Jonathon Ceglar smokey to play finals this year

[catstragic]

Blitz/Stanley/Ceglar... we can play two without changing up our structure too much. Great to have depth, hope he keeps building form and fitness in the VFL until one of the first two need a break.

 

[The Casey Cat]

No thanks but he's hopefully handy back up if Stanley and or Blics get injured.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Stanley/Blitz is the only ruck combination we've got right in a generation. If Ceglar is in something has gone wrong. Surely he's not our first choice ruckman.

 

[Warhorse]

It was called they are rebuilding and he is 31.
Hes a good player.

Yeah your right. He is actually a gun and hawthorn were just rebuilding

 

[catempire]

Depending on the weather, we could always try keeping all our rucks on the sidelines for a QF?

 

[Drunkcat]

They are both the same at their best, they are good but can also have stinkers

 

[DanA]

For me it’s entirely dependent on how Stanley is feeling and ensuring he is fresh for finals. Same goes for all our over 30’s..

 

[iameviljez]

Could be the best, definitely isn't perfect.

There are quite a few trade offs and contingency planning that the MC will have to fight over between now and the finals.

I'd want to try the 2 ruckmen setup if only to protect Stanley between now and finals.

I'd also like to trial a setup that would mirror what we'd face in a final if we were being well beaten in the territory battle.

If we're getting beaten up at the clearances, I'd rather have the extra fleet-footed player than having to play one of Stanley or Ceglar out of position for 40% of the game. I have no issue with giving Stanley a break - playing in the ruck is an extraordinarily physically punishing position - but two ruckmen plus Blicavs seems top-heavy to me.

 

[Cattery]

Ceglar in, Stanley out.

Simple.

What would be the upside in that move?

 

[iameviljez]

What would be the upside in that move?

More chance of winning hitouts, but arguably less effective when the ball hits the deck.

 

[My Third Nipple]

Would love to see wha big John can bring to the table. Rhys is a really good chance of putting in a stinker this week, now that he’s had a fairly good game against the best ruckman in the comp.

 

[Cattery]

More chance of winning hitouts, but arguably less effective when the ball hits the deck.

True, averages five more per game, but Stanley has him covered in just about every other metric, don't really see the benefit, except to give Stanley a break before finals.

 

[iameviljez]

True, averages five more per game, but Stanley has him covered in just about every other metric, don't really see the benefit, except to give Stanley a break before finals.

I don't think per-game metrics are the easiest way to compare the two, though. Stanley plays as the number one ruckman all day long and has done so since Zac Smith faded into the background. Cegs has almost always been in tandem with McEvoy.

 

[iameviljez]

The thing I would put up in Stanley's defence is that, for a ruckman, he's a pretty good user of the ball. He's not an outstanding mark, but he's trustworthy with ball in hand.

 

[Cattery]

I don't think per-game metrics are the easiest way to compare the two, though. Stanley plays as the number one ruckman all day long and has done so since Zac Smith faded into the background. Cegs has almost always been in tandem with McEvoy.

No need to screw up my reasoning with logic.

You're correct of course, do think though that from the (very little) I've seen of Ceglar he doesn't seem like he'd be an upgrade on Stanley whose in pretty good form at the moment (getting twenty one hitouts per game, six above his career average as well)

 

[AM]

Ceglar is a genuine ruckman who can take a forward "grab". If we can get him up to speed it would be a real plus. Allowing us to use Blitz more in the back half against sides like the Baggers who have two class "bigs"

 

[iameviljez]

I think the major question is: who do we have to beat to win a flag this year? The answer's Melbourne, probably followed by Brisbane and Freo.

All of them have physically big ruckmen who dominate the taps (Gawn, McInerney and Darcy). I feel like if you go with Stanley, you risk getting completely obliterated in the ruck, but you might make it up in the contest, and you know which way the tap is probably going. If you go with Ceglar, you might be half a chance of breaking even in the ruck, but he may not be quite as slick after the contest.

 

[goyoucatters]

Depending on the weather, we could always try keeping all our rucks on the sidelines for a QF?

#stilltoosoon

 

[MacStradbroke]

I don't think per-game metrics are the easiest way to compare the two, though. Stanley plays as the number one ruckman all day long and has done so since Zac Smith faded into the background. Cegs has almost always been in tandem with McEvoy.

McEvoy played full back for a couple of full seasons

 

[MacStradbroke]

Stanley/Blitz is the only ruck combination we've got right in a generation. If Ceglar is in something has gone wrong. Surely he's not our first choice ruckman.

Makes me smile knowing that Blicavs as second ruck is one of the biggest weapons in the AFL, and it’s all reliant and only possible because of…. An inexperienced tall skinny blonde kid killing it at full back

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Makes me smile knowing that Blicavs as second ruck is one of the biggest weapons in the AFL, and it’s all reliant and only possible because of…. An inexperienced tall skinny blonde kid killing it at full back

I honestly can't believe we did it in 2020, took us all the way to a GF, then thought "hey that worked great let's completely stop doing it for 18 months"

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Could be the best, definitely isn't perfect.

There are quite a few trade offs and contingency planning that the MC will have to fight over between now and the finals.

I'd want to try the 2 ruckmen setup if only to protect Stanley between now and finals.

I'd also like to trial a setup that would mirror what we'd face in a final if we were being well beaten in the territory battle.

Valid points. I suppose the question is does it proect stanley better if we play 2 rucks to share the workload or should we just rest him altogether for a couple of weeks and play ceglar instead?

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Stanley/Blitz is the only ruck combination we've got right in a generation. If Ceglar is in something has gone wrong. Surely he's not our first choice ruckman.

Its hard to say because with him being injured we've never had the chance to play him this year so its hard to compare him to stanley in terms of what output you would get.

 

[Gunf]

Valid points. I suppose the question is does it proect stanley better if we play 2 rucks to share the workload or should we just rest him altogether for a couple of weeks and play ceglar instead?

Rest him against Port. That with the week off before finals should be plenty

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Yeah your right. He is actually a gun and hawthorn were just rebuilding

Im not saying he is a gun im simply saying your measuring stick of 'hawks were happy to let him go so he is crap' is the wrong one. Hawks were happy to let mitchell omeara and wingard go last year (and probably breust too but all of them refused to go) and youre not going to tell me with a straight face that those guys are guns. Just because a rebuilding side wants to move players out doesnt mean the players are crap-only that the club wants to change its list age profile.