What exactly makes other ruckmen better than Nicnat?

[wcesam]

inb4 eagles board

I thought I'd try to get some objective debate going about Naitanui, as there has been a lot of discussion about him but most of it seems baseless. The general consensus on Bigfooty is that he's overrated and has no impact outside of the highlight reel.

Generally ruckmen in the comp only average around the 10-13 possession mark, a few marks a game and hitouts depending on their time spent in the ruck. They rarely kick goals. Even an unfit Naitanui meets these standards.

When he is fully fit he handles the standard ruckwork plus wins contested ball on the inside, wins clearances, kicks goals and provides the odd "highlight reel" moment i.e. the specky or running goal from the centre bounce.

In his AA year he was one of the better four-quarter ruckmen in the comp.

What makes other rucks superior to him?

 

[Righteo]

Considering West Coast supporters are always claiming he's the best ruckman in the comp, shouldn't the onus be on you to tell us why he's BETTER than everyone else? OP doesn't work because nobody has EVER claimed he's the worst ruckman in the comp, don't be petty.

 

[helter skelter]

this isnt going to end well.

 

[wcesam]

He's not the best ruckman in the comp currently. This thread was inspired by the thread regarding Nicnat's contract deal where he was talked about as the most overrated player in the comp.

I'm not trying to talk him up here

 

[Captain Awkward]

Considering West Coast supporters are always claiming he's the best ruckman in the comp, shouldn't the onus be on you to tell us why he's BETTER than everyone else? OP doesn't work because nobody has EVER claimed he's the worst ruckman in the comp, don't be petty.

As a West Coast supporter I can tell you that he's not the best ruckman in the comp.

 

[Harris Specter]

OP is just asking for trouble.

 

[Handsome_Jack]

There is less pressure on them because they don't have the hype trail that is making out a good young player who is making good progress learning his trade to be some never before seen wonder of the world.
I cringe whenever commentators bring out the "freak" tag because you know deep down they aren't talking about his vertical leap or deceptive pace but his look which I think goes against him as well.
The same thing is happening with Majak Daw where the media is turning a promising player into a curiosity, if they left these guys alone to progress like normal players I doubt the over rated tags would be sticking.

 

[CrazyJoeDevola]

Consistency I'd say.. if he can overcome this then the stage is all his for the taking.

 

[TBoyleSuperstar]

I think the reason he is deemed to be overrated is he is talked about this amazing player, this player like no other, yet really he is no better than most ruckman in the league.

 

[Pusswah]

Well, they have a clue for a start.

 

[Dynamics]

I think my only gripe with him is that he isn't yet close to being as good as he COULD be. He could be one of the top 5 players in the AFL for several years if he maximised his potential. But as a ruckman he has that slower development cycle on his side, which is what I'm assuming the $800k or whatever it is is based on.

He's a very good footballer capable of doing extraordinary things on a weekly basis, as opposed to being an extraordinary footballer on a weekly basis.

 

[Slax]

Lacks any level of consistency in is follow up work and play around the ground. Does some amazing stuff, quickly followed by some cringe worthy things.

For me he is now the most frustrating player in the competition to watch (used to be Brennan), we know what he can do, but he just doesn't have any consistency

 

[WN123]

They get more hitouts... or they take more marks.... or they kick more goals..... or they get more disposals.
Amongst ruckmen Naitanui is nowhere near the top in any of those categories. Good player but could be better

 

[Superstar swan]

He really has poor football iq. He looks lost out there far to often, running around in no mans land barely influencing games. He has one of the greatest ruckman to have played the game in cox, I can't understand how he hasn't learnt to influence the game more after being in the system for 7 years under the tutelage of cox

 

[Despair]

They are football players...

He is an athlete.

 

[MarkT2]

As a tap ruckman he may well be the best in the comp in short bursts. That's a pretty limited CV though.

 

[Mofra]

For a start, many of them carry the majority of the ruck load (Minson/Mummy/Goldy/Jacobs/Maric/McEvoy)

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

I think Sydney's current success with our chief ruckman being "Bo" Derickx who only played 2 games for Richmond, suggests maybe the role of star ruckman is overrated in the modern game.

 

[MarkT2]

I think Sydney's current success with our chief ruckman being "Bo" Derickx who only played 2 games for Richmond, suggests maybe the role of star ruckman is overrated in the modern game.

Darren Jolly made a big difference at Collingwood in 2010.
Average quality ruckmen who are tall but second rate midfielders are over rated. Quality ruckmen who can take opack marks as well as direct taps are under rated.

 

[Rors]

For mine, he fails to read the game well.

Sure, his ruckin is quality, he looks good tracking the ball when its in front of him, applying pressure & jumping for it when its kicked long in his direction. But for some reason, he doesnt find or create space for himself (which is weird because Cox is the best i've ever seen at finding & creating space, & is basically Nic Nat's own private mentor) & apart from the 'see ball, get ball' instinct, his general footy nous is pretty poor

 

[kickazz]

Look I don't see enough to know how good NicNat is at it, but an underrated thing with ruckmen is how they use their body. Ottens was a good example, if he didn't get the perfect tap he could at least use his size to block opponents out of the scrimmage and help out the more nimble crummers.

 

[Butts_JZZ30]

Nicnat is just an average AFL ruckman, not bad but not great. He is possibly the best athlete in the AFL but he just doesn't have the football brain to be a dominant AFL player. I don't believe that it is something that he can learn either. He will continue to provide the odd highlight reel but probably doesn't read the game/flow of play well enough to ever be a consistent top 40 AFL player.

He is exciting and a marketing dream, I think this partly explains his large contract.

I do like him though and I really wish he would get it all together because with that build he has the ability to really dominate, but as I said I just dont think he has a good football brain.

 

[Boiled Geezer]

Naitanui's body falling apart at the ripe old age of 24 isn't very promising for a big bloke.

 

[SBD Gonzalez]

Darren Jolly made a big difference at Collingwood in 2010.
Average quality ruckmen who are tall but second rate midfielders are over rated. Quality ruckmen who can take opack marks as well as direct taps are under rated.

True. Look, I'm not saying there's never a need for a good ruckman.

And I'm not knocking Bo, who has worked his arse off, and is also proving a lot more cluey than a lot of Swans fans initially gave him credit for.

I'm just saying that Sydney's current period of sunshine (which of course could all come crashing down in an instant!) suggests that a team can succeed without a ruck star.

 

[carnthedons]

Football nous, goals, marks, possessions, influence, consistency