Re: Round 2 - Port v Blues (Sat, March 30, 5.10pm)
Reply #38 –
I think if we are running with so many talls Charlie, McKay, McGovern, Jones, Cripps, Phillips and or Kreuzer then there is no reason we can't rotate a 2nd ruck off the bench and let the 9 of them manage their own rotations.
There seems no valid reason, other than MC policy, why guys like Charlie, McGovern, Weitering and Jones cannot take boundary line throw ins when appropriate but they are being used that way which causes issues with solo rucks. Plenty of other clubs do this.
Further at the weekend, despite the loud howls from many that the new rules mean you cannot play two rucks, it seems teams which dominated were often surprisingly running with two players in genuine dedicated ruck roles.
Port, Dawks, Crows, Lions and Freo all dominated single ruck opposition. The work required to correct the loss of the center clearance is far greater than the work needed to take advantage of the winning center clearance. I suspect if you are surrendering the center too often it takes a toll, especially if you have a shallow, inexperienced or wasteful midfield.
To me the issue is this, despite low scoring the very early trend is a larger percentage of scores coming directly from stoppages. While I haven't seen the figures, I'll expect that we will find that much of the increase in the percentage split coming from center square clearances and clean takeaways. Really it most likely is the case because around the ground the rules haven't really changed. We probably won't know for 5 or 6 weeks if the trend is real, but it suggests wining the ruck or at least not losing it is critical under the new rules.
Of course some clubs have a luxury in that they have dedicated rucks who are useful as forwards or defenders, and I'm sure some will argue we had Phillips and McKay, but I'd argue two talls is not the same as two rucks.
Topic: Pre Game -Port v Blues R2 (Sat, March 30, 5.10pm) (Read 35812 times)
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