#2 Tom Bellchambers šŸ›Ž

Itā€™s a dilemma. Particularly if Tommy goes again, & does even better with the run under the belt.

When the opposition ruckmen are a guy the same height as Francis and Jack Watts youā€™d hope he won the hitouts

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Has a knack of putting it down the throat of opposition mids. Not just him, Looney does it as well. Are they talking a different language or our mids just dumb?

Tricky one this week. Looney is a better ruckman hands down but Tbell better around the ground and up forward. So you would probably drop Tbell in normal circumstances but he needs to get match fit as well.
Could he play as a 3rd tall with hooker and Joe? Or will we be too tall with the long ground?

We won the hitouts, lost the ruck.

Palming it down at random is not a skill, itā€™s a result of being three feet taller than the guy youā€™re up against.

Not all his fault, but it usually helps the midfielder if he has some idea of where itā€™s going to land.

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Correct.

Tbell played against a 193cm 30 yo journeyman in Cameron Pederson. It was his first game for the season as well. Incidentally pederson was the highest rated player for Melbourne. I donā€™t think a slight advantage in hit outs is anything to crow about for TBell at all.

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Well if itā€™s true for 2 different ruckmenā€¦??

If it happened thus with SMcK too, ā€¦ it would be almost definitive that the fault lies with our midz youā€™d have to thinkā€¦

Actually wondered if their lack of a recogā€™d ruck influenced the choice of TBell this week. Would seem the optimal occasion to give him his 1st run in 2 years, (letā€™s not forget that either btw).

All in all, I donā€™t think he starred, but donā€™t think he was poor either. Would have thought he went ok for his 1st crack back.

I thought he played pretty well in the second half around the ground. If he could work properly with the midfield in the ruck we might get somewhere.

Iā€™m no TBC fan but even I can give him that
Heā€™s played much much worse when heā€™s been uninterrupted.

Was good in the second half. Just canā€™t see him and Luey in the same side. Competition is good though.

I suppose they compete in the ruck at training. Right ? It would be fairly easy to tell close up who was the better of the 2.

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Not until TBC has at least another 4 senior games under his belt you couldnā€™t.

Not at all.

I watched the replay and only picked 1 possibly 2 at most that were hitouts to advantage, i think thatā€™s pretty poor for a full time ruck who has had a number of practice matches in the VFL against that competition.
Luey is useless at taking pack marks, but he is good at cancelling out the other ruckmens influence, works hard and follows up his ruckwork at ground level giving us an extra mid. Bellchambers goes up for an ineffective hitout, then backs out of the contest like the tradiitonal ruckmen.
If we could combine the 3 of our ruckmen into one player they would be a gun, but i think Luey is the best pick of the bunch because he rarely loses, without really winning either. The other two their best is probably better, but its not regular enough and they often get pantsed.

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2 senior ruckman and none of them can tap to our midfield.

rucks the issue? mids? both?

Get fkn mckernan back in. At least he can kick a goal, and move around the ground. Bellchambers is the slowest player in the game, legit

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There really couldnā€™t be a worse week than this one to bring Mckernan in.

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Sandilands has been hitting it down the throat of opposition midfielders for fkn years. If there is a club who wins the hitouts but loses clearances, its freo. For his dominance in taps, their clearances should be far more

I agree mckernan wonā€™t come back in but I think out of the current ruckman and their form, he offers at least the same, if not more

Leuey not only nullified but beat Grundy who is possibly AA this year. That went along way to winning the game for us on ANZAC Day, he is a must against Sandilands

Well the good news is, we have 2 functioning ruckmen to choose from atm. Neither are perfect. I am happy for the club to chose which one plays each week.

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