Carlton Supporters Club

I dont know about that.  Lobbe and Phillips are one trick ponies from where I sit, and they are only passable at that trick.  I dont think they can play as forwards, and any attempt to do so would halve our effectiveness.

This is where Rowe might have been a better option  to keep.

Anyway, I digress.  Without Kreuzer we are simply towelled up too much in the ruck.  Sinclair smashed us by himself on saturday with very little support.

I'll take it step further...

Bulldogs, despite that, won the centre clearances 14-8 and overall 44-30. So much for the big tapout advantage. Just have the mids in the centre square ready.

I dont know about that.  Lobbe and Phillips are one trick ponies from where I sit, and they are only passable at that trick.  I dont think they can play as forwards, and any attempt to do so would halve our effectiveness.

This is where Rowe might have been a better option  to keep.

Anyway, I digress.  Without Kreuzer we are simply towelled up too much in the ruck.  Sinclair smashed us by himself on saturday with very little support.

Nankervis, Lycett/Ryder and Sinclair all were influential against us....you can play one ruckman only for sure but there is one caveat...they have to be Good ruckman....not C and D grade hackers...

  Marchbank is a potential game winner.  He was very good against the Tigers in round 1 last season.  Hence his premium status.  The fact that we play him underdone (every single time he has returned from injury thus far) is the only reason he is unreliable because he gets hurt again.

Marchbank shouldnt have played EOS on saturday.  We dropped a player learning the caper but was otherwise fit in Garlett, only to play a bloke returning from injury.  This is the same old, same old for us, we do it every single time in an effort to ensure injured players stay injured (see Mitch McGovern and his "hamstring" injuries which will be linked to his pre season back injury).

Leave your ruck complaints out of it.  We have no fit ruckmen.  EOS.

Actually, it looks like we now have 3 'fit' ruckmen. Exactly how fit they are is an interesting conundrum, but all three will be available.
Last year Kreuzer got smashed by Witt, but he wasn't 100% fit. It the game in Qld Kreuzer didn't play. I think we rucked Lobbe that day. Phillips played in neither through injury.
Who we play this time will be very interesting.

As for Preuss, the only reason I can think of as to why we were not interested is the potential in de Koning. And he does have it in spades. Also there are a number of really good ruck prospects coming through the U18's.

Actually, it looks like we now have 3 'fit' ruckmen. Exactly how fit they are is an interesting conundrum, but all three will be available.
Last year Kreuzer got smashed by Witt, but he wasn't 100% fit. It the game in Qld Kreuzer didn't play. I think we rucked Lobbe that day. Phillips played in neither through injury.
Who we play this time will be very interesting.

As for Preuss, the only reason I can think of as to why we were not interested is the potential in de Koning. And he does have it in spades. Also there are a number of really good ruck prospects coming through the U18's.

I've been banging on about that for a while now. There simply is no need for 2 ruckmen, they are just not dominant enough in the modern game. McKay as a key forward is more than capable of standing in as a ruck when required. I'd happily throw Jones, McGovern (both good leap) and even Charlie as backup rucks if required, obviously Casboult too if he is playing (which i prefer not). The amount of contests they'd have any meaningful contact in (centre square mainly) is minimal, and the rest of the ruckwork is nothing more than a push and shove like a marking contest. Very little chance of injury.

Yet the benefits of not carrying an extra ruckman around the ground, and with rotations that frees up, certainly will make a difference to your team.

Money and premiership potential is probably why Preuss chose Melbourne...Dees were the hottest club on the rise and with May coming as well they looked good things.
Not sure how Pruess expected it to work with Gawn.....unless he thought ruck combos like Lycett/Vardy and Grundy/Cox were going to be the next fad after both played in the GF.

Its interesting how Collingwood are going with 3 ruckman in the senior team....

Money and premiership potential is probably why Preuss chose Melbourne...Dees were the hottest club on the rise and with May coming as well they looked good things.
Not sure how Pruess expected it to work with Gawn.....unless he thought ruck combos like Lycett/Vardy and Grundy/Cox were going to be the next fad after both played in the GF.

Its interesting how Collingwood are going with 3 ruckman in the senior team....