Top Heavy

[bandicoot 1,395]

Seems like we have a abundance of rucks:

Jamar

Gawn

Spencer

Fitzpatrick

Add to that Dawes and Clark who can pinch hit if need be.

Who is likely to moved on at seasons end or can we keep all of the above for another season.

[Scipio 5,868]

4 rucks is the prime number I think. Spencer should definitely go as imo he number four on that list.

It's not really that we are top heavy but have a number of good talls to choose from. The fact that we have barely any midfielders to rub together makes it look more so.

[Ted Lasso 16,874]

jamar would be ok trade bait, sellar probably goes too

[bandicoot 1,395]

I think Jamar will play a lot better under Neil Craig.

Seems like this might also be the case with half the side

I think he still has a couple of good years left.

Would love to see the jostle for that second spot.

We might only take 1 ruckman in for some games with Clark or Dawes providing forward ruck work.

.

[jacey 333]

Seems like we have a abundance of rucks:

Jamar

Gawn

Spencer

Fitzpatrick

Add to that Dawes and Clark who can pinch hit if need be.

Who is likely to moved on at seasons end or can we keep all of the above for another season.

Fitzpatrick isn't a true ruck.

Spencer is always depth R3.

Gawn is R2. Looking to build to be R1.

Jamar is R1 for the present till Gawn is ready.

IMO we need to draft another true (developing) ruck at R4.

Don't want Dawes or Clark as rucks.

[deanox 8,676]

My take is that medium term . Line up with:

FF: Dawes

CHF: Hogan

Forward/Ruck Clark

Ruck/Forward: Gawn

HFF/wing/utility: Watts/Howe

That is one more tall than we've played the last two weeks but I think with the injuries they have preferred to play good players than just fill the structure.

Fitzpatrick will be able to step up to cover any injury to those above. Spencer is depth, Jamar is at the end of his career.

[DeeSpencer 23,233]

I think Spencer is contracted. Keep all 4 and at the end of next year either Spencer, Jamar or Fitzy go.

Hogan comes on to the list and Sellar, Gillies and maybe Davis go and we clear talls from the list that way.

Could make a case for another ruck on the rookie list as a ruck mans prime is 25 to 29 so when Gawn and Fitzy hit their late prime we need the next one.

[Little Goffy 12,667]

I honestly think Jamar and Spencer are both basically done for.

Gawn is passing both, by progressing faster than Spencer and by meeting Jamar as he slips down.

Fitzpatrick is beginning to look legitimate (touch wood, of course) as a remarkably mobile tall, but is he really a ruck?

Clark can definitely rotate through ruck, Dawes can contribute but he was recruited as, and clearly plays best as, a key marking forward.

But I think in that mix we have enough depth of quality to not require a 'never-quite-right / VFL Champion' and a 'no possessions and inconsistent hit-outs' veteran.

As far as top-heavy goes, I'm more worried about having too many tall forwards! Dawes, Clark, Hogan and Watts will all be mostly based up there, you'd think.

But there are worse problems to have!

Which reminds me - back when Clark was recruited I speculated that he was being brought in as a 'forward now, ruck later' player, the idea being that he would cover while Watts (sigh, and Jurrah) developed, and once Jamar retired would move back to the ruck role that he has filled very effectively in the past, at Brisbane. Seems even more likely to be that path, with Dawes and Hogan both with us now.

[Akum 2,660]

...

Could make a case for another ruck on the rookie list as a ruck mans prime is 25 to 29 so when Gawn and Fitzy hit their late prime we need the next one.

Great point. Jack b***** Hannath would have been perfect. I think we might regret not picking him up as much as we regret ignoring Nev Jetta's mum's tip about Lewis. And wasn't there someone else who trained with us who we didn't pick up who has since done well? Was it Rockliff?

The other big concern is how many games these four have already collectively missed through injury or illness, and whether or not this will continue. IMHO Gawn is by far the most talented, but that depends on his knees holding together. Jamar seems to be able to find ever more creative was to miss most of a season through injury.

The ideal is Gawn develops the tank to ruck all day, and the physical strength and durability to not miss a game for several seasons. He really could be anything.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Akum

[Curry & Beer 5,444]

we regret ignoring Nev Jetta's mum's tip about Lewis.

totally, we should have a symposium with all the mothers of junior footballers, so that they can dictate our recruiting. Come to think of it, there must be a wealth of expertise amongst the grandmothers too, so let's get them involved

[deeko 937]

Jack Hannath is hardly setting the world on fire. He moves worse than Jamar and gets less than half of Jamars effective hit outs.

The love he gets on here continually surprises me.

Edited June 30, 2013 by deeko

[Rogue 585]

I'd rookie another ruck.

I only see Jamar, Gawn and Spencer as #1 rucks. Jamar may not have much left, while Spencer seems unlikely to become a very good AFL ruckman.

Dawes has said he doesn't want to ruck at all, while Clark looks good as a key forward - when he's not injured - and I think he would only pinch hit at most. Fitzpatrick wants to be a KPF/second ruck and I hope that pans out.

[jumbo returns 6,503]

Clark must never play ruck. If, he plays again. There are worrying signs.

Dawes is a CHF and he should stay there.

Fitz looked terrible against Minson, but he may learn.

Gawn is the man.

[DeeSpencer 23,233]

Clark must never play ruck. If, he plays again. There are worrying signs.

Dawes is a CHF and he should stay there.

Fitz looked terrible against Minson, but he may learn.

Gawn is the man.

Whilst I agree with most of that what I'll say is that Fitzy's leap has impressed me. For his size to have a good leap means he'll eventually sort it out as a ruck.

Ryder and NikNat are the only 2 who consistently jump at centre bounces these days. The rest in the comp do a crazy dance where they sometimes jump and sometimes stay down depending on what their opponent does. Gawn has an advantage in that regard due to his height. But I haven't see Gawn jump and really get up high like Fitzy and even Spencer does sometimes.

The advantage of the higher you get it makes it much easier to direct your hit outs to 360 degrees and get more depth on them.

Fitzy has also impressed me with his ability to hit the ball with either hand.

[Akum 2,660]

totally, we should have a symposium with all the mothers of junior footballers, so that they can dictate our recruiting. Come to think of it, there must be a wealth of expertise amongst the grandmothers too, so let's get them involved

You know exactly what I mean. Lewis had already had some good WAFL performances at that stage, and we were more aware of him than others 'cos he's Nev's cousin. We could have easily rookied him the year before he was drafted, his family were very supportive of us, and we would have given up very little in the process. We had taken Nev in the previous draft, and every indication was that Lewis was even better. We had the inside running and gave it up. Was that the year we rookied Robert Campbell instead? Edited June 30, 2013 by Akum

[Akum 2,660]

Jack Hannath is hardly setting the world on fire. He moves worse than Jamar and gets less than half of Jamars effective hit outs.

The love he gets on here continually surprises me.

Except that this is Hannath's first year and Jamar's 8th or whatever.

The point was that it would be prudent for us to pick up another young ruck in the next year or two, to cover for Gawn & Fitz etc by the time they're at the end of their careers. Hannath would have fitted the bill. Instead we took Gillies & Pedersen.

[DeeSpencer 23,233]

You know exactly what I mean. Lewis had already had some good WAFL performances at that stage, and we were more aware of him than others 'cos he's Nev's cousin. We could have easily rookied him the year before he was drafted, his family were very supportive of us, and we would have given up very little in the process. We had taken Nev in the previous draft, and every indication was that Lewis was even better. We had the inside running and gave it up. Was that the year we rookied Robert Campbell instead?

Correct me if I'm wrong but we took Nev in 2008 when Lewis was playing local footy in Bunbury. That's when the comments from Nev's mum came in.

Lewis in 2009 (no doubt driven by Nev's drafting to some degree) then went back to the WAFL and dominated the entire 2009 season including the state game and got himself drafted in the first round.

How many good players recruited from local leagues are there? And at risk of sounding like Matt Rendell how many good Indigenous footballers are there who came out of local leagues straight to the big leagues and stuck around no matter how talented? I think of Relton Roberts who didn't make it at all. Compared to the Davey boys who went to the VFL and SANFL respectively and showed they were good enough.

I don't blame the club for ignoring Mrs Jetta's wise words. The only way we responsibly could've got Lewis would be to hide him or delibertately ask him to only play well for a select few games at VFL or WAFL level and that is a slippery slope to go down not to mention completely unfair to the kid.

[Mad_Melbourne 872]

injury cover,

depth players are a necessity to any list, and depth players who can push up and play at afl level are even better. in a few years time if we have a fully fit side and everyone on the park our forward half will be incredibly dangerous if our midfield can improve like it should!

[Swampfox 190]

Seems like we have a abundance of rucks:

Jamar

Gawn

Spencer

Fitzpatrick

Add to that Dawes and Clark who can pinch hit if need be.

Who is likely to moved on at seasons end or can we keep all of the above for another season.

I would be happy with 5 on our senior list and 1 on the Rookie list

Clark,and Dawes should never be used as Ruckman

Prefer to use Fitzpatrick , Sellar or Pederson as part time Ruckman

Gawn should be played every game and rotated with Jamar

Spencer should be moved on at the end of 2013

I would expect Jamar to retire at the end of 2014

The hardest position on the ground to cover for injury is Ruckman

In next years draft the ruck stocks are both poor and low in numbers

I would think getting 1 for the senior list and 1 rookie would be a wise decision

I would think there has to be a few in state leagues

We should also seek out a Ruck Coach

Edited June 30, 2013 by Swampfox

[Mad_Melbourne 872]

Clark,and Dawes should never be used as Ruckman

Prefer to use Fitzpatrick , Sellar or Pederson as part time Ruckman

i dont agree with this as much, i think that a fully fit mitch clark could play the second ruck role very effectively, but i agree no dawes in the ruck.

i agree that fitzy is more for the future of second ruck, but i think sellar and pederson should not be ahead of clark

[RalphiusMaximus 5,993]

We're one of the tallest lists in the league at the moment. That's one of the reasons our midfield is so poor, we've been so intent on drafting for KPP and ruck that the rest has been left too long. We're already speculating about what is going to happen to our forward line next year with a fit Clark and Hogan to add to the mix. I suppose it has to be seen as a good thing to have that problem though.

[Clark_Kent 315]

It's actually great that we have an abundance of talls. They are very hard to get a hold of and develop so we are sitting pretty there. We obviously need a ton of quality mids but as we all know they are easier to find and easier to develop. I would say getting the talls sorted first was a strategic move for the reasons stated. We all know that once we have a semi-functioning midfield we will start winning more than we lose.

[DemonFrog 1,347]

Good big men do take time to develop.

Therefore does the MFC actually have enough?

[deanox 8,676]

Also big men take longer than mids to develop.

A club with a gun midfield needs to buy kpp's as they take too long to develop. We have the kpp there or almost there and it will only take a year or two for Viney, Toumpas et al to step up. If we can add an experienced mid now we will fat tan that further.

Edited June 30, 2013 by deanox

[Red N Blue Society 165]

Spencer should be moved on. He has good aggression at the ball but that's it. He struggles to make an impact.

Sorry to put gloom on a guy who played a good game on the weekend but Fitzpatrick is a spud.I dont think he should be retained.I hope he continues his form but cant see it happening.

Jamar Should be kept as number one and Gawny to learn his trade under him.

Otherwise use Jamar for tradebait..he will give us a good return trade somewhere for something.

He only has a couple of years left does the ol Jamar..maybe its worth the trade??!!