Ruck Depth

[dread and might]

Apologies if discussed elsewhere I read the Mumford thread and no discussion there: Can one of the ressie watching experts (SophCross is that you? ) please tell me about our ruck depth in the future. Back in the golden years when I lived a 10 minute walk from the SCG I used to see a fair bit of ressies, but alas those days are long past now. Who is the rucking future down in the 2's?

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Naismith has a fair way to go but has shown glimpses and is quite agile for a big man.

 

[grimlock]

The other Mitchell too

 

[The King!]

Pyke
Tippett
Lrt
Mcglynn

 

[grimlock]

Okay, so the ressies had a lot of different ruckmen during the year. The first half was White who would often ruck for 90% of the game, sometimes with a little help from Walsh, X.Richards or Alex Brown. Then when White got the call up to the seniors we relied on topups - Tommy Head (Academy), Jacob Dawes (Academy I think - worth a look IMHO), Wills Brasil and Levi Sands (both Sydney AFL). Naismith only returned for the last game of the H&A season and the 3 finals.

Don't discount the US lad we're signing Patrick Mitchell - Pyke played in his first year, about Round 7 or 8 from memory so if Taubert has anything to do with him, you never know.

 

[Jack2Jack]

Surely this is an area that the club will address, either getting a cheap back-up option through trade, or drafting a promising young kid or rookie listing a mature age from the WAFL/VFL. They were probably prepared for Mummy leaving and will have some plan in place.
Patrick Mitchell and Naismith still have a fair bit of developing to do.

 

[The King!]

I wouldnt want pyke to go down and tippett be forced to be number one ruck

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

I wouldnt want pyke to go down and tippett be forced to be number one ruck

Hmmmm that wouldn't be good.. can we snatch another decent ruck on the cheap?

 

[The King!]

Hmmmm that wouldn't be good.. can we snatch another decent ruck on the cheap?

Do you know how cola works and all our third party stuff? Ive been on the main board, we can just buy any ruckman

But in all seriousness a vfl ruckman or something for depth would suit, someone like a currie

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Hampson/West? doesn't need to be top tier or anything.

 

[dread and might]

Right so my worry isn't entirely unfounded...

 

[The King!]

Right so my worry isn't entirely unfounded...

How many ruckman are on most lists though?

 

[swansfan51]

How many ruckman are on most lists though?

This year Fremantle lost Jon Griffin, Kepler Bradley and Aaron Sandilands for most or all of the year. They still made the grand final because they had genuine ruck depth in Hannath and Clarke. Imagine what would happen if we had 3 ruckmen injured.

 

[The King!]

This year Fremantle lost Jon Griffin, Kepler Bradley and Aaron Sandilands for most or all of the year. They still made the grand final because they had genuine ruck depth in Hannath and Clarke. Imagine what would happen if we had 3 ruckmen injured.

Good point

So target freo?

 

[AG]

Darren Jolly is available...

Personally I'd rather see if Greg Stafford is bored and see if he wants to go around again.

 

[dread and might]

Jason Ball

 

[Tulip]

How many ruckman are on most lists though?

Just from an outsiders perspective here, we're not much chop but we have Jamar, Spencer, Gawn and Fitzpatrick. A team like Essendon has Ryder, Bellchambers, Hille. Most sides have an older ruck and a couple of younger ones hitting their peak.

 

[CaptainChardonnay]

Darren Jolly is available...

Personally I'd rather see if Greg Stafford is bored and see if he wants to go around again.

lol.. that is gold.

 

[CaptainChardonnay]

I dare say we'll be getting a "depth" ruckman in the draft at some stage.

That being said, they obviously have a lot of faith that Naismith will come on next year.

 

[Tedeski]

Could we be making a play for a known ruckman. The name McEvoy from the Saints has been bandied about as being on the trade table.
Are we offering another senior listed player to get him? Lamb, Everitt &/or pick. Perhaps Lockyer may go west for one of their young ruckmen on the fringe.

I have no doubt we have plenty more up our sleeve & will land another player to fill a position where we are a little thin.

We have an abundance of midfielders. Like Mummy, Everitt & Lamb haven't been signed & can be used in a trade though they could enter the draft for zero.

Just some thoughts!

 

[replicant]

Not being a NEAFL watcher, is there a potential back-up there? We took Naismith, but is there another mature-aged NEAFL player we could rookie cheap in case of emergency?

Otherwise Trent West might be available. There was talk of him going to various places, but those spots are drying up with Mumford going to GWS, Longer looking like going to Hawks, and Hampson maybe going elsewhere. We might be able to get him for a bargain price if he's not in high demand.

 

[Spec_K]

maybe on-trade the pick we get for jesse to carlton for shaun hamson? or even a straight trade between sydney and carlton.. buddy and megan gale at the scg next year, delicious!

 

[Indie_]

I think we have to draft a ruckman with our #1 pick or if we get a decent pick for Mumford/White then use that to draft one. Clearly a huge hole in our list with Mumford gone, so we need some bodies in their at least.

Wouldn't mind picking a mature age on either. Probably not Jolly though.

 

[S120]

Jarrad Redden (Port), Jack Hannath (Freo) and Callum Sinclair (WCE) are three youngish options who aren't getting a hell of a lot of opportunities at their current club that I think we could convince to come over here. Don't know their contract status though. We need to find a youngish option who can step in next year though IMO. Pyke and Tippett will share the ruck duties but if one of them go down we need someone to come straight in and give us something rather than forcing LRT to punch so far above his weight again.

swansfan51, what can you tell us about this Rory Lobb character that some of the media is talking up?

 

[swansfan51]

swansfan51, what can you tell us about this Rory Lobb character that some of the media is talking up?

I like him. Plays for Swan Districts who I watch more than any other team (they had a decent ruck before in Nic Naitanui). At the start of the year you wouldn't have expected him to play many senior games, but then their ruckman left the club and they had no choice but to throw him in there. He has been really competitive, averaging 24 hitouts and has decent ruck technique. He's a really good runner with great endurance which is a valuable asset under the reduced interchange system. Absolute ruckman height at 205cm, pretty decent leap, good work ethic and a competitive nature. Doesn't mind a challenge and he sure got one this year.

Question marks: can he kick goals (provided nothing in that area this year, may come with more endurance and support), will his body grow into and survive at AFL level, can he increase his impact around the ground.

For a first round pick he'd be competing with players like Blake Acres, and I don't know if you'd pull the trigger. Remember a far better ruckman in Brody Grundy slipped way down the draft last year. If he was still available at our 2nd round pick I'd almost definitely take him.