield I have 4 premiums, then Gulden (116), Jordon (70), Powell (59) and Berry (62) onfield. I considered starting Gawn-Flynn-Meek instead, and using that money saved to get Macrae (121) in place of Berry. Macrae's price is very similar to Grundy's, so it's an easy comparison. So the comparison for onfield points becomes Gawn-Grundy-Berry vs Gawn-Flynn-Macrae. The rookie r2 structure wins pretty comfortably, averaging 354 so far to Gawn-Grundy-Berry's 315. And you're effectively getting Meek in place of your last-selected mid bench rookie, which is probably another win in terms of cash generation. Meek is averaging 65, which is more than 6 of my 8 bench players.
I'm happy to get Gawn and Grundy's scores this week. But if I'd known Flynn was gonna look this good, and Meek would keep getting games as a backup E, I would've started Gawn-Flynn-Meek.
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Yeah, it depends on what you did with the money saved. If I didn't go Gawn or Grundy I probably would've started with Neale or Kelly instead, pushing one of Jordon/Berry/Powell to the bench. That would probably be a loss at this stage, with potentially further pain to come as Gawn/Grundy don't look like dropping in price all that much right now. I'd also be worried about Meek's spot in the team for R4 - the two ruck setup didn't work that well for Freo this week and he may be the one to make way for Treacy.
I'm not saying either strategy is a clear win at this stage. And things could change by next week. I just feel more secure knowing I don't have to worry about how I'm going to bring them in and can instead focus on fallen premiums in other areas, like Neale and Olivier. I don't think the new rule changes are going to slow Gawn or Grundy as much as people might have hoped.
I'm not saying either strategy is a clear win at this stage. And things could change by next week. I just feel more secure knowing I don't have to worry about how I'm going to bring them in and can instead focus on fallen premiums in other areas, like Neale and Olivier. I don't think the new rule changes are going to slow Gawn or Grundy as much as people might have hoped.
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Yeah I agree rookie R2 is much riskier. Relying on Meek to keep getting games for cover. That's what scared me off in the end - I was worried Darcy could push Meek out really quickly. Then if Flynn was even given a week's rest (Mummy is still around too, right?), I'd be stuffed. I didn't expect Flynn to score well enough to make that risk worth it. I agree too that getting up to Gawn-Grundy is probably harder than getting up to two premiums on another line. Because they probably won't dip in price drastically, like Oliver/etc can do after a hard tag.
So it's tricky, and you might turn out to be right. But so far, I think we've gotta say the rookie r2 structure has been the clear winner, because of Flynn's scoring. You're right that if you picked Neale with the money saved from say Gawn to Meek, it's a loss. But that's just because Neale's been a really unlucky pick so far. Any other 550-660k player that you might've picked adds up to more points. Even Kelly, who I started :'( Gawn-Flynn-Kelly is averaging 329 points per round. Gawn-Grundy-Berry 315. If you spent the money on Dunks, Ridley, etc, then it's an even bigger win. I just picked Macrae because he's averaging about what he's priced at, like Grundy - so it's more a comparison of the structure (and the rookies pushed on/off) than the luck of the other premiums' scores. That's only so far though. You could turn out to be right if Flynn/Meek drop off or get dropped. Or if that other rookie you'd push to the bench (Berry/Powell/Campbell/whoever) starts averaging 80-90 instead of 50-60.
So it's tricky, and you might turn out to be right. But so far, I think we've gotta say the rookie r2 structure has been the clear winner, because of Flynn's scoring. You're right that if you picked Neale with the money saved from say Gawn to Meek, it's a loss. But that's just because Neale's been a really unlucky pick so far. Any other 550-660k player that you might've picked adds up to more points. Even Kelly, who I started :'( Gawn-Flynn-Kelly is averaging 329 points per round. Gawn-Grundy-Berry 315. If you spent the money on Dunks, Ridley, etc, then it's an even bigger win. I just picked Macrae because he's averaging about what he's priced at, like Grundy - so it's more a comparison of the structure (and the rookies pushed on/off) than the luck of the other premiums' scores. That's only so far though. You could turn out to be right if Flynn/Meek drop off or get dropped. Or if that other rookie you'd push to the bench (Berry/Powell/Campbell/whoever) starts averaging 80-90 instead of 50-60.
I think with Flynn scoring 90 odd and Grawndy scoring 160, it’s probably the rare scenario where both sides are sitting happily.
This was the round where Flynn was supposed to score 50 but that hasn’t eventuated.
Think it’s now fairly even tbh but I’m happier sitting on Grawndy so I can focus on grabbing some of the cheaper mids like Neale and Oliver in coming weeks. But the swing in R2 and R3 is exactly what Grawndy owners would have hoped for. Hope no one did a R2 restructure!
This was the round where Flynn was supposed to score 50 but that hasn’t eventuated.
Think it’s now fairly even tbh but I’m happier sitting on Grawndy so I can focus on grabbing some of the cheaper mids like Neale and Oliver in coming weeks. But the swing in R2 and R3 is exactly what Grawndy owners would have hoped for. Hope no one did a R2 restructure!
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Real easy to pick a team with the benefit of hindsight
Most will have visions of what if I started player x over player y or I should've started rookie x on field over rookie y or captain x etc, etc.......but really, getting a strong start is one thing, but winning the game now takes good trading mixed with a bit of luck and strategy for those in contention with 5 or so rounds to play out.
Hunter was never a good option - 1 price rise max was about all you could have hoped for with their other rucks.
I honestly thought Martin might be the good cheap option instead of Hunter, but it's looking like Hickey was the one to choose instead. Flynn, Meek, Hickey seems it may have been the hindsight starting set of rucks to go with.
I honestly thought Martin might be the good cheap option instead of Hunter, but it's looking like Hickey was the one to choose instead. Flynn, Meek, Hickey seems it may have been the hindsight starting set of rucks to go with.
