The rucks

[the lemon wedge]

Does tonight prove to everyone that josh is our best ruck?

 

[SIDE BY SIDE]

Yes he is our best ruckman he has always been our best ruckman. I thought he was good at the center bounces his timing was as good as i can remember. He didn't seem to get as much ball around the ground as he normally does but i give him the thumbs up last night

 

[Kirby]

I thought Josh was okay and the pleasing thing is that he looked really fit and moved very well. In fact, I can't ever recall him looking so well. However, he's still is not a very good tap ruckman and I dont think that many of the taps he got were to our advantage. He is still our best ruckman by far.

I thought that Wood was terrible last night. Sometimes he just does not look switched on and last nights game was a prime example of that. They have got to work out a way to get him "on" as he clearly has some talent.

 

[ksardog]

would someone just grab wood and give him a shake.he was terrible last night and looked intimidated by simmons in the ruck.we are on the verge of something special but we need wood to give us first use of the ball if we are to succeed this year.fire up cameron.pleased with the games of cook,toovey[ i close my eyes when he kicks though ] reid and especially beams.we got a good one there.

 

[Dave The Man]

I thought that Wood was terrible last night. Sometimes he just does not look switched on and last nights game was a prime example of that. They have got to work out a way to get him "on" as he clearly has some talent.

I thought for the 1st 3 Quater as you say was not switched on but I thought he did a bit in the 4th Quater with the Highlight being the great shoe lace pick-up.

Wood was touted as a top-10 Pick in 04 draft and this is why he might of fallen in the draft because of his On-Off Mentally for games because he sure has the talant to be a Top Line Ruckman

 

[MightyQuinn]

surely cameron is better than that very below par performance last night....

you're right dave, great boot lace pick up, but didn't do anything else. just looked bored and lazy.

snap out of it big fella, we need you to fire!!

 

[shawthing09]

There really seems to be something NQR with Wood. For someone who is as talanted as he is. Who was driven enough to move clubs because he wanted to play senior football to then play as poorly as he did in most of his VFL games last year and then again last night just does not make sesne. As others have said there are games where he clearly mentally looks like he is off with the fairies and last night was as bad as I have seen it. I'd almost resort to playing Bryan from now until Wood can string back to back to back to back to back top class games at VFL level.

 

[Ickirus]

Fraser is obviously our best ruck, whilst Wood's game last night was clearly off I would not drop him for Bryan.

While Wood played poorly, he had from what I saw very limited gametime and was not clicked on until I thought the last quarter.

Bryan was poor to very poor for the last 6 matches of the season and for mine offers nothing more than Wood and has even worse decision making. The NAB Cup is also the perfect time to play the younger guys such as Wood as match experience is invaluable.

He played well against the Eagles, and this was only one game, quite a few of our senior players looked off last night also.

 

[The Dawes]

Josh looks really fit at present and let's hope he stays that way all year for a change. As Luke Darcy alluded to, when he's on song he can get 20 odd possessions and a goal or two which is more than handy for a ruckman.

Wood was disappointing but it's only one game. He showed that he's keen to take his game to the next level when he went over to the US a week early with Didak and another teammate to get themselves extra fit before the pre-season camp - so I'd suggest it was just an off-night rather than something more serious.

Big blokes have a tendency to look particularly poor when they have ordinary games.

If he strings a few together like last night, then we will have some concerns, but otherwise one poor game means about as much as one good game at this time of year in the context of the whole season. Bugger all.

 

[Bonuspoints]

After watching lasts night game with Wood's disposal Fraser is our best by far. Wood's kicking was terrible, which was pretty much what Brions fans had been saying when he was traded to us. Does alright getting to places to contest the footy and all, but his kicking was painful. Hopefully this was just a one off bad game.

 

[Dave The Man]

After watching lasts night game with Wood's disposal Fraser is our best by far. Wood's kicking was terrible, which was pretty much what Brions fans had been saying when he was traded to us. Does alright getting to places to contest the footy and all, but his kicking was painful. Hopefully this was just a one off bad game.

Wood can play better then than and Remember Dawes was just as bad in the west in our last game

 

[Rohan Coventry]

Wood has attitude issues. Exactly the reason Brisbane shipped him off.

 

[shawthing09]

Wood can play better then than and Remember Dawes was just as bad in the west in our last game

Sorry Dave but how is that relevant. Yes young players form will be up and down but just because Dawes was hopeless in the west doesn't make it ok for Wood to be rubbish. It just means we have a couple of players who aren't at the level we would hope atm

 

[Optimax]

Wood can play better then than and Remember Dawes was just as bad in the west in our last game

No dave dawes look interested and pissed off with his mistakes.

Wood was there in body, there was nothing in his chest or between his ears last night

 

[YouBeauty]

Bryan > Wood. It is time to bring the bear back, will be good if they give him a chance, much more effective around the ground than wood and can bomb it long into the 50. Also, more aggressive and hungry than wood.

 

[Ramere]

Josh was OK, looks fit & I'd expect him to have a career best season if he remains uninjured.

Whilst Wood was far from inspiring I hardly think it's time to give up on him, who was the last 21-22 yo ruckman to really impose himself on the comp? Still plenty of time for Wood to show he was worth the trade, I'm hoping he is better this year than last (& should be with a full pre-season including a trip to Arizona) but reckon he will really start to shine from next year onwards.

 

[Magnus the Magpie]

Fraser has played better games in terms of disposals and goals but he was better than I've ever seen him in the ruck contests themselves and clearly out-pointed Simmonds. If he continues in that vein, he'll ensure that our mids at least have a 50-50 chance of winning the ball - and that will be the first time that's happened in over 10 years!

Wood showed at times last year that he can take a mark up forward and kick goals. He has obvious talent and we need to persist with him - for the time being anyway

 

[Bonuspoints]

Woods disposal was terrible tonight, but he's a good mark and seems to know where to put his big frame at either end of the ground. I think he'll be okay for us this year, but I hope he doesn't have too many nights like the game against the Tigers. I really think we won't push far in September without a fit and firing Fraser.

 

[kevind]

Wood has attitude issues. Exactly the reason Brisbane shipped him off.

I was told by a reliable source that Brisbane shipped him off because Mathews rated him as 'too soft'. He's still young though, so hopefully with age and experience will come the necessary physical presence. Otherwise we are faced with another Guy Richards.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Wood had a bad night, no question. I wouldn't be dropping him though from the NAB Cup, he's not going to improve by not playing.

 

[King Woodie]

I was told by a reliable source that Brisbane shipped him off because Mathews rated him as 'too soft'. He's still young though, so hopefully with age and experience will come the necessary physical presence. Otherwise we are faced with another Guy Richards.

I'd be surprised about that.

If "softness" relates to physical courage, I would disagree completely. Wood goes back with the flight hard, and always puts himself in the contest. I have no issues with Wood's courage.

If by soft Matthews was refering to his lack of physicality (due to being underdeveloped) then that is okay, but being a young beanpole, this is expected, and I think Wood will end up being a strong ruckman.

If by soft, he was referring to Wood's ability to push himself to exhaustion and beyond, then that is a more acceptable definition for Wood as well, and something that I am sure we have been working on.

But there are no issues with Wood's courage in the air.

 

[kevind]

I'd be surprised about that.

If "softness" relates to physical courage, I would disagree completely. Wood goes back with the flight hard, and always puts himself in the contest. I have no issues with Wood's courage.

If by soft Matthews was refering to his lack of physicality (due to being underdeveloped) then that is okay, but being a young beanpole, this is expected, and I think Wood will end up being a strong ruckman.

If by soft, he was referring to Wood's ability to push himself to exhaustion and beyond, then that is a more acceptable definition for Wood as well, and something that I am sure we have been working on.

But there are no issues with Wood's courage in the air.

What he meant was that Wood does not play with the sort of physicality you would want from a big man. There was no inference of a lack of courage and I certainly don't believe there are issues in that area either.

If your ruckman is not playing well but is providing strong physical contests to help clear a path for his teammates then he can be very valuable. Wood at the moment IMO lacks this quality in his game. That's why Bryan gets a game. He has nowhere near the same ability as Wood, but provides a valuable physical presence.

Josh Fraser is also similar to Wood but makes up for it by being very good around the ground. Therefore Wood may find it difficult to keep his place in the team as he lacks Josh's work rate around the ground and lacks Bryan's physical presence. Doing what Josh does around the ground will not ever be easy for him, so I think he really needs to develop a physical presence before becoming a permanent fixture at AFL level.

 

[King Woodie]

What he meant was that Wood does not play with the sort of physicality you would want from a big man. There was no inference of a lack of courage and I certainly don't believe there are issues in that area either.

If your ruckman is not playing well but is providing strong physical contests to help clear a path for his teammates then he can be very valuable. Wood at the moment IMO lacks this quality in his game. That's why Bryan gets a game. He has nowhere near the same ability as Wood, but provides a valuable physical presence.

Josh Fraser is also similar to Wood but makes up for it by being very good around the ground. Therefore Wood may find it difficult to keep his place in the team as he lacks Josh's work rate around the ground and lacks Bryan's physical presence. Doing what Josh does around the ground will not ever be easy for him, so I think he really needs to develop a physical presence before becoming a permanent fixture at AFL level.

According to that definition I would agree with that - but he is still early in his physical development phase, and I would expect he would develop a stronger body over the next few years.

Wood is a better ruck option than Bryan - both for the now and the future - and must be persisted with. Bryan should only be getting games if one of Wood or Josh are injured, otherwise we have STILL gone nowhere with our ruck department. EVen now it is possibly the most glaring need on our list.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

I had another look at the game last night and I don't think Wood was as bad as I first thought. Yes, he should have been aware of the ball bouncing toward goal. Yes, he fell over a few times at inopportune moments... but I think he kept trying and he did run down Brett Deledio from behind with 6:30 left in the last quarter.

Wood is a long-term proposition, we know we'll have to take the good with the bad, let's get some games into him.

 

[Dave The Man]

I had another look at the game last night and I don't think Wood was as bad as I first thought. Yes, he should have been aware of the ball bouncing toward goal. Yes, he fell over a few times at inopportune moments... but I think he kept trying and he did run down Brett Deledio from behind with 6:30 left in the last quarter.

Wood is a long-term proposition, we know we'll have to take the good with the bad, let's get some games into him.

True - He was actually quite good in the 4th Quater. Just had a Shockering 3 quater but that is good to see he kept trying and it came together

I have heard Bryan is only on a 1 year contract and that does tell me he just there for Inssurace just in case of injury