WestCat said:
I never knew that, I always thought the centre had the task of getting his hands dirty and dishing the ball out.
Well.... yes and no. Greg Williams, the best centerman I ever saw was definitely an inside player, but he had to be with his pace. However, when Ablett Snr played in the centre (vs West Coast in.... 91? 92? in Perth) he kicked 5 goals. He was never an inside player. I saw Peter Featherby kick 5 goals against Collingwood at Waverly in Rnd 1 1982 and he was way too light to be an inside player. He was a marathon runner who could play football exceedingly well.
When I think of ruck-rovers I picture Mark Ricciuto, Garry Hocking, Michael Voss as ideal but these types are always balanced by the taller running ruck-rovers like Michael Tuck, Wayne Campbell, Nathan Buckley and Joel Corey.
A friend of mine (who as a teenager was on Richmond's list but did his knee and never made it to the highest level) plays on the ball and in the centre for Narre Warren. He explained to me that the centreman plays to a diamond formation- meaning that he ventures out to the wings, CHF and CHB but typically he stays in the centre square. The rover and ruck rover are required to follow the ball.... which is why I sucked in my only game as a rover. Too much running required!
Who plays centre consistently these days? Del Santo? He's not a bullocking ruck-rover like Mark Ricciuto or Garry Hocking, but certainly a clever dodger and weaver with excellent disposal by hand and foot like Paul Couch.
The traditional rover/ruck-rover/centre positions were mostly done away with in the 90's when West Coast beat us twice with about 15 ruck-rover types spread all over the ground. Our ruck-rovers were Bairstow and Hocking but in '92 Blight played Bairstow on the wing on Matera and in 94 both Bairstow and Hocking were injured. Bairstow was a hard player but not as physically intimidating as Hocking. We couldn't match WC's physical pressure.
There are exceptions, though. I may but wrong but I think Dean Kemp played as a true ruck rover. He copped a lot of head injuries, though and never seemed fazed by it. A very tough competitor by all accounts.
Ruck rovers are supposed to be real hard nuts who are physically intimidating. None of our players have the physical presence to scare the opposition, unless Mooney goes on the ball - and look what a difference he makes when he is playing as a ruck-rover! He goes from Big Hairy Cat to Big Scary Cat!
Anyway, these days players are simply listed as "onballers" or "key position". Even the flankers have to spend time on the ball - look at Ablett, Chappy and SJ.
Great topic!