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Apr 8, 2016
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-Ive mooted the idea before and with all the chatter about McGov being worked out/around why cant he play second ruck??
Apart from not wanting to injure one of our star players, I think it is problematic to team defence to have one of your defenders periodically heading to the ruck. Sure, he can pinch hit in defence (as could Barrass) but I don't think second ruck works for a defender. Defence needs consistency. A froward pinch hitting in the ruck seems to be less disruptive to structures.
 
Dec 19, 2007
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Apart from not wanting to injure one of our star players, I think it is problematic to team defence to have one of your defenders periodically heading to the ruck. Sure, he can pinch hit in defence (as could Barrass) but I don't think second ruck works for a defender. Defence needs consistency. A froward pinch hitting in the ruck seems to be less disruptive to structures.
With Brander and/or OAllen down there McG wouldnt be needed in defence.Imagine if he was free to ruck and run around the midfield and do his own thing?Hes a great mark and superb field kick,a great reader of the play,big,and tough.Other than his centrew bounce work id say McG would as a field player be better value than NN.
 
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With Brander and/or OAllen down there McG wouldnt be needed in defence.Imagine if he was free to ruck and run around the midfield and do his own thing?Hes a great mark and superb field kick,a great reader of the play,big,and tough.Other than his centrew bounce work id say McG would as a field player be better value than NN.
You reckon that Fatboy McGovern has the tank to "run around in the midfield"?
 

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Wild Kelly

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With Brander and/or OAllen down there McG wouldnt be needed in defence.Imagine if he was free to ruck and run around the midfield and do his own thing?Hes a great mark and superb field kick,a great reader of the play,big,and tough.Other than his centrew bounce work id say McG would as a field player be better value than NN.
But he has no ruck craft!
 
Dec 19, 2007
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I was referring to Gov. On Allen, at best he held his own against, usually, the opposition's 2nd ruckman.
The OAllen was response to ruckcraft.The brief stint McG did in the ruck he more than held his own.Guv is getting nudged and blocked a lot now which probably gives people the impression hes a great mark but not very good body on body.But when he decides to go the body not the flight he is VERY strong.I like the idea of taking one of our best players and giving him a bit of freedom.Lets face it rucking to Shuey,Yo and Kelly cant be that hard>
 
Apr 8, 2016
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Cmon Squash do you really think Gov couldnt play the role? Hes one of the smartest footballers going.
He may be able to play the role but to what purpose? We lose one of the best intercepting defenders, load up the ruck with another person with a questionable tank when we have a developing Williams who would be ideal as the second ruck (forward) role. We also have Hickey and Vardy. Sure, could he do it if we had no one else, possibly. Is it a good use of our resources, not in my view.
 
Dec 19, 2007
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The purpose? Teams have whole game plans devoted to breaking down our defence.That to a very large degree involves either bypassing Guv or mugging him.I get tired of watching a great player get shuffled off centre stage.Yes we won a premiership with our fluid defence but it became a leaky defence for a variety of reasons.Hickey did a serviceable job but brings no grunt to the table,Vardy would be my preference but with NN being dodgy it hard to rely on the Vardy/NN combo injury wise.Williams has a great leap but is still spindly and not that tall.I would be looking at him as a FF.We have Brander/OAllen who can go to defence,both big young and talented.Nothing should be set in stone.I like having the best players where the ball is the most.With NN,Gov,Yo,Shuey,Kelly etc in the midfield the ball wont spend a lot of time in defence.Gov is on record saying hed love to play ruck.Think outside the square.
 

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Apr 8, 2016
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I'd personally just like us to tighten up our leaky defence and if Barrass is unable to play lockdown defender more then he may get overtaken. That said, I have no doubt injury and form were issues for Barrass and he has shown he can play a more accountable role. It's down to the coaches now to tweak our defence, to prevent teams doing what they did last year.

All of that said, it wasn't just teams having whole game plans to circumvent Gov. There is no doubt they did have that but also form was an issue. Barrass didn't play well for a large part of the year. Gov was pretty ordinary too (even though he made AA). Hurn was awesome until injury and then was pretty average etc. Duggan was injured for a fair chunk and Cole was a shadow of his former self. So form was a real issue with our defence, not just our game plan and other teams game plans. Not sure we should be throwing the baby out with the bathwater just yet.
 

shooshka

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The purpose? Teams have whole game plans devoted to breaking down our defence.That to a very large degree involves either bypassing Guv or mugging him.I get tired of watching a great player get shuffled off centre stage.Yes we won a premiership with our fluid defence but it became a leaky defence for a variety of reasons.Hickey did a serviceable job but brings no grunt to the table,Vardy would be my preference but with NN being dodgy it hard to rely on the Vardy/NN combo injury wise.Williams has a great leap but is still spindly and not that tall.I would be looking at him as a FF.We have Brander/OAllen who can go to defence,both big young and talented.Nothing should be set in stone.I like having the best players where the ball is the most.With NN,Gov,Yo,Shuey,Kelly etc in the midfield the ball wont spend a lot of time in defence.Gov is on record saying hed love to play ruck.Think outside the square.
Not sure shoehorning one of our top 3 players into another position is the answer. Maybe a more direct approach to solving the problem might be better. I.e. more pressure up the field.

Our leaky defence was a large part due to the lack of pressure applied to the other team. Gov in the ruck wouldn't change that and we would intercept less.

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Dec 19, 2007
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Not sure shoehorning one of our top 3 players into another position is the answer. Maybe a more direct approach to solving the problem might be better. I.e. more pressure up the field.

Our leaky defence was a large part due to the lack of pressure applied to the other team. Gov in the ruck wouldn't change that and we would intercept less.

On SM-G973F using BigFooty.com mobile app
Isnt putting Guv into the middle a direct approach to solving the problem? He would certainly bring a more physical attack to the contest.,
 
Dec 19, 2007
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Lets take our 4 time All Australian defender out of our defence. That won't have any repercussions....
Gee i never thought of that! Your labouring under the assumption that [A] Guv cant play anywhere other than defence and WCE have nobody capable of covering Gov in defence. Being an AA defender doesn,t pigeonhole him for life.
Teams are constantly changing tactics.Look at the Shockers,they are planning a faster uptempo attacking style.Teams are moving away from bomb the ball to a slice and dice style.That type of footy tends to catch Guv out a bit.With fast footy the object is to get the footy first,not hope to get it on the rebound from halfback.
 
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