SA Footy

I thought this was an interesting article by Jai Bednall. I would tend to agree that having ruckmen who can pay forward is a definite advantage. I don't know much about the accuracy regarding his assessment of ruckmen at other clubs but am surprised to hear him say Parry can't go forward. IMO every time he goes forward he kicks goals. Is also a decent kick for his size. I think he is only used sparingly there because he has so much value as the main forward.

REDLEGS WALKING TALL

For long periods of yesterday's win against South, Norwood's forward line was made up of Sam Rowe (198cm), Brady Dawe (196cm), Matt Davis (189cm), Cameron Shenton (187cm), Tom Jonas (187cm) and Dean Terlich (186cm).

That's a pretty sizey line up and one that is going to stretch a lot of sides.

Considering regular forwards Taylor Walker (191cm) and Stuart Bown (191cm) were also on the field, it's clear Redlegs coach Nathan Bassett has a forward arsenal to be feared - even with leading goalkicker Luke Jericho on the sidelines.

The key change in the past fortnight has been the move of Dawe to centre half forward, where he has been a revelation.

After an encouraging performance against the Eagles, Dawe was the best player on the ground against South, finishing with 23 disposals, 11 marks and four goals.

Bassett was forced to find a new home for Dawe when lead ruckman Stephen Doyle returned from injury last week.

And he's struck gold.

``With Doyley coming back (our thinking was) `Brady is good enough to be in the side, where are we going to play him?','' Bassett said.

``So we pushed him forward. His movement is exceptional. He looked excellent today.''

In Rowe and Dawe Norwood now has two ruckmen that can play effectively in the forward line.

No other team in the competition has that.

Central - Jason Sutherland (yes), Jack Hannath (no).
Eagles - Craig Parry (no), Peter Hoban (no), Jarrad Redden (yes).
Glenelg - Trevor Cranston (no), James Sellar (sometimes).
Port - Ivan Maric (yes), James Meiklejohn (no).
South - Daniel Bass (no), Keegan Brooksby (no), Adam Cockshell (yes).
North - Cain Ackland (no), Daniel Stewart (yes), Todd Miles (no).
West - Ryan Willits (no), Daniel Webb (yes).
Sturt - Angus Kurtze (no), James Wundke (no).

Rowe and Dawe's flexibility allows Bassett the full use of his interchange when Doyle is rucking.

Given the SANFL only allows three on the bench, it's a big advantage not to have to waste a spot on a resting ruckman.

``I think it's a better long term solution for us than `ruckman on, ruckman off','' Bassett said.

``It allows us more rotations and keeps other players fresh late in the game.''

It also poses significant match up problems for the opposition defence - particularly for teams like South who don't have an abundance of tall defenders.

If Norwood can keep all of its talls in form it could be crucial in September.

Interesting he thinks Ryan Willits can't go forward when he's played CHF for us for years and been our leading goalkicker once or twice.

Bit harsh on Meiklejohn too I would have thought.

Hodges 153! wrote:Bit harsh on Meiklejohn too I would have thought.

Disagree. Jimmy doesn't catch them too well at times and I always felt that with Cloke in the side two years ago and now Maric this season if Jimmy offered something as a resting ruckman up forward we would be a lot better off.

Rate Jimmy very highly, just not as a marking forward.

Jai

LMFAO....

Who played full forward for Glenelg in the win v the Maggies, and quite often has stints up there?

Dan Kirk = 199cm.

Well researched as usual.....

Agree MF, Parry is certainly of use when he goes forward for an unexpected goal or two, like Lindsay was.
Though you wouldn't think he'd be able to play a full game as a key forward like a Cockshell, Rowe or Redden could.

Actually not sure all of them are really ruckmen.

Miles plays 90% of his time as a key position player and I thought Wundke is similar?

The article also mentioned clubs that did not have a rebounding backmen and included Sturt in that. Jai may wish to go to the stats and check Ben Hansen's 60 defensive 50 rebounds at better than 90% efficiency in the last 6 games.

SANFLnut wrote:The article also mentioned clubs that did not have a rebounding backmen and included Sturt in that. Jai may wish to go to the stats and check Ben Hansen's 60 defensive 50 rebounds at better than 90% efficiency in the last 6 games.

I think Jai was more referring to the likes of Kieran McGuinnes, Eddie Sansbury and Steve Morris when categorising 'rebounding defender' as blokes that run and carry the ball.

I have seen a little bit of Hansen this year and saw his debut game against the Eagles. His strongest attribute is his powerfully accurate kick, as opposed to his run and carry.

The lad can clear the ball outside 50 from deep in defence with a booming, penetrating kick, which I would think be a large part of those numbers he has put up.

A great lad with a great future I reckon.

Fair point about the run and carry emphasis. It struck me as a bit of reporting only on the high profile players and not looking around and analyzing what is truly happening across the whole comp, this aspect of SANFL media coverage bugs me a bit (present company excluded Phil)

Rudi Frugo

How about ruckmen who can play down back?

You can add big Judd Robson to the magpies list...

mickey wrote:You can add big Judd Robson to the magpies list...

Yeah, I though the big fella wasn't too bad on debut. Still needs to work on his fitness, evidence by the big heave he had in the middle of the ground at one stage, but I think he will be better with a full pre-season of training under his belt in 2012.

Speaking to Tony Bamford after the game for the Messenger, the big fella recieved a glowing endorsement from his coach.

“I was really impressed with Judd, he competes with some ferocity that I wish some of our other players would follow suite, he wont die wondering” Bamford said of Robson.

To be fair, I think some of these articles are more designed to be talking points than objective analysis of the comp, but the limitations of the writer make it ambigious at best.