Bock Out!

[Symesy15]

I'm glad you managed to keep the tears away long enough to post that Symesy...

Hahaha....oh it was hard! Nah, I'm happy for him


I just hope he knows, that I WILL expect an invite to the wedding

 

[NTRabbit]

Bleh, now all 8 players sitting on my DT bench are out injured or dropped (Houlihan, Bock, Ablett, Cook, Spencer, Currie, Mitch Brown, Grant), and the same goes for SuperCoach plus I'm a man short in the forward line.

If the Crows don't win, it's going to be a really bad weekend.

 

[Blue Red and Gold]

Yeah well to be honest I think Griffin should have gotten another go, since when does Craig ever bring someone in for their first game of the year, only to drop them the following week? I'm not sold on Moran as a ruckman but I think both Maric & Griffin have proven themselves capable in the ruck and at least one of them should be in the team.

Can't remember the last time Griffin & Maric were both willingly left out of the 22.

Rob Shirley says Hi

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

I think we do need at least one unit patrolling CHF just so it straightens us up, not sure who that will be now Bock is out.

Does Stevens qualify as a unit? Can he do a push up yet?

 

[DirrtyBee]

WTF isn't Maric in the team !!!!!!!!!!!! Poor Shirley...

 

[jenny61_99]

Yeah well to be honest I think Griffin should have gotten another go, since when does Craig ever bring someone in for their first game of the year, only to drop them the following week? I'm not sold on Moran as a ruckman but I think both Maric & Griffin have proven themselves capable in the ruck and at least one of them should be in the team.

Can't remember the last time Griffin & Maric were both willingly left out of the 22.

I think Griff has tonsilitis, not sure if that's why he's not playing though.

 

[NTRabbit]

I think Griff has tonsilitis, not sure if that's why he's not playing though.

Mixed reports suggesting tonsillitis, the flu and just plain dropped.

 

[hey shorty]

Id suggest considering he's been named first ruck for Central...... just plain dropped

Besides you can get over tonsilitis in a matter of days. Selection was Thursday and he has already had it a couple days prior, if they REALLY wanted him in theyd have picked him.

 

[WALL-e]

Just means T Walk will get a shitload of game time.

He'll also get to bust out his specialty forward ruckwork

 

[Willis]

Really hope Bock isn't out for long. Surely he was on target to break the record for the most bounces in a year.

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Damn! Hope he comes back soon.

 

[Campbell's Chunky]

He'll also get to bust out his specialty forward ruckwork

Haha.

 

[-CG-]

^ =

 

[cmndstab]

Hahahahaha, I love you so much CC!


jenny - Reidy said yesterday that Griffin was ommitted due to form, not tonsilitis and that he may still play SANFL this weekend.


fryingpan - I'm not sure why you why you were having a go at Craigy for Bock being injured. As for Tippett rucking, there can be no question that he is our best ruckman at the moment. As much as we need a good marking forward, and I would love him to be our permanent forward, last week showed us exactly how important a decent ruckman is. No point having a fantastic marking forward when every single forward thrust has to start at full back.

Looks like Moran will still be our lead ruck anyway this week. I hope he doesn't get found out too badly, or else we'll lose Tippett to the centre for most of the match.

 

[WALL-e]

Oh CC, love your work.

From the pun title to Robert Walls getting love, it's all good.

Wish there was a pic of him just roving the contest when he was the designated ruck..... "i'll just peel off and snap one from his tap"
Almost worked too haha.

 

[fryingpan]

fryingpan - I'm not sure why you why you were having a go at Craigy for Bock being injured. As for Tippett rucking, there can be no question that he is our best ruckman at the moment. As much as we need a good marking forward, and I would love him to be our permanent forward, last week showed us exactly how important a decent ruckman is. No point having a fantastic marking forward when every single forward thrust has to start at full back

I'm not having a go at Craig for Bock being injured, I just simply think that either one of Griffin or Maric should be in the team. Griffin was dropped after one average game and Maric is still not getting called up despite a BOG (or near to it) performance for Port last week. Moran just shits me because I think with him leading our ruck department, we are going downhill fast. Maric has proven himself time and time again, he knows that in the few games leading up to his omission that he was not playing good footy - and now is his chance to rectify that and show everyone what everyone knows he's capable of.

 

[fryingpan]

Bleh, now all 8 players sitting on my DT bench are out injured or dropped (Houlihan, Bock, Ablett, Cook, Spencer, Currie, Mitch Brown, Grant), and the same goes for SuperCoach plus I'm a man short in the forward line.

Wait, Houlihan isn't playing???!!!!! FFS!!

 

[macca23]

fryingpan - I'm not sure why you why you were having a go at Craigy for Bock being injured. As for Tippett rucking, there can be no question that he is our best ruckman at the moment. As much as we need a good marking forward, and I would love him to be our permanent forward, last week showed us exactly how important a decent ruckman is. No point having a fantastic marking forward when every single forward thrust has to start at full back.

Looks like Moran will still be our lead ruck anyway this week. I hope he doesn't get found out too badly, or else we'll lose Tippett to the centre for most of the match.

Stabby, this rucking of Tippett is part of the problem.

We are desperate for forwards and Tippett and Walker should be up forward together all the time.

We are wasting Tippett as a ruckman even though he rucks well, because our mid-fielders are letting us down at the clearances.

Until we have a structured forward line with Tippett as the centrepiece, we will struggle to win games.

 

[cmndstab]

Stabby, this rucking of Tippett is part of the problem.

We are desperate for forwards and Tippett and Walker should be up forward together all the time.

We are wasting Tippett as a ruckman even though he rucks well, because our mid-fielders are letting us down at the clearances.

Until we have a structured forward line with Tippett as the centrepiece, we will struggle to win games.

I agree, but we are also going to struggle to win games if we get smashed in the ruck. What we need is two of Maric, Griffin or Moran to really step up and stamp their places so that we can stop playing him there altogether.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

Stabby, this rucking of Tippett is part of the problem.

We are desperate for forwards and Tippett and Walker should be up forward together all the time.

We are wasting Tippett as a ruckman even though he rucks well, because our mid-fielders are letting us down at the clearances.

Until we have a structured forward line with Tippett as the centrepiece, we will struggle to win games.

After wondering about this issue all year, the Showdown finally convinced me that Tippett needs to be a permanent forward...strange conclusion from a game in which our centre square ruckwork was a primary issue but we cannot plan for a future in which our rucks remain hacks and midfielders provide no contest.

The longer term issue for me is the way we move the ball forward, and Tippett up forward (not so deep) will help immensely.

As he patrols the forward line Tippett could contest every ruck contest from around 60-70m from goal, so we will still see his influence through rucking. If we had this structure in place already we would have had a sniff of a ruck advantage in a forward clearance as opposed to Walker rucking.

 

[TheLeftFist8]

I'm not having a go at Craig for Bock being injured, I just simply think that either one of Griffin or Maric should be in the team. Griffin was dropped after one average game and Maric is still not getting called up despite a BOG (or near to it) performance for Port last week. Moran just shits me because I think with him leading our ruck department, we are going downhill fast. Maric has proven himself time and time again, he knows that in the few games leading up to his omission that he was not playing good footy - and now is his chance to rectify that and show everyone what everyone knows he's capable of.

- Re 3 rucks in the team, i agree. Does Craig realise Tippett could ruck in the forward line instead of Walker or whoever puts in the token effort? We could actually get back to being a team who can score from a forward stoppage. I guess the current issue is we rarely have a forward stoppage outside of throw-ins because we dont have many keeping the ball in once it spills from 7v3 packs or when the fast break results in a massive 'nobody home'.

- Despite his insipid performance, Griffin should have been given 1 more week. Playing well for Centrals proves next to nothing now.

- Maric was not nearly BOG as a ruckman, did most of his damage as a forward. So he knew he was playing poor footy for 4 weeks? Why shouldn't he get dropped and have to force his way back in. No gold tickets for No 1 ruck spot these days. He has not proven himself consistently, though i hope he one day does...but hey he is only 23 and young ruckman need to be cut some slack right?......

- Do you realise Moran is younger than Maric and has been given far less opportunities in ruck at AFL level despite playing that position very well for West. Maybe he'll do a Griffin tomorrow and leave his SANFL form behind but i tell you this...after the first 6 weeks of this season he won't cause our ruck department to go downhill faster than it already has been. Moran needs to realise he has a huuuuuuggeeee opportunity this week to lay the first foundation stone for a consistent AFL career over the next 8 years. So show some arrogance son, fire up, lift your intensity and take your chance...this may be the only one you are given!

 

[The Sloane Ranger]

I agree, but we are also going to struggle to win games if we get smashed in the ruck. What we need is two of Maric, Griffin or Moran to really step up and stamp their places so that we can stop playing him there altogether.

maybe some of the issue is that our on ballers need to start reading off the opposition ruckman

Collingwood over the past 2-3 years have been ranked up the top for clearances however their ruck division ranked towards the bottom for hitouts to advantage

what I am saying is that there is more to clearance work than having a dominant ruckman so we need to work with a combination of Maric, Griff and Maric to ruck and Tippett to play full time up forward

The Hawks won a flag last year without a dominant ruck division, Otten dominated the ruck in the GF however the Hawks midfield adjusted accordingly and they had the forwards to kick goals.

Lets be honest, its not like Kurt is dominating the ruck and hitouts and we are struggle to score

Kurt must play forward and our midfield must learn to play either to a dominant or non dominant ruckman

 

[macca23]

maybe some of the issue is that our on ballers need to start reading off the opposition ruckman
Collingwood over the past 2-3 years have been ranked up the top for clearances however their ruck division ranked towards the bottom for hitouts to advantage

what I am saying is that there is more to clearance work than having a dominant ruckman so we need to work with a combination of Maric, Griff and Maric to ruck and Tippett to play full time up forward

The Hawks won a flag last year without a dominant ruck division, Otten dominated the ruck in the GF however the Hawks midfield adjusted accordingly and they had the forwards to kick goals.

Lets be honest, its not like Kurt is dominating the ruck and hitouts and we are struggle to score

Kurt must play forward and our midfield must learn to play either to a dominant or non dominant ruckman

Spot on.

That is part of the art of being a class mid-fielder. Watch Gary Ablett at the boundary clearances - his eyes are on the ball from the time it leaves the boundary ump's hand, working out which ruckman it will favour and where they usually hit it.

Our mid-fielders are struggling to get it at the clearances when we get the tap let alone when the opposition does.

Improve this area and our whole game will lift accordingly - as long as we have a forward line with options to kick to.

 

[King Elvis]

I agree, but we are also going to struggle to win games if we get smashed in the ruck. What we need is two of Maric, Griffin or Moran to really step up and stamp their places so that we can stop playing him there altogether.

A lot of people need to understand that when it comes to evaluating players against each other, you also need to evaluate the next player in line.


Say Tippet as a ruck is a 10/10 (he's not, all of these ratings are rubbish, but for the sake of this, they'll do).
Maric is an 8.
Griffin is an 8.
Moran is a 7.


Tippett as a forward is a 9.
Walker as a tall, stationary forward target is a 4.
Stevens as a tall, stationary forward target is a 6.

So if we play Tippet in the Ruck, he's 2 'points' better than our next options. So we're 20% down in the ruck.

If we play him down forward, he's 3-5 'points' better then the next options. So we're 30%-50% down in the forward line.


Tippett probably is our best Ruck - but what we gain in the Ruck with him over Maric/Griff, isn't worth what we lose in the forward line by having to have Stevo/Tayls as our big forward.

Does that make sense? In my head, it's perfectly clear, but I'm not sure if I'm explaining it that well

 

[Mismatched]

Mixed reports suggesting tonsillitis, the flu and just plain dropped.

Read into it what you will, but Reidy claimed on thursday night that Griff had been dropped, simple as that. Whether he plays for Centrals this weekend or not, he cannot blame the flu for his not being in the side.