6 minutes ago, KozzyCan said:

No. Senior on field leadership is important to development.

I guess that’s the whole point - how do we get that development from on field leadership if the up comers don’t get on field time?

6 minutes ago, DeeMee said:

I guess that’s the whole point - how do we get that development from on field leadership if the up comers don’t get on field time?

Development still happens off the field. Ruck is a unique position, often hard to fit in more than one. I wouldn’t be pushing out our captain just to get games into Heath though. Max’s presence is important to all our young players.

Brave but honest post ,in the 2023 qualifying final which we lost by 7 points ,if Grundy had even been a sub we would have had a great chance to win that game and go onto even greater chance to win another GF on the G .

2 hours ago, waynewussell said:

I think we will soon see that Heath has more strings to his bow than being purely a ruckman. He is a very good high mark with a big body. He has key position credentials, even if they are used sparingly. He is a very good, long kick. I don't think we will be embarrassed if he has to spend time forward or in defence when Max is still in the ruck.

I was behind the goal for his 2 last-quarter shots on it in the North praccy. I can tell you he has some work to do in that area. 'Max #2' he definitely is!

It may be the new rules make him even more valuable, for a season or two. His clean taps to take away and goals in the praccy games were sensational. I think it is a fair discussion, but Max is not that cat.

2 hours ago, Adam The God said:

If you've watched the Fox Footy interview between Gary and King, King indicated Max would get rests this year.

Again, I think we'll see more Chris Scott type management from King. Geelong have been experts at managing their older players.

Pretty much like what happened in the practice match against North.

Gawny rested out the game and The Moose got a full game against one of the best rucks in the league in Xerri.

Edited 14 hours ago14 hr by Rodney (Balls) Grinter

1 hour ago, JOHNNY DEE said:

Brave but honest post ,in the 2023 qualifying final which we lost by 7 points ,if Grundy had even been a sub we would have had a great chance to win that game and go onto even greater chance to win another GF on the G .

Grundy refused to play.

Max impedes Max in the same fashion that Paul impeded Stuart Sutcliffe.

3 hours ago, Adam The God said:

If you've watched the Fox Footy interview between Gary and King, King indicated Max would get rests this year.

Again, I think we'll see more Chris Scott type management from King. Geelong have been experts at managing their older players.

This^

I haven't seen the interview, but thought straight away that with King coming out of the Geelong system, Gawn would get a whole lot more 'management,' whether he liked it or not.

I think that's a good thing for both players. I'd also like to see Heath as a ruck forward and think he has the tools, particularly now with Kentman out for a few weeks. I'm not sure it'll fly though, with the current single ruck/running game emphasis. I have no idea how Heath goes with running/endurance, but I think he can slot a goal despite his practice game inaccuracy.

1 hour ago, bing181 said:

Grundy refused to play.

How do you know that?

1 hour ago, bing181 said:

Grundy refused to play.

9 minutes ago, Big Col said:

How do you know that?

Because someone wrote it on land three years ago who had a good contact in the merchandise caravan at the club.

I think both Max's should play, especially against St Kilda this week. Heath was very good against North and against Richmond we were short a tall after Kentfield went down. Using TMac or JVR against either TDK or Marshall is stupid. Heath has to play.

15 minutes ago, deespicable me said:

I think both Max's should play, especially against St Kilda this week. Heath was very good against North and against Richmond we were short a tall after Kentfield went down. Using TMac or JVR against either TDK or Marshall is stupid. Heath has to play.

Somewhere I read that Marshall won’t be playing.

9 hours ago, Diamond_Jim said:

Not sure that Max will offer the same upside if we play a fast play on style game.

Even then I don't see him holding anyone back. Could and should we have traded him in say 2024. Culture aside (which probably precluded a deal) it should have been considered. A trade at end of 2026 might have some value but I doubt it.

You have a habit for being very critical/negative/displeased, and this post is again no exception, but the bolded bit is one of the most absurd things anyone has said on Demonland, ever.

You are seriously suggesting (in a critical tone, mind you) that we should have traded Max Gawn in 2024, or at least considered it.

Our captain. Coming off, at the time, his 7th AA season (the 8th came the year you think we should have flogged him off elsewhere). With what had happened with Trac that season, he was at the time one of our only marketable players. Whether we like it or not, he was also one of our only leaders. All because of some rule changes that were 12 months off being announced, and which you seem to think will hamper Gawn but which of course you haven't even seen him play yet.

And to back that up you're now also suggesting we should consider trading him in 2026 but that we've missed the "value" boat.

Seriously.

This has to be on the podium for worst things anyone says on Demonland in 2026.

It is a feature of the rucking world.

Preuss, Grundy, and arguably even McInerney from Casey was missed because the position was filled.

At the same time, having that second ruxk option who can also be respectable - just a role player - as a marking target makes a great difference to a team. They stretch defenders and if they are fit enough they really stretch wingers when they offer the long lead.

Right now I'm also recalling Darren Jolly and Stefan Martin who were stuck in the traffic jam behind Jeff White, and Mark Jamar who was the emergent successor.

Ruck is a merry-go-round and having the best is not a problem. We may yet be extremely lucky to have Heath doing the big target 70-30 fwd-ruck role.

I have my own suspicion that Gawn will often drop back to provide some intercepting height, which we know he does well, and that Heath will be a continuously present ruck for the forward portion of the ground. Saves Max a ton of running, supports our vulnerable tall defenders, and is also very appropriate with the new faster ball ups.

11 hours ago, DeeMee said:

I’ll preface by saying I love big Maxy and everything he gives to the club. I’ve just been getting a niggling feeling that either now or in the future his pursuit of team and individual honours could impede development of our young tall talls. (Up around the 200cm)

Max Heath impresses and Kalani in the future but Gawny’s need to play maximum ruck time sees little opportunity for them to get firsts experience. This also means we are forever looking for another tallish to do fill in work - see JVR, Culley as examples whereas their time could be better spent in their specialist roles. I have even heard talk of using TMac which seems silly to me with the new rules.

Tell me I’m wrong or will the new extended bench help. (Who will be first to post “you’re wrong”

You act like Max Heath and Kalani are banging the door down, before Kentfield got injured Heath wasn’t even in the side as the backup ruck. The hard truth is we haven’t had anyone since Jackson left that has put there hand up in any real way, and we saw with him it didn’t require Max to sacrifice his game to develop Jackson.

While its too soon to say on Kalani, I dont see anything in Heath or Kentfields future other than as roll players, so until we either recruit or trade for the starting ruck we are going to still need Max playing full minutes. Happy to be proven wrong but we are going to need to see a lot more from any of them than a few preseason games and as stated it shouldn’t require Max to limit his game if they are good enough.

You are wrong

Just out of curiosity anybody know how has Heath gone in the Saints 2’s?

If Jackson was still around, it would be entertained for 1 extra minute. But the 5th interchange position should be a benefit for us to seamlessly bring in an understudy over the next few seasons

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by John Demonic