He is clearly our best ruckman at the actual ruck work & if it was based on that alone he would be 1 of the top guys in the league. Where he’s performed well bellow average is around the ground & in particular marking. He’s taken 3 marks in 2 games this year. Even last year when he had a decent year he was still only averaging 2.4 marks per game. Without checking I would guess that would be 1 of the lowest averages of all the fulltime ruckmen & certainly well below what he was getting at Brissy. Smack has more attacking power, takes more marks, tackles & gets more clearances himself but gets dominated in the hitouts & gives away far too many frees. Its been that long I’ve got no idea if Tbell is even close to a happy medium but I think we probably need to at least try 2 ruckmen at some stage to see if we can get a working balance. JD in the ruck is counterproductive for mine.
Gotta give T-Bell a crack at it, Looney gives us absolutely nothing else but tap outs and his motor skills are not AFL standard. I’m tired of seeing Joe in the ruck and reckon big Tommy needs to be thrown in.
Let’s just say, I hope Draper comes on in leaps and bounds.
I reckon JD enjoys his little stints on the ball, and that they do him good, (I also think I’m repeating myself …)
OK let’s look at it this way - like him or loathe him Leuy is getting on regardless and TBC hasn’t played good footy in a few years and Draper is miles off.
Where do we look to next? Do we need to reach to pick a kid high in the ND this year? Do we look at a state league prospect late in the ND/early in the RD? Or is there a free agent we like the look of?
Already giving up hope we could trade for a decent ruckman like many other clubs have? Of the top 10 ruckmen for 2017 (based on fantasy averages but happy to look at alternate measures) 6 of them have been traded in. I agree we absolutely must draft at least 1 young ruck prospect to add to Draper next year but I hope its with a later pick or RD. More mids is the bigger issue.
I’m with @JBOMBER, there’s almost always a few serviceable options around, so I wouldn’t be looking to address a mature ruckman at the end of this season. TBC and Leuey are roughly the same age, both contracted until the end of next year, and not really capable of playing in the same team, so all we could offer a player from another club is a spot in a three way contest for first ruck duties. On top of which the only free agents this year are Clarke, Kreuzer and Spencer. No thanks.
I’d probably grab another ruck in the draft to develop alongside Draper (early, late, rookie, don’t really care, just depends on what’s available), and worry about who’s our next first ruck at the end of next year.
Trade rather than FA?
Who would you go after? We don’t have a good enough side to be able to afford to give anyone of value up. No coach in the league is hopped up on enough of the good stuff to take a guy like Melksham for anything of value nor are we a good enough side to make a Shane Savage look like he’s worth a McEvoy.
So who would you trade for and what would you offer?
Far more pressing issues than a ruck IMO.
The best ruckman in the comp wouldn’t make us better. Urgent need of strong bodied mids in the Treloar, Wines mould.
No matter how bad he is round the ground, he’s better than Bellchambers.
My issue with both Bellchambers and McKernan is that they both play one decent game in five, and their ordinary ones are shockers.
Then luenberger has three left to get one.
At least they can kick a football.
Luey was good last year, but he’s been shocking in his first two games this year. If I have to watch him panic and air ball basic kicks straight to opposition players along the ground I’ll cry. Also missed a lot of basic marks to boot. We all complained when McKernan was leaking clearances but Luey has been worse.
Honestly give me Belly or McKernan right now.
“AIR” Berger …??
Looney Boots?
TBF though, most of the airball attempts have been in clustered situations, . and the advent of “Getting a hand in” to touch the ball and just disrupt it has come on strong over the past 12 months, and a lot of those misses were the result of someone doing just that.
His kicking and handball skills have been hideous in the last 2 weeks. His tap work is good but that is not enough. Hopefully things turn around skills wise soon.
Grundy one of their best today. Will be like a 19th man out there if Leuy plays. Mckernan for mine.
I was willing to forgive the fresh air attempted kicks last week because of the weather, but there was no excuse last night.
He is a senior player and that kick miss kick lead directly to a goal. That’s not what a 10yr player should be bringing to the table.
I was bemused that he was talked up after last weeks game. Some of his actions last night were that of a stupid footballer.
Is Bellchambers better - I don’t know. He was frustrating at the best of times and is now 12months off competitive football.
McKernan is undersized and is at best a pinch hitter. His inability to stand in the way of Martin in the 3rd qtr of the Lions game is his biggest downfall.
Is Daniher the best option we have as a 2nd ruck potion?
We need a ruckman who will give a physical presence around the footy.
We need one of these guys to find form and in a hurry, because if we cannot get more competitive around the stoppages and at the contest we will finish bottom 4.
He’s always been an unco, but his contribution at stoppages at ground level was usually surprisingly decent. If he doesn’t have that, and we know he adds little around the ground or up forward, we’re going to struggle.
Adams,Treloar were on the market but Essendon sat there twiddling their thumbs.