bulldogproud wrote:northerner wrote:TDJ44 wrote:southernbulldog wrote:Be handy if we could find a ruckman
Plus a key forward
With a couple of excellent key defender acquisitions Fraser Fort can concentrate as a full time fwd option alongside Aiden Grace and Hosko.
We clearly lack a
genuine big man capable of dominating the taps.
Billy McCormack will likely be the main ruck. He's not going to win a lot of ruck contests but is a genuine ball winner around the ground with a big tank.
Jacob Thomson might get an opportunity if he gets himself fit.
I may be going out on a limb here but are tap ruckmen all that important? After all, when we won the 2004 GF by 125 points, we lost the vast majority of taps but won the clearances handsomely. It is only about 10% of taps that go to clear advantage on average... we have shown we can rove to the opposition ruckman and totally nullify their effect. Although it would be nice to win those '10% of clear advantages', I don't think we are losing much by not having a genuine tap ruckman. It is the marks a ruckman takes that is more important IMHO.
I reckon this is why we've recruited both Kendall & McCormick,
they're 3 big mobile blokes that CAN ruck but are better up forward.
Together with Fort, I reckon these 3 can cause havoc.
Apparently Jakob Thomson is a lot fitter & is "training the house down."