Roast Zac Clarke

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sij1981

Club Legend
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Jul 31, 2008
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Fremantle
Hi All,

Is it me or does this man seems to have lost his mojo just doesn't present well, lacks footy smarts he use to have.

Or are we playing him too deep in forward?

He seems to do well at CHF. Just lacks flexibility i liked Tabs game better he seems to know how to position himself.
 
He's a ruckman being played in a hybrid position that doesn't suit his strengths.

It's no coincidence his best run of form came when Sandi was out half the year injured and he was able to string some games together as the #1 ruck.
 

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estibador said:
He's a ruckman being played in a hybrid position that doesn't suit his strengths.

It's no coincidence his best run of form came when Sandi was out half the year injured and he was able to string some games together as the #1 ruck.
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what do you mean hybrid position? what would be best?
 
sij1981 said:
what do you mean hybrid position? what would be best?
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I mean he has to spend the majority of his time forward at the moment, when he'd be better suited to Sandi's role of spending most of the time leading the ruck.

If we ever let him go he'd become a fantastic first ruck for some lucky team, but hopefully that team will be us once Sandi retires.

He's in the perfect age bracket for a seamless changing of the guard in a couple of years. Sandi leaves and we have a 26yo ruckman just hitting his prime ready to step straight in.
 
sij1981 said:
question who do we replace him with?

bradley?

or get another midfielder and throw tabs or SOS in ruck
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Good question. I think Freo not having a reasonable replacement is what is keeping him in the side. His versatility in contrast to Sandi makes him a good fit.
 
Clarke's biggest strength is rucking around the ground and using his altheticism and mobility.

He isn't suited as a lead up forward or even using his body as a resting ruckman like Sandi does. Doesn't hit the packs right and usually gets in someone elses way.

Like Esti said, he's at his best when he is No.1 ruck.
 
estibador said:
He's a ruckman being played in a hybrid position that doesn't suit his strengths.ruck.
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Hybrid as in being used as a rover and secondary ruckman? Why not use Griff then? I don't really think Clarke's a great forward, he doesn't use his size well enough in packs and drops so many marks. He languishes around the ground. His best is very good but it doesn't come up enough. He just seems happy to play and not dominate, I don't know.

I never got the hype. All about Griffin. Who, by the way, was unfair to be given a single game in a shocking game when Sylvia was patronised for at least two or three.
 
Agree, I think Taberner would be suited to the ruck\fwd position available.

Swapping Clarke for Ballas, and playing Taberner as the forward\ruck role with Sandi doing 90% of the ruck looks like a winner for me.

Then we just need to find two new mids to replace Fyfe and Barlow.
 
Only thing Clarke has over Griffin and Hannath is pace and with Fyfe and Barlow out I don't see Zac going out for either as we are going to need the extra run. Regardless of Clarkes form lately he has the potential to provide more run and chase than Griff and Hannath.
 
beetz said:
Only thing Clarke has over Griffin and Hannath is pace and with Fyfe and Barlow out I don't see Zac going out for either as we are going to need the extra run. Regardless of Clarkes form lately he has the potential to provide more run and chase than Griff and Hannath.
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And the ability to actually get involved.

People may be unhappy with Clarke's 12+ possession a game average but it's still more than double what Hannath manages.
 
I have been very unsatisfied with his work over the last few weeks. However I must say that on watching the replay against the Hawks, he was better than I thought on live viewing. He was left lumbering on a couple of occasions where I thought even someone of his size could have applied more pressure, but he was useful around the ground and in creating marking contests - even if he doesn't mark it as much as we would like.

I agree with the sentiment that he is probably better as a #1 ruck, where he spends less time forward or around the ground. However I think he's the best option we have right now. Griff is not in stellar form right now, and while I think he's perhaps a bit better at winning taps to advantage than Clarke, we're not going to use him in that role while Sandi is here are we.
 

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go_the_dockers said:
Agree, I think Taberner would be suited to the ruck\fwd position available.

Swapping Clarke for Ballas, and playing Taberner as the forward\ruck role with Sandi doing 90% of the ruck looks like a winner for me.

Then we just need to find two new mids to replace Fyfe and Barlow.
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agree 120% tabs looks so flexible in fwd line, and also can be another midfielder. reminds me of a young cox.
 
Am I the only one that thought clarke went ok on sunday?

He might not have plucked many but he really fought to get to the drop a number of times and prevented their backmen taking a mark they would have otherwise taken.

Pav kicked a goal directly from one of those spills.

I think we need a forward/ruck... zac seems to be a ruck/forward. But alternatives as forwards that can genuinely provide a contest in the ruck are just about non existent.

His attack on the ball in the air and effort to get to the contest was a country mile ahead of the cats game.

if we replace him with tabs we'll have to stack up very defensively at clearances against teams with a good ruck or our defense could be put under a lot of pressure, when their rucks start pin pointing their own hit zones while fending off tabs' skinny body.

We'd need to run fyfe or mundy as a semi permanent third man up to help out.
 
strobe00 said:
Am I the only one that thought clarke went ok on sunday?
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I think he's gone ok in a quite a few of the games when he's copped criticism this year. Unfortunately for him he seems to have assumed a role as one of the team scapegoats.

If he got injured and missed a chunk of the season people would soon be praying for him to be back once the novelty of Hannath getting 5 touches a game wore off. He offers far more than any replacement would, at least until Griffin gets a proper preseason into him and regains some semblance of form and fitness.
 
estibador said:
I think he's gone ok in a quite a few of the games when he's copped criticism this year. Unfortunately for him he seems to have assumed a role as one of the team scapegoats.

If he got injured and missed a chunk of the season people would soon be praying for him to be back once the novelty of Hannath getting 5 touches a game wore off. He offers far more than any replacement would, at least until Griffin gets a proper preseason into him and regains some semblance of form and fitness.
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I agree... I don't think Hannath is any kind of replacement for Clarke. I don't rate Hannath, despite the love he gets from some of our supporters. He might come good one day, but that day doesn't seem close from what I've seen. I don't think Griff is really an option to replace Clarke either, unless Clarke continues to have games like the Cats one. Still see Griff only as a back-up first ruck for Sandi, with Clarke staying where he is as the ruck/forward, unless Griff was getting toweled up in the ruck.

Clarke's real threats are if/when the match committee bite the bullet and pick a forward to do some backup work in the ruck. He's likely safe until then for mine. Tabs and Apeness need to be getting some tuition in the ruck for that to be much of an option though.
 
estibador said:
I think he's gone ok in a quite a few of the games when he's copped criticism this year. Unfortunately for him he seems to have assumed a role as one of the team scapegoats.

If he got injured and missed a chunk of the season people would soon be praying for him to be back once the novelty of Hannath getting 5 touches a game wore off. He offers far more than any replacement would, at least until Griffin gets a proper preseason into him and regains some semblance of form and fitness.
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Going into finals which forward line would you prefer?

Option 1
Mayne Taberner Crozier
Ballas Pav Walters

Option 2
Mayne Clarke Crozier
Ballas Pav Walters

Quiet simply I believe Taberner showed more as a forward, and I think Sandi can ruck 90% of the game.
 
Well if we followed the Hawks model they actually play the following:
1. Ruck / Ruck = McEvoy
2. Ruck / Forward = Hale/Ceglar
3. Forward / Ruck = Roughead*

* Played more forward in recent years but the option is there.

We have:
1. Ruck / Ruck = Sandilands
2. Ruck / Forward = Clarke
3. ????
 
go_the_dockers said:
Going into finals which forward line would you prefer?

Option 1
Mayne Taberner Crozier
Ballas Pav Walters

Option 2
Mayne Clarke Crozier
Ballas Pav Walters

Quiet simply I believe Taberner showed more as a forward, and I think Sandi can ruck 90% of the game.
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Neither !!!

Option 3

FF:Walters,BallaZ and Pav

HF:Mayne, Clarke and Tabs

With Crozier swapping with balaz and walters and placing the 2 angry ants in the middle for pace.

Then send Mundy in forward whilst resting. Confuses the hell out of opposition - extra mid tall.
 
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