Yep- we need to worry about what makes us the best team we can be, not what the opposition may or may not be doing.
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Rucking Hell
- Thread starter Baloo
- Start date
Outside of the game on the weekend I think there's enough body of work over the past few seasons now to see the pattern vs the Dees.
They beat us early last year, before we got going. They beat us in 2021 when we never got going. They didnt beat us between 2017-2020 when we were good.
The pattern i see is if we are a better team we win, if we are not we dont. Gawn or no Gawn.
The Melb. of 2021 -2022 very different beat to pre 2021
faster ball movement when they choose to
very good defensive setups behind the ball ( Lever & May)
Gawn is dangerous down forward and one of the best at ball ups and boundry throw ins , and he has a very good midfield at his feet
all that adds up to serious premiership threat
now they just have to maintain a healthy list and hold their form till sept
no harm in our coaches copying bits from them and working out ways to counter them , suspect we'll have to beat them on the way to a premiership
faster ball movement when they choose to
very good defensive setups behind the ball ( Lever & May)
Gawn is dangerous down forward and one of the best at ball ups and boundry throw ins , and he has a very good midfield at his feet
all that adds up to serious premiership threat
now they just have to maintain a healthy list and hold their form till sept
no harm in our coaches copying bits from them and working out ways to counter them , suspect we'll have to beat them on the way to a premiership
The beauty of it for Melbourne is they have a genuine second ruck and both of them can endurance run like a midfielder so there's no exposure in conceding the hit out and playing a small to hurt them around the ground.
If our pressure rating doesn't lift then anything to do with us becomes redundant.
Think we were bottom 2 in the comp last year, bring that again and all we have done by bringing in Taranto and Hopper is add three years to a reset.
What surprised me about Gawn on Saturday was how we pushed up the ground and then ducked into space leading. His forward craft was a lot better than I thought. It wasn't just put it on his head. He almost played the Tom Lynch hit up the wings and come back role.
Each of Melbourne's rucks is a genuine #1 strike ruck. Oh, yeah, TBR. Stamina to burn. And then, given the setup, they'll have 70 and 60% TOG each when it suits them.
Always fresh.
Conceding the hitout? Dangerous before 666 and stand mark rule. You'd only do it in planned phases. (Or nothing to lose phases.) It has not been sustainable for50 years of my observation.
Having got that out of the way we can probably all agree that if any side can get a VG small on either Max Gawn or Brodie Grundy at the fall the good small will win. And if a side can get an actual tall back on either of them (when forward) the tall back will win.
It remains to be seen how the setup works out over the year. Melbs has a thick and strong list, if idiosyncratic in structure. I have them clear Premiership favourite at this stage.
Don't think big Ivy is going to hang around if he doesn't get a regular game this year. Ryan is being used forward in the VFL, that might be his best position. Not sure about Mate Colina, very big doubts for mine.
If Soldo does choose to look elsewhere we are very thin on the ground for ruckmen, it needs to be addressed.
If Soldo does choose to look elsewhere we are very thin on the ground for ruckmen, it needs to be addressed.
There is a current #1 rated ruck in the AFL. Max Gawn has been that for years and has been for all of that time 208cm. He's a dinosaur with the mobility and GBG of a cruiserweight.
Rucks are in two main types. Dinosaurs and Cruiserweights.
By and large Dinosaurs are about tap work and getting in the way either in the forward line, particularly the square or in the defensive hole. By and large.
Cruiserweights are rare these days, mainly they're just shorter dinosaurs but they are still around. Cruiserweights are mor about offensive game. Getting off the other ruck. Brodie Grundy is mainly a cruiserweight. He plays a small game. He's tightened up his defence. But he can't catch. He can't even get in the way when he's forward. He looks to rove. Small game. He's 204cm. Cruiserweight. 204cm.
Tristan Xerri is a cruiserweight. He's 25yo and was probably the best ruck in the game in 2024. He's 202cm. Short. He gets huge blue-collar numbers. Tireless worker. And he uses his body to get HO.
Unfashionable 202cm Darcy Cameron is a rare ruck because he's talented. He can actually play a football position. The hard one. Full forward. He's no star there but he's better than any ruck (apologies to concussion-aware Tim English). Darcy Cameron can and will take a contested mark inside 20m. Everybody likes rucks who can mark but the ruck who really can is unfashionable. Probably the second best ruck in 2024 IMO.
Triple-premiership ruckman Toby Nankervis is a C200cm dinosaur. He's used to be mobile but he's lost that. And he's lost a yard. He's had quite a few hidings at the hands of Gawn and Grundy. Mainly because he's so short. Gawn outreaches him and Grundy outreaches him and holds him for strength.
Why does RFC keep OHB and Mate Colina? Because they're tall. And that matters a lot in a ruck. For all the reasons we already know. And this one - they're getting taller.
Rucks are in two main types. Dinosaurs and Cruiserweights.
By and large Dinosaurs are about tap work and getting in the way either in the forward line, particularly the square or in the defensive hole. By and large.
Cruiserweights are rare these days, mainly they're just shorter dinosaurs but they are still around. Cruiserweights are mor about offensive game. Getting off the other ruck. Brodie Grundy is mainly a cruiserweight. He plays a small game. He's tightened up his defence. But he can't catch. He can't even get in the way when he's forward. He looks to rove. Small game. He's 204cm. Cruiserweight. 204cm.
Tristan Xerri is a cruiserweight. He's 25yo and was probably the best ruck in the game in 2024. He's 202cm. Short. He gets huge blue-collar numbers. Tireless worker. And he uses his body to get HO.
Unfashionable 202cm Darcy Cameron is a rare ruck because he's talented. He can actually play a football position. The hard one. Full forward. He's no star there but he's better than any ruck (apologies to concussion-aware Tim English). Darcy Cameron can and will take a contested mark inside 20m. Everybody likes rucks who can mark but the ruck who really can is unfashionable. Probably the second best ruck in 2024 IMO.
Triple-premiership ruckman Toby Nankervis is a C200cm dinosaur. He's used to be mobile but he's lost that. And he's lost a yard. He's had quite a few hidings at the hands of Gawn and Grundy. Mainly because he's so short. Gawn outreaches him and Grundy outreaches him and holds him for strength.
Why does RFC keep OHB and Mate Colina? Because they're tall. And that matters a lot in a ruck. For all the reasons we already know. And this one - they're getting taller.
In this context, the roles of existing rucks, the height of existing rucks and the fact they are getting taller I think Dodson is short, @Redford, @Tortured Tiger, @wigglyworm, @CarnTheTiges. And I wonder whether I'd take him in this or any ND. It costs me Faull. Or M Whitlock.
I think I'd pick up Mirkov. For nuthen. I think the Brown Baggers delisted him too young. And he's worth a year on the rookie list. He's 210cm.
I think I'd pick up Mirkov. For nuthen. I think the Brown Baggers delisted him too young. And he's worth a year on the rookie list. He's 210cm.
Yeah fair enough, I understand fully why people are reluctant to draft young ruckmen but this bloke really caught my eye. I certainly won’t microwave my membership if we don’t draft him but if we do happen to take him I fully understand why as our current ruck depth is extremely ordinary and if he is any good he can grow with our new crop of midfielders.
