Autopsy When did rovers become extinct?

[Boomerfan99]

When I started watching AFL in early 90s, every team had a rover. Now that term is barley used anymore and you don't tend to have a little guy in the midfield.

Question for you blokes, is when did the rovers disappear?

Also don't hear the term ruck rover any more.

 

[Supercoach Bargain]

Where are the followers?

 

[The 747]

There are about 15 of them each team now.

 

[Bokonon_]

When I started watching AFL in early 90s, every team had a rover. Now that term is barley used anymore and you don't tend to have a little guy in the midfield.

Question for you blokes, is when did the rovers disappear?

Also don't hear the term ruck rover any more.

Actually ruck-rover has been used recently to describe Blicavs. The players dont have set positions so a rover doesn't really describe a pisition, but really all 6 mids + 3-4 outside mids are rovers in the current structure for at least some of the game.

 

[Suma Magic]

It's common for people to name a rover that's taller than a ruck rover in their AA team.

It makes me sick.

 

[Capt Hindsight]

Almost all traditional positions are gone.
Still plenty of short (for AFL) mids that would be considered a rover. Zorko is a good example.

 

[Aeglos]

Almost all traditional positions are gone.
Still plenty of short (for AFL) mids that would be considered a rover. Zorko is a good example.

Apart from ruck I'd say they're all gone

 

[Adz]

Ruck rover is simply and in and under mid?

 

[treefingers]

Bring back the drop punt and the Argus system while we're at it!

 

[Silent Alarm]

They still exist, they're just coined 'inside midfielders' now. Just like wingers are outside mids, forward pockets are small forwards, a half back who likes a run and bounce and knows when to take the game on is a 'line breaking defender,' and a centre half back with a solid big kick is a 'quarter back role.' Stupid ******* buzz terms for simple things that have barely changed, but it's in the media's best interest to talk them up like something new and exciting so the media looks insightful and intelligent.

Lachie Neale is short, gets the ball himself, dishes out quick handballs, and waits for the tap from the ruckman. Plenty of other guys play in that traditional role. Tall players like Fyfe, Dangerfield, Bontempelli, Dusty generally just have more strength so they can bust through packs and take the game on a bit more themselves as opposed to giving off handballs and doing more with less.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

John platten was the last one.

Maybe Brent Harvey when he played midfield.

The centreman still exists: tom mitchell, Sam mitchell, josh Kennedy, jobe Watson, selwood.

 

[Doss]

Players are less pigeonholed in general now.

Also, I think the role is still kind of there, but rover is an unfashionable term and has fallen out of fashion. They're basically what people would call one dimensional inside mids now.