Analysis Big Sauce Jacobs - What's going on? (Early edition 2018)

[John Who]

Our game has been off since the start of 2018. A big glaring reason is that our midfield is not quite clicking into gear. A lot of talk has been made about our missing/injured centremen with BCrouch missing since round 1; MCrouch missing since injury in round 2; Sloane appearing to have niggles since round 2; Greenwood not having an ideal preseason with limited training.

This thread is not about focusing on the small men in the midfield. It's about us talking about the big fella right bang in the middle of the ground at the start of the bounce - Sam/Sauce Jacobs. His game hasn't looked right this year, reasons:
- not taking many grabs
- constantly doing small taps, often to congestion or to an opposition
- no obvious dominance in hitouts/possessions/marks compared with his ruck opponent
- decision making not very good (to be discussed below)**

The question is: why is Jacobs not performing optimally this year?
- age factor?
- he's having some sort of niggles?
- lack of elite midfielders around him (ie. no Crouches) is making him lose confidence?
- other reasons?

** Some suggestions for Jacobs:
- sometimes mix things up; instead of doing small deft taps - bang the ball long! (especially in wet/windy conditions)
- there was a time when Sauce was rucking from a bounce up in our defense without an opposition ruckman nominated to compete, and he just tapped it 2 metres forward towards noone; why not try grabbing the ball and bang it long down the line?

 

[StonesThrow]

I feel like every season he has this period. We all say he's done and then he ends up in AA contention.

 

[hugecannon]

He was beaten by an absolute gun in Grundy, plus our midfield is understaffed and injured which compounds the problem.

Even at our best our midfield relies far too heavily on Jacobs being dominant rather than them reading the opposing ruck man and then beating their opponents.

Jacobs may be slowing down slightly but he’s still in the top 6 ruckmen in the comp, unfortunately the gulf between the top 2-3 and the rest is getting bigger.

 

[Scorpus]

Having his characteristic "s**t year" where he can barely win a tap to save himself. Will lose plenty of ruck battles this year.

 

[1990crow]

Tapping to opposition players lace out is killing us. Wed be better with mackay rucking right now, at least we would be setting up for an opposition tap.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Clearly suffering from premiership hangover. Ha.

Did he, and all the others just think we would just turn up and keep winning games again ?

 

[Stiffy_18]

Every 2 or 3 years Sauce has a bad season. All the signs point to this being one of those seasons

 

[Modra4PM]

Grundy could end up being better than Cox. I never expected Sauce to beat Grundy but Sauce struggled the week prior against a second gamer. Is ROB more mobile than Sauce ?

 

[Rave Slave]

The modern ruckman means he looks like a dinosaur, he’s been worked into the ground across multiple seasons and he’s coached by Matthew Clarke.

In summary, whether he’s cooked or not we should be exposing ROB more before it’s too late.

 

[Modra4PM]

Let's not forget the bloke lost his brother and then soldiered on to be involved in that traumatic grand final. Wouldn't be surprised if grief and loss issues have impacted on his motivation and energy levels. I'm sure he is training as hard as he can although his intensity levels looks down from last season. Then again, most of the team is presenting that way also.

 

[1970crow]

Every 2 or 3 years Sauce has a bad season. All the signs point to this being one of those seasons

Yep, and history tells us that nothing changes. His selection is guaranteed regardless of how he's going. He thrives on continuity and heavy workload, so there'll be no resting or change to how much time he spends rucking or how much of the ground he covers. Our only hope is that he does a hammy and the few weeks that he misses also resolves whatever other ailment is afflicting him.

 

[spenze]

Yep, and history tells us that nothing changes. His selection is guaranteed regardless of how he's going. He thrives on continuity and heavy workload, so there'll be no resting or change to how much time he spends rucking or how much of the ground he covers. Our only hope is that he does a hammy and the few weeks that he misses also resolves whatever other ailment is afflicting him.

This is the bit I don't get, ROB has shown that he doesn't look out of his depth at AFL level, so we should feel comfortable giving him games and resting Sauce. It is a win/win for the club, our main ruck gets a rest and sees that his replacement is up to the job, so he needs to be at his best all of the time. When Sauce is really good, he is pretty mobile, takes marks and is involved in the play each quarter and he isn't at that level so far this year

 

[rocket18]

He's coached by Clarke and the midfield he works with is coached by Camporeale - close thread.

 

[mattymac]

Tapping to opposition players lace out is killing us. Wed be better with mackay rucking right now, at least we would be setting up for an opposition tap.

I particularly enjoy his new tactic of tapping to the opposition ruckmen.

Oppo ruckman stays down, Sauce leaps 6 inches off the ground unopposed and double handed taps it down his throat.

Top points for comedy value.

 

[1990crow]

I particularly enjoy his new tactic of tapping to the opposition ruckmen.

Oppo ruckman stays down, Sauce leaps 6 inches off the ground unopposed and double handed taps it down his throat.

Top points for comedy value.

It’s actually not funny, at all. Who the hell is coaching him? If you get a free look at a tap either tap it towards our players or punch it 15-20m forward. It’s disgraceful really.

 

[Dc9798]

He’s slowing down that’s for sure, but who in the SANFL is smashing the door down for his spot? No one, O’Brien and Hunter IMO are not up to it unfortunately.
It’s time for the club, if they haven’t already, to pull their finger out for life after Sauce.


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[Mike Smyth]

I didn't realise his is 30. He had an off night but given his age, expect alot more of them. His best days are behind him but he has been a great servant of the club.

 

[Mike Smyth]

He’s slowing down that’s for sure, but who in the SANFL is smashing the door down for his spot? No one, O’Brien and Hunter IMO are not up to it unfortunately.
It’s time for the club, if they haven’t already, to pull their finger out for life after Sauce.


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There's no one of the SANFL smashing down the door for any spots. Looks like we had another 1 year premiership window.

 

[feenix67]

He's cooked. There's no room in the game for lumbering giants. Also has been very poorly managed.

 

[John Who]

I don't think him being slower is the main issue here. I mean, we brought him into the club for his ruck work, not his speed! The main biff I have and mentioned in the OP intro, is that his tap work has been really amateurish, it doesn't look anywhere near AFL level. Particularly the example where he rucked the ball uncontested and just tapped it to noone. In that circumstance, me and anyone on this forum could have done a better ruck job!

Either his mind doesn't seem right, or he might be carrying some hand/wrist niggle? Any other conspiracy theories?

 

[1990crow]

I don't think him being slower is the main issue here. I mean, we brought him into the club for his ruck work, not his speed! The main biff I have and mentioned in the OP intro, is that his tap work has been really amateurish, it doesn't look anywhere near AFL level. Particularly the example where he rucked the ball uncontested and just tapped it to noone. In that circumstance, me and anyone on this forum could have done a better ruck job!

Either his mind doesn't seem right, or he might be carrying some hand/wrist niggle? Any other conspiracy theories?

Exactly. He actually links up during the midfield fine his tap work is just really really poor right now and a huge reason why we are struggling. Needs a bake by Pyke this week.

 

[Bay62]

I didn't realise his is 30. He had an off night but given his age, expect alot more of them. His best days are behind him but he has been a great servant of the club.

He certainly has

When we’re winning he looks and plays a lot better

Against an agile ruck like Grundy he just lumbers around. In the past two games I think I’ve noticed Jenkins spending more time in the ruck. On Fri night Sauce was at FF for part of the last

Others know more about ROB and Dear than me but I’d like to see what they could do

 

[Doctor B]

I don't think him being slower is the main issue here. I mean, we brought him into the club for his ruck work, not his speed! The main biff I have and mentioned in the OP intro, is that his tap work has been really amateurish, it doesn't look anywhere near AFL level. Particularly the example where he rucked the ball uncontested and just tapped it to noone. In that circumstance, me and anyone on this forum could have done a better ruck job!

Either his mind doesn't seem right, or he might be carrying some hand/wrist niggle? Any other conspiracy theories?

I was really frustrated by his game, but as has been mentioned Grundy is in red hot form and in my opinion will be the best ruckman in the next few years in the competition.

He could be carrying any sort of niggle, not particularly a hand/wrist injury.

i'm 6'7', I used to play ruck back in the day. I had shoulder issues, side strains, groins, achilles, ankle etc. all affect a ruckmans capability to time jumping at the ball/opponent or just jumping. We also know the AFC would rather play injured experienced players than rest them.

Maybe Sauce is just out of form, or tired from a 6 day break after playing at Docklands.
Lets see if he can reverse his form over the next few weeks, if he gets beaten next week by Sinclair he's in trouble.

 

[Scorpus]

Grundy continually grabbed the ball out of the ruck and kicked it forward. The one time Jacobs was unopposed not only did he not do that tactic (or even think about it), he tapped it directly to an opposition player who ran onto it.

The gulf in capabilities is enormous right now

 

[Shaz2012]

Clarke and Campo. Sauce is not the worst ruckman in the league by a long shot. But we make him look worse by being out coached in this area.