You got to be joking aren’t you? Hickey gets bullied by more than half of the ruckmen out there, because he is not strong/aggressive enough. A ruckman actually have 4. jobs 1. win the tap out to your team’s advantage 2. protect your teammates at clearance/centr bounces, 3. when get the ball, hand ball to your mids 4. Mark the ball.
Hickey
1. Poor
2. Poor
3. ok
4. ok
Billy
1. Good, he more than broke even with most opponents last year, something Hickey can’t do.
2. Good, his physically and aggression helps the mids to win ball/protect ball
3. He doesn’t get as many disposals, but do you really want a ruckman to handball/kick a ball?
4. Poor, his marking is s**t.
So, Hickey’s built/physicality/aggression will never be strong enough for a dominant AFL ruck, he used to play volley ball as a junior. Not saying Longer is brilliant, he is also limited as a ruckmen because his around the ground work is poor. But we’re picking a ruckman, not a mid. so, counting on disposal numbers alone is missing the point. The fact that last year our contested ball numbers and clearance numbers are so much better (Billy) than this year (Hickey) has to tell you something about the effectiveness of each player to the midfield.
