Ruckman Needed / Cam Wood and Orren Stephenson training with Richmond

[WA Tiger]

Daniel Currie......get it done Tigers

What's his story TFT?

[Loui Tufga]

Vickery back this year will help but if Ivan goes down we only have band aids to fix him. Gus con cover for one or two weeks but is not a long term fix. Of all the current ruckman available for trade this year I doubt that any would want to move to club where they again will be used only as depth.

Daniel Currie is a mature aged ruckman in the Giles mold, he was on Sydneys list for 4 seasons but was crueled with injury. He played a full season this year in the SANFL with North Adelaide and showed plenty of promis. A kid like this would certainly help with depth and could actualy develope into somthing half decent.

Aside from that we do need to take a kid in the draft this year for down the track, I don't think we can rely on topping up with other clubs discards for years to come.

[WA Tiger]

Vickery back this year will help but if Ivan goes down we only have band aids to fix him. Gus con cover for one or two weeks but is not a long term fix. Of all the current ruckman available for trade this year I doubt that any would want to move to club where they again will be used only as depth.

Daniel Currie is a mature aged ruckman in the Giles mold, he was on Sydneys list for 4 seasons but was crueled with injury. He played a full season this year in the SANFL with North Adelaide and showed plenty of promis. A kid like this would certainly help with depth and could actualy develope into somthing half decent.

Aside from that we do need to take a kid in the draft this year for down the track, I don't think we can rely on topping up with other clubs discards for years to come.

Yep, good post, I agree, do you know if we or another team are looking at Currie? Could end up another Morris type pickup.

[Smokey]

He is probably the best performed ruckman not playing regular AFL footy. If he wasn't on a list our supporters would probably look at his stats in the VFL and say "get this bloke as back up to Maric"
Goose is capable of better footy. He showed that at a young age in 2010. Got far too comfortable though

There's a reason he's not playing regular AFL footy Coach - he's no good.  The reason we don't say "get this bloke" is because we have seen him play and 'develop' over 6 long insufferable years to the current unacceptable standard he is at now.  Looking at VFL stats you would also say "get Webberley, don't care what it costs" but we don't because we know with all our heart that senior AFL footy for him is 'one bridge too far'.  And so it is with Gus.  At 25 years old he should be smashing it out on the ground but he isn't - his best this year coming off good VFL form when given his first chance for the season was that abysmal effort vs Gold Coast.  He is capable of producing what he currently produces and thats not even close to good enough for us if we have any sort of aspirations of playing finals and competing with the big boys.  I can't fathom that some posters think our ruck stocks are ok - they soooo aren't - and we need to be chasing hard for a Graham or Derrickx replacement who is capable of stepping straight in and being competitive if the crap hits the blades.  I would actually play 2 ruckmen anyway but that's a debate for another thread. And then recruiting a young ruckman to bring on as well.

Get Giles Tige's!

[WA Tiger]

He is probably the best performed ruckman not playing regular AFL footy. If he wasn't on a list our supporters would probably look at his stats in the VFL and say "get this bloke as back up to Maric"
Goose is capable of better footy. He showed that at a young age in 2010. Got far too comfortable though

There's a reason he's not playing regular AFL footy Coach - he's no good.  The reason we don't say "get this bloke" is because we have seen him play and 'develop' over 6 long insufferable years to the current unacceptable standard he is at now.  Looking at VFL stats you would also say "get Webberley, don't care what it costs" but we don't because we know with all our heart that senior AFL footy for him is 'one bridge too far'.  And so it is with Gus.  At 25 years old he should be smashing it out on the ground but he isn't - his best this year coming off good VFL form when given his first chance for the season was that abysmal effort vs Gold Coast.  He is capable of producing what he currently produces and thats not even close to good enough for us if we have any sort of aspirations of playing finals and competing with the big boys.  I can't fathom that some posters think our ruck stocks are ok - they soooo aren't - and we need to be chasing hard for a Graham or Derrickx replacement who is capable of stepping straight in and being competitive if the crap hits the blades.  I would actually play 2 ruckmen anyway but that's a debate for another thread. And then recruiting a young ruckman to bring on as well.

Get Giles Tige's!

Ouch....but true, unfortunate, but true.

Do we think the club are chasing a ruckman? Honestly if we can see it they must.

[Coach]

We wouldn't be asking for Webberley because we dont need him. We want/need a decent back up ruckman and we have a reasonable back up ruckman. What we really need is someone who can play alongside Maric on game day because we can't play Graham in the same side as Ivan. Name a bloke not on an AFL list who would beat Graham? Gus smashed a poo load of blokes this year. stuff me, he got 70 hitouts in one game. The GC game was a hot, very humid game and that's a hard match to step into for your first AFL game of the season, especially for a bloke rucking on his own. He beat his man that day too but that never gets acknowledged. Graham is an average player but he is capable at the top level. I was a big critic of his but you only need to look at 2009 & 2010 to see he is at least a reasonable bloke to have for depth
Your man Cameron signed Gus for 3 years on good $, so if Gus goes then Cameron should follow him out the door.

[Smokey]

We wouldn't be asking for Webberley because we dont need him. We want/need a decent back up ruckman and we have a reasonable back up ruckman. What we really need is someone who can play alongside Maric on game day because we can't play Graham in the same side as Ivan. Name a bloke not on an AFL list who would beat Graham? Gus smashed a poo load of blokes this year. stuff me, he got 70 hitouts in one game. The GC game was a hot, very humid game and that's a hard match to step into for your first AFL game of the season, especially for a bloke rucking on his own. He beat his man that day too but that never gets acknowledged. Graham is an average player but he is capable at the top level. I was a big critic of his but you only need to look at 2009 & 2010 to see he is at least a reasonable bloke to have for depth
Your man Cameron signed Gus for 3 years on good $, so if Gus goes then Cameron should follow him out the door.

That's the thing Coach, he's not reasonable, he's sub-standard at that level.  He was sub-standard for the 2 years that he played as our #1 ruckman but at the time most of us (and the club I'm sure) were much more forgiving of his age and potential to develop.  It wasn't until Maric arrived on the scene that we had a decent measuring stick to judge Graham by and he came up well short.  Look at how the midfield improved out of sight this year!  I know that there other factors influencing that but a huge improvement in ruck competitiveness was a key reason and if we had to rely on Graham next season then we would suffer severely - he just hasn't improved.  He couldn't force his way into the side from the start of the season because his faults that fail him big time at senior level were still evident at VFL level - he rarely hits to advantage, he's as soft as butter and he is useless around the ground.  And then when he got his chance he performed woefully.  The weather had no effect on his lack of effort, skills or output - I would agree on weather being a factor if he had run himself into the ground and was incapable of carrying on after 3/4 time but not playing like he did from the outset.  Nope, no weather excuse there.

As far as Cameron goes signing him up for 3 years, I didn't agree with the term then but I was happy with 2 years because I thought (like many others) that he had a bit of potential to develop, especially being a big bloke.  I'm thinking the footy dept saw more potential and took a bit more of a gamble that we could have a senior player for an extra season at a cheaper rate but hindsight is a wonderful thing and they got it wrong.  There is no way the decision would have been Cameron's alone but he would have had some input and eventually been the one to sign the cheque.  Missed it by a year - big deal - doesn't deserve the sack and is doing a good job of managing all things football at our club.

[Coach]

Graham was good in 2010, that's why they signed him up after that year. That's why Simmonds retired during the season because Gus pushed him out. He's not soft. You must not have seen him at VFL level this year and if you think he is soft based on AFL games then please show me the evidence.  His ruck work was very good for Coburg. Do they show VFL games up that way? I have always said it, any ruckman at a high standard of footy needs to have some courage to play in the ruck. He's no Maric but I have never seen Graham duck his head. Graham is one of the best tackling ruckman in the league.

He didn't get a game because Maric is a gun. Nothing to do with form in the reserves. Graham was 1st emergency close to 15 times this year. They were pretty happy with what he was doing in the twos.

[Ruanaidh]

Our Ruck stocks are ok.. but we need to pick-up a rookie in one of the drafts for future coverage.

How?

I suppose I should have given a context. "Our Ruck stocks are ok"...............in relation to what is available out there and our reluctance to sell the farm to get a gun (tradewise). Sydney effectively had 1 mediocre ruck and won the flag. We have Maric and Vicks on the ground with Tom D and Gus as back-ups if need be. Our KP stocks are ok too. We need depth in and pressure on the midfield group. I would however take McBean with 31 if he was available.

[Coach]

Our Ruck stocks are ok.. but we need to pick-up a rookie in one of the drafts for future coverage.

How?

I suppose I should have given a context. "Our Ruck stocks are ok"...............in relation to what is available out there and our reluctance to sell the farm to get a gun (tradewise). Sydney effectively had 1 mediocre ruck and won the flag. We have Maric and Vicks on the ground with Tom D and Gus as back-ups if need be. Our KP stocks are ok too. We need depth in and pressure on the midfield group. I would however take McBean with 31 if he was available.

Exactly. An inform Vickery helping out Maric with Gus as backup is a decent set up.

[Ruanaidh]

Graham was good in 2010, that's why they signed him up after that year. That's why Simmonds retired during the season because Gus pushed him out. He's not soft. You must not have seen him at VFL level this year and if you think he is soft based on AFL games then please show me the evidence.  His ruck work was very good for Coburg. Do they show VFL games up that way? I have always said it, any ruckman at a high standard of footy needs to have some courage to play in the ruck. He's no Maric but I have never seen Graham duck his head. Graham is one of the best tackling ruckman in the league.

He didn't get a game because Maric is a gun. Nothing to do with form in the reserves. Graham was 1st emergency close to 15 times this year. They were pretty happy with what he was doing in the twos.

Coach I agree with you in relation to Gus not being as bad as is the common perception....but he is soft. That has been his Achilles heel from the time he was physically dominated in a VFL final several years ago by a smaller Ruckman (can't remember his name or team)who bashed in to him all day at Port Oval and showed up this weakness. That day he dropped several marks he should have taken and adopted the 'run-around the circle' centre square tap style that has haunted him since

[Smokey]

Exactly. An inform Vickery helping out Maric with Gus as backup is a decent set up.

Won't get us to the finals if Maric goes down so it's not good enough imho.

[Coach]

Exactly. An inform Vickery helping out Maric with Gus as backup is a decent set up.

Won't get us to the finals if Maric goes down so it's not good enough imho.

If Vickery & Graham couldn't play finals for Richmond without Ivan then we shouldn't be in finals contention. The bloke you guys should be worrying about is Trent Cotchin...if he gets injured then we start worrying. We should make finals with or without Maric next year. Obviously it would be hard but a Vickery/Graham (Graham playing with his 2010 intensity) should be able to hold up. Look at our midfielders, they should be getting the job done even if we brought back drink driving Royce to do the ruck work.

[Ruanaidh]

Exactly. An inform Vickery helping out Maric with Gus as backup is a decent set up.

Won't get us to the finals if Maric goes down so it's not good enough imho.

Mike Pike did well for the Swans and I would back Vicks or a non-shirking Gus against him every day of the week.

[eliminator]

Maric was outstanding last year and luckily played most games last year. He carried an injury for the large part. The one game he didn't play we were not competitive in the ruck at all. Graham's performance against the suns was not upto AFL standards. We need a quality back up ruckman. Whilst Vickery could be that back up ruckman I would rather he stay in the forwardline where on form he provides a good second tall option. His kicking for goal is a real asset of his. Sadly I don't think Graham or Derrickx are upto the necessary standard and if we are to be a genuine finals contender we need a quality back up ruckman