Oppo Camp Brodie Grundy (Traded to Melbourne 2022)

[DaVe86]

I think the opposite. Geelong are average in the ruck, so perfect opportunity for Grundy to give us a massive advantage in that area. They have Dangerfield, Selwood, Ablett, Dunan, Kelly and Menegola in the midfield....so a ruck ascendency will be vital as the Cats haven't been great from stoppages so far.

 

[Bored_Pie]

Could Rest him vs Geelong as they have no Clear Ruckman so Cox and Moore be good enough

Rest him against the best team dor him to dominate? Nah thanks. He wont be rested.

 

[TradeDraft]

I think the opposite. Geelong are average in the ruck, so perfect opportunity for Grundy to give us a massive advantage in that area. They have Dangerfield, Selwood, Ablett, Dunan, Kelly and Menegola in the midfield....so a ruck ascendency will be vital as the Cats haven't been great from stoppages so far.

IF Injury/Sore Free

 

[didaksrightfoot]

I think the opposite. Geelong are average in the ruck, so perfect opportunity for Grundy to give us a massive advantage in that area. They have Dangerfield, Selwood, Ablett, Dunan, Kelly and Menegola in the midfield....so a ruck ascendency will be vital as the Cats haven't been great from stoppages so far.

You can say that about each of the next 3.

But each of those 3 also have pretty good midfields, and would be very quick to just start roving Brodies taps and ignore their own ruckmen. This is one of the areas that Brodie is still struggling with (and not a huge criticism - it took Sandilands years to learn how to deal with this) so I'm not sure if him dominating the hitouts would actually lead to our mids dominating the clearances.

I think having him healthy against Mel/Freo is much more important. Both Gawn and Sandi are good enough to dominate and I think we would struggle without Brodie. (though Cox would be interesting against both).

 

[jackcass]

This.

He's been down, particularly with his efforts around the ground - and I would guess a big part of that can be put down to the injury. It was telling on sunday that Cox rucked some of the bigger moments at the end of the game.

I think he needs a break - just when do you do it? In hindsight it should've been the Richmond game - 4 days break, concerns of soreness, and we probably werent gonna win that game either way. (But thats with hindsight).
I also think we want him back as healthy as possible for Freo and Melbourne.

I think this is a really important game this week and I can see the club trying to get him on the park. (But if he is sore - just give him the rest and play either Darcy or McLarty as the backup ruck to Cox)
I would be looking at resting him for one or both of St Kilda/WB, come back against 2 of the best rucks in the comp, then have another break for the Bye, and hopefully have a great 2nd half of the year.

I don't think his injury issues actually flared until half way through the Richmond game so in hindsight resting for that game would have been a stroke of genius but unfortunately it'd be sometching we humble supporters would be forever ignorant of and something we'd clearly lay at the feet of the SC for causing the resulting loss.

 

[jackcass]

Last two weeks I think its pretty obvious Brodie has been playing fatigued and carrying a niggle/injury

Agreed but I'm more optimistic the back-2-back 7 day breaks are sufficient to fix his issues, especially if there's nothing structural as we've been told.

 

[TradeDraft]

His Brother Made the U-18 SA Squad

https://www.afldraftcentral.com.au/...inal-42-man-squad-for-national-championships/

 

[Hong Kong Pie]

Didn't see the game against the Saints, but 42 HOs in the AFL stats sheet says he dominated in the ruck.

Were most of those to our advantage though? I think it's the one major area of his rucking that still needs to get better. After seeing how often Nick Nat was able to tap the ball straight down WC players' throats in Sunday's game, i'd love our Brodie to get that to the next level as well.

 

[sr36]

Didn't see the game against the Saints, but 42 HOs in the AFL stats sheet says he dominated in the ruck.

Were most of those to our advantage though? I think it's the one major area of his rucking that still needs to get better. After seeing how often Nick Nat was able to tap the ball straight down WC players' throats in Sunday's game, i'd love our Brodie to get that to the next level as well.

Quarter 1, we copped a bath out of the centre. Hitouts appeared to be going to disadvantage. We didn't set up very well, so I don't think it was all the fault of Grundy's taps. After the first quarter he directed them much better.

I do think that hitout stats should be: hitouts to advantage minus hitouts to disadvantage.

 

[Quicky]

I don't think we are yet taking full advantage of Grundy's ruck dominance. I'm not sure if that is because the midfield structure and set-up is not working (my suspicion), or whether the opposition has been putting a lot of work into breaking it down and sharking it, or just that Grundy is miss directing his taps. If we can better at tapping into that dominance we'll start controlling games much more.

 

[DuckToaster]

I don't think we are yet taking full advantage of Grundy's ruck dominance. I'm not sure if that is because the midfield structure and set-up is not working (my suspicion), or whether the opposition has been putting a lot of work into breaking it down and sharking it, or just that Grundy is miss directing his taps. If we can better at tapping into that dominance we'll start controlling games much more.

I agree, I wish Grundy would start doing huge taps if nobody is around to receive his little pokes to the 1m arc around him. Just put your whole fist into it Brodie.

This was a nice Grab on the weekend. I love how he's using his body to just get people under the ball now that he's getting bigger and growing into his frame.

 

[jackcass]

I don't think we are yet taking full advantage of Grundy's ruck dominance. I'm not sure if that is because the midfield structure and set-up is not working (my suspicion), or whether the opposition has been putting a lot of work into breaking it down and sharking it, or just that Grundy is miss directing his taps. If we can better at tapping into that dominance we'll start controlling games much more.

I agree but we can't lose sight of the fact Grundy's ruck work is still a work in progress. Last year he was struggling to win the taps but he's fixed that. This year he's winning the taps but needs to work on his taps to advantage. He's a smart guy and he'd know where he needs to improve. Can't wait to see how good he will be when he pulls it all together.

 

[TradeDraft]

I don't think we are yet taking full advantage of Grundy's ruck dominance. I'm not sure if that is because the midfield structure and set-up is not working (my suspicion), or whether the opposition has been putting a lot of work into breaking it down and sharking it, or just that Grundy is miss directing his taps. If we can better at tapping into that dominance we'll start controlling games much more.

Could be a bit of Everything.

I remember Saindlands had same problem. Dominate in Hit Outs but Opposition got the Ball more then his Mids

 

[sr36]

I don't think we are yet taking full advantage of Grundy's ruck dominance. I'm not sure if that is because the midfield structure and set-up is not working (my suspicion), or whether the opposition has been putting a lot of work into breaking it down and sharking it, or just that Grundy is miss directing his taps. If we can better at tapping into that dominance we'll start controlling games much more.

I reckon one issue is that all clubs try too hard to control contests, thus smashing it forward is no longer considered a good option. Everything goes to the ruckman's feet, so when you have a dominant ruckman, it is too predictable and easy for opposition to stop exploitation of the dominance. Smash it forward more often, so if our mids get their hands on it they are heading towards goal and the opposition mids have to do a u-turn.

 

[TradeDraft]

I reckon one issue is that all clubs try too hard to control contests, thus smashing it forward is no longer considered a good option. Everything goes to the ruckman's feet, so when you have a dominant ruckman, it is too predictable and easy for opposition to stop exploitation of the dominance. Smash it forward more often, so if our mids get their hands on it they are heading towards goal and the opposition mids have to do a u-turn.

Do any Rucks do that anymore?

 

[sr36]

Do any Rucks do that anymore?

No. Very unfashionable tactic. I don't understand why, particularly when your ruck is dominating. Use the tactic occasionally with players notified and if you set up for it, you'll have the advantage of the ball heading in your direction and your mids not needing to turn if they win it and also win the ball more than half the time because the other team won't be expecting it. It'll also make it much harder for the opposition to rove to your ruck when you do look to control it at your feet, because they'll also have to be mindful of the smash forward rather than just the ball at the ruckman's feet.

 

[TradeDraft]

No. Very unfashionable tactic. I don't understand why, particularly when your ruck is dominating. Use the tactic occasionally with players notified and if you set up for it, you'll have the advantage of the ball heading in your direction and your mids not needing to turn if they win it and also win the ball more than half the time because the other team won't be expecting it. It'll also make it much harder for the opposition to rove to your ruck when you do look to control it at your feet, because they'll also have to be mindful of the smash forward rather than just the ball at the ruckman's feet.

Lions used that in the 2002/2003 GF to Stop our Inside Mids getting the Ball

 

[sr36]

Lions used that in the 2002/2003 GF to Stop our Inside Mids getting the Ball

Yep and we were a classic example of a team who were fantastic at roving to the other team's dominant ruckman. If you know your ruckman is going to lose most taps and you know the tap is going to be short, it's not actually that difficult to stop the other team from taking advantage of their ruckman's dominance.

 

[TradeDraft]

On the Footy Show Thursday

 

[DuckToaster]

back again to post more of the great Grundy.

He channelled his inner Didak today with this candy sell.

 

[Dynamics]

I can't remember a ruck as big a deal powerful as Brodie who played as much like a 6 footer when the ball hits the deck.

Two WHE goals were the direct result of Grundy impersonating Pendles and one of those was after winning the hitout.

 

[DuckToaster]

Grundy needs to stop these shenanigans though, He's been watching too much of the Tom Phillips highlight reels between training sessions. He's making other rucks look like one trick ponies. I was excited when he started clunking goals early on in his career, then I was ecstatic with how his ruck work progressed, I was amazed when he started throwing his body around and cleaning up in the tackles department. Now i'm enamoured with his agility... I'm running out of verbs to use when describing my love for him.

 

[TradeDraft]

So going by the AFL Ratings that Grundy is the Best Player in the Comp

 

[SpongePie]

So going by the AFL Ratings that Grundy is the Best Player in the Comp

Very nice.

Though I cant see Sidey in that list, which is surprising.

 

[Boris the Contradiction]

He is top ten in the comp for contested possessions. He is a ruckman.

I'll say that again.

He is top ten in the comp for contested possessions. He is a ruckman.

Fecking hell.

The bloke isn't human.