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Training Pre Season 18/19

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He actually has a naturally large tank, especially for a big lad, but a fair way off Grigg levels yet.
Pretty much everyone on here says that, but that don't explain why he's drifted in & out of games. Want to see all our kids dominate VFL before playing snr's. Certainly not saying he's a bust by any stretch but like most KPP's his age he's not ready yet. Time definitely on his side.
 
A 2nd ruck in our team is inevitable imo and has nothing to do with 2018
Update ur signature mate the Bulldogs are the worst Premiership team in history, we at least backed up with a good season ;)

on topic = Balmey interview on RFC is good value, some good snippets in there among the banter.
 

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Remember Jason Castagna said in 2017 in the lead-in to finals, "Why not us?"
I think Balme is referring to recreate that mentality again.
Adelaide were outright premiership favourites in 2017, anyone who says otherwise is smoking freebase.
Even if they lost matches, they were still on top for 18 weeks, the competition is relative.
Personally, I am not so concerned for the second ruck issue.
We were two matches and 15 percentage points clear of the next three teams in H&A, only Melbourne had a similar percentage.
The team is tracking relatively well.
Collingwood imitated our game plan by introducing the "swoop squad", Hoskin-Elliott, Stephenson and Thomas.
 
there is a stat to suggest this but with the new 6-6-6 rule I think we could be very exposed at centre bounces as we can no longer play a loose man back at the bounce to help counter the quick opposition clearances.
Every team is in the same boat and I think teams like Melbourne were playing 2 off the back of the square. I’m looking fwd to a couple of JLT games to see what the new rules turn the game into.
 
I think ideally it might be Garth who comes in and either Garth or Astbury takes the backup duties. Think they will be wanting to get games into Garth and this provides an opportunity to do so, allows Rance to play more time as a third tall interceptor so I think they could make it work structurally.

Sounds like Garth is still on limited duties though so not sure if he will be right to go round 1.
I’d rather not use a backman as a backup. The backline needs to focus on defence first, and then offence when we get the ball. Use a tall mid makes more sense. I would like to see Nanks heat map as I reckon he plays down the back 1/2 of the ground quite a bit.
 
Playing a player like Soldo offers us little against the 3 main Ruckman that we have trouble with
Natanui , Gawn , Grundy

Soldo becomes a liability on the ground apart from the relief he offers during the time he is giving Nank a chop out, We simply cannot play Nank & Soldo in the same team against these 3 teams Collingwood,West Coast & Melbourne who are all going to be our main rivals come finals

The way i see it we have just 2 options - Balta & CCJ
Both these players offer more around the ground and we are not a man down

CCJ - If we decide to go with Jones then we have the flexibility to also play him foward and have the 3 tall option in the foward line or we could push either CaDDy or Jack further up the ground to maintain the 3 smalls also

Balta - This kid is the player the we really need to come on quickly
Can play in many positions and offers us the flexibility around the ground Back / Mid / Fwd /Ruck , He may not be ready just yet but is currently better than anything els we have so maybe worth taking the punt and getting games into him early.

I like it, I like it alot.
 
I’d rather not use a backman as a backup. The backline needs to focus on defence first, and then offence when we get the ball. Use a tall mid makes more sense. I would like to see Nanks heat map as I reckon he plays down the back 1/2 of the ground quite a bit.
Grigg is our tallest mid and that’s who we have been using. I think most would agree that whilst initially effective by the end of last season teams had well and truly figured out how to exploit it and this will just be amplified by the new rule changes they have brought in regarding rucks, you could really call it the Grigg rule.

Need someone who can actually compete in the ruck contest when Nank isn’t there, and not sure who that is.
 
Balta for Grigg is the one i want to see form allow us to do .... but with all this talk of Grigg as the second ruck isn't there a stat that suggests that the clearances from when he is rucking isn't as bad as might be initially thought?
No chance Grigg goes out for Balta IMO.
Grigg is one of the smartest players in the AFL.
Dimma loves him.
 
Grigg is our tallest mid and that’s who we have been using. I think most would agree that whilst initially effective by the end of last season teams had well and truly figured out how to exploit it and this will just be amplified by the new rule changes they have brought in regarding rucks, you could really call it the Grigg rule.

Need someone who can actually compete in the ruck contest when Nank isn’t there, and not sure who that is.
Balta could come in for Ellis when we play Pies/Eagles/Melbourne
Personally I think CCJ will play ahead of Soldo.
CCJ and Nank can rotate forward.
Soldo is useless forward
CCJ is a beautiful mark of the ball and a reliable kick , He actually marks the ball very similar to Lynch, He would create a problem for the 3rd defender in the opposition team. With Lynch / CCJ / Riewoldt the other teams backman have no chance to mark the ball as its either ours or the smalls mop it up
 

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I know I've said it before. But we need to think through the trade off between another ruck and the player they displace. Picking a second ruck each week reduces Nanks load. But does it help us as a team?

If we aim to play a second ruck against the teams with better rucks then we should trial that before we get there.

And I would not try to play a pretend ruck because they are tall. I'm just play Soldo and use him as a battering ram, with Nank in the forward line and as a monster ruck rover. Maybe CCJ gets a few games if he's up to it physically.

But I would only look at that second ruck if we intend on playing them seriously. Maybe as an experiment early in the season to see how it goes. But given relentlessness is our trademark another tall might detract from that ability to go hard all the time.
Been my thoughts all since we won th 2017 GF.
Use our depth...especially with Soldo against the weaker teams to give Nanks a rest/break, with Nanks playing forward.
Now if this really works out...can we play 3 tall forwards in TL, JR and Nanks..!?
What a dilemma to have!
 
Personally I think CCJ will play ahead of Soldo.
CCJ and Nank can rotate forward.
Soldo is useless forward
Hope so , looks to ave the qualities with his agility and one touch overhead marking that could be a weapon around the ground and forward . I’m really keen to see how CCJ balta and naish step up after their second pre seasons under the belt
 
So much time spent worrying about how we go rucking against monster ruckmen and ruck duos - I honestly believe we're overcooking it in here.

Grundy and Gawn are the best in the league - no doubt. Nank's never going to be as dominant as they are but he can probably almost break even across the course of a game.

However, the reason we lost the Prelim and lost to West Coast earlier in 2018 is not only because of losing in the ruck. I get we want to minimise our weaknesses, but this whole conversation is a bit of a straw man.

Against both, we were killed by marking height across the ground and we were slaughtered in the midfield generally in the prelim. Full stop. Darling hurt us. McGovern hurt us. Cox hurt us (lol). Howe hurt us. Sure, Grundy and Nic Nat/Lycett did well, but this isn't where the games were lost.

Playing Nank + another 'specialist ruck' (regardless of whether it's CCJ or Soldo) is an overreaction and will hinder us more than help us. It would mean we'd have two ruckmen on top of Lynch, Riewoldt and our KPDs.

In saying all this, I don't think Grigg, Astbury or Rioli (lol) is the answer either.

What I believe we need is a less shit Blicavs. Someone who can play a variety of roles, has a good tank and isn't scared of jumping in to neutralise a ruck contest. Someone who can take a chop out mark as required or spoil marks for oppo rucks resting forward/back.

Could be Balta. Could be KMac. Could be Moore (perhaps his frame is too skinny). But it probably shouldn't be CCJ/Soldo IMO.
 
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Been my thoughts all since we won th 2017 GF.
Use our depth...especially with Soldo against the weaker teams to give Nanks a rest/break, with Nanks playing forward.
Now if this really works out...can we play 3 tall forwards in TL, JR and Nanks..!?
What a dilemma to have!

I reckon we can't really play the extra tall forward and another ruck and still keep our game plan going as is. But if we play Nank as a smash and bash mid then maybe it will work. Soldo really needs to play ruck, and sit one kick behind. Nank is good around the ball.

We'll see. But I reckon the club will try some things to deal with the top rucks. We give up a fair bit against them.
 
Well, well, well...

https://sportsdayradio.com.au/2019/01/30/which-team-will-be-impacted-most-by-6-6-6-setup/

“What we’re hoping is it brings Richmond back to the pack a little bit.”

Champion data - hmm

Anyway if we don't play 6-6-6 but want players off the back then we have the wingers play more defensive and the HFF run hard to the wings. By the time the ball it tapped and moves out there's not much difference.

We'll see if the Tigers are the most affected.
 
I reckon we can't really play the extra tall forward and another ruck and still keep our game plan going as is. But if we play Nank as a smash and bash mid then maybe it will work. Soldo really needs to play ruck, and sit one kick behind. Nank is good around the ball.

We'll see. But I reckon the club will try some things to deal with the top rucks. We give up a fair bit against them.
Over rating the rucks contests a bit. Grundy is a gun because he gets the ball when it hits the ground. Nankervis is similar, they are both like extra mids. At one stage last year, Nank was behind Cotchin and Martin in our centre clearance. Both rucks are very physical. No chance Soldo can do this. Grigg has more chance, but he has been worked out.
West Coast ruckman worked over Grundy by constantly going the body, bit like a boxer. The took the wind out of him. As Manangatang said, jumping in a neutralising whilst providing a bit of dash and the ability to play in a few different positions. They are not easy to find. Balta is an obvious one, CCJ is a bit lean although he looks a real prospect, and can only rest forward, perhaps if Lynch or Jack needs a spell.
You will never stop a rampaging Nic Nat, who rarely rampages anyway and Gawn is more your tap and mark ruck who feeds Melbourne's mids, and doesn't do the follow up, so it is 50 - 50 once the ball hits the ground.
If only Lynch didn't have dodgy knees, the perfect relief ruck.
 
I cant see the 6-6-6 rule really affecting us a great deal to be honest as the coaches will work their way through it

Ball gets bounced and the 2 wingers head back and 2 HF run up to the wing

We have a great backline that can handle any foward line in the league and with running players like McIntosh,Ellis,Butler,Rioli,Lambert who cover ground easily this wont be an issue

Now how are the other teams defenders going to cover Lynch,Riewoldt,Caddy & the mosquito fleet
 

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