Carlton Supporters Club

RUCK
Alex Mirkov
Hudson O’Keeffe
Jack Silvagni
Marc Pittonet
Tom De Koning

Overview : Five players yet nothing of real substance presently. De Koning is an out of control wrecking ball, Pittonet is VFL standard only, O’Keeffe & Mirkov having learner plates on and Silvagni is a ‘hail mary’ at best.  

Recommendation : the Silvagni experiment has run its course and there is no other real place on the field for him given he is slow, his kicking for goal is 50/50 and he is prone to making costly errors, trade him the Saints so he can be with his Dad (don’t care about “heart & soul”, means nothing if you can do the basics). Work hard to fast-track the development of Mirkov & O’Keeffe so they can hopefully graduate sooner & trade TDK whilst he still has maximum trade value. 

TDK to CHB for me for the rest of the season.....I dont mind Okeefe and Lemmey as players and would give them a taste of senior footy if the season gets away from us.
The hope is Markov can do a Mason Cox and move on from being a lampost and give us something like the big American.
I dont mind Pittonet and reckon he has been ok, he competes well at stoppages and while he wont ever be a major threat around the ground or up forward he is still our best bet as No 1 ruckman unless Mirkov emerges and becomes a player.
Id be more inclined to experiment with Young in the ruck rather than JSOS and felt he would have matched up better with Cameron in those 2nd ruck battles.

The season would be seriously shot for us to play this O'Keeffe kid based on his performance against Williamstown. He was seriously out of his depth and I honestly believe he did not get a kick. Well I didn't see it. He was useless. Lemney wasn't much better but at least he kicked a goal. It may have been his only kick! 17 yr old Caddy showed more.

The season would be seriously shot for us to play this O'Keeffe kid based on his performance against Williamstown. He was seriously out of his depth and I honestly believe he did not get a kick. Well I didn't see it. He was useless. Lemney wasn't much better but at least he kicked a goal. It may have been his only kick! 17 yr old Caddy showed more.

Mirkov, as raw as he is, would have to be the back up if needed.

He's just not physical enough for AFL, play him now and it'll end his career, the wrong opponent will make him look like a goose and he might never recover from it!

he would be fine.

Agree...he is a huge lump of a man@ 210cm and 105kg, he just has to stand there like Cox does and be a nuisance.
Its like sticking a lampost in the middle of the MCG and asking everyone to drive around it...

It would be quite a coaching coup if Voss, Kreuzer and co could get Pittonet to be more involved in games. I'm not sure if it's even possible. Maybe they could try and improve his agility / mobility by finding a sweet spot with his bulk and weight, so he can become more mobile without losing too much strength. Maybe more tough stuff around the stoppages - throw his weight around a little, put blocks on for our mids, who, given their relative lack of speed, need more time than most.

Clearly the club has taken an overall view and has decided he's worth a 4 year deal. Good luck to him. But it would be certainly be a big bonus IMO if he could get more involved.

This is why to me, tactically, the one two punch of Pitto and TDK in the ruck is an advantage as it give the oppo a different look at every contest especially for team who go with one recognised ruckman. One is a workhorse who just cracks in and where his opponent down whilst being able to tap it to our advantage whilst the other is the athletic young buck who will jump all over you and take you to places you can't go aerobically (assuming he is fit enough).

Yes I agree. I think the Pittonet / De Koning partnership is the best ruck setup given our current list.

I just unfortunate that Tommy prefers the surf coast lifestyle with this brother.