Time to take out insurance on the Truck

[Kane McGoodwin]

Bassett going back to fullback is our worst nightmare. No. Leave Rutten where we need him.

Agree.

Didn't Stevo play CHB for the Eagles last week? Why not try him at CHB & put Kenny forward.

 

[Stiffy_18]

With Rutten doing well in the backline, perhaps we need to send Kenny forward & use either M Stevens or Hentschel in defence. We need to find a marking forward & I think Kenny may be our best option, given we can cover him. Can Trent go with St Nick?

John Reid was on 5AA before tha game and he said that Kenny would have played at CHF had he not pulled out of the side with a sore hammy.

I expect us to line up against St. Kilda with Kenny at CHF, Perrie at FF, Hentschel at CHB and Rutten at FB.

While I am not in favour of messing up with the back 6, I think this spine gives us a better balance overall.

Hentschel played on St. Nick for a half last year and he kept him right out of the game. I think Hentschel can go with him but I am not sure if he is in the right frame of mind with his confidence shot down to pieces.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Just as a reply to Kane's comments, I think we would be much better served by leaving Kenny at CHB and moving Rutten up to FF or CHF.

I've mentioned this a thousand times, but the guy would make a great forward IMHO. He's got great hands, great brain... and let's not forget his first 3 (?) kicks in AFL football = all goals.

I know he's doing a fantastic job in our backline and we don't necessarily want to mess with that, but really, our forward line is MUCH more of a crisis zone right now. Taking Ben out of FB does weaken the backline a little bit, but I guess the question is: are we going to get more out of moving him forward than we lose in the backline? Or in other words, is it better to have a stellar back 6 and a big zero of a forward line or do we have a somewhat less solid back 6 but at least give the forward line something to work with?

Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I would rather move McGregor to CHF than move Rutten out of the backline. Its much easier to replace a CHB than it is to replace a FB. If you move Rutten you go back to all the crap that we had in the past. Bassett to FB to fight out of his weight division and this also robs us of a lot of drive from the backline.

In moving Rutten out of the backline you lose a fair bit of drive and our game plan is heaviliy based on rebound from the backline. If someone is lacking in that department its McGregor.

 

[Stiffy_18]

Another positive !!!!!!!!!

Bloody hell he's the most important/best positive that has come to our club in years & if ever i've seen a captain in waiting it is Scott Thompson.

We no longer have to shake our heads when looking for a replacement to take over the mantle of prime leader if/when the Roo decides to hand over the baton.

Nail. Hammer. Head

 

[Sydney Crow]

Agreed. We need someone like Hentshcel to go to Reiwoldt this week.
I don't think McGregor would be able to go with Nick.......especially if his hammy is already a bit dodgy.

On putting Rutten up forward, maybe not this week but I don't see the harm in it. He's big, takes a good grab and looks to have a football brain.
We need a big figure who going to present and demand attention by the oppositions backline. Now you may be thinking of Perrie but I'm talking of someone with T-A-L-E-N-T. They need to be able to take a grab and kick the goals we need. The longer we go without a player such as this the longer we are going to battle to kick winning scores.

I will also give a bloke like Welsh a better chance at doing what he does best. Being a second leading forward and kicking goals on the second and third string backman.

And while we've got a player like Perrie, let's try and get some blokes under his feet to get the damn crumbs. It's not like we don't know what he's going to do when the pill comes his way. Get Ladhams, McLeod and Skipworth(much) in the game and kicking goals.

While we overcomplify this game of ours too much let's remember the idea is scoring more points than your opposition. Doesn't that sound easy.

 

[cro_Magnum]

The problem with McGregor at CHF in the past has been that he's at his best when led to the ball ie. by the opposing CHF. He does'nt seem to know quite where to go when he has to make the running. Having said that, something needs to be done so it's prob worth another try. I would put Trent down back to get his confidence and bring in M Stevens for Perrie - liability at present . I don't know what you do with Welsh - didn't he play in the midfield for awhile a few years back?

 

[cro_Magnum]

overcomplify

Is that the same as undersimplicate?

 

[just maybe]

overcomplify

Is that the same as undersimplicate?

No, you're misinterprifying it

 

[drakeyv2]

I told you he as the best full back we have ever had.

 

[outback jack]

So you don't rate Rutten, yet you rate Bock - Hmmm interesting.

thats an odd conclusion to come to. I cant remember saying that. Bock has more improvement in him. Rutten has physical limitations which cannot be overcome and they were shown up against the WB. Just an observation that he might not be AA material just yet

 

[tribey]

Bock has more improvement in him. Rutten has physical limitations which cannot be overcome and they were shown up against the WB.

Bock has physical limitations that cannot be overcome and they were shown up against everyone.

 

[Mad Dog]

Part of my effort from the "Rank the players for 2005" thread of a few months ago where we ranked the players in order of importance to our chances.....

Rutten is of specific AND "referred" importance to our side in terms of the people he releases to do other things.....

(ohhh..btw.....forget my comments about Burton and all those goals.... )

A very interesting exercise !! I really tried to stay focused on the question because it would be very easy to get lost in just ranking our best players. I have asked the question...."how will it affect our team if this player has a blinder - or conversly - has a shocker?".......and ....."how much are we relying on this player for team success??".

That is why for instance I have Rutten very high....not because he is in the top 10 skilled players at the club....but because if he can hold down FB....we can go a very long way to having a settled defence......and I've ranked BirdBrain very high - because if he can play up forward and have a great year - he has enough natural talent to kick 60 or 70 goals...and this will go a long way to getting us into the finals.......so ....I just thought I'd try and add context to my thinking before I get nailed up !!!!!

(btw - after 18 or 19.....it's a fairly even field)

1 Ricciuto (2)
2 McLeod (1)
3 Goodwin (4)
4 Edwards (9)
5 Hart (5)
6 Burton (6)
7 Clarke (18)
8 Stevens M (3)
9 McGregor (8)
10 Rutten (34)..........