Josh Fraser

[daics cousin]

It seems a few collingwood boards are already crucifing Josh Fraser.We have to give the bloke a go.He has been carrying the ruck duties very well for us for a long time on his own.
The guy has got too much finnese to be a bullocking ruckman.I and a few others have been saying this for years.
The centre ruck responsibilties should be left up to Chris Bryan and matchstick Richards.Allow Josh to develop as a ultility type very similar to Goodes from Sydney.Let him roam free where ever he wants around the ground and he can be the link man up forward to take over from Tarrant.He is huge, has got great pace and skills and would be a nightmare for opposing teams to match up on.Then we'll see Josh at his very best.Look what happened to goodes when he was released for ruck duties.....He won 2 brownlows.

 

[DarrenM]

I don't think fraser has the aerobic capacity as Goodes, and Fraser can't play as a straight midfielder like Goodes can. It looks like Frser is unlikley to ever be a dominant tap ruckman, so maybe half-forwared could be he's spot. Maybe he has got injury troubles as well that haven't been documented.

 

[footy_rulz]

I'm sick of Fraser. He was the number 1 draft pick in 1999 and hasn't strung a full season of constistent footy together yet. He's had 7 years, 8 this year, to do something and hasn't yet. This year will be his waterloo IMO.

 

[FIGJAM]

Had a knee operation this year. Can play himself back into form in the ones.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Had a knee operation this year.

All the more reason to promote Bryan and play all three ruckmen.

 

[Frederlick]

As a (stupid) experiment remove Fraser from the ruck totally and just let him roam around willy nilly. Watch the wheels fall off the midfield. Tap rucking is highly overrated, especially when the umpires only bounce the ball straight every 4th time! If they are lucky. Why don't they throw it up and then it might at least be predictable? Watch the games and you will see what I mean. If the ball bounced exactly straight every time tap rucking would matter. In the forward line there is always congestion and winning the ball relys on luck and handskills more than 'tap' rucking. Sure every now and then the umpires will have a good day and a particular ruck will dominate but honestly there are that many variables, like what are the small followers doing, are they working off their ruckman or the opposition, etc, etc. Half the hype about supposed tap rucking has been created by the usual suspects in the media. I mean if Spida Everitt was supposed to be the best tap ruckman in the comp when he was at Hawthorn why didn't they dominate the midfield? Even now at the Swans he is more useful as a mobile bigman who can boot the ball, as shown on the weekend. The reason Goodes got a roaming role is that he wasn't resilent enough for the ruck, remember the AFL changed the run up rule because he hurt his knee? IMHO 'Tap' ruckman=nice to have but not as important as some believe.

 

[Coin_Toss]

Fraser is underrated. His second and third efforts are great. He is going to get better. Keep in mind that he had an interrupted pre-season, which put him behind the eight ball.

Daics,

I don't think he is smart enough to play forward, from what I've seen of him, he doesn't know where to run for instance. He could pinch-hit up forward, but his best position is onball... always has been, always will be.

 

[Jabso]

CT I think we would agree Fraser is a very smart footballer he knows exactly where to run to as a ruckman. However I agree he doesn't know what to do as a forward.

Also I think his tapwork is vastly underrated. Add to this the fact he wins clearnces himself and stops alot of clearences that would otherwise go to the other team due to his brilliant follow up work after the tap in in the way of mostly tackling. If you put Fraser in a good midfield he would be regarded as an elite ruckman.

 

[MarkT]

If Fraser is hampered by a knee then rest him until it is right. He isn’t strong enough overhead to be an immobile/stationary forward. A s a tap ruckman he is second class. As a mobile ruckman he can be good but if he knee is restricting his mobility then what is the point?