11 minutes ago, Return to Glory said:

I preferred it when SEN had Finey and Stephen J Peake. It was babble, sure, but at least it was occasionally funny babble. I'm pretty sure North Korea played half an hour of Kane Cornes to Alex Sigley. All it took.

 

Finey and Peake sure did babble, but Peakey in particular also dribbled and gibbered and it was all about St. Kilda!! Still it could be amusing.

Edited July 8, 20195 yr by xarronn
addition

34 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Very  good Game from the big spruce Pruess yesterday.  He made  Kruezer look like a  rookie   on quite  a few  occasions and  won their contest  easily.  He's  not going  anywhere. 

 

Preuss was good in the ruck and took a few nice marks but Kreuzer snuck out the back and forward of him a fair bit and Preuss was slow to react and work defensively. 

The good news was his size and strength worried Kreuzer, but the lack of smarts and work rate around the ground was a worry to me. 

I was worried Kruezer was going to run him off his legs in the 2nd half but luckily a nicely timed Viney (I think) tackle sent Kreuzer off the ground for a while.

18 minutes ago, xarronn said:

 

Finey and Peake sure did babble, but Peakey in particular also dribbled and gibbered and it was all about St. Kilda!! Still it could be amusing.

I occasionally listen to SEN, or at least try, and it's hard going. There's a group of them (nights) who sound exactly the same as each other.

1 hour ago, Hampton 22 said:

I’d like to have a few weeks with them both playing. Can’t be any worse than what we’ve seen from the team this year. 

 

1 hour ago, TGR said:

Cannot possibly play in the same team.  Preuss is slow as a key forward.  Max isn't super mobile as a KPP either.

 

Only way it can happen is a Brodie Grundy and Darcy Moore (type).

 

Unless we inflate his value, don't know why we did this.  Must be traded this year.

IF Tommy was available then yes, probably not both but surely the serendipity of Tom's injury is that we more or less have to play them both.

1 hour ago, DeeSpencer said:

1. There are no ruck poor clubs. Every club has a starting ruck as good as Preuss with the exceptions probably being Dogs and Freo who have young rucks who are good enough to play and have a far higher ceiling. Preuss might push for game time at some clubs but not to the extent that they are trading a top 40 pick for him.

Adel - O'Brien (or Jacobs)
Bris - Martin
Carl - Kreuzer
Coll - Grundy*
Ess - Bellchambers
Freo - Lobb/Darcy 
GWS - Mumford
Geel - Stanley
GC - Witts
Haw - big boy
North - Goldy
Port - Lycett
Richmond - Nankervis
Sydney  - Sinclair*
St Kilda - Marshall
WBulldogs - English
WC - Nic Nat

* the only homes I can think about: If Grundy were to leave the Pies which I think is very unlikely or if the Swans had desires on Sinclair as a forward which I also think would be silly.

2. We got Preuss for a reason. To fill a very important role as back up to Max so we have someone to bring in so Max doesn't have to play 22 games a year at 85% game time. Preuss is also a back up for the tall forwards which we're hopefully about to see.

3. Whether he can or can't play alongside Max doesn't really matter, the back up ruck is just as important if you're planning to be in finals contention.

 

Big Boy turns 30 in a few days, so is getting pretty close to becoming an old boy.

It was interesting to hear Goodwin talking after the match yesterday about how the club has had a specific development plan in place for Preuss, focusing on developing his ruck craft and marking ability with maximum minutes at Casey.

He also seemed quite pleased (I swear there was a glint in his eye) when discussing the prospect of Preuss and Gawn playing together during the remainder of the season.

It would seem that with McDonald now out for the rest of the season, circumstances have forced the club's hand and we'll be getting a taste of the two-tower effort from here on.

Given Preuss seemed to do pretty well on sunday, and while he isn't fast or brilliant he does seem to at least have the priceless quality of initiative, I'd be very keen to see him settle into the seniors.

Then again, I do have the imaginary bygone notion of having the 'spare' ruck parked in the goalsquare and barely being expected to run around, just sitting there making the opposition anxious. Done well it would allow very high time-on-ground for both of them while (in my opinion) forcing the opposition tactics to respond.

Preuss will do well if he can just find the spot in our forward line where most number of the opposition backs are standing and run there, because that is where we appear to kick it 90% of the time.

2 hours ago, Rod Grinter Riot Squad said:

Believe Pruess has a 4 year deal, but am sure SEN would be correct.....

Easily the most amusing observation on the thread.

41 minutes ago, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Big Boy turns 30 in a few days, so is getting pretty close to becoming an old boy.

Fair point. Ceglar's 28 and I'm not sure Preuss is enough of an upgrade for the Hawks to put a decent offer on the table, they've got enough other priorities to worry about.

1 hour ago, Bates Mate said:

Jimmy and Strawbs that was 1988.

Well aware of that. 

Ruckmen are always tall and don’t get shorter when opponents get tired later in the game

The fact that Pruess is not in our best 29 is an indictment on Goodwin's coaching, not the player's football ability.

2 minutes ago, Queanbeyan Demon said:

The fact that Pruess is not in our best 29 is an indictment on Goodwin's coaching, not the player's football ability.

Im not Simon's greatest fan by a country  mile but it's  not so much his fault as the whole FD. Make no mistake we have a very poor FD. Many here understood  the motive of getting  Preuss. Many here are gobsmacked  ( though by now we should be prepared ) by the inefficiencies and poor results of progressing players.

1 hour ago, Little Goffy said:

It was interesting to hear Goodwin talking after the match yesterday about how the club has had a specific development plan in place for Preuss, focusing on developing his ruck craft and marking ability with maximum minutes at Casey.

He also seemed quite pleased (I swear there was a glint in his eye) when discussing the prospect of Preuss and Gawn playing together during the remainder of the season.

It would seem that with McDonald now out for the rest of the season, circumstances have forced the club's hand and we'll be getting a taste of the two-tower effort from here on.

Given Preuss seemed to do pretty well on sunday, and while he isn't fast or brilliant he does seem to at least have the priceless quality of initiative, I'd be very keen to see him settle into the seniors.

Then again, I do have the imaginary bygone notion of having the 'spare' ruck parked in the goalsquare and barely being expected to run around, just sitting there making the opposition anxious. Done well it would allow very high time-on-ground for both of them while (in my opinion) forcing the opposition tactics to respond.

Are you alluding to a certain #16 in the late 1950s early 1960s?

Big Bob (as opposed to Tassie Bob #8) Johnson perfected this rôle.

2 hours ago, Return to Glory said:

I preferred it when SEN had Finey and Stephen J Peake. It was babble, sure, but at least it was occasionally funny babble. I'm pretty sure North Korea played half an hour of Kane Cornes to Alex Sigley. All it took.

If they also played 3 minutes of Andy Maher, Sigley would confess to anything.

Maybe we can send Andy Maher to Pyongyang with a camera and he would disappear, never to be seen again.

I'd be playing both of them and resting one forward or back. 

I like Preuss, but once the ruck contest is over he really stops playing, unlike Max or Grundy, who get involved in the next play. This is where Preuss needs to improve and much of this is about his tank and then developing game sense.

Resting one forward would be a slightly more attractive proposition if we had some decent small forwards

Just had a look at the last 5 minutes of yesterday's game. Saw Preuss tap the ball straight to Oliver in one ruck contest and then straight to Viney in another not long after. All in the space of a hectic few seconds. Did his job just there I reckon. If he can increase his involvement in the next passages of play he could be invaluable. Plus take some strong marks in the square would be nice to see.

The answer is obvious.

Gawn must be traded.

16 minutes ago, Dame Gaga said:

Just had a look at the last 5 minutes of yesterday's game. Saw Preuss tap the ball straight to Oliver in one ruck contest and then straight to Viney in another not long after. All in the space of a hectic few seconds. Did his job just there I reckon. If he can increase his involvement in the next passages of play he could be invaluable. Plus take some strong marks in the square would be nice to see.

He was pretty good in the tap stakes, did ok at times around the ground but does run out of puff. He can take a grab up fwd, he should stay in for rest of season for mine. 

3 hours ago, monoccular said:

 

IF Tommy was available then yes, probably not both but surely the serendipity of Tom's injury is that we more or less have to play them both.

Fair enough Mono, but I am thinking long-term sustainability, not a dead rubber against Carlton VFL or whatever the next few weeks bring.

WC have been playing two rucks for a long time even without  Niknat. Considering they are current premiers it’s a viable and proven strategy for the modern game. Gawn and Preuss can cobble up a far better combination than Niknat and whoever B grader plays second fiddle. Some might say it does not suit Goodwin’s master strategy but hey it may become time to make some tweaks because we are backsliding to nowhere and WC are looking towards back to back flags.

Edited July 8, 20195 yr by america de cali

10 minutes ago, america de cali said:

WC have been playing two rucks for a long time even without  Niknat. Considering they are current premiers it’s a viable and proven strategy for the modern game. Gawn and Preuss can cobble up a far better combination than Niknat and whoever B grader plays second fiddle. Some might say it does not suit Goodwin’s master strategy but hey it may become time to make some tweaks because we are backsliding to nowhere and WC are looking towards back to back flags.

and we play them soon

5 hours ago, TGR said:

If we didn't have Gawn, I'd say the opposite.

You obviously don't understand the fact that one really has to play FF 40% game time if both play in the same game.  Preuss is too slow in defensive mode as KPP.

If you can't work that out...Wow-wee.

 

Preuss's role would be to:

A/ Mark the ball (funny but I see him doing this more and more)

B/ Crush whomever is foolish enough to get in his way.

Sorry, but I don't see too many playing at FF who are instrumental at locking the ball in.

B/ above is the go, it should be a team rule that nobody jumps at a ball directed to Max or Preuss (floating in from the side excepted).

So many times I see opposition players go 2 up against Max and Preuss and the opposition players end up sprawled on the ground. Much easier to defend the forward half when to oppo defenders are on their arze. Our players just need to recognize this more often.

 

Edited July 8, 20195 yr by dworship
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12 hours ago, A F said:

I'd be playing both of them and resting one forward or back. 

I like Preuss, but once the ruck contest is over he really stops playing, unlike Max or Grundy, who get involved in the next play. This is where Preuss needs to improve and much of this is about his tank and then developing game sense.

I dont think that is quite  right.He gave plenty of second and third efforts cleared his own ball a few times.

I thought he gave  a creditable performance on the day. He was in our top 5 players .

16 hours ago, Sir Why You Little said:

I think Preuss and Max will play really well together and suprise a lot of people. 

Jimmy and Strawbs worked very well...

Both need to practice Goal Kicking. 

2-3 a game can be the difference between a W and a L

Fully agree especially given their 4 year age difference. We will retain Max for longer with Preuss taking more work .

The 'stynes/O'dwyer' thing back in late 80's was a paradigm shift at that time.