One-Eyed Richmond Forum
Football => Richmond Rant => Topic started by: one-eyed on January 27, 2019, 03:09:58 AM
-
TIGERS’ BIG-MAN STRIFE
Jon Ralph
Sunday Herald-Sun
27 Jan 2019
Damien Hardwick has plenty of thinking to do.
Richmond’s star-studded midfield was already facing its challenges before the AFL made it easier for ruckmen to take control of a game.
New rules allowing ruckmen to take possession of the ball from the ruck without losing prior opportunity threaten to make the 190cm ruckman extinct. Richmond’s Shaun Grigg has cornered the market on playing that kind of role at 190cm and 85kg.
In last year’s qualifying final the popular and highly effective Toby Nankervis was well beaten by Brodie Grundy as Collingwood scored about 10 goals from stoppages.
Nankervis is a brilliant around-the-ground and second-effort ruckman.
But he isn’t a jumping jack in the vein of West Coast’s Nic Naitanui or a beanpole like Melbourne superstar Max Gawn.
Champion Data statistics show that Grigg, also a highly effective midfielder when he isn’t playing quasi-ruck, contested an average of 10.2 ruck contests last year.
He won only 1.1 hit-outs a game, won a hitout in just 11 per cent of contests, and won a hitout to advantage in 4.9 per cent of contests.
In other words, he effectively conceded the ruck and then became an extra midfielder.
If he concedes a throw-in this year his opponent will be able to grab the ball and handball it to the nearest midfield teammate.
Richmond won’t want to put recruit Tom Lynch into the ruck too soon after a PCL reconstruction, and we will quickly find out whether the new rules actually force meaningful change.
If Grigg contests 10 hit-outs a game against a star like Gawn or Brisbane Lion Stef Martin and his opponent takes half those hit-outs from the air and handballs to a midfielder, the Tigers are in trouble.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/premiership-will-be-won-by-team-with-a-dominant-ruckman-writes-david-king/news-story/70a8387f9bc14e72a0c7249faa21a60e
-
Dominant ruckman key to flag success
DAVID KING,
Sunday Herald Sun
27 Jan 2019
Welcome to the era where dominant ruckman will rule the world.
The biggest bonus in AFL footy is the centre bounce goal, which is never an expected part of the scoring budget.
The new six-six-six rule is going to create tremendous usable space for all centre-bounce players and acres of field for the duelling wingman.
Immediately after the ruck hitout we will see midfielders bursting into vacant, undefended space that has been unsighted in the age of congestion.
Gone are the extra players running in from the defensive end of the centre square, as they’re all engaged in one-on-one match-ups.
Expect almost all centre bounce clearances to become an inside-50 entry.
Minimal pressure once the initial clearance is won will mean they’ll be high quality and deep entries.
Winning centre bounce clearances has never been more important.
On average each team scores 10 points a game from centre bounce clearances, which is a figure that hasn’t changed for the best part of two decades.
Low numbers, but in a small margin industry the difference between Melbourne’s average of 16 points from centre bounce clearances is already a big advantage.
It’s about to get bigger.
A 50m square that basically becomes three versus three at ground level will showcase the AFL’s best midfielders genuinely head to head — players like Patrick Dangerfield, Nathan Fyfe and Steele Sidebottom.
Dominant ruckmen like Max Gawn, Aaron Sandilands, Brodie Grundy and Nic Naitanui will be worth their weight (or height) in gold.
Expect longer, wider taps to ensure a teammate taking possession is on the move and is almost unimpeded after the first possession.
If you cannot win the centre bounce hitout then you will be defending gravely, not saved by swarming numbers around the contest.
Gawn had almost 100 more centre bounce hit-outs than any other Ruckman last year.
He will be the most difficult influence to curb.
Tom Bellchambers, Todd Goldstein and then Grundy were the next best hit to advantage rucks at centre bounces in 2018, which may shock.
The Demons win 60 per cent of the centre bounce hit-outs, which is a massive advantage over teams like Sydney and GWS at 33 per cent.
The days of Shaun Grigg types having relative success as an undersized secondary ruckman are over and will change team selections.
Every team without a recognised primary or a capable secondary ruckman will be punished via centre bounces scores or forward half territory.
The umpires bouncing the Sherrin will be under significant pressure to execute as the advantages allowed for pure centre bounce clearance exits are huge.
I’m expecting the average scores from centre bounce clearances to spike from an average of 10 points a team to 15-18 points.
Don’t be surprised if late in game with a margin less than one goal, some teams will resort to giving away intentional free kicks.
That will give their players time to flood back into defence, rather than give the opposition’s dominant ruckman and his centre bounce midfielders any advantages of space and quality disposal.
One thing’s for sure, the premiership team will possess a dominant ruckman.
ONE-ON-ONE BATTLES TO SAVOUR
Sam Edmund
Sunday Herald-Sun
27 January 2019
Even four months on, Jeff White can’t split Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy.
But for the former Melbourne ruckman, that’s the best part.
Like many, White has sat back and watched the demise and then rebirth of the craft he mastered en route to All-Australian honours in 2004.
“At the end of the day our responsibility is to hit it to advantage and that needs that synergy with your midfielders,” White said.
“It’s a cool art to the game. There’s nothing better than seeing a tap ruckman get it to his midfielder and they’re away and inside 50m before you can blink.
“It was amplified last year when it just came down to two big fellas going at each other.”
Gawn and Grundy won their club best and fairests and both were named All-Australians in a 2018 season in which a wave of ruckmen shone.
“I couldn’t separate them,” White said.
“I think both have qualities and strengths that suit their respective sides.
“Grundy was picking up hardball gets and loose-ball gets and his second and third efforts were great, whereas Gawny was not only getting his taps, but kicking goals and floating back and being that strong presence down the line taking contested marks.”
White predicted the rule change allowing ruckmen to grab the ball out of any contest without fear of being caught holding the ball would spell the end of the Shaun Grigg-style ruckman.
“That rule should have always been applied. You only had to touch them and it was holding the ball and sometimes not even a proper tackle,” he said.
“That’s going to advantage the bigger blokes, for sure. But no third-ups is the rule I really like. It’s just made it more of a one-on-one battle around the ground and an important role, which historically it has been.”
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/premiership-will-be-won-by-team-with-a-dominant-ruckman-writes-david-king/news-story/70a8387f9bc14e72a0c7249faa21a60e
-
It will be interesting to see if chol or soldo can step up and miller the midget ruck
-
Coleman Jones is our best hopes
Can't work out why we didn't use a pick on a ruckman, maybe what we have is better than what was available
-
Sweet or Forte from SA were our best bets.... needed anotherr draft pick for Fort , probably should've grabbed Sweet wth the rookie pick we wasted on Aarts... :shh
Chol & CCJ the only two with both the (minimum) height & athleticism to potentially go with the best....Soldo has the height & stength but is a dumb slug....Balta has the arhleticism but is undersized...ditto Moore & Miller...all currently lack the craft, nouse and/or experience.... :shh :shh
-
:shh :shh :shh
-
David King doesn't get much wrong... :shh
-
Sweet or Forte from SA were our best bets.... needed anotherr draft pick for Fort , probably should've grabbed Sweet wth the rookie pick we wasted on Aarts... :shh
Chol & CCJ the only two with both the (minimum) height & athleticism to potentially go with the best....Soldo has the height & stength but is a dumb slug....Balta has the arhleticism but is undersized...ditto Moore & Miller...all currently lack the craft, nouse and/or experience.... :shh :shh
Do you know Soldo personally? to make a comment like that you either know him or you are pulling your opinion out of your proverbial to make your point.
Soldo held his own against Witts in his only game last year, matching him for hitouts.
-
Since when do you need to know players personally in order to assess their football ability or lack thereof?
-
Yanb you're not the same guy swinging from Soldo's nuts who kept rambling on about how he beat Witts in 'the knockouts' are you....:shh
-
You claim that Soldo is a lumberer and can't jump, I umpired him in the year he was listed as a b Class rookie and he was athletic and had a very good leap.
This game was a practice match and even though he only played 3/4's I would have given him the three votes.
It was obvious he had never played football before as the midfielders were continually telling him where to position himself on the field but he owned the ruck contest and took intercept marks.
I found out later he also played 3/4's of the next match also, not bad in 32 degree heat.
You might say that he has grown taller and may not be as athletic now but if you know anything about growth spurts it affects the co-ordination. So that is why many big men only show their true potential well after they stop growing and develop the co-ordination.
As you started off your argument with a lie ( unless you have some facts to back up your claim ) the rest of your statement lacks credibility.
By the way in that Gold Coast match he beat Witts in the ruck contest 34 to 33 not bad for a player with only four years of football under his belt against a AFL seasoned ruckman.
Have you watched him now - he barely jumps higher than six inches half the time....and it's not just at ruck contests - half the reason he didn't take more than four marks in any one match this year is that he takes off like the stuffing Spruce Goose... :shh
And yet he beat Witts in the knockouts in the Gold coast match.
It appears so.
Yanb loves him. Dioc doesn't rate him. Yanb probably knows him personally. Fair enough, but Dioc as usual is correct....:shh
and before this drags on at all, Yanb, when Dioc called him dumb....he meant as in his footballing brain...:shh :shh
-
Yanb you're not the same guy swinging from Soldo's nuts who kept rambling on about how he beat Witts in 'the knockouts' are you....:shh
Excuse me for using facts to back up an argument maybe I should be like dido and back up my argument with what comes out of my proverbial.
Soldo had one shot last year and didn't disgrace himself at senior level.
When other posters have to resort to personal abuse to justify their opinion you know what that opinion is worth. :chuck
-
No personal issues with ya mate, you're entitled to this view and are respectful. :thumsbup
-
Champion Data statistics show that in 2013 just two players spent more than 90 per cent of their game time across the season in the ruck — North Melbourne’s Todd Goldstein and the Western Bulldogs’ Will Minson.
Last season, 16 players spent more than 90 per cent of their game time in the ruck, topped by Richmond’s Toby Nankervis (99 per cent), North Melbourne’s Todd Goldstein (98 per cent) and Adelaide’s Sam Jacobs (98 per cent).
YOUR CLUB’S RUCK HOPES
RICHMOND
Could struggle: The Tigers don’t mind losing the stoppages as long as they win the next contest from there. But with Shaun Grigg attending 10 ruck contests a game and Toby Nankervis a round-the-ground ruck, they have issues with this new rule.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/which-ruckmen-will-benefit-from-this-seasons-rule-changes/news-story/8753e10e9eee01c576b6340f8699a6a9
-
Excuse me for using facts to back up an argument maybe I should be like dido and back up my argument with what comes out of my proverbial.
I know I left too much mess and
Destruction to come back again
And I caused nothing but trouble
I understand if you can't talk to me again
And if you live by the rules of it's over
Then I'm sure that that makes sense
I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
-
Excuse me for using facts to back up an argument maybe I should be like dido and back up my argument with what comes out of my proverbial.
I know I left too much mess and
Destruction to come back again
And I caused nothing but trouble
I understand if you can't talk to me again
And if you live by the rules of it's over
Then I'm sure that that makes sense
I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be
:snidegrin :snidegrin :snidegrin
-
What can Soldo do around the ground though? Is he a good kick? I know he can mark but body on body work.
-
New rules likely to see two ruckmen back in vogue
AFL.com.au
Marc McGowan
Feb 2, 2019 4:10PM
THE FIRST domino from the AFL's suite of new rules is set to fall.
As AFL.com.au suggested in mid-October might happen, many of the 18 clubs are set to experiment with two genuine ruckmen in their side during the JLT Community Series.
The combination of big men now being able to grab the ball out of any ruck contest with the benefit of prior opportunity, plus the new starting positions at centre bounces is proving a game-changer.
There is a fear the undersized Shaun Grigg-types who were so adept in spelling first-choice ruckmen, at least in short bursts, will be exposed under the revamped conditions.
Reigning premier West Coast's success with a two-headed ruck monster, whether it was Nic Naitanui and Scott Lycett, or later Lycett and Nathan Vardy, didn't hurt either.
Lycett is preparing to partner Paddy Ryder in Port Adelaide's ruck department in 2019 after defecting from the Eagles.
It is match simulation season, and several teams – evidenced most recently at Waverley Park on Friday – are using a ruckman as the forward who must be in the attacking goalsquare before each bounce.
The Hawks have flirted with the Ben McEvoy-Jon Ceglar pairing in the past, although they went away from that strategy down the stretch last year.
Fifth-year ruckman Marc Pittonet might even be primed to break up that duopoly, judging by his impressive performance on Friday.
Melbourne, considered one of the competition's most innovative sides, is also figuring out how to find a spot for ex-Kangaroo Braydon Preuss alongside dual All Australian Max Gawn.
The challenge in the aerobic-obsessed modern game is a second big man could mean sacrificing a midfielder, unless coaches are confident that player can capably replace a marking forward.
That's why Fremantle is more likely to turn to Rory Lobb than Sean Darcy as a second ruckman to Aaron Sandilands, and Essendon may prefer Shaun McKernan over Zac Clarke or Sam Draper alongside Tom Bellchambers.
Josh Jenkins (Adelaide), Mason Cox (Collingwood), Peter Wright (Gold Coast), Callum Sinclair (Sydney) and Tom Boyd (Western Bulldogs) can also command a position as a forward who can ruck.
Who could the clubs pair?
Adelaide: Sam Jacobs, Josh Jenkins
Brisbane: Stefan Martin, Oscar McInerney
Carlton: Matthew Kreuzer, Andrew Phillips
Collingwood: Brodie Grundy, Mason Cox
Essendon: Tom Bellchambers, Shaun McKernan
Fremantle: Aaron Sandilands, Rory Lobb
Geelong: Rhys Stanley, Darcy Fort
Gold Coast: Jarrod Witts, Peter Wright
GWS Giants: Shane Mumford, Dawson Simpson
Hawthorn: Ben McEvoy, Jon Ceglar
Melbourne: Max Gawn, Braydon Preuss
North Melbourne: Todd Goldstein, Tom Campbell
Port Adelaide: Paddy Ryder, Scott Lycett
Richmond: Toby Nankervis, Ivan Soldo
St Kilda: Billy Longer, Rowan Marshall
Sydney: Sam Naismith, Callum Sinclair
West Coast: Nathan Vardy, Tom Hickey*
Western Bulldogs: Tim English, Tom Boyd
* While Nic Naitanui (knee) is out
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-02-02/new-rules-likely-to-see-two-ruckmen-back-in-vogue-
-
What can Soldo do around the ground though? Is he a good kick? I know he can markbut body on body work.
Next to useless around the ground. Plodding dinosaur. Makes Gus Graham look like Brodie Grundy. :shh
I know he can mark
Most marks he he took in any one match last year was four. :shh
Four marks. :shh
In the VFL. :shh