If Draper is outperforming Clarke in the VFL and TBell needs a week or two off for some reason i’ll be disappointed if they don’t give Draper the run for experience. I think a few games in 2019 will be very important for his development so he can understand the extent of the step up required and he can start working towards that during the season and post season.
I would hope that Clarke is more there as insurance for a longer term injury to TBell because I think Draper is less likely than Clarke to be ready to handle a long stint in the 1’s.
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I think that’s exactly what their plan is.
Clarke will play fwd/ruck and Draper ruck/fwd in the VFL would be my understanding. They want to expose and ready him as much as possible.
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More likely than the long term injury scenario is a situation where one ruck has a 3-4 week hammy or calf injury and the other has a knock or corky during that period.
You’re then left with Smack ( or Stringer / JD) to fill for a week or two.
You can hope this doesn’t happen, but is a much more likely event, without going all doom & gloom re long term injuries.
Clarke is a decent placeholder option.
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■■■■ no
You would hope this is the case. Clarke is purely back up if we lose TBell to a long term injury.
Fingers cross Draper continues to show the improvement that he showed last year
As a ruckman, Smack McNurnan makes a great forward, but that is about the extent of it. l shudder each and every time he goes into the ruck, waiting for the almost inevitable free kick against.
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Clarke seems like a sensible albeit ordinary inclusion, it makes sense. Hopefully we never have to use him.
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… is it?
I don’t really see him as close to the 22 even if he is starting forward and rotating to the ruck, but I guess it’s a bob-each-way kinda thing, should we lose a few key forwards during the year.
I’m fine with the call btw. Not what I would’ve done, but it’s a sound decision.
Surely you mean laconic.
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Has it actually been confirmed that were picking him up, or is it more of a case of we can pick him up after the rookie draft if we want to
Has Zac Clarke nominated us yet?
ANNOUNCE STRONG TEXT
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Best case scenario is he isn’t Belly’s backup, rather Drapers chop out.
I’m happy for Clarke to come in and allow Drapes to develop without running the kid into the ground rucking a whole season alone.
Belly with get a chop out for Mckernan, a fit Daniher and possiby Stuart at times. If TBell gets injured, thats when Clarke AND Drapes come into consideration, based on form and fitness.
I see Clarkes recruitment for Drapers sake rather than Bellys.
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Not confirmed as such by any concrete source but multiple journos going with it seems to suggest it is on the cards - it can’t be official until DEC 1st.
Interested to see if a deal is in-fact agreed to prior to the signing period, whether there is permission requested to allow him to join in with the boys when training as a full squad resumes on Monday.
Nothing a touch of deep heat on the nuts won’t fix.
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His numbers when Sandilands wasn’t playing would be in the 20s.
Career highs of 43, 37 and 30 aren’t massive, but that probably explains why he’s likely to go into 2019 as a rookie
He’s not really meant to be. He’s meant as temporary cover for TBell if we need it, and to play the Loony role in the magoos. If we need him in the 1’s he rucks, and isn’t a bad shot a goal when he drifts forward, like TBell. And in the magoos he can play as a big forward who can also provide quality ruck coverage, which allows Draper’s development to continue as it has been. I certainly wouldn’t take him if we were looking for a long term senior ruckman, but for our needs he’s about as goods as it gets. The senior team get’s decent quality coverage, and the magoos would be stoked to have a player like him. Win win.
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Would taken an incredible back flip for us not to pick him up
Top ups dont need to nominate
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I wonder if they think these more conventional ruckman will be more influential with the rule changes this year. Maybe that’s why they felt we needed him instead of using any of our key forwards as rucks in the event we lost Belly/Draper. Or maybe the plan is for Daniher, Stewart and McKernan to focus on their forward games exclusively. Or maybe Draper is just too far away. Lots of possible good reasons to pickup an unexceptional 28 year old rookie.