Our ruck stocks ...

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

Agreed. It's a tad early and hyperbolic to call overlooking Hannath a "disaster".

Look, I have to agree with you on this. The word 'disaster' is clearly hyperbolic and an overstatement.

But I think he'd be a good back up for Jamar and Gawn - and it is a missed opportunity given that we picked Nicholson and Evans ahead of him, and Stark in the rookie draft with the pick to be used on him, all of whom are no longer on the list.

Had we picked Hannath very, very late in the draft, I expect he'd still be on the list.

That said, he's clearly not another Brodie Grundy selected for the bargain pick at number 18.

[poita 3,902]

Clearly the ruck prospects available this year were lacking in both quality and quantity, given how few were taken across all drafts. However, our ruck brigade is as poor as any in the competition and we need to fix this in the near future. I have no view on Hannath as a player but, if we were eager to draft him, the circumstances in which we missed out on him were a sad indictment on the club at the time.

Jamar has barely played a decent game in three years, and should have been traded at the end of 2012 (instead of Martin). Clearly he is an okay tap ruckman, but he is a liability around the ground.

Gawn is the best overall ruckman on our list by some margin, but obviously can't be relied upon to play regularly.

I like Spencer's work rate, but his lack of kicking and marking ability limits his upside.

King is unproven and will need to show something at Casey this year.

There were times last season when we lost nothing by having Pedersen in the ruck, who at least can take a mark around the ground. Obviously that doesn't work against a top notch ruckman who would destroy an undersized opponent, but there is an argument for having a utility ruckman in certain circumstances.

[rpfc 28,779]

AFL Rule #87: Never draft a ruckman in the National Draft

AFL Rule #87.1: Never recruit a ruckman under the age of 21.

AFL Truism #4: The best ruckmen in the last decade have been Rookie List players (Cox and Sandilands).

[Pipefitter 2,168]

Missing out on Hannath wasn't a disaster. Watching Stef Martin dominate last year was.

[george_on_the_outer 7,703]

I don't know that our ruck stocks are all that bad when you look at other teams. I'm struggling to find one that has 2 decent ones on their list, and it hasn't held back the likes of Hawthorn, Geelong, Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond....

Proven ruckmen, but who is their number 2?:

Freo: Sandilands and Clarke

Port: Lobbe and now Ryder

Colliingwood: Wood?

Richmond: Maric

Hawthorn: Hale

Sydney: Pyke

Footscray: Minson

St.Kilda: ?

Essendon: Bellchambers

Geelong: Bliclavs?

WCE: Natanui?

GWS: Mumford

Adelaide: Jacobs?

GWS: ?

GC: ?

As others have said, your probably only need someone to negate the opposition, or a filler like Pedersen/Dawes/Fitzpatrick to give the main man a break.

[rjay 25,091]

I don't know that our ruck stocks are all that bad when you look at other teams. I'm struggling to find one that has 2 decent ones on their list, and it hasn't held back the likes of Hawthorn, Geelong, Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond....

Proven ruckmen, but who is their number 2?:

Freo: Sandilands and Clarke

Port: Lobbe and now Ryder

Colliingwood: Wood?

Richmond: Maric

Hawthorn: Hale

Sydney: Pyke

Footscray: Minson

St.Kilda: ?

Essendon: Bellchambers

Geelong: Bliclavs?

WCE: Natanui?

GWS: Mumford

Adelaide: Jacobs?

GWS: ?

GC: ?

As others have said, your probably only need someone to negate the opposition, or a filler like Pedersen/Dawes/Fitzpatrick to give the main man a break.

GC; Smith, Nichols, Dixon

C/Wood; Witts, Grundy,

WCE; NicNat, Lycett, Sinclair

Geelong; Blicavs, McIntosh, Simpson, Clark

There are a few for you, most clubs have good depth though.

[Moonshadow 17,677]

GC; Smith, Nichols, Dixon

C/Wood; Witts, Grundy,

WCE; NicNat, Lycett, Sinclair

Geelong; Blicavs, McIntosh, Simpson, Clark

There are a few for you, most clubs have good depth though.

Ben McEvoy at Haw as well

[Ron Burgundy 8,584]

GC; Smith, Nichols, Dixon

C/Wood; Witts, Grundy,

WCE; NicNat, Lycett, Sinclair

Geelong; Blicavs, McIntosh, Simpson, Clark

There are a few for you, most clubs have good depth though.

Lions: Leuenberger and Stef Martin. Both bordering on AA.

Notwithstanding my earlier overstated hyperbole, trading Martin has turned out to be a disaster.

PS. Clearly I want to say something's a disaster.

[old dee 23,872]

Lions: Leuenberger and Stef Martin. Both bordering on AA.

Notwithstanding my earlier overstated hyperbole, trading Martin has turned out to be a disaster.

PS. Clearly I want to say something's a disaster.

Would not be hard to find one at the Mfc over the last few years RB!

[The Devil Inside 2,147]

Lions: Leuenberger and Stef Martin. Both bordering on AA.

Notwithstanding my earlier overstated hyperbole, trading Martin has turned out to be a disaster.

PS. Clearly I want to say something's a disaster.

Can you describe Stef Martin's first year at the Lions?...and his last at the Dees

Essendon would be the one club I would be concerned about in the ruck division, don't know what they are doing

[old dee 23,872]

Can you describe Stef Martin's first year at the Lions?...and his last at the Dees

Essendon would be the one club I would be concerned about in the ruck division, don't know what they are doing

Don't think you are on your own

I don't think they know either

[rjay 25,091]

Lions: Leuenberger and Stef Martin. Both bordering on AA.

Notwithstanding my earlier overstated hyperbole, trading Martin has turned out to be a disaster.

PS. Clearly I want to say something's a disaster.

I love this 'Ron'...

Comment of the day.

[rjay 25,091]

Can you describe Stef Martin's first year at the Lions?...and his last at the Dees

Essendon would be the one club I would be concerned about in the ruck division, don't know what they are doing

They picked up Giles to cover Bellchambers and Daniher is a good relief option.

However who ends up playing for them this year is anyones guess at the moment.

[old dee 23,872]

They picked up Giles to cover Bellchambers and Daniher is a good relief option.

However who ends up playing for them this year is anyones guess at the moment.

You can be confident Giles and Daniher will be but after that it is in the lap of the gods as they say.

[deeko 952]

The rucks actually the one spot of the ground I that doesnt concern at present.

Jamar is the fittest he has ever been, Gawn is due for some luck and Spencer just competes and that's all we can ask for.

I'd much rather wait until a proven player comes available who isn't getting much game time much like how the Crows got Sauce, GWS/Syd getting Mumford, Tiges and Maric etc. They can then take Jamars #1 spot in 2016 or after.

Seems to be a lot less riskier to wait a few years, see if there bodies hold up and they have the aggression and skill to be competent rather than running the gauntlet with kids who ruck.

[The Devil Inside 2,147]

They picked up Giles to cover Bellchambers and Daniher is a good relief option.

However who ends up playing for them this year is anyones guess at the moment.

Giles and Bellchambers, odds on who is the first to go down injured, and Daniher can't be everywhere

[dazzledavey36 55,358]

I would be looking at Zac Clark and Daniek Gorringe at the end of the year. Both to me I see alot of potential if given the number 1 ruck role.

While I think Gawn has alot of talent his knees are a bit of an issue.

Spencer really needs to show ALOT in the next two years. Love his aggression but he is useless around ground.

I would love for us to Rookie list Jamar if he has a good like the pies did with Hudson and give him an extra development role for our talls. His experience is still very important IMO for the likes of King and Gawn.

[Moonshadow 17,677]

Giles and Bellchambers, odds on who is the first to go down injured, and Daniher can't be everywhere

True, but so too can Gawn and Spencil go down injured and Jamar is nearing the end. Their pre season looks promising, but as we all know it's the real stuff that will test them. If Gawn and Jamar have an injury free year we look damaging in the ruck dept. If they get injured, it'll be Spencil and Pedo, that combo frightens me. Our ruck stocks are injury prone and thin IMO. I reckon Dazzle is on the money, Gorringe or Zac Clark are good targets.

[jumbo returns 6,741]

Max Gawn needs to clunk his marks. If Spencer's skills matched his aggro, he'd be a star...alas.

More Stef Martin hand wringing? Fmd.

Jamar is looking fantastic and will dominate this year. Chance he'll play on too.

[The Devil Inside 2,147]

Max Gawn needs to clunk his marks. If Spencer's skills matched his aggro, he'd be a star...alas.

More Stef Martin hand wringing? Fmd.

Jamar is looking fantastic and will dominate this year. Chance he'll play on too.

Jamar is looking good, absolutely flying on the track, beat his 3k pb, we seem also to be getting better with injury management, although you can't plan for bad luck, Spencer has been doing heaps of work with Jack Watts whilst they were in rehab, (Watts to get Spencers aggression and Spencer to get Watts' skills...a Demonland dream)

If it came down to Spencer and Pedo, wouldn't be lacking in sheer effort, Roos would coach to cover

On another note Gawn is looking really really good in training, clunking marks all the time, just transfer it to game time

We always covet other players, bizarre, as I keep saying, clean slate again, let's whinge and dream in August if need be

[dee-tox 4,835]

Think the whole ruck division goes pear shaped if Gawn doesn't stand up. One area that we always had covered under Daniher. White, Jolly and Jamar were pretty decent.
King looks at least three years sway.

Edited January 27, 2015 by dee-tox

[Moonshadow 17,677]

Think the whole ruck division goed pear shaped if Gawn doesn't stand up. One area that we always had covered under Daniher. White, Jolly and Jamar were pretty decent.

King looks at least three years sway.

Agreed Dee tox. Our rucks have been thin for some time and injury has highlighted this.

[old dee 23,872]

Agreed Dee tox. Our rucks have been thin for some time and injury has highlighted this.

I don't agree the rucks are not the reason we have spent 3 years in a black hole.

While they could be better there have been way bigger problems in the mid field and forward line.

We have average AFL standard Rucks the others mentioned have been barely VFL standard.

[deeko 952]

Max Gawn needs to clunk his marks.

I think Maxy is getting a lot better at this. Started really dominating the VFL last year with his contested grabs around the ground and up forward.

I know it was only VFL standard but it was promising for a 22 year old to do so.

He started clunking a couple towards the end of the year in the ones and I am confident he will continue to improve and be a player for us.

[rjay 25,091]

I think Maxy is getting a lot better at this. Started really dominating the VFL last year with his contested grabs around the ground and up forward.

I know it was only VFL standard but it was promising for a 22 year old to do so.

He started clunking a couple towards the end of the year in the ones and I am confident he will continue to improve and be a player for us.

I think big Max has the tools be one of the top rucks in the AFL with injury the only negative and it's a big one.

We will need someone post Jamar to give us cover.