Position 2026 Rucks

[St Steady]

They should trade him and we can all lock in Jackson for the next five years

Darcy was set to dominate. That one year hes was averaging like 140 first half the season.

my spies tell me Nonghead is mesmerised by the prospect of becoming a sainter next yr and creating a ruck menage a trois

so freo need to keep darcy up and about for the inevidble

 

[Lindsay_Gilbee]

I can't tell if Jackson as a mid helps his scoring or not. His ceiling is huge.

 

[Ash1337]

I can't tell if Jackson as a mid helps his scoring or not. His ceiling is huge.

It helps Darcy more I reckon. After writing all that I realised that a fit Darcy without Jackson breathing down his neck means he's going to be back to at least his old 100+ self. He's also cheap.

 

[Deliverance]

English and Gawn will benefit most from ruck changes. They might not get to every contest but they play around the ground and intercept any ball kicked out of defence. Darcy & Naughton already ruck the forward 50 contests for English while he sits in the midfield. Gawn plays big stints in the forward and defensive 50s taking marks.

Xerri made a killing in physical rucking so he's the biggest worry. Same with ROB & Marshall. Marshall's role is going to change anyways.

TDK might benefit but with a new team it's best to be cautious on him.

Jackson is playing more midfield from reports. He might be a monster option or drop off in avg because he's got to learn a new role on top of rucking and kpf. Either way he's going to be around the ground more than when he was last season with a fit Darcy.

Cameron. No longer has Cox. He's doing it alone now. New rules might hinder him anyways. Frampton was drafted as a ruck so he might be that ruck chop out tandem.

Blicavs & Stanley. Wouldn't be surprised depending how the season goes Geelong look at changing their rucks around again. SDK got booted out of the ruck because he wasn't strong enough to compete.

Grundy will be good. He's improved himself around the ground that he can compete.

Briggs might be an option.

Cameron's the one that I keep coming back to. Better intercept marker than the others, except maybe Gawn. Less attendance at ruck contests than the others and less reliance of HTA for SC scoring.

 

[Lindsay_Gilbee]

It helps Darcy more I reckon. After writing all that I realised that a fit Darcy without Jackson breathing down his neck means he's going to be back to at least his old 100+ self. He's also cheap.

Darcy is too risky for me. If he gets injured he's at a price where there's no other rucks around him that are relevant. Unless you're picking him as flex.

 

[Deliverance]

Darcy is too risky for me. If he gets injured he's at a price where there's no other rucks around him that are relevant. Unless you're picking him as flex.

He's already injured

 

[Majunga]

You can shift Draper FWD, or into the FLEX position once the Ruck haze sorts itself out

Even on the beach vs kids he fumbles the f***ing ball, what a born spud.

 

[Maybe Tomorrow]

He's already injured

Yep, calf injury after one quarter of match sim

 

[Me Myself and I]

Yep, calf injury after one quarter of match sim

Freo saying it's at the minor end. Probably means he'll be be back after the byes. Be listed as a test in the meantime. Freo have form doing that. Mason Cox come on down.

 

[MrChristo]

Cameron's the one that I keep coming back to. Better intercept marker than the others, except maybe Gawn. Less attendance at ruck contests than the others and less reliance of HTA for SC scoring.

I definitely want to dive more into it, but Cameron and English seem to have the lowest correlation between hitouts and big scores.
Xerri especially drops off a cliff when he has less than 30 HO's. (I just wish his first 3-4 games weren't so juicy! )

Maybe it's worth factoring in early trades...
Xerri -> English, Anderson -> Bont...

(It means nailing the rooks tho...)

EDIT: Sorry, I did muck up the BYEs there, but you get the idea...

 

[54Dogs]

I definitely want to dive more into it, but Cameron and English seem to have the lowest correlation between hitouts and big scores.
Xerri especially drops off a cliff when he has less than 30 HO's. (I just wish his first 3-4 games weren't so juicy! )

Maybe it's worth factoring in early trades...
Xerri -> English, Anderson -> Bont...

(It means nailing the rooks tho...)

I'm warming to English for a few reasons:

• Historically bullied in ruck contests but good leap so new rules help
• Great tank
• Has gone large previously (128 avg in 2023)
• Has played 23 games last 3 yrs, injury issues seem behind him
• Can push fwd and kick a goal, might see more of this as less mobile rucks struggle with increased game pace
• Expecting a bit more control from Dogs this yr so we don't get burnt as much on turnover, English historically gets involved in chip-chip when it happens
• Solo ruck with Darcy chop out