Traded Rory Lobb (#37 - Traded)

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captainMyCaptain

Norm Smith Medallist
Veteran GWS Giants Member of the Year
Apr 30, 2011
8,236
7,579
Wollongong
AFL Club
GWS
Rory Lobb

upload_2014-2-6_7-17-32.jpeg

Height: 206cm
Weight: 96kg
D/O/B: 9/2/1993
Position: Ruck

Lobb who was taken with pick 29 in the 2013 AFL Draft, and stands at 206cm and came to footy late after mainly focusing on basketball until recently. However he impressed many while playing with Swan Districts in the WAFL in 2013 where he averaged 12 disposals, 3 marks and 24 hitouts. While at the draft state combine he demonstrated his athletic ability when he ran a 3.06 second 20m sprint. His first 5m put him in the top 13%.
 
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A Tall Dilemma
By Adam Curley - AFL Media

26 February 2016 8:46 AM
The GIANTS have a selection dilemma ahead of round one with a host of tall forwards jostling for a position in their best 22.

206cm ruckman Rory Lobb impressed coach Leon Cameron with his athletic display as the GIANTS went down to the Dogs in the NAB Challenge opener in Canberra on Thursday night.

Lobb played nine games as a ruckman/forward in the second half of last year with Shane Mumford out injured and showed glimpses of ability, but stood out with his strength in the air in the first hit out of 2016.

The raw West Australian took five contested marks, finished with two goals, and probably should have finished with four to give GWS a mobile target inside 50.

"He's one of those young kids that’s coming into his third year, he's starting to develop, and he actually came back (to training) midway through October to try and get a jump on all the boys," Cameron said.

"You can clearly see that he wants to make a statement this year.

"He's taking some really strong marks, and his kicking has improved.

"He knows he's got a long way to go in some other areas of his game, but if he continues on with that sort of presence out there, then he's clearly looking to (put his) stamp on one of those 22 spots for round one.

As he gets older and we get more kilos on him then he'll be more aggressive in the ruck, but we're really rapt by the way he's progressing."
 
GWS Giants ruck coach Dean Brogan talks up potential of youngster Rory Lobb

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/gws-gi...l-of-youngster-rory-lobb-20160420-goav6x.html

Last year Rory Lobb was the fall guy when his opponent set a new hit-outs record, but now Greater Western Sydney's ruck coach Dean Brogan says the youngster has the potential to be the best ruckman in the competition in two years.

It is a massive wrap seeing Lobb is yet to take the No.1 mantle at his own club from Shane Mumford but a sign of how excited the Giants are in the former promising basketball junior.

Lobb kicked a career-best four goals at the weekend and while it's his high marking and work as a forward that is currently catching the eye, Brogan believes it will be in the ruck where he eventually plays his best football.

"I often look at him and think, 'Jesus Christ, we've got someone special here'," Brogan said. "We've thrown him on the wing, down back, he's holding the forward role and going into the ruck. There might be a stage we throw him on-ball as a midfielder because he's got a massive tank and goes all day.

"People don't understand he can also tackle, he loves competing. That's half the battle with big men, getting them to compete, wanting to get hit and throwing his body around. I think in the next couple of years he could be the best big man in the competition if he keeps improving."

Lobb's leap reminds Brogan of former Melbourne big man Jeff White, but it's his skill level that inspires an even headier comparison to Dean Cox, West Coast's former six-time All-Australian ruckman who kicked the ball like a midfielder on both sides.

"We try to keep him grounded but understand he could potentially be one of the big men going around," Brogan said. "Rory's only 23, he's got so much more to go. It's scary to think what he's going to be like at 26, 27 with 100 games under his belt."

Despite the lofty goals set for Lobb, the Giants are reluctant to give him more time in the ruck for now, having learned last year against North Melbourne the dangers of asking too much too soon of him. With Mumford injured, Lobb was slaughtered by Todd Goldstein, last year's All-Australian ruckman, winning just 10 taps to his more seasoned opponent's 80.

Not that the Giants need to "throw him to the wolves" just yet, although they can see a time later this season when he spends more time in the ruck in order to keep the combative Mumford in one piece.

"If we get to round 10 and are in a position to give him a rest we'll definitely look at it," Brogan said of Mumford. "At the moment if you say to Mummy 'we'll rest you next week', he'll punch you in the head."

The spark for Lobb's improvement this year, Brogan said, was his hard work during his holiday so that he could return to training ready for the hard work of pre-season.

"At the end of the year we put it on him, we said he has the potential to be anything, depending on how serious he is," Brogan said. "He went away and had a really short break. He didn't let himself go at all.

"He stayed off the p--s, he made a decision to be the fittest big bloke at the club."
 
'I want to be No.1': Lobb looks ahead to life after Mummy
Adam Curley January 21, 2017 3:50 PM
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RORY Lobb will continue to cause headaches for opposition defenders in 2017, but admits he has ambitions to one day be Greater Western Sydney's No.1 ruckman.

Lobb played every game in a breakout season for the Giants last year, when he took the second most contested marks in the competition (60) behind Gold Coast star Tom Lynch, and kicked 29.16 playing as a deep forward.

The 23-year-old was also a valuable foil for GWS big man Shane Mumford in the ruck, and showed his versatility by having a cameo on the wing on various occasions.

It was a remarkable year for the West Australian who had played just one season of footy for Swan Districts in the WAFL before being drafted by the Giants in 2013.

Since then Lobb has added 14kg to his 206cm frame, and told AFL.com.au he's been discussing his future role with senior coach Leon Cameron over the pre-season.

While happy to play Mumford's understudy at the moment, the big man, who last year resisted the temptation of a return to his home state and re-signed with GWS until the end of the 2019 season, is weighing up a switch when the veteran retires.

"That’s the talk that Leon (Cameron) and I have been having, do I want to play my career as a ruck/forward, or as a full-time ruckman," he said.

"Obviously 'Mummy' (Shane Mumford) is the man now, and we've got Tom Downie, Dawson Simpson there, and young Matty Flynn is coming through too.

"With my height I'm tending to lean towards going the distance as a number one ruckman, but I love playing forward and I've made myself a position there.

"It's hard because I like the balance of playing both positions and also floating up on the wing as well."

With most of his game time spent as a deep forward, Lobb said he puts in a lot of work at training with his fellow goalkickers, and rarely gets to work on his ruck craft with Mumford.

But while he doesn't get to drill the physical aspects of ruck work with Mumford as much as he'd like, Lobb said he rarely misses an opportunity to ask his teammate for advice, and also looks around the League at other players for inspiration.

"Shane's a really strong inside player and doesn't jump as much as me, so we're pretty different, but he's probably one of the best at bodying up, so I just pick what I can from him and try and create my own way of playing I guess," he said.

"Nic Naitanui is the pinnacle for athletic ruckmen, with his jumping at the centre bounces and around the ground, so I watch him a lot too.

"I want to be a ruckman that can throw different things at the opposition so that’s the end goal.

"You can always get better, I mean I look at guys like Ryan Griffen and 'Mummy', and they're still working hard to improve their game.

"You're always learning from other people, whether it be the older guys or our young players, and I just try to use all the resources we have.

"I don’t know where my game can go but I'm just going to work as hard as I can to see where I can get to."

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-01-21/i-want-to-be-no1-lobb-looks-ahead-to-life-after-mummy
 
I think the club will have a strong ruck division for the future and 2 key pieces have been the coaching from Brogan and also the professionalism of Mumford and I can see a head coaching job for Brogan in the future if he wants to go down that path
 
I think Lobb with his marking ability up forward and around the ground should not be used in the ruck and all the bullocking, barging work it entails, years ago Roos stopped using Goodes in the ruck because he got injured and was considered to VALUABLE, Lobb IMO is the same.
 

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The GWS Giants almost lost towering forward Rory Lobb to Western Australia last year before breathing a huge sigh of relief when the 23-year-old opted to sign a two-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until at least 2019.

Midway through his third season at the Giants in 2016, the big man was fed up with life in Sydney, despite having a further year to run on his contract, and has revealed he was tempted by a possible move back to Perth to be with his family.
Click to expand...

http://www.smh.com.au/afl/greater-w...ed-to-move-home-to-perth-20170202-gu47yy.html
 
I am really impressed by Rory as a person. His whole story is one of dealing with challenges and showing immense personal fortitude and drive. We could not have blamed him if he had wanted to go home, especially after Sunshine, but it would have hurt us very much (again, especially with Sunshine also leaving). I am so glad that he worked through the difficulties and stayed with as I believe that he provides great structural strength & versatility to the team. The story does give some forewarning that he may at some point (especially if we win a flag) ask to go home as I still see both WA teams needing/wanting a player of his skills in their squad. We probably need to be prepared for such an eventuality.
 
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