After yesterday its clear that Pruess is a very good VFL Ruckman but isn't up to AFL level.

Poor below the knees, poor skill execution, too slow and a lack of game awareness to have any impact on the contest regardless of his mobility.

Petty might be the answer a the second ruck once Macca is back playing up forward next year.

 

He’s still learning (from the best) and just needs time. 

Edited July 22, 20195 yr by Ethan Tremblay

My take on Preuss is that he is a number 1 ruckman only.  If we had a player of his calibre on our list in 2017 when Gawn went down with that bad hamstring injury, then we would have played finals that year.

Preuss is insurance for Gawn going down; something that is definitely going to happen from time to time over the next few seasons.  When Gawn misses a match or two, we can’t just forfeit the ruck contests, we need someone with the size, strength and experience to step right into that spot.

If we can find a good ruckman through the draft to develop alongside them, then we’ll be very well placed in that area.

Nah... Just needs to work harder like a lot of his teammates....

The topic came up last week in the media i think about the prospect of trading him. Initially i thought its ridiculous and although a left field suggestion its a stupid on all the same.

But.. for a bore Monday, lets keep the chat going. We gave them Dom Tyson and got pick 62 back as well i believe. Now do we miss Tyson.. i dont think he would have prevented our fall to 17th.. so it could be argued we got him pretty cheap. What if a club was really desperate for a ruckman.. what if they came and offered a late second rounder for him.. would we entertain it, especially if that second rounder allowed us to get a Langdon without using our original 2nd rounder..

 

Just wanting to see what the thoughts would be.. just mucking around a bit.

 

He'd be playing number one ruck at Richmond, Sydney and Essendon right now if he were at any of those clubs.  He is a ruckman only and to be honest, the extra minutes Gawn went forward yesterday while Preuss rucked didn't help our cause at all.  I'd consider the trade.

  On 22/07/2019 at 04:05, Swooper1987 said:

He'd be playing number one ruck at Richmond, Sydney and Essendon right now if he were at any of those clubs.  He is a ruckman only and to be honest, the extra minutes Gawn went forward yesterday while Preuss rucked didn't help our cause at all.  I'd consider the trade.

Yeah there are teams that would love him.. might be a case up us upselling.. although it was great having him on the books when Max went down, he was competitive a t he sole ruck.. he isnt a fwd.. once again we all know it, the coaching geniuses dont. 

Have said it a few times.. Preuss is number 1 ruck with Gawn playing havoc as a roving forward. ( I know he has to kick straight.)

Not every week but in the right conditions.. interstate heat etc it's worth a try.

The actual ruck role is massively overstated these days.. Preuss does that fine

  On 22/07/2019 at 04:17, Diamond_Jim said:

Have said it a few times.. Preuss is number 1 ruck with Gawn playing havoc as a roving forward. ( I know he has to kick straight.)

Not every week but in the right conditions.. interstate heat etc it's worth a try.

The actual ruck role is massively overstated these days.. Preuss does that fine

Based on that statement, I have to assume you'd be happy to trade Gawn.

  On 22/07/2019 at 04:32, La Dee-vina Comedia said:

Based on that statement, I have to assume you'd be happy to trade Gawn.

No but I think he's underutilised as a permanent ruck... our clearance stats have never been stunning despite him winning the hit outs on most occasions.

Preuss needs to body slam opponents and shake them up. Give them a rattle and open up some spaces in the forward line.

Preuss is not a natural footballer he needs to drop around 10-15kgs to have a chance in this game.

Give him a break - I know he looks about 40 but he has only played 13 games of senior footy & he came to AFL fairly late.  It will be another 3 or 4 years before he becomes an effective player.  We probably need a ready made back up while Preuss learns the trade.

I'm sure the commentators were laughing when he dropped that sitter in the last.

We had no choice but to play Preuss over the past two weeks because Weideman, Smith and McDonald were all unavailable - in an ideal world he wouldn't have played either of those games.

He is either a number one ruckman, or a number two ruckman against sides with two strong rucks (eg Port). 

If he plays forward he will do best as a third tall, where he can hopefully get a mismatch against a smaller opponent.

That said, I didn't notice him being run off too often in either game, and our forward structure was as good yesterday as it has been for a number of weeks. If he can ruck 30-40% of the game and play forward 30-40% to give us a different look, I think it is worth persevering with him in the side. If it gives Max a decent chop out and allows him to play forward at times, that is a massive bonus for us.

  On 22/07/2019 at 06:23, Tony Tea said:

I'm sure the commentators were laughing when he dropped that sitter in the last.

They also laughed at Max in his early days. 

Max was as awkward looking as Preuss is currently. He just needs a couple of years to develop.

  On 22/07/2019 at 06:35, poita said:

We had no choice but to play Preuss over the past two weeks because Weideman, Smith and McDonald were all unavailable - in an ideal world he wouldn't have played either of those games.

He is either a number one ruckman, or a number two ruckman against sides with two strong rucks (eg Port). 

If he plays forward he will do best as a third tall, where he can hopefully get a mismatch against a smaller opponent.

That said, I didn't notice him being run off too often in either game, and our forward structure was as good yesterday as it has been for a number of weeks. If he can ruck 30-40% of the game and play forward 30-40% to give us a different look, I think it is worth persevering with him in the side. If it gives Max a decent chop out and allows him to play forward at times, that is a massive bonus for us.

Made me laugh...I can't imagine Preuss as a forward ever playing on anyone but a smaller opponent.

 

It might justset people if I pointed out that the club has been fully aware of Preuss' limitations and has been focusing on using this season to develop him, specifically concentrating on his intensity and contested marking, with a view to making him a viable two-on-field option beside Gawn.

In other words, the club knew he wasn't plug-and-play to the need when they got him, but believed he could be what was needed and that they would be able to get him there. Over time.

Meanwhile he's at worst a handy asset for emergencies.

I can forgive the dropped mark I guess but it is hard to look past that 'tackle' on McGovern.  I really think if he have of smashed him in that tackle it would have inspired the team.  he is in the team to be aggressive and he missed a massive opportunity there.

Pruess is absolutely needed as back up ruck. If Gawn goes down and we had no Pruess we are screwed.

I think Pruess can develop into a very effective ruck over the next few seasons. He need to work hard on his tank and his skills while being back up to Max but I do not see him sitting in the goal square with his present skill set. He needs to train with max over the off season to understand what is necessary to get to the next level.

He has something.

Persist.  I feel he will be the late maturing ruckman.

His brain has not yet caught up with his body.

I couldn't watch much of the game against the toasters but I did notice that Preuss's tap work was very precise and nearly always to a dee and we either retained the ball or got a clearance.

Gawn wins a lot of taps but we lose the clearances, especially in the centre. By the way his goal kicking will improve dramatically when he adopts the reverse Buddy run up ie. a curved run up that swings the ball to the goals by using his natural hook.

Something to watch.

Pruess has everything that Weideman doesn’t and vice versa.

Weid is great below the knees, Pruess can take a pack mark.

Pruess plays like Tarzan.

  On 22/07/2019 at 08:37, DubDee said:

I can forgive the dropped mark I guess but it is hard to look past that 'tackle' on McGovern.  I really think if he have of smashed him in that tackle it would have inspired the team.  he is in the team to be aggressive and he missed a massive opportunity there.

Pruess is absolutely needed as back up ruck. If Gawn goes down and we had no Pruess we are screwed.

For mine the tackle was a response to the free given against Brayshaw earlier who a “dangerous tackle” and another Dee who got pinged just prior for holding the man. IE Pruess didn’t want to give away a free and after spinning him 360 he let up a touch and bang he let him slip through.

Not a fireable offence. He’s still learning people, let him grow.

give him a chance only played a couple of games with the Dees, keep playing him for the rest of the year to give him the experience.  he can mark, can kick and can do the tap work. So far its been in dribs and drabs but one day it will come together and he will be a real asset.