Zac Smith vs Rhys Stanley

[Vdubs]

Both pretty s**t rucks if we are all going to be really honest with one another. We tend to believe in our recruitment so intensely, we get blindsided by reality when it's right there starring you in the face.

I guess these guys are better than what we have had in the past though. Remarkably, looking back, Trent West turned out to be a lot better than what we gave him credit for at the time.
If Dangerfield was in that lineup in 2012/2013, West would not have copped so much of the blame for our woeful midfield statistics.

West was a good #2, no more.
Too short for the monsters and leapers..
Stanley is def a step up on West re ability.
Smith should be a true #1 but needs to deliver.

 

[Cattery]

Footywire AFL stats for the 3 games has him as average 60 points.
Spends time on bench.
Not great, but plenty worse.

Yeah but even if he was averaging 120 points it still wouldn't make him proficient overhead.

 

[Vdubs]

Yeah but even if he was averaging 120 points it still wouldn't make him proficient overhead.

Is he a better ruckman than my old "favourite"- Mark Blake?
Notwithstanding the fact that Blakey was an adequate backup premiership ruckman.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Is he a better ruckman than my old "favourite"- Mark Blake?
Notwithstanding the fact that Blakey was an adequate backup premiership ruckman.

He hasn't done as much as what Blake did yet. Either has Stanley.
As much fun as it was to give him s**t he worked well with our midfield, rarely got injured.

 

[Rondog]

Zac-
Height and leap.
Reasonably aggressive, could be a lot more though.
Can take a mark one out in the goal square.

Rhys-
Speed and leap.
Mobile.
Good mark.
Can have BOG days but inconsistent.

I'm starting to think now if we have Blicavs as the second ruckman it would be a better structure of man resources to remove big Smith and use Stanley+Blicavs. Include another midfielder. One of GHS, Murdoch, Parfitt, Cowan or Lang should be ahead of Smith in terms for a spot in the 18.

Whilst Stanley may not be a walking tree beastman the like of top teir Sandi or Goldy. I think he could string some better consistency if given the ruck reigns. And with a better midfield system he could produce some good results. We've seen him do it before and i would love to see more of it.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

I don't think that we can afford to play both of them and Stanley has clearly been the better performer over the JLT series. Smith has been extremely disappointing and if he plays in round 1 then there's a fair chance that I'm going to do my lid...

 

[catempire]

I don't think that we can afford to play both of them and Stanley has clearly been the better performer over the JLT series. Smith has been extremely disappointing and if he plays in round 1 then there's a fair chance that I'm going to do my lid...

I hope you've got a spare.

 

[BORIS332]

I don't think that we can afford to play both of them and Stanley has clearly been the better performer over the JLT series. Smith has been extremely disappointing and if he plays in round 1 then there's a fair chance that I'm going to do my lid...

Bit rough on Smith, he's hardly had any game time this series. Only played 27mins yesterday, and 60mins against the Crows. He got 70mins against the Hawks and his numbers were better than Stanley's in that game.

That being said, perhaps this means the writing is on the wall for Zac.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

I hope you've got a spare.

More than one my friend. You should already know this.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

Bit rough on Smith, he's hardly had any game time this series. Only played 27mins yesterday, and 60mins against the Crows. He got 70mins against the Hawks and his numbers were better than Stanley's in that game.

That being said, perhaps this means the writing is on the wall for Zac.

Yeah he was better in the Hawthorn game but has been very disappointing in the proceeding two games, albeit with less game time. I want us to be a bit more cut throat at selection this year compared to last and this is where I would start. I'm all for giving him a game if he deserves it though.

 

[Spazz Cat]

I don't think that we can afford to play both of them and Stanley has clearly been the better performer over the JLT series. Smith has been extremely disappointing and if he plays in round 1 then there's a fair chance that I'm going to do my lid...

Might be another lid doing from me.
Even though it's Sandi if we reward Smith with a game after the JLT series we're just repeating one of the problems as last year.
With the form he's currently in Smith is going to get smashed by Sandilands anyway.
We'll just be going into the game a mid down if we play him.

 

[Mahlepi]

Is he a better ruckman than my old "favourite"- Mark Blake?
Notwithstanding the fact that Blakey was an adequate backup premiership ruckman.

blake should be coming good soon

 

[Stan The Caddy]

Might be another lid doing from me.
Even though it's Sandi if we reward Smith with a game after the JLT series we're just repeating one of the problems as last year.
With the form he's currently in Smith is going to get smashed by Sandilands anyway.
We'll just be going into the game a mid down if we play him.

Yep, I couldn't agree more. We're better off playing another small such as Parfitt or HS.

 

[Vdubs]

Yep, I couldn't agree more. We're better off playing another small such as Parfitt or HS.

We shall see.
The fact he has had so little game time means either he is being managed, or he is out of favour, and it is mid March.

 

[Stan The Caddy]

We shall see.
The fact he has had so little game time means either he is being managed, or he is out of favour, and it is mid March.

My guess is that he is out of favour but as you say, we shall see.

 

[Ray Donovan]

From JLT 3 we need to be reminded big luey was off in first QTR and left McKernan and Stewart to do the rucking so yes he dominated but against in terms of AFL standard competitive but low tier ruckman

 

[Vdubs]

From JLT 3 we need to be reminded big luey was off in first QTR and left McKernan and Stewart to do the rucking so yes he nominated but against in terms of AFL standard competitive but low tier ruckman

Might also explain Smith being off if there were no rucks for the opposition. Team balance.
That won't be the case v Freo.

Assuming you meant dominated..

 

[Seeds]

From JLT 3 we need to be reminded big luey was off in first QTR and left McKernan and Stewart to do the rucking so yes he dominated but against in terms of AFL standard competitive but low tier ruckman

He also did very well on Jacobs in the second game. That is before they replaced him with smith.

 

[Partridge]

He also did very well on Jacobs in the second game. That is before they replaced him with smith.

Regarding Stanley, I don't think there's disputing that he can be a very good player. His problem is his gap between best and worst is enormous.

 

[dazbroncos]

Regarding Stanley, I don't think there's disputing that he can be a very good player. His problem is his gap between best and worst is enormous.

And the game time he spends swinging between those two extremes leaves you tantalizingly frustrated but hopeful.

Go Catters

 

[CatsDoItBetter]

Going up against Sandy in Perth I'd say it's certain Smith and Stanley will play.
To me the issue is the third player in this conversation Blicavs.
All 3 of them can be important parts of the team but we should not be playing all 3.
I would leave Blicavs out this week but the week after probably bring him back in for Smith. Their running ability and athleticism is only an asset up against players their size.
When they all play one or more of them ends up on a better matchup and it hurts the team.

GHS or another midfielder would add more to the team than a third ruckman.
It's a bit like Mitch Marsh or another all rounder batting at number 6 in the test team. If the rest of the batsman bat consistently well then you can risk someone like that. So if the other Geelong players consistently played well enough you could accomodate all 3 playing. But until then it becomes a liability that a good but not great team can't afford.

 

[Bobby_]

West was a good #2, no more.
Too short for the monsters and leapers..
Stanley is def a step up on West re ability.
Smith should be a true #1 but needs to deliver.

I'm not sure about that.
Stanley's only managed six games where he had 20 hitouts or more in his whole career. That is pretty putrid.
He averages the same number of clearances as what West did too.

Certainly a much better mark. Always looks confident going for his marks whereas West was like Blake in that regard.
I'm not convinced Stanley is a #1 ruck, he looks best suited as the backup just as Griffin is to Sandilands or Ceglar is to McEvoy.

 

[catempire]

Stanley's only managed six games where he had 20 hitouts or more in his whole career. That is pretty putrid.
He averages the same number of clearances as what West did too.

How many full games in the ruck has Stanley played? You could count them on one hand.

 

[Ricky Vaughn]

So we gave up pick 21 for a guy we can't even compare favourably to Trent West?

Smith first ruck. Blicavs second.
Stanley VFL.

 

[BORIS332]

So we gave up pick 21 for a guy we can't even compare favourably to Trent West?

Smith first ruck. Blicavs second.
Stanley VFL.

What makes you think Smith is ahead of Stanley? I would have thought Smith sitting out nearly the final three quarters of the Essendon match would mean he's third in line.