Position 2022: Ruck Discussion

[PC]

Roger, got you now. Yes, starting a R/F at R2 with the intention of flipping fwd seems like the best way to do it.

If rolling a F/R like Comben it does give some protection for Preuss at R3 and flex in covering F outs or rolling Preuss at R2.

Just seems...inefficient.

 

[Bermi]

Just reading a bit more on Darcy :-

On Saturday ruckman Sean Darcy and midfielder Darcy Tucker only played the opening half while fellow midfielder Will Brodie sat out the game, with all three dealing with what Longmuir described as ‘minor injuries’ that won’t affect their round one chances.

Darcy trained with the main group on Tuesday and is expected to take part in match sim minutes later this week.

“Sean, probably three weeks ago, had a little bit of Achilles tightness,” Longmuir said.

“We gave him a couple of sessions off. He’s done all the work for the past couple of weeks and then he got a knock on it in match sim.

“There’s a bit of bruising and we expect him to come up for this Friday and he shouldn’t (have) any issues.”

If he is fine/ moves well on Friday then I wouldn't be too concerned - seems they were just being very cautious with his achilles being tight.

I don't like it. My alarm bells are ringing. My blinkered reading of the article above is:

"Sean Darcy, three weeks ago, had a little bit of Achilles tightness,” Longmuir said, “We gave him a couple of sessions off".

On Saturday ruckman Sean Darcy only played the opening half, dealing with what Longmuir described as ‘a minor injury’.

"we expect him to come up for this Friday and he shouldn’t have any issues.”
If he is fine/ moves well on Friday then I wouldn't be too concerned.

 

[Herbie66]

Soooooo, where are people going if Darcy isn't gtg/has question marks on him???

Not too worried yet , see if he is right for the practice matches.

Second highest priced ruck so doesn't affect starting structures too much.

 

[Chumpion]

Soooooo, where are people going if Darcy isn't gtg/has question marks on him???

Warming to the idea of Marshall

 

[PC]

Not too worried yet , see if he is right for the practice matches.

Second highest priced ruck so doesn't affect starting structures too much.

When you already have the fourth highest priced ruck, can't afford the first, and don't really like the third or any below, it is all about the structures

 

[Herbie66]

When you already have the fourth highest priced ruck, can't afford the first, and don't really like the third or any below, it is all about the structures

And probably using cheap bench players , hence why I prefer using expensive rookies for place holders , always easier to gain extra money once the Round 1 teams are announced.

Only $ 15k ish from Darcy to Gawn , shouldn't be hard to find , otherwise try anyone.

 

[Eagling]

I'm still bullish on Darcy. Wouldn't blame those switching to Gawn but his upside is still there and the injury risk was never negligible in the first place.

 

[wogitalia]

I don't like it. My alarm bells are ringing. My blinkered reading of the article above is:

"Sean Darcy, three weeks ago, had a little bit of Achilles tightness,” Longmuir said, “We gave him a couple of sessions off".

On Saturday ruckman Sean Darcy only played the opening half, dealing with what Longmuir described as ‘a minor injury’.

"we expect him to come up for this Friday and he shouldn’t have any issues.”
If he is fine/ moves well on Friday then I wouldn't be too concerned.

All kinds of red flags for me. Would need to look absolutely perfect in the preseason games or it's enough for me to find another path. Achilles injuries are really only 2 things, a complete snap, or tendinitis and tendinitis just gets worse and more restrictive the more you push it, it's rest as the solution, and a guy that size is only going to be putting more stress on it.

I have no idea what that path is yet though

Probably another case of the SC gods saving me from myself though...

 

[Eagling]

All kinds of red flags for me. Would need to look absolutely perfect in the preseason games or it's enough for me to find another path. Achilles injuries are really only 2 things, a complete snap, or tendinitis and tendinitis just gets worse and more restrictive the more you push it, it's rest as the solution, and a guy that size is only going to be putting more stress on it.

I have no idea what that path is yet though

Probably another case of the SC gods saving me from myself though...

Your competence is annoying as it's making me second-guess myself.

 

[wogitalia]

Your competence is annoying as it's making me second-guess myself.

I really want him to blitz preseason as I do want to pick him but given durability was already my major issue with picking him, this is not the news I wanted!

 

[Shaunpro1]

I dont even see Comben in line for a Ruck spot personally that would actually be favourable and justify him being your suitable cover behind Preuss, in reality theyd pick Goldy,Xerri and CCJ all before him IMHO and even Edwards would be pushing now hes finished school and able to get genuine pre season work behind him.

 

[Eagling]

I really want him to blitz preseason as I do want to pick him but given durability was already my major issue with picking him, this is not the news I wanted!

I was bullish on English for years but over the end of 21 til now I'm not sure I see him able to be the Grundy like #1 ruck 130 AVG I thought he'd turn out to be.

And I'm not picking anyone who is or will be over 30 during the H&A season so that eliminates Gawn and Nic Nat. Preuss is a disaster waiting to happen; so it's either rookie R2; or gamble on Darcy. There's little value in waiting for the dip because he could be a 130 AVG ruck when playing.

 

[Shaunpro1]

I was bullish on English for years but over the end of 21 til now I'm not sure I see him able to be the Grundy like #1 ruck 130 AVG I thought he'd turn out to be.

And I'm not picking anyone who is or will be over 30 during the H&A season so that eliminates Gawn and Nic Nat. Preuss is a disaster waiting to happen; so it's either rookie R2; or gamble on Darcy. There's little value in waiting for the dip because he could be a 130 AVG ruck when playing.

Theres no chance I'd pick English while Bruce is still out of that forward line, they need him up there just as much as in the Ruck for mine.

 

[Eagling]

Theres no chance I'd pick English while Bruce is still out of that forward line, they need him up there just as much as in the Ruck for mine.

Agreed; I see English as a decent utility which is maybe a 90-100 role with the right circumstances but too hard to predict.

 

[Tails]

Theres no chance I'd pick English while Bruce is still out of that forward line, they need him up there just as much as in the Ruck for mine.

I find the "30" age mark interesting ...

- Going back 10 years or so ... probably more "29" was considered to be the peak age for athletes that involved running ...

 

[Shannon]

I dont even see Comben in line for a Ruck spot personally that would actually be favourable and justify him being your suitable cover behind Preuss, in reality theyd pick Goldy,Xerri and CCJ all before him IMHO and even Edwards would be pushing now hes finished school and able to get genuine pre season work behind him.

Everything I have read regarding Combden has indicated he is the likely 2nd key fwd target for North (Larkey the number 1) with CCJ & Xerri battling it out for the 2nd ruck spot/ 3rd tall fwd - so Comden isn’t rucking, he is very agile for his height, good hands & has a great kicking action. Most North supporters have him in their best 22 as the starting Centre Half Fwd.

 

[Eagling]

I find the "30" age mark interesting ...

- Going back 10 years or so ... probably more "29" was considered to be the peak age for athletes that involved running ...

I think this was meant for me;

It was honestly a random decision I made in 2020 which got me my best ever overall. 2021 I crashed without Ziebell/Zorko types so it's very much not infallible, but the idea is to avoid players on a downward trend at risk of regular injuries that I used to pick; like Kade Simpson, Shannon Hurn etc.

I don't watch much football, so it's a way to pick players in their 'physical prime age bracket' without having to look at the nuance as much.

 

[Shaunpro1]

Everything I have read regarding Combden has indicated he is the likely 2nd key fwd target for North (Larkey the number 1) with CCJ & Xerri battling it out for the 2nd ruck spot/ 3rd tall fwd - so Comden isn’t rucking, he is very agile for his height, good hands & has a great kicking action. Most North supporters have him in their best 22 as the starting Centre Half Fwd.

Comben will get monstered by most AFL level key defenders, Im personally quite surprised they are going with that and not expecting much actual output, think hed spend the vast majority of the year in the VFL in a stronger side to be honest.

 

[PC]

And probably using cheap bench players , hence why I prefer using expensive rookies for place holders , always easier to gain extra money once the Round 1 teams are announced.

Only $ 15k ish from Darcy to Gawn , shouldn't be hard to find , otherwise try anyone.

You know what they say about assumptions Herbie?

 

[Herbie66]

You know what they say about assumptions Herbie?

True

Plenty of time to pick our Rucks , only need 3 of them , to be honest thought my R1 & R2 were locked in so might need to start preparing if R1 is missing.

Probably go Reg if Darcy is not right , or maybe Nic Nat