Opinion Unpopular Opinion: Naitanui is a better ruck than Cox

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southjoy

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Nov 11, 2003
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Fortunate enough to be a West Coast Fan and watch two of arguably the best ruckmen the game has had.
BUT comparing an inside midfielder beast to an elite running wingman is almost whats being asked.

Like comparing Marc Murphy and Patrick, Dion Prestia and Cotchin, Burgoyne and Mitchell, Libba and MaCRae etc etc.

For what it's worth Cox had the ability to read the game better and hence get into more damaging positions. BUT Nic could make the 5 or 6 person tussle on a contested ball end up falling our way..
 
May 13, 2007
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To win 6 AA's is not something thats easy lets remember especially for players from the West.
The two years that he missed AA honours in 2009 and 2010 was due mainly to injury.

If he was fit he very well might've gone 8 years in a row as the AA ruckman.
 
Sep 8, 2011
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People talking on here like Coxy was a slouch in the hitout department. Whilst not as good or as glorious as Nic’s, his H/O to Advantage were miles ahead of any other ruckman of his time.

One things for certain, Naitanui’s tap work wouldn’t be as grand as it is without his tutelage under Coxy.

If Cox had the number of hit outs that Grundy had last week, Collingwood would have won by a country mile
 

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Gizza

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Apr 29, 2008
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In regards to tapwork there's little question. Naitanui may be one of the best of all time.

But we're pretty lucky in regards to his limitations. With a forward line of Kennedy, Darling, Allen, Waterman we don't need a ruckman resting forward (and in fact would have a lopsided forwardline if we did). Likewise with Hurn, Barrass and McGovern down back, we're not so reliant on a ruckman dropping back in the gap.

A ruckman doing most of his work in the middle and adding some contested grunt works perfectly for us. I think his lack of work around the ground and limited TOG would be a much bigger issue for most other clubs though.
 
If Nicnat keeps playing like the way he does atm ...his legacy will be diminished

Clearly Cox is the better ruck
Ridiculous comment. In fact I’d say you are a Nic Nat troll.
 

Westend

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Ridiculous comment. In fact I’d say you are a Nic Nat troll.

So you do not rate Cox ?? clearly Cox is a better all round ruck than Nicnat

troll? ..the way Nicnat is going his legacy will be diminished unless he starts getting fitter takes more marks and imposes himself on the game

If he continues the way he is going...slow around the ground and unfit...yes his legacy will be diminished

truth hurts
 

Pulsedriver

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So you do not rate Cox ?? clearly Cox is a better all round ruck than Nicnat

troll? ..the way Nicnat is going his legacy will be diminished unless he starts getting fitter takes more marks and imposes himself on the game

If he continues the way he is going...slow around the ground and unfit...yes his legacy will be diminished

truth hurts

Watch out, mods around here don't take nicely to views they don't agree with, so you must be a troll as one disagreed with you.
 
Watch out, mods around here don't take nicely to views they don't agree with, so you must be a troll as one disagreed with you.
Time for a break from the forum for you I believe.
 
Why are you threatening me?
You don’t get to bad mouth the mods here across threads and expect to be welcome.

Take a break. A suggestion not a threat.

However I sense you’ll need persuasion

Have a good one 👍🏽
 

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DieSwans

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Apr 15, 2009
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Be interesting if Nic Nat got to work with Cousins, Judd, Kerr, Fletcher, etc...

Nic Nat working with absolute scraps at the moment.

Though I do feel Cox was more versatile all round
 
I am the biggest fan of Nik Nat, but he needs to lose some weight and get fitter, and stay on the park for longer. 60-70% TOG doesn't cut it anymore.

Yeah he's clearly carrying 5 kgs too much.

Massive unit but to play the way he does needs to drop a few.
 

Westend

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Yeah he's clearly carrying 5 kgs too much.

Massive unit but to play the way he does needs to drop a few.

Yup and why hasn’t the club identified this ?? Why hasn’t he been on a training program to build up his endurance ...just poor by the club

He is great with the tap/centre bounce but then is a liability around the ground ..opposition clubs are throwing there rucks forward and nicnat cannot go with them

His marking has gone backwards he struggles to get more than 1 or two per game gone are the days when we could throw him forward and he can take a huge pack mark and kick a goal .. has he kicked a goal this year ???

Where are the big tackles when. He used to hurt people in the middle ?? When was the last time we saw nicnat lay a big tackle ?? That physical presence he is good at ?? Would live to see him put the fear of god into some Freo midfielders this week

Atm he does the centre bounce tap well does a little bit of ground work and then goes missing sits on the Pine ..it’s not good enough from a player of his talent
 
Yup and why hasn’t the club identified this ?? Why hasn’t he been on a training program to build up his endurance ...just poor by the club

He is great with the tap/centre bounce but then is a liability around the ground ..opposition clubs are throwing there rucks forward and nicnat cannot go with them

His marking has gone backwards he struggles to get more than 1 or two per game gone are the days when we could throw him forward and he can take a huge pack mark and kick a goal .. has he kicked a goal this year ???

Where are the big tackles when. He used to hurt people in the middle ?? When was the last time we saw nicnat lay a big tackle ?? That physical presence he is good at ?? Would live to see him put the fear of god into some Freo midfielders this week

Atm he does the centre bounce tap well does a little bit of ground work and then goes missing sits on the Pine ..it’s not good enough from a player of his talent

Maybe they have and he's having trouble losing the weight? Some peoples genetics make it difficult.

It's strange as he had a terrific rig in his first few years but I'd say the two knees has made cardio difficult for him.

As good as he's been, we've all been robbed of NN in his prime thanks to those horrible knee injuries.
 

Spange

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May 24, 2007
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Not arguably, he was.

People probably forget how good Gardiner was prior to his ill-disciplined behaviour ending his tenure at our club.

I must admit I did forget about Gardiner.
My only memory of him is boxing on against freo and a forgettable finals appearance.

Based on durability, running power and dare I say it marks and goals I’d take Cox over Nic or Gardy
 
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