Re: 2018 Rd 13: Pre Game Pressure: Carlton vs Fremantle at Etihad
Reply #16 –
As you probably know Lods good ruckmen look at the contest in far more detail than the tap.
For those not detailed in the craft an example. Drive your knee into the opponents left or right side/hip and you turn their body in the air forcing a bias in the direction of their taps even if they are winning them.
Another example, jumping early or late can influence an opponent to tap forward or behind them.
Sam Newman was a first class exponent of moving the averages in favour of his team, which is why he was such a good ruck coach. He took a far more holistic approach than jump higher and get your hands on the ball first.
It's a blight on the game that the modern ruck coaches are not able to implement strategies to deal with these small players taking ruck contests.
Another big issue is the current umpiring and rule implementation. When rucks come up against players like Cotchin they are basically being penalised by umpires for being stronger, taller and heavier. If they dispose of the Cotchin type player from the contest they are penalised, but the Cotchin type player can get up under the armpit of the ruckmen and move him off the line without penalty! It's a ludicrous situation that stoppage coaches are taking advantage of!
I've said this once before, the AFL ruck coaches need to get their head around the rules. I'd be coaching the rucks to nominate then move back 10m to take an aggressive run at the drop zone. The small players and opponents cannot shepherd that run without being penalised, and the large player is free to jump into them aggressively if the small opponent stands under the drop zone. I'm surprised some of the more aggressive rucks haven't worked this out for themselves already! Turn the boundary line throw ins and around the ground ball ups into old style ruck contests without a circle!
Topic: 2018 Rd 13: Pre Game Pressure: Carlton vs Fremantle at Etihad (Read 14671 times)
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