I wonder how much that dog can bench?
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THYMOSIN
BETA
K9
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Id just be happy with parish doing some defensive running
Yep that’s by far our biggest problem
https://x.com/anthproc/status/1719867608718331999?s=46&t=A1eCkF1_gmcU0aPlXnaZRw
Fantastic X/Twitter post
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That’s very impressive. Hopefully his trajectory continues.
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Can play. Keep.
Hobbs looks to me like a classic ruck-rover.
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This is the year you’d love for him to go to the next level and start playing more midfield and seeing those numbers climb.
I’ve always been bullish on him and thought he is a far better prospect than Caldwell but it’s good problem to have and was probably one of the driving forces in trying to trade Shiel.
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So far young Hobbs has done everything asked of him and accomplished those things with some aplomb. He is showing good progress in his development and l am sure will be one of the young guns striving for and driving higher standards. He is determined to get every last gram of effort out of himself. I like what l have seen so far and am confident that the best is yet to come.
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The term ‘ruck-rover’ is nowadays meaningless, but I’m interested in why you say Hobbs would have fitted the old-fashioned bill?
I always thought the term was more for the bigger follower. My understanding was that the term replaced ‘follower’ because Ron Barassi actually played as a second ruck despite being biggish midfield height (for the time, when ruckman could be anything from about 6’1”). So I always associated it more with Croswell, Blight, Carman, Watson.
Today Bont, Cripps, etc.
To me Hobbs is more like a centreman or bottom of pack (not swift racehorse variety) rover.
As i say - all these terms are nowadays meaningless.
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Traditional centreman for sure. Ruck rover had its beginnings as the player who would take the ruck contest when the ruckman couldn’t get there I think.
Yes the terms are somewhat meaningless these days, but I think they still serve as shorthand for the different roles you might have in a balanced midfield.
it’s interesting to compare his stat line for 2023 to Lachie Neale’s 2nd year. They’re near identical save that hobbs more than doubled Neale for tackles.
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Does that mean Hobbs will win three brownlows as he is better than Neale?
My gut says… yes
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basically a fact at this point
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This bloke is tough as. I can see why some look at him as a “classical” footballer. He is uncompromising. Could be our bigger version of Selwood.
Will be our best recruit for the last 20 years barring injury & a future captain if he keeps doing the hard stuff. Probably needs to up his ability to run out games & clean up his disposals a bit to get to the next level.
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I would argue that blokes in the 1960 like Barassi, Hugh Mitchell, Sergio Silvagni who were all either smaller or about Hobbs size, were the traditional ruck rover. The term was used as these blokes were so tough that they did both jobs well. Especially Silvagni, who would attack the bigger opposition in boundaries throwins and then get the ball at the bottom of the pack.
Not sure today that anyone can play that role, due to the stupid rule changes for ruckmen.
And it was 60 years ago, and todays ruckman are nearly a foot taller in some cases.
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Your last para is pertinent and makes comparison of Barassi to Hobbs for height pointless. Barassi was probably 6 inches shorter than the tallest rucks of his time and only 2 inches shorter than the shorter rucks. Hobbs is the SAME height as some career Ruckmen from the 40s/50s.
From what I read, Barassi was played as a second Ruck at times. Not sure we will see the Goblin trying that.
He’s a hardnut in the Selwood mould, which is the exact type of player we have been desperately needing for a long time. He came through juniors playing country footy against grown men, and that means he’s durable and not intimated by the contact.
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