Player Watch #47: Ivan Soldo

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He has comfortably crossed the line to competitive AFL ruckman now. Probably nothing that can open a team up to being dominated more than having an uncompetitive ruckman. It is a bonus to have a dominant ruckman but this bloke doesn't look like being dominated. But see how he gets on v ripnatanui after the Eagles crush the Vaginas this week, he is the true litmus test for any current ruckman.
 
Meteoric Rise said:
He has comfortably crossed the line to competitive AFL ruckman now. Probably nothing that can open a team up to being dominated more than having an uncompetitive ruckman. It is a bonus to have a dominant ruckman but this bloke doesn't look like being dominated. But see how he gets on v ripnatanui after the Eagles crush the Vaginas this week, he is the true litmus test for any current ruckman.
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Nic Nat is not the litmus test, yes he is explosive and yes he is athletic, but don't let a few flashy plays here and there fool you.

Brody Grundy is the litmus test, not only does he win enough hitouts, he also wins to advantage, his tap work is seriously underrated AND he get to all the right spots around the ground and uses the ball well.

NicNat is well above average, for what he does well, but he doesn't dominate games like he should.
 
Interesting to look at the basic ruck stats.

Average hitouts per game
Grundy 77.8
Nic Nat 57.8
Soldo 59.6

Hitout win %
Grundy 53%
Nic Nat 50.6%
Soldo 44.2%

Hitouts to advantage %
Grundy 29.5%
Nic Nat 26.5%
Soldo 27.2%

The last one is excellent given his lack of experience.
 

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Bazzar said:
Interesting to look at the basic ruck stats.

Average hitouts per game
Grundy 77.8
Nic Nat 57.8
Soldo 59.6

Hitout win %
Grundy 53%
Nic Nat 50.6%
Soldo 44.2%

Hitouts to advantage %
Grundy 29.5%
Nic Nat 26.5%
Soldo 27.2%

The last one is excellent given his lack of experience.
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Those stats look very tasty given how young a ruck he is. Give him 2 more years and watch out.
 
Hank Heavenly said:
Nic Nat is not the litmus test, yes he is explosive and yes he is athletic, but don't let a few flashy plays here and there fool you.

Brody Grundy is the litmus test, not only does he win enough hitouts, he also wins to advantage, his tap work is seriously underrated AND he get to all the right spots around the ground and uses the ball well.

NicNat is well above average, for what he does well, but he doesn't dominate games like he should.
Click to expand...

Happy to come back at you on this one. Grundy(and Gawn) are fantastic ruckman and at present a cut above the mainstream AFL ruckman. For me Natanui is on a different level and to understand why you need to think about what many of his interventions look like. He knocks players over like bowling pins and advances the ball in a direct line to goal. He does this consistently and really is the only player in the comp who does this often. On top of that, at his best he is a tap ruckman the equal or better than anyone in the comp. But it is the sometimes stat-less pack-splitting, rapid and direct ball-advancing interventions that no other player in the game can match for impact. So much of his work - even his hitouts, results in the Eagles advancing on a completely straight line to goal and in a hurry. A lot of the impact of these things does not show up in the statistics that are available to us. If all ruckmen were at their best then Natanui is the first one I would be selecting, and that is no disrespect to Grundy or Gawn, they are both terrific players, it is just that Natanui can do things they cannot. I maintain that limiting his impact will be Soldo's greatest challenge.
 
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Meteoric Rise said:
Happy to come back at you on this one. Grundy(and Gawn) are fantastic ruckman and at present a cut above the mainstream AFL ruckman. For me Natanui is on a different level and to understand why you need to think about what many of his interventions look like. He knocks players over like bowling pins and advances the ball in a direct line to goal. He does this consistently and really is the only player in the comp who does this often. On top of that, at his best he is a tap ruckman the equal or better than anyone in the comp. But it is the sometimes stat-less pack-splitting, rapid and direct ball-advancing interventions that no other player in the game can match for impact. So much of his work - even his hitouts, results in the Eagles advancing on a completely straight line to goal and in a hurry. A lot of the impact of these things does not show up in the statistics that are available to us. If all ruckman were at their best then Natanui is the first one I would be selecting, and that is no disrespect to Grundy or Gawn, they are both terrific players, it is just that Natanui can do things they cannot. I maintain that limiting his impact will be Soldo's greatest challenge.
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Agree, except on the "tap ruckman the equal or better than anyone in the comp". Ain't no equal, he's peerless here.
 

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richoatthedisco said:
Rayner's got Graham around the neck and is holding his arm. We should cry to the media.
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JGraham got to learn to keep in view of the Umps at center ball ups...that's a clear free kick...Rucks are between him and the unsighted ump!
 
Meteoric Rise said:
Happy to come back at you on this one. Grundy(and Gawn) are fantastic ruckman and at present a cut above the mainstream AFL ruckman. For me Natanui is on a different level and to understand why you need to think about what many of his interventions look like. He knocks players over like bowling pins and advances the ball in a direct line to goal. He does this consistently and really is the only player in the comp who does this often. On top of that, at his best he is a tap ruckman the equal or better than anyone in the comp. But it is the sometimes stat-less pack-splitting, rapid and direct ball-advancing interventions that no other player in the game can match for impact. So much of his work - even his hitouts, results in the Eagles advancing on a completely straight line to goal and in a hurry. A lot of the impact of these things does not show up in the statistics that are available to us. If all ruckmen were at their best then Natanui is the first one I would be selecting, and that is no disrespect to Grundy or Gawn, they are both terrific players, it is just that Natanui can do things they cannot. I maintain that limiting his impact will be Soldo's greatest challenge.
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Fair enough... I don't disagree that he does those things, just in my opinion, he doesn't do them often enough, consistently enough or for whole games.

IMO he is to ruckman what Dan Rioli is to small forwards... stats don't tell the whole story, his pressure and impact on the contest and he oppo can't really be measured, and when he does something you just go WOW, but you're never really going WOW for the whole game.

But again, Im not saying he is poor, far from it, I just don't think he is the best, but clearly in the top handlful.

As for Gawn, stats flattered him this year, he shouldn't have been all Australian, he had little impact o the outcome of games.
 
Hank Heavenly said:
Fair enough... I don't disagree that he does those things, just in my opinion, he doesn't do them often enough, consistently enough or for whole games.

IMO he is to ruckman what Dan Rioli is to small forwards... stats don't tell the whole story, his pressure and impact on the contest and he oppo can't really be measured, and when he does something you just go WOW, but you're never really going WOW for the whole game.

But again, Im not saying he is poor, far from it, I just don't think he is the best, but clearly in the top handlful.

As for Gawn, stats flattered him this year, he shouldn't have been all Australian, he had little impact o the outcome of games.
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Agree on Gawn...
 
Hank Heavenly said:
Fair enough... I don't disagree that he does those things, just in my opinion, he doesn't do them often enough, consistently enough or for whole games.

IMO he is to ruckman what Dan Rioli is to small forwards... stats don't tell the whole story, his pressure and impact on the contest and he oppo can't really be measured, and when he does something you just go WOW, but you're never really going WOW for the whole game.

But again, Im not saying he is poor, far from it, I just don't think he is the best, but clearly in the top handlful.

As for Gawn, stats flattered him this year, he shouldn't have been all Australian, he had little impact o the outcome of games.
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Yeah Nah on Gawn.

Often he was the only reason Melbourne was in games. Without him I suspect they would have challenged GC!

He is surrounded by a very lopsided team.

Anyway, the D's sucking made me laugh. Not as much as Carlton sucking, but still funny.
 
Richmond ruck Ivan Soldo forced to play the waiting game
By Daniel Cherny


Ivan Soldo says he still doesn’t know whether he will play in the VFL or AFL this weekend.

The Richmond ruckman has played 12 games this season after an opportunity presented following an injury in round eight to Toby Nankervis.

Soldo was dropped ahead of round 21 when Nankervis returned to face Carlton, but the premiership big man pulled up sore following that game, again opening the door for Soldo.

Waiting game: Ivan Soldo in the Punt Road rooms during Richmond's training session on Sunday.

Waiting game: Ivan Soldo in the Punt Road rooms during Richmond's training session on Sunday.CREDIT:CHRIS HOPKINS

Despite fellow talls Mabior Chol and Noah Balta playing plenty of AFL football this year, Soldo and Nankervis were chosen to team up for the qualifying final against the Brisbane Lions. Soldo had seven disposals and 25 hitouts while Nankervis had five disposals and 24 hitouts.

Chol impressed with nine disposals and two goals in Richmond’s VFL preliminary final win over Port Melbourne on Saturday.

Soldo said on Sunday that he remained uncertain about whether he would line up against Geelong in an AFL preliminary final on Friday night or be sent back to the VFL for the grand final.

“I’m not sure yet. We won’t really know until Wednesday, being a Friday game. You just never really know,” Soldo told The Age.

“That’s the life of a footy player. I’m just preparing to play either on Friday or Sunday.”

However Soldo said he felt like he had the support of senior coach Damien Hardwick.

“I think Dimma has faith in me, and the ruck duo, so it’s exciting because I think Toby’s a great player and I like playing beside him, and obviously AFL’s everyone’s dream and that’s where you want to be playing. Both teams are in a really good position so to be honest it doesn’t really matter where I play. I’m happy with team success at the moment.”

A promising junior basketballer, Soldo has played 20 AFL games since joining the Tigers as a Category B rookie in mid-2014.
 
Oprah From Tigerland said:
Richmond ruck Ivan Soldo forced to play the waiting game
By Daniel Cherny


Ivan Soldo says he still doesn’t know whether he will play in the VFL or AFL this weekend.

The Richmond ruckman has played 12 games this season after an opportunity presented following an injury in round eight to Toby Nankervis.

Soldo was dropped ahead of round 21 when Nankervis returned to face Carlton, but the premiership big man pulled up sore following that game, again opening the door for Soldo.

Waiting game: Ivan Soldo in the Punt Road rooms during Richmond's training session on Sunday.'s training session on Sunday.

Waiting game: Ivan Soldo in the Punt Road rooms during Richmond's training session on Sunday.CREDIT:CHRIS HOPKINS

Despite fellow talls Mabior Chol and Noah Balta playing plenty of AFL football this year, Soldo and Nankervis were chosen to team up for the qualifying final against the Brisbane Lions. Soldo had seven disposals and 25 hitouts while Nankervis had five disposals and 24 hitouts.

Chol impressed with nine disposals and two goals in Richmond’s VFL preliminary final win over Port Melbourne on Saturday.

Soldo said on Sunday that he remained uncertain about whether he would line up against Geelong in an AFL preliminary final on Friday night or be sent back to the VFL for the grand final.

“I’m not sure yet. We won’t really know until Wednesday, being a Friday game. You just never really know,” Soldo told The Age.

“That’s the life of a footy player. I’m just preparing to play either on Friday or Sunday.”



However Soldo said he felt like he had the support of senior coach Damien Hardwick.

“I think Dimma has faith in me, and the ruck duo, so it’s exciting because I think Toby’s a great player and I like playing beside him, and obviously AFL’s everyone’s dream and that’s where you want to be playing. Both teams are in a really good position so to be honest it doesn’t really matter where I play. I’m happy with team success at the moment.”

A promising junior basketballer, Soldo has played 20 AFL games since joining the Tigers as a Category B rookie in mid-2014.
Click to expand...
Don't sweat it Soldo your in! :thumbsu: :):thumbsu:
 
Oprah From Tigerland said:
Richmond ruck Ivan Soldo forced to play the waiting game
By Daniel Cherny


Ivan Soldo says he still doesn’t know whether he will play in the VFL or AFL this weekend.

The Richmond ruckman has played 12 games this season after an opportunity presented following an injury in round eight to Toby Nankervis.

Soldo was dropped ahead of round 21 when Nankervis returned to face Carlton, but the premiership big man pulled up sore following that game, again opening the door for Soldo.

Waiting game: Ivan Soldo in the Punt Road rooms during Richmond's training session on Sunday.'s training session on Sunday.

Waiting game: Ivan Soldo in the Punt Road rooms during Richmond's training session on Sunday.CREDIT:CHRIS HOPKINS

Despite fellow talls Mabior Chol and Noah Balta playing plenty of AFL football this year, Soldo and Nankervis were chosen to team up for the qualifying final against the Brisbane Lions. Soldo had seven disposals and 25 hitouts while Nankervis had five disposals and 24 hitouts.

Chol impressed with nine disposals and two goals in Richmond’s VFL preliminary final win over Port Melbourne on Saturday.

Soldo said on Sunday that he remained uncertain about whether he would line up against Geelong in an AFL preliminary final on Friday night or be sent back to the VFL for the grand final.

“I’m not sure yet. We won’t really know until Wednesday, being a Friday game. You just never really know,” Soldo told The Age.

“That’s the life of a footy player. I’m just preparing to play either on Friday or Sunday.”

However Soldo said he felt like he had the support of senior coach Damien Hardwick.

“I think Dimma has faith in me, and the ruck duo, so it’s exciting because I think Toby’s a great player and I like playing beside him, and obviously AFL’s everyone’s dream and that’s where you want to be playing. Both teams are in a really good position so to be honest it doesn’t really matter where I play. I’m happy with team success at the moment.”

A promising junior basketballer, Soldo has played 20 AFL games since joining the Tigers as a Category B rookie in mid-2014.
Click to expand...

Cherny trying to stir up s**t , scats supporting flog
 
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