Why would we take a player who’s stats have been declining since he signed a 7 year deal? Caveat emptor my man.
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Ivan Soldo
- Thread starter buenavista
- Start date
Why would we take a player who’s stats have been declining since he signed a 7 year deal? Caveat emptor my man.
They haven't been declining, look closely, take out the injury outliers, have a good look at his 2021 form, go get the tape out of his last game. The dip in 2020 was immediately followed by a 19 touch average but also included a career best goal kicking return. Grundy's demise completely overblown & Collingwood's foray into the Darcy Cameron era a risky gamble on a player who has been a journeyman for almost a decade. Good clubs identify these machinations & pounce, Melbourne smartening up, Geelong also with its finger on the pulse.
The importance of a ruckman in todays game was evident in our finals loss to Bears this year when their no 1 ruckman went down and we were dominated. Quality mids trump genuine ruckman these days. All you need in the middle is someone that can throws their weight around and occasionally take a mark.
Mummy did it for years at Swans and GWS.
Shouldnt be hard to find one in the state leageus.
Mummy did it for years at Swans and GWS.
Shouldnt be hard to find one in the state leageus.
Thats the perfect example where it shows that mids are way more valuable than rucks.
This is where the fan perspective gets blinkered, Nankervis single handedly got us into a grand final, that's one cup you can attribute to a ruckman. When Ottens left he became the missing link at Geelong, there's another example. Grundy was within a whisker of being a premiership ruck but Sheed spoiled the party, Gawn is a premiership ruck and nobody with an ounce of smarts would diminish his role. You can't just claim rucks aren't important because Nankervis had a crap game against Brisbane, that is weak rationale. I think you'll find rucks a bit like umpires, you only notice them when they are screwing up. We're one injury away from being rudely exposed, all this state league talk is pie in the sky optimism.
What did all those ruckman have in common? They all had quality mids to work with. Gawn has been the best ruckman in the comp for a number of years now yet never took them to the promised land. Once Petraka and Oliver became premier mids of the comp they snag a premiership.
Not saying you dont need a ruckman but their value has diminished with the way the game is played these days. Quality mids get the ball moving your way and especially with the 6 6 6 rule that is gold!
And quality rucks who touch the ball 20 times a match also get the ball moving your way, Grundy's value lies in his work at ground level, it's interesting that Nank is the critical extra playmaker but Grundy is just a waste of space, this just seems hypocritical to me.
Don't think that is the best example, I lost count of the Nank taps that ended up in a Lachie Neale clearance, yes Neale was amazingly important, but things would have been much different had Nankervis actually evened out his ruckwork against their 2nd tier ruckman instead of tapping to players wearing opposition guernseys.
Someone has to be shaken from the tree to make a deal happen. Cats just won the flag with Rhys Stanley as their ruckman. Enough said.
Dont disagree Grundy is/was a quality ruckman. My point is that if Grundy is tapping it, who grabs it out of our mids if Taranto and Hopper are not there? Prestia is now injury prone and cannot stand up for an entire season as the main mid. Cotch is on father time. Dusty we dont know how he will come back mentally next year. Who does that leave? Shai is a gun but needs support. Still think the ruckman is slowly losing importance in the game especially with all these rule changes. Take Nank out this year and put in Taranto and Hopper and we win those close ones and finish top 4. Anything happens from there. The Cats had Stanley as there ruckman ffs and they won the flag!
I still can’t get my head around people not realising that a quality midfield is the key to success. Especially now with 666 and the stand rule. First use is king. Apart from Melbourne all Top 8 teams weren’t blessed with Max Gawn type rucks. *smile* Collingwood made a prelim with Darcy Cameron! But what they all have is a top class midfield.
Iif Taranto and Hopper were playing in our elimination final against Brisbane we would have won that game easily.
I am yet to see anyone say that Grundy is not a great ruck. There is a question with recent injuries but he is likely to come back as a decent ruck even if he is not as good as he was before.
But what Grundy also is, is a bloody great hole in your salary cap. He is too expensive, even if Collingwood pay part of his salary.
I don't want to see Soldo go, I do worry about Nank's longevity. But Nank was tapping the ball down in the EF and out mids weren't there. It wasn't so much where Nank was tapping the ball, he wasn't tapping it to the opposition, it was far more a case of the opposition mids, particularly Neale, having the ability to get to where the ball was going, something we couldn't do even though it was our ruck who was winning the taps. Quality mids are not easy to find, otherwise we wouldn't have been short of clearance mids in 2022 and we would have had a player who could get to where our ruck was tapping the ball.
There is a very good reason why mids are generally paid more than rucks - they are scarcer.
DS
But what Grundy also is, is a bloody great hole in your salary cap. He is too expensive, even if Collingwood pay part of his salary.
I don't want to see Soldo go, I do worry about Nank's longevity. But Nank was tapping the ball down in the EF and out mids weren't there. It wasn't so much where Nank was tapping the ball, he wasn't tapping it to the opposition, it was far more a case of the opposition mids, particularly Neale, having the ability to get to where the ball was going, something we couldn't do even though it was our ruck who was winning the taps. Quality mids are not easy to find, otherwise we wouldn't have been short of clearance mids in 2022 and we would have had a player who could get to where our ruck was tapping the ball.
There is a very good reason why mids are generally paid more than rucks - they are scarcer.
DS
Tony Braxton-Hicks
There are no stupid ideas, just stupid people
Nank deserved a statue after that game, it was the game that defined him as a Richmond great.
