Senior 6: Toby Conway (2021 - )

[Pure_Ownage]

Feels like it would be a weird move to go back to Freo considering Darcy is going to be one of the best rucks in the competition for the next few years, but we don't know what's going on behind closed doors. That combined with him not signing a new deal is definitely a worry.

If neale leaves he would look at wce for ruck time not freo. Nicnat is almost at retirement age and they have no other decent rucks on their list.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Agree with an of that especially the bolded.

I am having flashbacks to last year of a tall crowded forward line that is easy to flood and rebound from.

Really don't want to see Sav in that role where he just kind of takes a centre bounce and then hangs out looking for an intercept or let out kick around the ground. Also don't want to see him crowding Hawkins space. My strong preference would be to play him in the 2s. So the KPs in the 2s would be

Sav
Ceglar Neale Conway
Tsapatolis
??
SDK

Either Conway is playing KPD for a while to develop, or Neale is gone next year. Can Ceglar pay KPD? How about GFL?

Vfl team
Ceglar FF Neale CHF/R2
Conway Ruck
Tsapa CHB (we will have no key backs)

 

[year of the cat]

If i may say it he is the type of ruck we should have been drafting the last 10 years. If anything its a case of better late than never.

To me his drafting with our first almost signifies the start of a rebuild. We’d have never used our first on a young ruck before. Almost like the club are saying, “ok, we went 10 years without a legitimate ruckman, if we are going to start from scratch then we need to get a guy in we can work with for a decade”. Interesting change of direction.

 

[CategoryCRookie]

If neale leaves he would look at wce for ruck time not freo. Nicnat is almost at retirement age and they have no other decent rucks on their list.

Yeah, probably a better fit for him. Bailey Williams seemed a decent forward/ruck prospect in 2020 but I don't remember him doing anything this year.

If he works as a forward, that's best case for us. I never really like rucks converted to forwards, though, except for Trent West's hanger against Hawthorn in 2011.

 

[Down at K Park]

Neale isn't a ruckman. How many times does it need to be said.

Some people are a bit thick. Probably the same ones who keep saying sdk will be a ruck as well

 

[Drunkcat]

We have had 3 or 4 ruckman before Ottens King Blake Chambers West the irsh ruckman forget his name and Mummy and i bet i forgot 1

 

[Jhye Clark 13]

We have had 3 or 4 ruckman before Ottens King Blake Chambers West the irsh ruckman forget his name and Mummy and i bet i forgot 1

Simpson.

 

[Tackle_happy]

If Cegs isnt playing afl (which he might as rhys isnt durable and sav is no sure thing) he will play the jenkins fwd/ruck mentor role in the 2s..allows neale to develop mainly at chf while his body grows and conway rucks.

I wonder if we try tsapa at CHB as we will need a key back unless we rookie one tomorrow.

It makes sense in regards to Neale potentially being pegged as more of a non-ruck and a big forward ... post Hawk I reckon we are looking for someone to have a similar role. That would then leave Tsaps as a ruck (will be interesting whether he is trialled in places like the back line) and Conway as a pure Ruck. If he is 97kg already AND if his ruck work is on point then I can see him coming in=to the mix from 2023 onwards ... unless he is Sean Darcy esque of course ... which wold be lovely to see.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Vfl team
Ceglar FF Neale CHF/R2
Conway Ruck
Tsapa CHB (we will have no key backs)

Ok but do we see Tsap being a kpd? Is this going to aid his development or would it be better to have an actual kpd in that spot?

That gap at KPD will filter up to the seniors soon and when it does we'll likely have to spend draft capital filling the gap with a trade.

Furthermore, this means Sav is in the seniors fwd line. 3 Giants on the forward line at KP will make us really easy to defend by crowding the flight paths. Are we going to keep seeing Sav playing out games where he rucks a handful of times then just runs hangs out on the wings looking for a mark?

This just feels like a really unbalanced list with too many rucks competing for limited hit out opportunities so they can get a run at it and develop while leaving a glaring hole at kpd having no one developing there at all

 

[Boxhead_31]

Said this in the list management thread when Cal said we wanted Conway, but I reckon this means the club doesn't rate Tsap and/or Neale as a club as high as we do as ruckmen. Maybe drafting a ruck and not a KPP (especially a KPD) says we think Neale could play back, but his lack of a new contract makes me think he might be leaving after next season.

In terms of timing with the other rucks, the move makes sense. He's already a big boy, so he's every chance to be ready to go in a couple of years. Not who I wanted with our earliest pick, but I won't be complaining if it turns out we finally have a ruckman that's an automatic selection for an extended period.

KPD will be added today when we select Blake

 

[Pure_Ownage]

To me his drafting with our first almost signifies the start of a rebuild. We’d have never used our first on a young ruck before. Almost like the club are saying, “ok, we went 10 years without a legitimate ruckman, if we are going to start from scratch then we need to get a guy in we can work with for a decade”. Interesting change of direction.

I mean it could just be as simple as weve decided since our 2 main rucks are over 30 and neale hasnt signed yet that we needed another ruck and conway was the best ruck on our draft board. But i like your theory and if thats the way we are building a future side building it around a bankable ruck is a great idea i think.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Ok but do we see Tsap being a kpd? Is this going to aid his development or would it be better to have an actual kpd in that spot?

That gap at KPD will filter up to the seniors soon and when it does we'll likely have to spend draft capital filling the gap with a trade.

Furthermore, this means Sav is in the seniors fwd line. 3 Giants on the forward line at KP will make us really easy to defend by crowding the flight paths. Are we going to keep seeing Sav playing out games where he rucks a handful of times then just runs hangs out on the wings looking for a mark?

This just feels like a really unbalanced list with too many rucks competing for limited hit out opportunities so they can get a run at it and develop while leaving a glaring hole at kpd having no one developing there at all

I mean there is a theory that converts to the game learn it better playing behind the ball as everything is in front of them on the field not behind them so it could work for tsapa.

I agree the list has a balance issue re not having enough kpds in development although getting conway helps that as it means we dont need to use sdek in the ruck at all (like he did in his first vfl year) and we can develop him solely as our FB.

I do agree where Sav fits will be interesting. Personally i think hes no ruck (i dont think we need him too now with ceglar and conway in) and we should settle him down as a pure FF in the vfl or afl (depending on form) for the first half of next year. That way we know what weve got as if sav doesnt look up to it by the end of next year and neale doesnt re-sign then we need to draft a KPF hawk replacement and next years draft is stacked for talls so id want to either back sav in or trade/cut him and draft a kpf next year.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

KPD will be added today when we select Blake

We hope we will take blake it will be interesting to see what we do.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Simpson.

McIntosh and Stephenson another 2.

 

[BORIS332]

Some people are a bit thick. Probably the same ones who keep saying sdk will be a ruck as well

Bit different, SDK played U18s as a key defender, Neale spent his entire U18 year as a ruckman.

Why do you think Neale's not a ruck? Is it because he spent his year in the VFL forward and back? If so, that's a little narrow.

 

[Warhorse]

Bit different, SDK played U18s as a key defender, Neale spent his entire U18 year as a ruckman.

Why do you think Neale's not a ruck? Is it because he spent his year in the VFL forward and back? If so, that's a little narrow.

Yep Neales a ruck or bust. Not going to make it as a forward. I have seen a lot of him and he just doesnt impact enough as a forward as he requires the ball to be speared onto his chest.

 

[cats_09]

Yep Neales a ruck or bust. Not going to make it as a forward. I have seen a lot of him and he just doesnt impact enough as a forward as he requires the ball to be speared onto his chest.

He played 6 VFL matches this year

3 in defence where he looked out of place

Then switched to play forward for 3 matches and kicked 4 goals in his first game up forward - in his limited time up forward he showed promise and enough to say that we should give him time to continue his development in that role

Be good to see how he goes with another preseason under his belt and a focused, continued development in a specific role, rather than the "Jack of all trades" semi development from last season

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

Feels like it would be a weird move to go back to Freo considering Darcy is going to be one of the best rucks in the competition for the next few years, but we don't know what's going on behind closed doors. That combined with him not signing a new deal is definitely a worry.

I may be wrong but I think the driving force with Neale is game time - not Geelong V Perth.
Perhaps Hocking backing more game time for promising youth will do the trick?

 

[Warhorse]

He played 6 VFL matches this year

3 in defence where he looked out of place

Then switched to play forward for 3 matches and kicked 4 goals in his first game up forward - in his limited time up forward he showed promise and enough to say that we should give him time to continue his development in that role

Be good to see how he goes with another preseason under his belt and a focused, continued development in a specific role, rather than the "Jack of all trades" semi development from last season

I have seen him play a lot as a junior.

 

[Tackle_happy]

Said this in the list management thread when Cal said we wanted Conway, but I reckon this means the club doesn't rate Tsap and/or Neale as a club as high as we do as ruckmen. Maybe drafting a ruck and not a KPP (especially a KPD) says we think Neale could play back, but his lack of a new contract makes me think he might be leaving after next season.

In terms of timing with the other rucks, the move makes sense. He's already a big boy, so he's every chance to be ready to go in a couple of years. Not who I wanted with our earliest pick, but I won't be complaining if it turns out we finally have a ruckman that's an automatic selection for an extended period.

I've got a feeling they've pegged Neale as a forward.

That then means getting Conway on the list along with Tsaps has us with two potential emerging ruckmen ... with Tspas always being more speculative (and yeah he might not be a ruck type ... but athletiscm wise he might be more a Blicavs play in other positions type).. Getting a pure ruckmen in from the get go, with Ottens teaching him the ways of the force ... then I think we have someone who can bring peace to the Board and heal the wounds of countless failed ruck attempts.

 

[Tackle_happy]

He played 6 VFL matches this year

3 in defence where he looked out of place

Then switched to play forward for 3 matches and kicked 4 goals in his first game up forward - in his limited time up forward he showed promise and enough to say that we should give him time to continue his development in that role

Be good to see how he goes with another preseason under his belt and a focused, continued development in a specific role, rather than the "Jack of all trades" semi development from last season

Yeah from what I watched he was far more confident as a forward and kicking for goal was really good in those games. He's also got the likes of Hawk to learn from (especially as I think Neale can get much much stronger and could have similar attributes).

I didn't see him as a ruck from that point on. He probably could ... but I think there is more there to work with as a forward.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Bit different, SDK played U18s as a key defender, Neale spent his entire U18 year as a ruckman.

Why do you think Neale's not a ruck? Is it because he spent his year in the VFL forward and back? If so, that's a little narrow.

I think more because of his build and his attributes he might be more suited to the hybrid ruck role rather than main ruck. Hes early in his development though so time will tell.

 

[dazbroncos]

With our luck the AFL next time change will be that 205 cm rucks can’t jump and must play one handed lol

seen only the footage that on offer but he seems like he as all the tools.
Will need at least 3-4 years in the system IMO before we can start grading him.
English at the Dogs was 8 picks earlier I think ans still has not fully grown into it.
Id be happy to ser Conway to Steven to Neale as a staple in 4 years time
Go Catters

 

[MacStradbroke]

Yep Neales a ruck or bust. Not going to make it as a forward. I have seen a lot of him and he just doesnt impact enough as a forward as he requires the ball to be speared onto his chest.

Haven’t seen him much, can he be a Callum Coleman-Jones level player? He seems more forward than ruck at the moment even though he looks like a ruck.

 

[catstragic]

Given time to consider the pick I quite like it. He's the best young ruck available in this draft, and assuming he stays fit that gives him a very decent chance of being at least a B+ level ruck from ~2027-2032. Looking at our list we probably run out of steam after next season/one afterwards, with some low finishes possible in 2023-2025. Use those poor years to draft some real quality players in the top 20, not this top 40 stuff that we have been basing our list off since 2010. That gives those high draftee's a solid developed ruck to work around and who will be feeding it to them until they are 27-30. Good long term tactics IMO. Also- From what i've seen Tsap is developing very nicely and regularly bathing competing rucks, though given its a grade down from the VFL he really should be dominating.