Who will be our no. 1 Ruck-man in 2012

Sharks On A Plane

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#26
With all due respect to his "potential", Hampson has shown nothing to warrant him claiming the first ruck position. It is questionable as to whether he has shown enough to claim second ruck.

I agree he has the potential to be an awesome player, but if anything I would say that he is currently not living up to potential at the moment. However, I understand that big players do take more time to develop
orly?

34 hit outs against Melbourne last year and 36 against Port. He also did a power of work in 2009, carrying the ruck load for over 10 straight weeks and performing admirably.

Hampson is criminally underrated in his attack on the football at ground level also (as is Warnock). He is by no means out of the contest when the ball hits the deck and competes fiercely at the stoppages. I am a huge Hampson fan and see him as an essential part of the best 22, even if that means playing all three ruckmen in order to facilitate it (I would sub the least influential of the three off at 3/4 time and bring on an extra mid, depending on the status of the game).

Hampson's potential as a forward is seriously off the scale. He is the definition of a defender's nightmare: extremely quick on the lead, ridiculously athletic and 201cm, with his height allowing him to draw free kicks when the backmen panic. He has shown excellent application at training and has really improved both his marking and his set shots. He is by no means a finished product and I realise that players tagged as having 'potential' often remain unfulfilled talents for their entire careers, but I am extremely confident that Hampson will make it. He will be a serious weapon for us in the coming years, primarily as a full-forward who will provide an excellent chop-out for Warnock and Kreuzer in the ruck.

We are seriously blessed in the ruck at the moment (think Ackland, Cloke, McLaren, Mott, Smith and whichever other failed big men I'm forgetting).

Warnock is an incredible tap ruckman - a real artist - and will also prove dangerous resting forward (his effort in the Elim final v Sydney is indicative of what he's capable of). Warnock has also proven himself to be a big game player, seemingly performing at his best when the most is on the line. This is clearly a wonderful quality to have in a footballer.

Kreuzer is an absolute animal. He is truly courageous and probably one of the best competitors to ever pull on the navy blue. He is not, however, a highly skilled tap ruckman and I am certain that he will never make it as a permanent forward, he simply doesn't read the play well enough and looks totally lost when stationed down there. Kreuzer is an outstanding athlete and as such must be allowed to bulldoze his way around the ground smashing packs.

My plan would be for Warnock to spend the most time on the pine out of the three of them, though he would be called upon to ruck during the clutch moments of the game and for all centre bounces. Kreuzer doing the bulk of the grunt work around the ground, so as to keep the less athletically-gifted Warnock fresh, and Hampson playing full forward with an occasional run in the ruck. I'm pretty confident that this system could work, and would prove incredibly difficult for opposition sides to combat...
 

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Stubba1

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#27
orly?

34 hit outs against Melbourne last year and 36 against Port. He also did a power of work in 2009, carrying the ruck load for over 10 straight weeks and performing admirably.

Hampson is criminally underrated in his attack on the football at ground level also (as is Warnock). He is by no means out of the contest when the ball hits the deck and competes fiercely at the stoppages. I am a huge Hampson fan and see him as an essential part of the best 22, even if that means playing all three ruckmen in order to facilitate it (I would sub the least influential of the three off at 3/4 time and bring on an extra mid, depending on the status of the game).

Hampson's potential as a forward is seriously off the scale. He is the definition of a defender's nightmare: extremely quick on the lead, ridiculously athletic and 201cm, with his height allowing him to draw free kicks when the backmen panic. He has shown excellent application at training and has really improved both his marking and his set shots. He is by no means a finished product and I realise that players tagged as having 'potential' often remain unfulfilled talents for their entire careers, but I am extremely confident that Hampson will make it. He will be a serious weapon for us in the coming years, primarily as a full-forward who will provide an excellent chop-out for Warnock and Kreuzer in the ruck.

We are seriously blessed in the ruck at the moment (think Ackland, Cloke, McLaren, Mott, Smith and whichever other failed big men I'm forgetting).

Warnock is an incredible tap ruckman - a real artist - and will also prove dangerous resting forward (his effort in the Elim final v Sydney is indicative of what he's capable of). Warnock has also proven himself to be a big game player, seemingly performing at his best when the most is on the line. This is clearly a wonderful quality to have in a footballer.

Kreuzer is an absolute animal. He is truly courageous and probably one of the best competitors to ever pull on the navy blue. He is not, however, a highly skilled tap ruckman and I am certain that he will never make it as a permanent forward, he simply doesn't read the play well enough and looks totally lost when stationed down there. Kreuzer is an outstanding athlete and as such must be allowed to bulldoze his way around the ground smashing packs.

My plan would be for Warnock to spend the most time on the pine out of the three of them, though he would be called upon to ruck during the clutch moments of the game and for all centre bounces. Kreuzer doing the bulk of the grunt work around the ground, so as to keep the less athletically-gifted Warnock fresh, and Hampson playing full forward with an occasional run in the ruck. I'm pretty confident that this system could work, and would prove incredibly difficult for opposition sides to combat...
I have watched Hampson's progress closely since he first arrived at Carlton. For the last couple of years I have genuinely felt that he will become the nightmare of opposition coaches for all the reasons you have outlined. I have no doubt that we will be seeing him breaking packs apart, taking marks like his blinder against Brisbane last year and bursting through the centre or out of ff on a regular basis, fitness permiting.
 
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Moderator #28
Just as I am not convinced in the merits of a definitive 'best 22', I am also not convinced by the notion of a number 1 ruckman.

For Carlton to be as strong as we believe they can be in 2012 and beyond, we need all 3 of them ready to go when called upon.

All of Hampson, Kreuzer and Warnock have shown themselves to be quality. All three have shown that they can perform more than adequately in the ruck, and I believe all three will get significant opportunity to show their worth in 2012.

We have a real advantage over many sides in that we have three capable ruckmen on our list, all pushing for senior action. An opportunity to use that advantage could be absolute gold and go a long way to determining how deep we venture into September action.

Ratten spoke of his grief in being unable to rest key players at certain stages throughout last season, be it due to injury, individual form or team form. Whilst not exclusively, I do believe that our rucks were a part of that regret.

Round 1? Kreuzer will be there, that's for sure. I'd have Warnock starting ahead of Hampson, but a supposedly limited preseason may change that quite quickly.
 

rp84

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#30
201cm Nic Natanui says hi. .. West Coast showed you can inject a second tall into the middle from time to time. .. I know he is a freak athlete but Kreuze is no slouch. .. imagine Kreuzer going second man up in the ruck or using his height to get first hands on the ball and dishing off a handball to Judd/Murphy. .. Or just crunching a smaller mid in one of his bear hug tackles. ..
Haha fair point CP.

As you say NN is a freak. He is MORE athletic and powerful than Amy midfielder, so can play the role.

I guess I still picture MK as really heavy like he was last year. Totally lost any of that pretty good movement. I haven't seen him since he has been slimmed down, but may be able to get in the middle a bit IF he has regained that pace. Had the turning circle of the Titanic with the extra ten or
So kegs on him.

I still think he needs to be up forward as much as in the ruck. Would be huge if he can get 30 goals. As I said, I think the brad ottens mould suits him. Was very mobile early on, then just added year by year to his physique, rather than doing it all in a year.
 
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#33
Depending on the opposition your playing there is an argument for all three. Personally I would like to see Hampson develop as a Big target up forward, even if it's only to create a contest to allow our small forwards to sneak bag fulls.
Wishful thinking? Probably.
 

BLue_Bloys

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#34
Kruez first choice.

Hampson / Warnock depending on fitness and form. Hampson really showed something prior to being injured.

We all know how good a tap ruckman Warnock is, but to take the next step he needs to put on a little size (if it's possible) and assert himself around the ground. At times last year his contested marking against guys 20cm shorter than him was embarrassing, did not even provide a contest. He did turn that around toward the end of the season and his final vs Essendon was amazing.
 

The_Wookie

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Kreuzer when hes flying is as good as most. Warnock is an excellent tap ruckman but is a little on the slow side for todays footy. Would have been perfect in the mid 90s.

hampson WILL be the complete package. hes got the height that kreuzer has, but with a leap that neither Kreuzer and Warnock will ever have. He can, contrary to popular belief mark the footy, and he can kick the damn thing a mile. As someone else said, an opposition nightmare on his best day. He carried the ruck for half the damn season last year, took some impressive grabs as well. carried the day against Brisbane, Sydney (before he was injured), Melbourne, Port (even though Brogan was almost dead). Came back and dominated in the ruck and forward for the Ants because Kreuzer and Warnock were both in the side.

Hampson is our Anti-NicNat.
 

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audas

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#40
...and we could possibly still have Jacobs, who many on the Adelaide board consider to be their most important player.

Credit to Capuano?
And a massive good luck to them as well.

Jacobs isn't hammer, kruze AND warnock - Nothing is.

Except maybe Eagles.
 

PeeKay

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#42
We are going to have a dilemma this year fitting all 3 of these blokes in.

Essendon showed last year it is very hard to play all 3 at once and it does not work. Some decisions will have to be made at the selection table regarding this and Hammo will be spending a lot of time forward i think and Injury insurance.

Warnock is my starter and No.1 tap ruck man and Kruez will be 2nd Fiddle for the center taps and relieving him but Kruez will be much more important around the ground for us.

Good dilemma to have i suppose but a problem non the less.
I don't think the Essendon example is the same.
They had three in Hille, Bellchambers and Ryder. But only one in Patty Ryder had similar skills as the 3 at Carlton. Hille is slow and cumbersome. Bellchambers is similar to Warnock, but not as good at ground level.
Kruezer & Hampson are all very quick and good below their knees. Warnock is the same height as Bellchambers and they are probably similar in other aspects.
So, three guys are much more flexible than the Dons and therefore there is a possibility they could all play in the same team.
It may depend on the ground we play at and the opposition.
They could easily stretch the Pies at the MCG.;)
 

Faz 2000

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#44
Best #1 tap ruck: Warnock
Best Ruck Combo: Hampson/Kruezer
Best around-the-ground ruck: Kruezer
Best forward/resting ruck: Hampson=Kruezer > Warnock.

Best 2 of the 3 for the team? Not sure.

:)
Exackery.

That said, how often do we have all fully fit and ready to go? Having a spare is pretty damn handy.

One thing is for sure... I don't want to see anyone other than these 3 taking a single ruck contest in 2012. No more Setant (obviously) or T-Bird or someone else hopelessly inadequate for the job. Any of our three ruckmen should be more than a match for the opposition's second ruck, and give us a fair advantage for 5-10 minutes per quarter.
 

Sector 7G

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#45
Is that like taking a possession in the goal square and then kicking the living suitcase out of the ball, for a goal?

Just doesn't thrill me in the way it is being talked about.
Gee your hard to impress. You must have missed the guy between Griffin and the ring trying to stop him scoring. At 6'10" 114kg and an awesome leap, I think he would look good in Navy Blue.
 

Claypigeon

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#47
And a massive good luck to them as well.

Jacobs isn't hammer, kruze AND warnock - Nothing is.

Except maybe Eagles.
As a pure ruckman then Jacobs is probably ahead of all three of ours. .. He is a solid tap ruck and also works well around the ground to make position and is a solid mark. .. Also does the team things and shields other players in the ruck contest. ..

I'd still rather have Kreuze of course and hopefully Hammer can return to the pre-injury form spurt he had last year. .. Warnock was solid in the tap rucking department late in the season but needs to lift his work around the ground still. .. Its still future value we're banking on with these three rucks of ours but its not too far away hopefully. ..

Still a solid set of three ruckman to have, mainly wanted to address the bias that we have the best rucks in the comp. .. Good depth and great potential though. ..
 
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