anyone agree

[daniel f]

Not sure if its just me but every time i see Doyle go into the ruck i cringe.Id love to see the stats on his effect in the middle as it seems to me that every time hes in the middle we get killed,and his around the ground work is non exisistent.Add to this his complete failure as a forward and you have to ask why is he even there,much rather see a plyer who can contribute get a game.What do u think a bit harsh?

[daniel f]

please talk footy

Please can someone talk footy with me rather than this rape rubbish which seems to be getting a bit personal

[Dpw]

Harsh, thought is last couple of games had been reasonable and he has been on the improve I guess only time will tell, still is our great ruck hope.

[daniel f]

maybe

Ok maybe a bit harsh but i really can never recal a game where ive thought gee he played well,have u ever seen him mark a ball anywhere bar the forward line,and thats not too often either.

[Dpw]

Valid point, would like him to watch ball closely as I am praying he would become a Ball type. I believe we are the type of team that require our ruckman to gather touches around the ground.

[daniel f]

i agree

Thata rite the reason im so harsh i spose is i compare him a bit to Ball,and Bally in form is second to none in his around the ground work.Hopefully Jason is working with Doyley but boy does he have a long way to go.

[midaro]

Back in 2002, Doyle could have been anything.

He really looked like he could become a dominant ruckman - lots of taps, and a great mark and goal.

He reminded me of a young Paul Salmon - yes, that good. For quite a while I thought he was our great hope.

Now, he looks like he's moving on rails. I hope injuries haven't taken too great a toll on him, but I fear they have.

That being said, he's only 4 games back from injury so he must be given time, (although not necessarily in the seniors).

[Sid]

No doubt Jason Ball will retire soon.
It seems as though LRT isnt spending any time at all in the ruck.
Meiklejohn hasnt made the senior list for a while.
It looks like young Doyle looks set to be our future ruckman. Personally, i reckon give him more game time. He has the ability, as shown in round 1 last year.

[liz]

Many footballers state that footy is very tough when they don't get a decent pre-season under their belt. This is the time of the year when the fitness base is built, not once the season is underway when the focus turns more to recovery between games.

Doyle had almost no pre-season this year due to his lingering injuries, played very little football at all last year and, IIRC, also had a restricted pre-season for 2003. It is therefore reasonable to assume his endurance / aerobic capacity is significantly down on where an AFL player would hope to be.

It therefore follows that he is going to struggle to have a four quarter impact in any game this year, although he may be able to recover a limited degree of fitness as the year wears on. Certainly it is reasonable to expect him to regain some 'touch' as the season progresses, even if he is unable to do much about the fitness base.

We will not see Doyle play at the level that he is clearly believed to be capable of during 2004. If he can avoid further serious injury and play out the year, he stands a chance of showing us what he can do next year.

However, he is still of value to the team for short bursts on the ball to relieve Goodes and Ball, and may also be able to provide value as a tall target up forward. I thought his contribution during the Kangaroos game was pretty significant, especially in the first quarter as the team launched its fightback.

[TheHood]

Originally posted by lizz
However, he is still of value to the team for short bursts on the ball to relieve Goodes and Ball, and may also be able to provide value as a tall target up forward. I thought his contribution during the Kangaroos game was pretty significant, especially in the first quarter as the team launched its fightback.

Took the words right out of my mouth AGAIN.

[ScottH]

Should plant him in the Goal sq for most of each qtr, then throw him in the ruck for the rest of each Qtr to give Goodes a Ball a rest.

As Midaro pointed out 2 yrs ago he was very impressive in the goal sqr. Just mark and kick for goal. simple. Not to many Fullbacks are tall enough to stop him. (Maybe Fletcher)

[Ruck'n'Roll]

I thought his work was very good in the North game, admittedly I'm a bit of a ruck connosieur, but his palming is generally quite good.

More exciting I think is that once he's got over his injury nerves he has the agression to become a classic "meat axe" of a ruckman, which is a very differet sort to Goodes or BAll.

[dread and might]

does anyone else think he consistently jumps too early? maybe i'm missing some obtuse nuance of ruck work?

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Originally posted by dread and might
does anyone else think he consistently jumps too early? maybe i'm missing some obtuse nuance of ruck work?

The centre square is the worst ruck contest, because you have no choice but to charge straight in.
You need to get your hand to the ball, or failing that make contact with you opponents arm and If your opponent can get his hip higher than yours when you hit then your certain to fail at both. And you have to protect yourself.
Much depends on the bounce, it's never truly straight and your run up can be shortened or extended by metres, ditto the angle.
Yet getting one clean well directed palm per quarter gives your team four goals, provided the grass burners are doing their job.
So jumping early is a constant tendancy.
Look at Brisbane's young Brennan on the weekend, Knoble couldn't outjump him, but he got up early, the ball drifted towards Brennan, when the two met Knoble was at the top of his leap, Brennan still rising and he was at least partially disabled for the rest of the game (if he hadn't been hurt he probably would have got a hand to the saints winning goal).
A lot of a ruckmans job doesn't appear on a stats sheet.

Here endeth the lesson

[dread and might]

Originally posted by Ruckman
.
Much depends on the bounce, it's never truly straight and your run up can be shortened or extended by metres, ditto the angle.

Thanks for your insights. on saturday they were throwing the ball up though.......