Sean Rusling

[mdc]

Rusling has the reputation he has because in the limited time he's spent on the park, our forward line generally has a look about it that it doesn't have any other time, and that's the likelihood of a leading forward taking a grab and kicking a goal.

Jack has been okay at this, but he isn't as natural a forward as Rusling is, and you can generally rely on Rusling timing his leads better than Jack, which means that the odds of him being hit on the lead by a midfielder go through the roof.

It isn't rocket science, and it's not any "mythical" status that he's been elevated to - Rusling is a talent, and he's performed prominently in finals. We like him for that reason.

Collingwood's average score over 2005-2007: 95 points

Collingwood's average score over 2005-2007 when Rusling plays: 96.3 points

1.3 points, wooptydoo.

He's worth persevering with because he has a clear AFL skill, the upcoming drafts will be slim pickings, and he potentially adds a completely different dimension to our current forwads.

But he absolutely has been elevated to a mythical status.

 

[pinky951]

I have played one or two absolute blinders in my day, but I would say over the course of my career I was probably a pretty rubbish player. I think Anthony has done enough over a longer period of time to deserve a bit more respect than he gets in this thread. Am still looking forward to seeing what Rusling can do if he can get on the park for a full year though.

 

[Boris the Contradiction]

My only memories of "the rusler" are that when ever he has played he looks dangerous.
It's hard to go much further than that because of his horror run with injury.
One thing you can't doubt is his attack on the ball. None of his injury have been "innocuous". They have all been from going hard.

If he ever does make it, I'm gonna curse that I haven't registered this nickname that i've coined.

Collingwood's average score over 2005-2007: 95 points

Collingwood's average score over 2005-2007 when Rusling plays: 96.3 points

1.3 points, wooptydoo.

He's worth persevering with because he has a clear AFL skill, the upcoming drafts will be slim pickings, and he potentially adds a completely different dimension to our current forwads.

But he absolutely has been elevated to a mythical status.

Disagree.

Our forward line as a whole was better when he played and that's why people like him. It wasn't so much that he kicked a bag it was the fact that Cloke and Rocca improved when Rusling was there. Anthony is good but he doesn't spread defences. He also isn't a dangerous player because when he isn't kicking goals he may as well be a rock --> sure he moves around and maybe 'contests' but he is not dangerous because in fact, when he isn't kicking goals he generally has no idea what he's doing or how to impose himself. As others have said he isn't a natural forward and I reckon the only real forward's game i've seen him play was the game against adelaide in round 19 last season. He is an occasional good lead, an occasional strong mark and a perpetual brilliant kick which means he will kick a lot of goals. Rusling will always be brilliant on the lead because he is a natural forward who is also one of the quickest players ever to enter the vfl/afl. This means that he will always be a threat even when he isn't kicking goals and he can therefore unsettle a defence.

As a side note, IMO the main reason Cloke has gone backwards is because he is really the only 'dangerous' forward we have. Medhurst was poo this year and Jack is a good goalkicker who doesn't have the ability to alter the shape of our forward line and therefore will never upset the balance of an opposition defence. I think a firing Medhurst, perhaps Fraser up forward, a Dick that does the business more consistently and possibly the introduction of a true leading full forward in Rusling will make it a little easier for him to impose himself and dominate games like he used to. I'm not leaving Anthony out as I rate him VERY highly. I rate him as a forward pocket though as he is not a full forward.

 

[smiddaz123]

I'd be asking the opposition coaches who double teamed Anthony, while throwing a flanker onto Cloke, who our most dangerous forward was in 2009.

I'd be willing to make a bet with anyone that Anthony will average more goals per game than Rusling in 2009 (provided both players play a minimum of 5 games).

 

[gifted1]

I'd be asking the opposition coaches who double teamed Anthony, while throwing a flanker onto Cloke, who our most dangerous forward was in 2009.

I'd be willing to make a bet with anyone that Anthony will average more goals per game than Rusling in 2009 (provided both players play a minimum of 5 games).

someone has seen the light. Best post of the thread. Gee cloke was dissapointing this year, getting beaten all ends up by schoenmakers was a case in point. In the meantime anthony attracted multiple defenders, most times the best defender harris, scarlett, rutton etc and he performed admirably. He has something anthony, it's that spunk, the personality, love of the limelight, his honesty. If another one of our forwards fired a shot this year and actually attracted some attention, he would've kicked more goals. Medhurst, Cloke etc didn't help jack at all this year.

 

[Porkaspies09]

The best match that ive seen rus play was the 07 final against the swans. By memory i think hes kicking was great,i wouldnt mind to see rus and jack play in he same forward line.

 

[wicksy]

Rusling is severely overrated on this board.....

Let's look at what he's good at.....

• Very quick and good lead!
• Strong Mark

Downfalls.....

• Awkward kicking style. (remains to be seen how accurate he really is).
• As one dimensional as they come. Ball hits the turf or goes behind him and he may as well be the Queen Mary!
• Glass body parts.

There is far more upside in someone like Jack, Reid, Dawes and even Shae Mac than there is Sean.

Don't get me wrong... I love the man... I just don't think he's going to be our FF savior!

 

[Old Spice]

I reckon his kicking is good actually, so I'd put that in the pros. Even if he is a one trick pony - which I don't think he is - it's a nice trick.

Glass body parts or bad luck - maybe a bit of both. My Rus faith stocks are still high. We'll wait to see.

 

[wicksy]

I reckon his kicking is good actually, so I'd put that in the pros. Even if he is a one trick pony - which I don't think he is - it's a nice trick.

Glass body parts or bad luck - maybe a bit of both. My Rus faith stocks are still high. We'll wait to see.

I agree that he's good at what he does but have you seen what happens when the ball goes behind him??

 

[Old Spice]

I agree that he's good at what he does but have you seen what happens when the ball goes behind him??

You're stretching the memory banks there - I'd have to see some footage.

 

[iGNITER]

Really hope he gets his body 100% right.

If he can emulate what he did in those few games he has played as a 3rd forward he will be more than handy he will be great up forward.

He is very quick on the lead which will suit our style I believe.

A handy forward line setup if all are fit could look like this -

HF - Davis Cloke Thomas
F - Medhurst Anthony Rusling

3 tall forwards in there capable of taking a grab
3 medium forwards than can play as mids as well and have the X-Factor

 

[smiddaz123]

All three deep forwards are at their best when they're leading out and marking. You don't think it'd be a bit crowded?

 

[shawthing09]

Is extremely over rated on bigfooty by many. As Smiddaz has said it is hard to see both Anthony and Rus being majorly effective in tandem although stranger things have happened.

As for the Rus / Anthony comparisons, Rusling has something Anthony lacks. He has a real weapon. The pace off the mark and he certainly has sticky mits when hitting the ball at pace. He has also shown on more then one occasion when the space is taken away from him he is ineffective. Obviously he hasn't had the time on the field at any level to work on this but it will be an issue he has to overcome if he does get the body right.

On the other hand Anthony lacks that stand out weapon but is an extremely complete unit as a player. He is extremely good with his body work and positioning. A very good contested marking foward and as important very good at getting the ball to ground when he is unable to mark. He is also a fantastic field kick and we all know about his kicking for goal.

It's one of those things people tend to straight away be drawn to the sexy,exciting "upside" and not really look at whether or not a player is playing there role. Anthony did that very well this year and Rusling in his short career has had a couple of games where he was pretty much ineffective and unlike Anthony he has already had pretty much a whole season of competiting with the best defenders Rusling hasn't had this. The game against Geelong he had Hunt for example who is a terrible defender.

I hope the best for him, it would be great for the club and everyone invovled if he does make it. He deserves to rewarded for his efforts and he is a talanted player.

That said we have to be realistic, he wasn't a dominate ready made superstar. He was a promising youngster who showed some good glimpses but also showed some real limitations. Granted he hadn't had a chance to work on them but you can't just assume that they would have got better or pretend they weren't there.

 

[Bigness]

No disrespect to the original poster but this thread has been wheeled out every off-season for the last 3 years. Fact is his body doesn't stand up. Hope I'm wrong because I reckon he's got talent but I think he'll be lost to AFL after this year.......If only he had Ben Kinnear's shoulders he could be anything

 

[Bay Pie]

someone has seen the light. Best post of the thread. Gee cloke was dissapointing this year, getting beaten all ends up by schoenmakers was a case in point. In the meantime anthony attracted multiple defenders, most times the best defender harris, scarlett, rutton etc and he performed admirably. He has something anthony, it's that spunk, the personality, love of the limelight, his honesty. If another one of our forwards fired a shot this year and actually attracted some attention, he would've kicked more goals. Medhurst, Cloke etc didn't help jack at all this year.

This.

If JA marks it in the F50, he is a better chance of kicking the goal then not. He is a dead-eye dick. That is the reason he got scragged by Lake, Scarlett & Rutten. For 1 free kick I might add.

JA > Rusling

 

[Invigoration]

Kicked 12 in his local league and 15 marks.

So 6 years ago in a local league?
Promising signs

 

[Ickirus]

Easily the most overrated player on our list, the longer he is out the more the legend grows.

No doubt Rusling has some skill due to his speed, but people seem to remember only some minor highlights and forget that he has played some very average games as well, with little or no impact.

I can't help but feel if Dawes or Rusling produced the same amount of output that Anthony achieved this year they would get more admiration and respect than Jack. Not saying Jack is a complete player, he never looked the same after the Sydney game where he hurt his hip and then changed his faultless kicking style, but a 50 goals a year young forward who takes the best opposition defender week in week out is extremely valuable.

I really hope Rusling can get his body right, as he has had terrible luck and does have value, and it will be a bonus if he does. However Rusling can't be relied upon to complete a whole season, let alone kick 50 goals.

 

[loki04]

So 6 years ago in a local league?
Promising signs

lol at least he has done it.

In all serious Ruz has the weapons but he has a lot going against him and if he is lucky enough we will get a bonus to the f50, JA had a great year and would benefit from having a Rusling taking some of the heat off him.

 

[Boris the Contradiction]

I'd be asking the opposition coaches who double teamed Anthony, while throwing a flanker onto Cloke, who our most dangerous forward was in 2009.

I'd be willing to make a bet with anyone that Anthony will average more goals per game than Rusling in 2009 (provided both players play a minimum of 5 games).

I wasn't saying Rus was better or will kick more goals. Jack is definitely better and would probably kick more goals. I was saying that Rus has something he can do that scares a defence - as it's been put he has a real weapon.
Anthony doesn't - having another player in there who can be scary and a fit Medders who also can would take the heat off Anthony, make him kick more goals and also make our forward line less predictable and easy to defend to. I was saying that Rusling doesn't need to kick goals to improve the team - I think Anthony does.

 

[Wooljay]

I think in the end, Rusling is just gravy in our forward structure. He isn't just going to slot into the forward line just because he manages not to need a shoulder reco every 5 rounds.

 

[sr36]

I like him. Other than injuries, my big concern is that his party trick is becoming less and less relevant in the evolving game.

 

[Vinnie Vegas]

Collingwood's average score over 2005-2007: 95 points

Collingwood's average score over 2005-2007 when Rusling plays: 96.3 points

1.3 points, wooptydoo.

That's some incredible statistical analysis that absolutely takes the place of logical physical observation

I never once said we scored more points when Rusling was in the side - I said our forward line functioned better. Whether that results in higher scores is largely due to the competition we faced in those games.

The fact is, if a midfielder is running through the middle of the ground, with Rusling in the side, the odds of that midfielder hitting a leading forward on the chest go way up, and most of us agree that that's the way football is supposed to be played.

I love Jack, but he's not reliable enough on the lead at the moment. If he improves his timing, he might be, but I get the feeling that it's something natural - Not something that can be worked on.

 

[typewriter]

As mentioned previously both have their pros and cons, but we arent comparing 2 players from different clubs.
Collingwood would be better off to have both playing in the forward line and teaching them to work together. Block/Shephard/rotate leads/drag their opponents away from the designated leader. we dont need to have a 70 goal forward if we get 80 or 90 from the both of them.

Imagine the quality of opponent Jack would get if Clokes in form and Rusling kicked 4 the week before. which ever out of the 3 gets the worst defender thats our target. all of a sudden Medhurst or Rusling or Jack or Fraser will be getting the 5th or 6th defender.

you cant measure their worth on pure goals per game, Bucks (in my mind) is a football genius, and 1 of his challenges this year will be to teach them to all function together and at times sacrifice their own games for the benefit of a teammate and ultimatly Collingwood

 

[mdc]

That's some incredible statistical analysis that absolutely takes the place of logical physical observation

Except that it's not "logical" and it's not "physical observation". Rather, you're relying of your memory of 2-4 years ago (unless you have recently managed to re-watch all 16 Rusling games). Employing logic in the realm of memory is bad policy.

I never once said we scored more points when Rusling was in the side - I said our forward line functioned better. Whether that results in higher scores is largely due to the competition we faced in those games.

A fair point possibly, but I looked up our competition in the games Rusling played, and their average record is 10.7W/11.3L. So he's played against slightly worse than average teams, overall. So that theory goes.

The fact is, if a midfielder is running through the middle of the ground, with Rusling in the side, the odds of that midfielder hitting a leading forward on the chest go way up, and most of us agree that that's the way football is supposed to be played.

They have a higher chance of hitting him on the chest if we clear the entire forward line like we did against Port in 06, or if the opponent decides to stick a short over-the-hill full back on him in Leo Barry.

When asked to be part of a normal functioning forward line, he's either been absent, or worse disrupted our structure.

I love Jack, but he's not reliable enough on the lead at the moment. If he improves his timing, he might be, but I get the feeling that it's something natural - Not something that can be worked on.

He's not reliable when he's got Scarlett or Lake on him, or when he's played as a decoy on the flank (as he was multiple times late in the season). Start him out of the square, with an empty forward-line, and he'll look just as "natural" as Rusling.

Anyway, I think this debate is likely to just go round in circles since none of us have any idea how he's pulled up after his umpteen injuries. I hope we get the chance to find out soon enough.

 

[DThomas]

Uh oh, mod fight.