I'm a little worried about our lack of ruck depth.

Max is obviously amazing and hopefully Fullarton can be the 2nd ruck/forward. 

But after that it seems weve got verrall who is obviously very young and raw... and thats it.

Last season max was injured for 6 weeks and covered well by grundy but who rucks if that happens again? Fullarton with shache playing fwd/ruck?

 

Edited November 21, 20231 yr by biggestred
Grammar

There's Tom McDonald & Tomlinson at a pinch. Last year we won a game with Weideman & Mitch Brown rucking.

1 hour ago, biggestred said:

I'm a little worried about our lack of ruck depth.

Max is obviously amazing and hopefully Fullarton can be the 2nd ruck/forward. 

But after that it seems weve got verrall who is obviously very young and raw... and thats it.

Last season max was injured for 6 weeks and covered well by grundy but who rucks if that happens again? Fullarton with shache playing fwd/ruck?

 

Good question however I feel you have answered your own by mentioning Fullerton and Shacke. Just feel at times we maybe comparing the "stop gap" last year with Grundy and Gawn where that was a luxury experiment that did not work. Last year we never had this discussion you mention. My concern is for what happens in the after life of Gawn and Fullerton. WE really have in reflection had great rucks over the years. Gawn, White, Jolley, Stynes, Jamar and others.

7 hours ago, David-Demon said:

Good question however I feel you have answered your own by mentioning Fullerton and Shacke. Just feel at times we maybe comparing the "stop gap" last year with Grundy and Gawn where that was a luxury experiment that did not work. Last year we never had this discussion you mention. My concern is for what happens in the after life of Gawn and Fullerton. WE really have in reflection had great rucks over the years. Gawn, White, Jolley, Stynes, Jamar and others.

It's a great list of Ruck champions you mention.

Hopefully Max is fit and fine for another three years. Fullerton isn't too bad but that gives us a reasonable about amount of time to find another great player.

I also think Grundy is overrated.

He may be good at tap work but his general play elsewhere was average for me.

 

10 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

I also think Grundy is overrated.

He may be good at tap work but his general play elsewhere was average for me.

 

This is the factor that has been overlooked in the whole Grundy/MFC story. He did not live up to expectations. He was competitive at the centre bounce and occasional marks around the ground. He was almost non-existent as a deep forward target and only provided the occasional spurt with his ground level possessions. I think he is clearly beyond his prime and I expect some disappointment is in store for Sydney. 

I am hoping that Will Verrall and  Kyah Faris-White really start to produce at Casey in 2024, Verrall is 200cm and Faris - White is 206cm. Verrall had a big wrap from his previous coach who really rated him at STH Adelaide.

Edited November 21, 20231 yr by DeeZone
Spellchecker

All comes down to how much we get out of Fullerton.

Didn't watch a lot of him at the Lions, especially in terms of ruck work around the ground. As a forward most of his goals came from being front and square off the pack so an unknown quantity in the marking stakes as well. Very much a wait and see but I have some hope. 

I'll be watching Will Verall closely next year though, seems quite similar to Barnett at the Eagles and I reckon he'll be a big improver at Casey if he gets a clear run at it. 

22 minutes ago, waynewussell said:

occasional marks around the ground.

For me that was the glaring problem with his game. Very soft hands . A good ruckman is a good mark. But I did think he was good at ground level. 

In the final analysis with Maxy, we have simply been spoilt with one of the best ruckman the game has had.

Serious problem we have....

We all saw Max go down against Brisbane and fortunately we had Grundy to cover.

If something similar happens we do not have backup that can play a whole game as ruck. 

Fullerton....zero games in 2023.  Look at his highlights reel on the club website...no rucking shown! He is a forward.

Schache....not selected when we needed either a forward or ruck.  Tells you where he is at.

That just leaves TMac or JVR.  We need both of them to be up forward not getting beaten up around the ball.  We fell into this trap last year, by robbing the forward line to fill gaps in the ruck. 

Verrall played 9 games at Casey after injury.  He showed promise.....and you can't want more from a kid in his first year. But it was his first year, and naturally he is a LONG way from AFL rucking duties.  Unfortunately, he is also only 199cm which is not in his favour for rucking at the top level as well. 

Houston...we have a problem!

JVR is underated in the ruck. His tapwork is exceptional.

I don't buy into this concern about about him getting injured in the ruck. It's a contact sport everyone is at risk of injury regardless of their position. 

All I can think is that maybe we are in play for Darcy to take over from Max in 2025.

This won't help us in 2024 but maybe there is some method in the madness.

36 minutes ago, layzie said:

All comes down to how much we get out of Fullerton.

Didn't watch a lot of him at the Lions, especially in terms of ruck work around the ground. As a forward most of his goals came from being front and square off the pack so an unknown quantity in the marking stakes as well. Very much a wait and see but I have some hope. 

I'll be watching Will Verall closely next year though, seems quite similar to Barnett at the Eagles and I reckon he'll be a big improver at Casey if he gets a clear run at it. 

Layzie I don’t want to steal DS thunder but it is Fullarton.😁

10 hours ago, biggestred said:

I'm a little worried about our lack of ruck depth.

Max is obviously amazing and hopefully Fullarton can be the 2nd ruck/forward. 

But after that it seems weve got verrall who is obviously very young and raw... and thats it.

Last season max was injured for 6 weeks and covered well by grundy but who rucks if that happens again? Fullarton with shache playing fwd/ruck?

 

spargs will just have to step up

18 minutes ago, george_on_the_outer said:

Serious problem we have....

We all saw Max go down against Brisbane and fortunately we had Grundy to cover.

If something similar happens we do not have backup that can play a whole game as ruck. 

Fullerton....zero games in 2023.  Look at his highlights reel on the club website...no rucking shown! He is a forward.

Schache....not selected when we needed either a forward or ruck.  Tells you where he is at.

That just leaves TMac or JVR.  We need both of them to be up forward not getting beaten up around the ball.  We fell into this trap last year, by robbing the forward line to fill gaps in the ruck. 

Verrall played 9 games at Casey after injury.  He showed promise.....and you can't want more from a kid in his first year. But it was his first year, and naturally he is a LONG way from AFL rucking duties.  Unfortunately, he is also only 199cm which is not in his favour for rucking at the top level as well. 

Houston...we have a problem!

Agree 100%

I thought a mature back up ruckman was a much bigger need then Marty Hore and made more sense.

If Gawn goes down then, I would hate to see how Fullarton/Schache would go against a English/Luke Jackson/ Rowan Marshall and even Grundy... eek.

36 minutes ago, rjay said:

All I can think is that maybe we are in play for Darcy to take over from Max in 2025.

This won't help us in 2024 but maybe there is some method in the madness.

Sadly i think he's off to Geelong. Didn't he play for the Falcons as junior? 

1 hour ago, rjay said:

All I can think is that maybe we are in play for Darcy to take over from Max in 2025.

This won't help us in 2024 but maybe there is some method in the madness.

we should have a young White in 2026?

It's quite extraordinary to me that we have promised Hore and Melksham rookie list positions and haven't brought in a back up ruckman. Its actually the worst piece of list management that I have seen for a long time.

Even if Max stays fit, surely we can't be expecting him to play 23 games plus finals. Van Rooyen should only ruck around the ground when he needs to get into the game, otherwise I don't want him out of the forward line.

That leaves Fullarton and Schache, and neither remotely resembles an AFL standard ruck.

1 hour ago, biggestred said:

we should have a young White in 2026?

Yep, but he is a key forward.

This is my biggest worry for next year. I think the extra bye in round 6 could be a big help to keeping Max fresh and injury free but you can’t help but feel that if the great man goes down injured then our season is cooked. 
 

I feel as though the footy department must have a move up their sleeve or know something we don’t. Perhaps they think Verral will progress quicker than others do. 
Perhaps one of Hore and Melksham won’t make the rookie list. Hore might go to Casey or we find a coaching role for Jake. 
I just find it hard to believe that the same footy department that made a big move last year to bring in a second AA ruck would roll the dice on big Max staying fit. 

1 hour ago, Colm said:

This is my biggest worry for next year. I think the extra bye in round 6 could be a big help to keeping Max fresh and injury free but you can’t help but feel that if the great man goes down injured then our season is cooked. 
 

I feel as though the footy department must have a move up their sleeve or know something we don’t. Perhaps they think Verral will progress quicker than others do. 
Perhaps one of Hore and Melksham won’t make the rookie list. Hore might go to Casey or we find a coaching role for Jake. 
I just find it hard to believe that the same footy department that made a big move last year to bring in a second AA ruck would roll the dice on big Max staying fit. 

I feel your pain Colm a lot of posters flagged their desire for an extra mature age or project ruck to cover the just in case scenario. I guess they are putting their trust in Fullarton and Verrall to provide 2nd ruck responsibilities and Max coverage.!!

3 hours ago, poita said:

It's quite extraordinary to me that we have promised Hore and Melksham rookie list positions and haven't brought in a back up ruckman. Its actually the worst piece of list management that I have seen for a long time.

Must admit the Hore selection makes little sense. One day the Melksham retention will be explained

In the 2022 semi final against the lions, Max was killing them in the ruck and the Lions put Fullarton into the centre and he nullified Max and beat him with his athleticism. Was a factor with the Lions winning. 
 

I have high hopes for Fullarton if given a good go at AFL level. He has the ability to  produce some very good footy 

Nothing to worry about here, we will pivot and deal with whatever the season throws at us. 

1 hour ago, Demonsterative said:

In the 2022 semi final against the lions, Max was killing them in the ruck and the Lions put Fullarton into the centre and he nullified Max and beat him with his athleticism. Was a factor with the Lions winning. 
 

I have high hopes for Fullarton if given a good go at AFL level. He has the ability to  produce some very good footy 

I wouldn't say he nullified Max considering it was actually Darcy Fort who was wo was playing majority of ruck for the night. Fullarton had 4 hitouts for the whole night lol..

Max was very close to pulling out of the game due to his injury he was carrying and he's even admitted this.

Had to play under extreme duress throughout the game and it showed as the night went on.

 It was more Max playing in pain more then anything. Fullarton had zero influence on the night.

Mid season draft here we come!!