Operation Depth Ruck

[raman]

I'd go Baulderstone just to piss off the folk at West Lakes, and it'll weaken Norwood as he wouldn't be able to play for them.

That's not a good reason to get him but it's a nice fringe benefit

 

[PJ Power]

from 2013 profile - now age 19:

Darcy Cameron (Claremont)

Height: 203 cm
Weight: 98 kg
Player comparison: Dean Cox
Strengths: Tapwork, athleticism, versatility
Weaknesses: Age

The times are changing when it comes to AFL recruiting. The premier ruckman in the draft this year going at pick 65 sounds wrong but it is definitely not a reflection of the immense talent Cameron has.

Ten years ago a prospect like Darcy Cameron would be a top ten selection. In the past 10 years the likes of Matthew Leuenberger, Patrick Ryder, Matthew Kreuzer, Ben McEvoy, Nic Naitanui, Daniel Gorringe and Billy Longer have all been top ten selections. But last year the highly rated Brodie Grundy slid to pick 18 and very few 18 year old ruckmen were taken, signalling a change of approach from recruiters who now prefer to pick more mature ruckmen with later selections since young ruckmen take a few years to develop while higher picks can be used on midfielders who tend to be more AFL ready.

Cameron has very good skills for a ruckman. He hits his short targets on most occasions and knows his limitations so he doesn’t make awful mistakes when trying to weight a 50 metre pass into space to a leading forward, instead choosing to kick long to a contest. By hand he is more than capable of finding targets both in close and longer options.

One of the best aspects of Cameron’s game is his tapwork. I rate Cameron as the best ruckman in the draft and that is mainly due to his excellent ruckwork. He uses his long arms to advantage and stretches out fully to get to the ball before the other ruckman. He places the ball well and can tap to all areas. He appears to make space for the midfielders with his taps, much like good midfielders do with their kicking to forwards, placing the ball where he wants them to run to.

WA State academy manager Raff Guadagino labelled Cameron and fellow WA product Scott Jones as “the best ruckman the WAFL has produced at an Under 18s level since Nic Naitanui”, when speaking to the Courier Mail.

2014 Stats: http://www.wafl.com.au/players/view/4672

Looks like a reasonable option.

 

[LFC2010]

How many years did Lycett sign for at West Coast?

 

[JimmyBeerCans]

How many years did Lycett sign for at West Coast?

That ship has sailed 3 years i think

 

[Holden Hillbilly]

How many years did Lycett sign for at West Coast?

4 years - he won't be here if we have Ryder and Lobbe.

 

[manureid]

Holy s**t Seaby is still around?!

Had to double check the post date of the OP. Thought I had stumbled in to a necro-bump.

 

[yepits2020]

Stocks are thin. Not really much there to get excited about. Is redden likely to be available this year?

We have improved our talent in the ruck but our depth is still an issue.

Last I heard, Redden was being made ready for a full pre-season. Given that he had as close to a knee reconstruction without having one, I suspect we will not see much of him next year in the AFL. Also, the club must not be confident in his outcome as they only gave him a one year contract.

 

[mic59]

Picking up a 24-yr old ruckman from the SANFL may seem a risk but Baulderstone has the runs on the board to be a backup in 2016. If Cameron slides I would go for him but that would not be expected.

 

[Coobk001]

It'd be nice to pick up one player that's pretty much ready to go like Baulderstone and then use a rookie spot for another young ruck.

 

[Hellgood]

Looks like a reasonable option.

Fairly overrated.

Generates a lot of love on the draft and trading board, but he played most of his footy for Claremont reserves this year. People still regurgitate his name off the back of the hype as an 18 year old. Is a reasonable footballer, but don't see him progressing past WAFL league level. He's pretty lackadaisical and his athleticism isn't what it's made out to be.

 

[rumoursofwinter]

I'm on the Darcy Cameron bandwagon. I thought we would draft him last year and he went unselected. This year he has had a good year in the wafl. He's a big athletic guy with upside.

 

[PJ Power]

Fairly overrated.

Generates a lot of love on the draft and trading board, but he played most of his footy for Claremont reserves this year. People still regurgitate his name off the back of the hype as an 18 year old. Is a reasonable footballer, but don't see him progressing past WAFL league level. He's pretty lackadaisical and his athleticism isn't what it's made out to be.

Thanks for that. Hard to know from afar.

 

[PJ Power]

Cripps interviewed well on 5AA. He made it clear that our age profile is a concern with respect to tall forwards, and while there is optimism about Shaw, Harvey, Butcher, they know we have to address our tall forward stocks.

 

[rumoursofwinter]

2013 draft video of Darcy Cameron.

 

[AdsGoNads]

Gorringe will walk to Port next Season.. no need for a Ruck.

 

[edgie]

Renouf is better than some of these suggestions

 

[Forzaport]

Gorringe will walk to Port next Season.. no need for a Ruck.

We're still too thin in the ruck department, need at least one more for 2015.

 

[Hellgood]

2013 draft video of Darcy Cameron.

Seen the footage of him playing at WAFL reserves level this year?

Myles Bolger v2.0

 

[rumoursofwinter]

Seen the footage of him playing at WAFL reserves level this year?

Myles Bolger v2.0

No. I've seen his stats and a few comments.

What is a Myles Bolger v1.0? Maybe we can take him too!

 

[Dalfino]

I am seeing all of these posts that are talking about 18 and 19 year old's that we've never heard of before but might seem good - the problem is, we don't want an 18 year old twig even if he is bloody 250cm... they have no experience. Renouf may have been pretty hopeless in terms of his rucking abilities, but he had the experience of being in a premiership side and he had the ability to compete physically on the day. Remember when he went toe-to-toe with Sandilands earlier this year? I don't remember him winning a single hit out, but just his physical presence and ability to compete was all that we needed to get over the line - that is what you need in ruck depth. Sure, we can recruit a bunch of tall kids, but if Lobbe goes down with a knee, we can't play an 18 year old who hasn't played league football before. It's for these reasons why McKernan may be our best option because he has had some experience at AFL level and he has the physical qualities to compete. If Burgo can fix him up with a tank and Voss gives him the desire to fight and Hinkley gives him the discipline to be committed, he could still end up being a pretty decent ruck because he is only 24 and could still have a career ahead of him.

Sure we could go for Baulderstone or another promising young ruck, but I would prefer to have a more reliable backup ruck than a kid. It also puts too much pressure on the player himself if he has to take a massive work load at such and early stage of his career.

Also, gotta credit my dad u2uabrs for explaining this to me and giving me the idea. I told him to post it but I don't think he did, so credit goes to him

 

[x_les_x]

Bring him back, I'd rather seaby over this fella

 

[RussellEbertHandball]

Do we need this guy to help us out with this Operation??

 

[raptalia]

We need more than one. We have Lobbe. Ryder and Redden on our senior list but we really need to get two more through the National, PSD or Rookie drafts. There are some doubts about Redden so getting two more big men is imperative.

I would go for Baulderstone as a rookie.
As for the other I have no idea who is available. I know that there are those who think McKernan is a spud but he may be a good piece of insurance maybe there is abetter option?

The poll really needs to give two or more options.

 

[Shaucob_Burjan]

The fact that you have Graham as an option makes me want to troll vote

 

[faquito]

I keep reading the thread title as "Operation Derp Ruck"...