What to do, now that the Great White Hope is down...

[Vinnie Vegas]

Many of us were hoping for big things for Rusling this year, but now it seems as though he will be lucky to play at all, even luckier to run into any good form, and there may even be luck involved for him to go on with an AFL career at this point, given how buggered his shoulders are...

However, this opens up the point of how we are going to replace him in the forward line - Obviously, convention says that we look for guys who can play in the most similar way to the injured player, but in the case of Rusling, I don't know that that is the only way to fill the hole he leaves.

We have been talking about our structure in terms of having Rusling as a talented lead and mark player, but without him, is another lead and mark player actually what we need?

I don't think it's much of a stretch to suggest that we can pretty comfortably slot in Anthony Rocca at FF, and Travis Cloke at CHF. Those two appear to have those positions to themselves for the timebeing.

So, we need to fill two forward pockets and two half forward flanks. Again, some of these come easy. Nathan Buckley is obviously going to command a position to himself, and because of Didak's early season injury, let's him one HFF. Leon Davis is another senior player who is going to command a spot in the side, and recent midfield forays aside, we'll slot him into a FP for now.

This leaves another FP and another HFF to fill in the short term. We have Paul Medhurst as a new recruit, able to lead and mark, and so at this point, he will slot into the other FP.

Filling the other HFF spot now becomes the issue, but it will only be so until Alan Didak returns from injury, at which point we will be able to trot out the lineup of:

FF: Medhurst - Rocca - Davis
HF: Buckley - Cloke - Didak

And that is without playing Fraser down forward, assuming he will be rucking.

However, until Didak comes back, we still have a multitude of options to play in that HFF spot:

Chris Egan: Played as a leading HFF in the last few games of '06, and did a pretty good job of it, kicking 3 goals in each of the last two games. Would be the leading candidate for the spot, IMO.

Shannon Cox: Has shown tremendous potential, and oozes versatility. Strong early form for Williamstown could earn him a call up.

Ryan Cook: Hasn't shown a lot, but is a marking half forward. Again, could earn a spot with good Williamstown form.

Ben Reid, Nathan Brown, Brent Macaffer: All are recent draftees, but all could potentially show something early and earn a call-up.

I honestly don't think this puts us in too much hot water - We should be pretty fine to cover for Rusling being out.

 

[Dave The Man]

Will see more of Brown and Reid Now

 

[doppleganger]

agree with pretty much all written vinnie

medhurst will be started in the 22 at the beginning of the season now and will play the quick leading role they wanted rusling to play

Rocc, T.Cloke, Medhurst, Buckley the more permanent fixtures in the forward line......Didak too as the season progresses

with L.Davis, D.Thomas, C.Egan, J.Fraser rotating through

 

[luvlicca]

I wasnt really expecting anything from Ruz this year anyway. He may have the potential and he may have only played 10 games, but still dont think he was the answer for Tarrant.
Sorry but thats how I feel

 

[magpies42]

NAthan buckley seems like an obvious choice to me?!
chris egan has pace, rocca has awesomness. its not an issue, rocca and buckley will play this posi better then rusling could this year anyway.
problem is he wont be getting the game time he needs.

 

[Barry Duffman. oh yeah]

Many of us were hoping for big things for Rusling this year, but now it seems as though he will be lucky to play at all, even luckier to run into any good form, and there may even be luck involved for him to go on with an AFL career at this point, given how buggered his shoulders are...

However, this opens up the point of how we are going to replace him in the forward line - Obviously, convention says that we look for guys who can play in the most similar way to the injured player, but in the case of Rusling, I don't know that that is the only way to fill the hole he leaves.

We have been talking about our structure in terms of having Rusling as a talented lead and mark player, but without him, is another lead and mark player actually what we need?

I don't think it's much of a stretch to suggest that we can pretty comfortably slot in Anthony Rocca at FF, and Travis Cloke at CHF. Those two appear to have those positions to themselves for the timebeing.

So, we need to fill two forward pockets and two half forward flanks. Again, some of these come easy. Nathan Buckley is obviously going to command a position to himself, and because of Didak's early season injury, let's him one HFF. Leon Davis is another senior player who is going to command a spot in the side, and recent midfield forays aside, we'll slot him into a FP for now.

This leaves another FP and another HFF to fill in the short term. We have Paul Medhurst as a new recruit, able to lead and mark, and so at this point, he will slot into the other FP.

Filling the other HFF spot now becomes the issue, but it will only be so until Alan Didak returns from injury, at which point we will be able to trot out the lineup of:

FF: Medhurst - Rocca - Davis
HF: Buckley - Cloke - Didak

And that is without playing Fraser down forward, assuming he will be rucking.

However, until Didak comes back, we still have a multitude of options to play in that HFF spot:

Chris Egan: Played as a leading HFF in the last few games of '06, and did a pretty good job of it, kicking 3 goals in each of the last two games. Would be the leading candidate for the spot, IMO.

Shannon Cox: Has shown tremendous potential, and oozes versatility. Strong early form for Williamstown could earn him a call up.

Ryan Cook: Hasn't shown a lot, but is a marking half forward. Again, could earn a spot with good Williamstown form.

Ben Reid, Nathan Brown, Brent Macaffer: All are recent draftees, but all could potentially show something early and earn a call-up.

I honestly don't think this puts us in too much hot water - We should be pretty fine to cover for Rusling being out.

Me thinks......we are fuc<ed! In the forward line at least. I think we're going to be exposed. However, we had MANY goalkickers last year and never really relied on any one forward so if we can recreate that magic we will be ok. Might struggle against the classier opponents though.

 

[daics cousin]

Good report vinnie,i agree,sad about Rusling but it does give a few of the other guys a go.
I reckon we should give Brent Mcaffer a go.A leading forward,who won the goal kicking in the TAC last year.Maybe him and say a danny nichols or matt Clarke,to throw into the midfield.I already have the feeling this will be a rebuilding year,so why not throw in the kids and give the older players a rest on the bench,during the course of the games this year.
Heard a whisper,don't know how true it is that Fraser is not 100%,but will play against Sydney.With him and Buckley a little suspect,if rocca went down ,then our season is finished before we even begin.Hope that is not the case,but **** happens I suppose.
Pity Chris Dawes wasn't fit he would slot in straght away for Rusling.I reckon Reid is too young to be thrown to the wolves,he needs time to build his upper body and get used to afl standard.The kid is too skinny at the moment,once he builds up,grows a few more inches he can then maybe play in the ruck as well.Nathan brown is an interesting one big body has presence but judging from the first NAB cup game he kicks like a backman.Maybe leave him in the backline,not the forward line.

 

[Medhurst Magic]

Good post Vinnie, we do have options like you said.

The worry is that the guys we are relying on have had their injury worries in recent seasons.
Hopefully, lady luck shines on us for once

 

[FIGJAM]

Heard a whisper,don't know how true it is that Fraser is not 100%,but will play against Sydney.

He's not playing. He's a good enough player to not have to be 100% match fit to be good, so get him 100% fit for the real games.

Hopefully your whisper is not "knee reco", but just niggle.

 

[Aristotel]

He's not playing. He's a good enough player to not have to be 100% match fit to be good, so get him 100% fit for the real games.

Hopefully your whisper is not "knee reco", but just niggle.

He looked pretty close to 100% last week at Princes Park. Only a practice match, but St.Kilda were all at sea with Josh at FF.

In regards to Rusling, the real shame is that he is young and talented, and will now miss valuable months of footy....again!
I don't believe he was going to be anything close to Collingwood's great-goal-kicking-savior this season, and I do believe we can cover the loss. But as I said, it's a real blow to his development.

If players such as Cloke, Medhurst, Davis, Egan and Rocca needed anymore reason to lift this season, they have it now.

 

[daics cousin]

I hope your right Figjam.The rumour i heard didn't stipulate what was wrong with fraser, a friend just told me he was not 100%.God i hope it's not a knee reco.
All the more know that Richards and Bryan must stand up in the ruck and let Josh have a run in the forward line this year.
Josh has been battered around enough and carrying the ruck on his own for too long.He has got too much finesse to be a bullocking ruckman,time to let him shine in the forward line and create havoc down there.With him and rocca and travis,josh will be too hard too match up on.We need him down there a lot this year.Your thoughts guys?

 

[Jabso]

Josh did have some sort of knee cleanup a long time before the season. It could just be your rumour mongering friend relaying that with a 1 or 2 month delay.

 

[doppleganger]

Josh did have some sort of knee cleanup a long time before the season. It could just be your rumour mongering friend relaying that with a 1 or 2 month delay.

yeah josh had a clean up in the off season

 

[Jabso]

I don't think the Rusling injury will hurt us as much as it hurts Rusling's development. We can put Buckley forward more, Fraser can spend more time there, Reid/Brown could get games there, even Anthony has potential to play forward, Bryan has shown a fair bit of promise forward, Cox can be a tall forward and even Macaffer was the leading goalkicker of the TAC Cup last year. Or we could simply play a smaller forward line.

The worst thing about it is we won't get the chance to develop Rusling more, in a year where the opportunity was there for him.

 

[nick_savo]

Egan is the most obvious one to fill Dids position while he is out, But by the sounds of things he wont miss to many matches this season.

 

[Coin_Toss]

Can Rusling bounce back from another setback? Short answer no, long answer, probably not. We may be seeing the fall of a player who could have been anything in that respect. His shoulders are stuffed, can't raise them above his head (not literally). The best option for him could be the midfield - not being a regular, but over short bursts on the wing.
The question beckons: Is he good enough to play up the ground? I've hardly ever seen him gather the ball from below his ankles. In that case he could be a one-trick pony.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

What's all this talk about his shoulders being stuffed? The one he injured is the same one he injured last time, presumably he still has one perfectly good shoulder.

Don't be so quick to write him off, guys. Sure, he's effectively gone for the season, but who knows what 2008 will bring? The kid's 20, he should heal quickly, open shoulder reco's have lower incidences of re-injury than arthroscopic surgeries, and Chris Judd's the best player going round. 'Nuff said.

As for who to replace him with in the forward line, I suspect they may be trialling Macaffer in NSW for that very reason, especially as we have two spots into which we could promote rookies now. However Egan has the runs on the board, a lovely kick for goal and a great vertical leap. He gets my vote at present.

 

[ronnie wearmouth]

I hope your right Figjam.The rumour i heard didn't stipulate what was wrong with fraser, a friend just told me he was not 100%.God i hope it's not a knee reco.
All the more know that Richards and Bryan must stand up in the ruck and let Josh have a run in the forward line this year.
Josh has been battered around enough and carrying the ruck on his own for too long.He has got too much finesse to be a bullocking ruckman,time to let him shine in the forward line and create havoc down there.With him and rocca and travis,josh will be too hard too match up on.We need him down there a lot this year.Your thoughts guys?

Would love to see josh in the forward line , what worries me is if richards and bryan are either injured or not doing well in the ruck that means josh goes into the ruck and with his thin frame hopefully doesnt get bashed by bigger boddied ruckmen.......... we are so thin in the ruck dept. Thoughts?

 

[malteaser]

I don't know what all the fuss is about. He really has shown nothing. One game, and all the talk about potential. It is a pity because we really haven't seen him play for more than 5 games. However, after seeing him during the pre season and combined with him playing for Willy last week, makes me think he really isn't cut out for the AFL . Reminds me of Walker, Davidson and now Rusling. Talk about potential.

 

[luvlicca]

What's all this talk about his shoulders being stuffed? The one he injured is the same one he injured last time, presumably he still has one perfectly good shoulder.

I actually thought that he had had constuctions on both shoulders. He hurt the same shoulder last year yes, but I thought the year before (2005) was he opposite one. Could be wrong, but I thought it was both. And if I am right, then he does have stuffed up shoulders.

 

[ShepBoy]

Rusling is no great loss.

He has done nothing except run fast in a straight line.

He cant kick straight, he cant pick up the ball.

Liability when in rather than a loss when out.

 

[Jabso]

He is actually a pretty good kick for goal, and he must be able to pick up the ball if he was a midfielder as a junior.

 

[Frederlick]

Ronnie W (top player by the way), I agree ruck is the problem child of this team. So much potential if a decent forward/ruck combo can fire. Josh F is (pound for pound) easily top 5 ruck material in the AFL but he needs a back up player who can at least hold his own while Josh rests and does his stuff up forward like he did against the Saints last week. Guy R has potential (unrealised because of injury), I hope Bryan fires because it can truly transform the forward set up as Josh is so skilful at ground level, a decent mark and reliable goal kicker when in the forward line. Is Josh too light, maybe, but Bryan and Richards are both shorter so what you lose on the swings you probably pick up on the merry go rounds. Also Josh's lighter build gives him a dangerous mobility. If only Travis C was 2-3 cm taller he has the balls, skills and pace to match it in the ruck, but just a little too short (shame). Hope the powers that be perservere in this department as has the potential to add an extra dimension to the team set up. With the new 'interpretation' of hands in the back a FraserRoca combo can potentially run riot in the forward line if someone holds the fort upfield in the ruck.

 

[nick_savo]

Yeh I agree jabso, He is also quite a good kick for goal and a good lead for the mark

 

[ShepBoy]

He is actually a pretty good kick for goal, and he must be able to pick up the ball if he was a midfielder as a junior.

Playing as junior means squat at this level, otherwise Shak would have won the Brownlow.

Rusling has not shown very much other than the ability to run fast in a straight line.

That isnt much.