Position 2022: Ruck Discussion

Which of the following 2 are leading the race for your starting R1 and R2...?

  • Max Gawn

    Votes: 66 41.8%
  • Sean Darcy

    Votes: 46 29.1%
  • Nic Naitanui

    Votes: 2 1.3%
  • Brodie Grundy

    Votes: 125 79.1%
  • Rowan Marshall

    Votes: 13 8.2%
  • Reilly O'Brien

    Votes: 5 3.2%
  • Oscar McInerney

    Votes: 3 1.9%
  • Jarrod Witts

    Votes: 18 11.4%
  • Braydon Preuss

    Votes: 12 7.6%
  • Scott Lycett, Tim English, Matthew Flynn or Luke Jackson

    Votes: 21 13.3%

  • Total voters
    158
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Darcy will still be the number 1 ruck
You can’t ignore his last half of the year
Gawn dipped after round 5 and his ceiling left him
He was still consistent but not really a captaincy option. Darcy has that ceiling now and I don’t think a slight niggle is going to stop that. If we knew what he actually had injury wise when he was scoring those 150+ Late last year I’m sure it was worse then the niggle he has now lol

Don’t be sheep, if you have had him all preseason I don’t see why you’d be changing now. Grundy and he are by far the two best picks imo
Gawn safe, nicnat is the one I’d be looking at if Darcy legitimately looked like missing games or even Marshall with the new dpp announcements

Still plenty of time before round 1 and he’s still an exciting pick as we have no idea on what his ceiling will be like butters and de goey types who have 100+ potential with their full time new roles. Walsh was the same until the syndesmosis as he still has more improvement in him, they’re the types I think we build around in 2022 as the upside is worth it with 5 extra trades. I honestly think we’ll get more trades throughout the year, Adelaide cancelling a practice game cause of Covid is a sign of things to come imo
Light training session today for Freo but Darcy did participate in all the drills, intra-club game is on tomorrow so it will be very interesting to see how he looks/ performs.
Darcy back involved at training. Even if he is sore I'm confident they can manage him.

I find this mentality that the extra trades are a reason to start handicapping yourself as a very flawed one. Everyone has those extra trades, every time you're using it to fix something and someone else is using it to upgrade, you're falling further and further behind. I see it being used as a reason to take picks you otherwise wouldn't very commonly this o***eason, that's not even factoring in the aspect that we might genuinely need them for covid related issues, just from a pure sideways trades are the death by a thousand cuts of SC perspective.

Achilles injuries are not a niggle. They ended the careers of Deledio and Brad Johnson, both absolute ironmen who worked as hard as anyone off the field to stay fit, not something that has ever been even suggested of Darcy never mind evidenced. Completely derailed Callum Mills last year to the point that he's still recovering.

When Darcy plays all of the preseason games in their entirety without any limitation, then I'll believe this is a niggle but until then, I'll plan away from him given his terrible durability record was already a major red flag. You don't sit the ruckman that your midfield revolves around from valuable preseason games unless something is amiss, the bond between midfield and ruck is too important and the chances to genuinely work on it are too few to waste them unless the risk is even greater.

Would be happy for him to prove me wrong but I've seen this story many times before, it's the same story people were spinning last year to talk themselves into going for Lachie Neale, I'll ignore all the missed training and preseason problems because they were great last year when they were fit. It's not a story that ends well often.
Planning around a terrible durability record yet talking yourself into NicNat. Hehe.
 
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I reckon Jackson is the perfect option especially even more so with Hayes and or Strnadica hopefully with both or either being r/f to see who will be number 1 or 2 with Grundy

rather than overpay for

Gawn-who Jackson will take time away from

Darcy-with this achilles being mentioned with someone his size

nicnat-who knows whether he will continue with his scoring form last year

ROB-could potentially breakout

English-same as ROB

Preuss-if Flynn gets injured he would be a better option obviously
 
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Thanks for the Draper report.
I had overlooked Phillips, but reckon that Draper will only have to stay injury-free to run as the solo ruck.
He looks a bit ungainly but is quite athletic - think I’ll risk it & go early on him.
To be clear, I'd be surprised if the Bombers ran two rucks, that's the whole point of having Wright, imo, more that I'd have liked Draper to show out a bit more against his backups. Like if NicNat and Williams were against each other I'd expect dominance.

Good luck, could yet join you on that wagon! Rate him very highly as a prospect.

Darcy back involved at training. Even if he is sore I'm confident they can manage him.



Planning around a terrible durability record yet talking yourself into NicNat. Hehe.
To be fair, if you take out the ACL's for NicNat his durability record is pretty good, missed just one game the previous two seasons.

I mean he's not great but it's hard to pretend Gawn is significantly better over the run either and Darcy is absolutely worse since entering the league.

I reckon Jackson is the perfect option especially even more so with Hayes and or Strnadica hopefully with both or either being r/f to see who will be number 1 or 2 with Grundy

rather than overpay for

Gawn-who Jackson will take time away from

Darcy-with this achilles being mentioned with someone his size

nicnat-who knows whether he will continue with his scoring form last year

ROB-could potentially breakout

English-same as ROB

Preuss-if Flynn gets injured he would be a better option obviously
I still struggle to reconcile the expectations on Jackson with what he needs to produce.

Being conservative with the forward premium cutoff he needs to average about 92+, personally I think that's more like 97+.

He averaged 77 over the 2nd half of last season, he averaged 76 in the finals. So you're still asking for an awful lot of improvement if you've got similar expectations of the forwards to myself.

There's no real strong indication of him average 95. There were 8 rucks in total who averaged that or higher last year. Gawn the only one in any real kind of ruck share, Marshall can be debated but he basically was #1 when he played with him and Ryder basically not playing together.

The best of the 2nd rucks would be McEvoy at 89 and even his scoring is significantly inflated from his time spent as the #1 solo ruck when others weren't playing for a good third of the season.

English managed 89 also, but is the same story as McEvoy and was actually the #1 ruck for a large chunk of the season.

I really like Jackson as a player and prospect but I do find it hard to see how he averages 95+ unless Gawn is injured. That's the territory of the very best KPF and the very best ruckmen and I don't see him being good enough at either just yet. It's not impossible but I'd definitely be far more surprised at him going 90+ than him being under 90.

If you genuinely don't think he's a keeper as a forward then you're taking him as a cash cow over all other options and I can't buy the story of him as a cash cow because realistically it doesn't exist, he's either a keeper or a bust.
 
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To be clear, I'd be surprised if the Bombers ran two rucks, that's the whole point of having Wright, imo, more that I'd have liked Draper to show out a bit more against his backups. Like if NicNat and Williams were against each other I'd expect dominance.

Good luck, could yet join you on that wagon! Rate him very highly as a prospect.



To be fair, if you take out the ACL's for NicNat his durability record is pretty good, missed just one game the previous two seasons.

I mean he's not great but it's hard to pretend Gawn is significantly better over the run either and Darcy is absolutely worse since entering the league.



I still struggle to reconcile the expectations on Jackson with what he needs to produce.

Being conservative with the forward premium cutoff he needs to average about 92+, personally I think that's more like 97+.

He averaged 77 over the 2nd half of last season, he averaged 76 in the finals. So you're still asking for an awful lot of improvement if you've got similar expectations of the forwards to myself.

There's no real strong indication of him average 95. There were 8 rucks in total who averaged that or higher last year. Gawn the only one in any real kind of ruck share, Marshall can be debated but he basically was #1 when he played with him and Ryder basically not playing together.

The best of the 2nd rucks would be McEvoy at 89 and even his scoring is significantly inflated from his time spent as the #1 solo ruck when others weren't playing for a good third of the season.

English managed 89 also, but is the same story as McEvoy and was actually the #1 ruck for a large chunk of the season.

I really like Jackson as a player and prospect but I do find it hard to see how he averages 95+ unless Gawn is injured. That's the territory of the very best KPF and the very best ruckmen and I don't see him being good enough at either just yet. It's not impossible but I'd definitely be far more surprised at him going 90+ than him being under 90.

If you genuinely don't think he's a keeper as a forward then you're taking him as a cash cow over all other options and I can't buy the story of him as a cash cow because realistically it doesn't exist, he's either a keeper or a bust.
Darcy has improved his durability season on season to be up to 21 games a year now too ;)

I'd rather be on the 23 year old on the rise than the 32 year old who's priced to his max & played his first full season (relatively speaking) since 2015.

Neither come without their risks, but I'm happy to gamble on upside all day every day.
 
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RE: .........Everyone has those extra trades, every time you're using it to fix something and someone else is using it to upgrade, you're falling further and further behind.........

Can't agree more. (I've already made a note to keep reminding me :))
The reason for the extra 5 trades is to compensate SuperCoach Teams, for players who may miss games, because of Covid issues. I would be very surprised if we get more trades during the season, as these 5 trades are the bonus trades.

Last year, SuperCoaches were not happy that Fantasy changes were made during the AFL season. So, to prevent making changes during the season, they gave us the 5 bonus trades, so changes won't need to be made during this season.

When Covid first appeared, nobody knew what to expect, or how to handle it, now they know and are organised. AFL games will be played, even if AFL teams have to get outside players to fill a team. Also, Covid affected players will only miss 1 game (unless it physically affected them badly, and that will only be the minority).
One thing to keep in mind, some players returning from Covid may not play to their optimum ability for a while.
Pretty unlikely. COVID affects most people in a pretty minimal way, I'd imagine it's pretty insignificant in a group of the fittest, most athletically powerful young men in the country. They'll be more pissed off by the 7-day isolation than the actual virus. :)
 

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Pretty unlikely. COVID affects most people in a pretty minimal way, I'd imagine it's pretty insignificant in a group of the fittest, most athletically powerful young men in the country. They'll be more pissed off by the 7-day isolation than the actual virus. :)
It does have the potential to impact aerobic capacity. Even fit people who exercise too much too soon after COVID can end up with long term damage to their lungs. Its a virus that causes inflammation of the blood vessels. You have a lot of those in your lungs. A mate of mine who is a seriously good middle distance runner had COVID in early Jan. He's back running as normal but he said his heart rates at various levels of exercise have all gone through the roof.
 
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Pretty unlikely. COVID affects most people in a pretty minimal way, I'd imagine it's pretty insignificant in a group of the fittest, most athletically powerful young men in the country. They'll be more pissed off by the 7-day isolation than the actual virus. :)
It does have the potential to impact aerobic capacity. Even fit people who exercise too much too soon after COVID can end up with long term damage to their lungs. Its a virus that causes inflammation of the blood vessels. You have a lot of those in your lungs. A mate of mine who is a seriously good middle distance runner had COVID in early Jan. He's back running as normal but he said his heart rates at various levels of exercise have all gone through the roof.
Also, just because some AFL players are geting Covid in the preseason, it doesn't mean they won't get it again during the season.


Updated : February 14, 2022
COVID Reinfections Are Milder: Myth OR Fact?
............So while it's plausible that reinfections should be milder, at the moment, the experts are still lacking robust evidence that proves this......
.........The UK scientists have estimated that reinfections with alpha gave people symptoms only 20% of the time, whereas delta reinfections caused symptoms in 44% of cases and omicron in 46%. Its data also shows that people reinfected with alpha were much less likely to get symptoms the second time compared to their primary infection. Whereas delta reinfections were somewhat more likely to give people symptoms compared to their primary infection. With omicron reinfection, the rate of symptoms was about the same across the reinfection and primary infection.........

Coronavirus Reinfections: What Happens When You Catch COVID Again After Recovery? | TheHealthSite.com
 
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Stubbornly looking at the two big G's at R1 & 2, Comben R3.

Looking for a R/F in the forward line between Wright, Ladhams, Jackson, CCJ & Sinclair.

Quite liked Wright last year as a fwd even though in the end didn't select him, has good JS and borderline ok average but good cieling with 139, 146 and 147 last season.

Ladhams sought by Swans but is he insurance or does he have a spot in the side.

Jackson plenty of chat about him but is he realistic in the fwds if I have Gawn in the Rucks

CCJ sought by NM but role JS are question marks.

Sinclair, is he still in front of Ladhams?

Given I will (almost) certainly have the big G's who is the best cover in the fwds of the aboves, or is there someone I have neglected?
 
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Stubbornly looking at the two big G's at R1 & 2, Comben R3.

Looking for a R/F in the forward line between Wright, Ladhams, Jackson, CCJ & Sinclair.

Quite liked Wright last year as a fwd even though in the end didn't select him, has good JS and borderline ok average but good cieling with 139, 146 and 147 last season.

Ladhams sought by Swans but is he insurance or does he have a spot in the side.

Jackson plenty of chat about him but is he realistic in the fwds if I have Gawn in the Rucks

CCJ sought by NM but role JS are question marks.

Sinclair, is he still in front of Ladhams?

Given I will 9almost) certainly have the big G's who is the best cover in the fwds of the aboves, or is there someone I have neglected?
I still don't like him but Jackson is leagues above that group for mine.

Ladhams I'd be surprised if he isn't in our side but his role will be similar to last year. If Hickey were injured, which his career suggests is very possible, Ladhams would be a great option. Horse has always liked playing 2 rucks, all the way back to the infamous decision to have Mark Seaby as a sub!

Sinclair shouldn't play barring catastrophe. Basically would mean Hickey, Naismith and Ladhams are all injured or only one of Franklin, Reid, McDonald, Amartey, McLean and Ladhams is fit with Hickey fit.

CCJ I just can't see it, showed not much at Richmond and goes to a weaker team with a much better dominant ruck ahead of him.

Wright I think is fairly priced on about the best case scenario, he's an adequate second ruck but he's on the weaker end of the scale so not going to score big in that role and he's an ok forward but not going to kick 3 or 4 a week. Be very surprised if he could beat 90.

Just all feel like nothing picks, Jackson I can at least faintly see an outline of a narrative for but even his story I just have a hard time buying. 2nd rucks historically have a very hard time going 95+ and KPF in general have a very hard time going 95+, literally none last year.
 
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Is Charlie Comben being picked as a loophole or a legit rookie?
I think he's a floating donut to play at this point (FDTP). May get some games, but I don't think he's in the 22 every week.

If WCE sign Strnadica and he's a $102k R/F I'd probably pick him instead. Could be just as likely to play and every chance you can pick up Comben on the bubble in R6 or something.
 
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Stubbornly looking at the two big G's at R1 & 2, Comben R3.

Looking for a R/F in the forward line between Wright, Ladhams, Jackson, CCJ & Sinclair.........

..........Given I will (almost) certainly have the big G's who is the best cover in the fwds of the aboves, or is there someone I have neglected?
R/F English is worth some consideration.
 
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Is Charlie Comben being picked as a loophole or a legit rookie?
I think he's a floating donut to play at this point (FDTP). May get some games, but I don't think he's in the 22 every week.

If WCE sign Strnadica and he's a $102k R/F I'd probably pick him instead. Could be just as likely to play and every chance you can pick up Comben on the bubble in R6 or something.
A bit of a placeholder/donut/occasional game time for me.

Like @Leroy said, if Strnadica or Hayes (STK) turn up at $102k I'll go with them instead.
 

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Stubbornly looking at the two big G's at R1 & 2, Comben R3.

Looking for a R/F in the forward line between Wright, Ladhams, Jackson, CCJ & Sinclair.

Quite liked Wright last year as a fwd even though in the end didn't select him, has good JS and borderline ok average but good cieling with 139, 146 and 147 last season.

Ladhams sought by Swans but is he insurance or does he have a spot in the side.

Jackson plenty of chat about him but is he realistic in the fwds if I have Gawn in the Rucks

CCJ sought by NM but role JS are question marks.

Sinclair, is he still in front of Ladhams?

Given I will (almost) certainly have the big G's who is the best cover in the fwds of the aboves, or is there someone I have neglected?
With the extra trades on offer this season and potential dual position additions, I would not bother starting a ruck forward if you are going with a two premium setup such as Gawn and Grundy. Need to be extremely confident that they will provide value and sufficient points to be worthwhile of a starting spot, as you are relying on an injury to one of your rucks to extract the full value of a ruck/forward early on to compensate for points lost. This play is better left until the midway or latter stages of the season and will provide a better assessment of the options if an injury opens up a clear number one ruck role.
 
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