Coaching Staff Former Coach Ben "Truck" Rutten - Sacked for real this time - 21/8

Jul 15, 2008
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I could not have been more impressed by pretty much everything from Truck since he's taken over.

Clarity in message and plan to players. We've had a sample size of 6 games and have seen a clear style for over 70% of the time. Lapses in such a young side for a new style is expected.

We look extremely well drilled and the players seem to know exactly what they're meant to do (even if they're still learning to apply it on the fly in random game situations).

Roles are well defined, with Stewart (limited judgement from a couple of preseason matches), Laverde and Heppell (this was more obvious) making sense down back and looking good. The wing roles of Cox/Langford/Ham providing running and height. The forward line is looking functional with Hooker the anchor. Stoppages are looking good and centre clearances, while a work in progress especially defensively is still looking better than it has since Jobe.

Standards are clearly set and selection policies seem to be well defined in terms of both form and injury.

A long way to go yet but holy s**t I'm impressed early days.

I defended Woosha but I am now very happy he's gone.
 

CBombers17

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Jul 7, 2014
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Rapidly warming to the Truck / Cara combination. I felt more engaged and onboard with the 4 quarter team effort last night than since about 2019.

Kids like Cox and Perkins were the icing on the cake of watching a team committed to doing the hard defensive work required to compete against all comers at this level
 
Jul 15, 2008
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Rapidly warming to the Truck / Cara combination. I felt more engaged and onboard with the 4 quarter team effort last night than since about 2019.

Kids like Cox and Perkins were the icing on the cake of watching a team committed to doing the hard defensive work required to compete against all comers at this level
I was half expecting a response from you about how he was hired. While I don't necessarily disagree with you on that I'm so over reading about it and am happy to see you are feeling positive about Truck (despite how he was hired).
 
Apr 11, 2002
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How's it aging now, toss? You won't win many games not playing a ruckman

We lost by less than a goal Sherlock, against the current competition benchmark.

Bryan probably isn't ready to go for whatever reason but you want to rush him in, in a development year. Yeah that's never not worked out well.
 
We lost by less than a goal Sherlock, against the current competition benchmark.

Bryan probably isn't ready to go for whatever reason but you want to rush him in, in a development year. Yeah that's never not worked out well.
Let's also not forget that Bryan is a rookie ruck that hasn't debuted yet, very little reason to think he would have performed better than Wright.
 
Jun 11, 2007
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So we've allowed Hawthorn and now Sydney to whittle our lead back. Go to work, Truck.
i'm not that concerned about that yet.
These are good lessons not to rest on our laurels.

Took us some time in the hawks game to wrestle momentum back. Less in the Swans game.
Didn't let up v the Saints much though that could have been a 100pt win. Think we got it out to 86 at one point.
 

bombreys

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May 8, 2015
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We lost by less than a goal Sherlock, against the current competition benchmark.

Bryan probably isn't ready to go for whatever reason but you want to rush him in, in a development year. Yeah that's never not worked out well.

We’re 1-3 and got dominated in the ruck. As you pointed out, it’s a development year. Cannot hurt to give him a go
 

ghostdog

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Oct 18, 2008
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Can someone with skills please gif the footage of Truck after Waterman kicked his first.
Truck can't hide his pleasure. It's awesome that we've seen more of that facial inability than anger and disgust. Perversely, I'm looking forward to seeing what that looks like, too. It makes me smile when Truck does, though.
 

ghostdog

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I could not have been more impressed by pretty much everything from Truck since he's taken over.

Clarity in message and plan to players. We've had a sample size of 6 games and have seen a clear style for over 70% of the time. Lapses in such a young side for a new style is expected.

We look extremely well drilled and the players seem to know exactly what they're meant to do (even if they're still learning to apply it on the fly in random game situations).

Roles are well defined, with Stewart (limited judgement from a couple of preseason matches), Laverde and Heppell (this was more obvious) making sense down back and looking good. The wing roles of Cox/Langford/Ham providing running and height. The forward line is looking functional with Hooker the anchor. Stoppages are looking good and centre clearances, while a work in progress especially defensively is still looking better than it has since Jobe.

Standards are clearly set and selection policies seem to be well defined in terms of both form and injury.

A long way to go yet but holy sh*t I'm impressed early days.

I defended Woosha but I am now very happy he's gone.
I would add that our style looks so much more distinctive now, the players much more focused on their roles, and the selection table so much more steady and determined, that the notion that it was Truck in control in 2020 doesn't stand up.
 

ghostdog

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How's it aging now, toss? You won't win many games not playing a ruckman
I think responsible player development and game plan implementation is the focus this year. Winning games, if it happens, is just a bonus. Look forward to next year when it's the Draper/Bryan 1-2 ruck combo.
 
Jul 15, 2008
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I would add that our style looks so much more distinctive now, the players much more focused on their roles, and the selection table so much more steady and determined, that the notion that it was Truck in control in 2020 doesn't stand up.
Well I kinda said most of that but yes agreed the notion he was in full control last year doesn't stand up.
 
the notion that it was Truck in control in 2020 doesn't stand up.
Yep, this. Unless he had a personality transplant sometime last October this doesn't look like the same thing at all. We talk about the team having a harder edge now but the same goes for the coaching 😆
 

BrunoV

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May 5, 2009
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Rutten is getting big ticks from me so far.

Love the flexibility of thinking and the hits he is prepared to take to build the team. Love that we're a territory team when we play well.

We haven't seen Stewart yet but the defence is really taking shape minus its linchpin. Switching Laverde was another great decision because it seems to me to maximise the use of available talent in a way that allows for as much development of the team as possible. For example, it would not be easy to fit Perkins and Jones into a side if Stewart and Laverde were still forward. It wouldn't really be possible.

Sticking with Ham and Wright is also good because the side needs what they can bring.

We've had a look at 4 of our 5 most promising prospects for 2021. Senior players on the outer.

The structure of the side is great based on what is available. The players seem up for the fight each week (we're going to get beaten by the better sides as the middle of the ground is too light and we're young).

None of the reservations I had about the way the year could be handled have been realised to date. Injuries have helped and raise a number of interesting list management questions for the end of the year.

It's fun watching the team play again. The year could be quite a ride, almost certainly with a few more heavy defeats to come but with a style of footy that looks the part. We could do some serious damage in the last 6 weeks of the year following the return of Draper, Caldwell and Stewart and their inclusion in the combination.
 
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