Ruck Rotations - Everitt Superb

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  • TheHood
    On the Rookie List
    • Jan 2003
    • 1938

    Ruck Rotations - Everitt Superb

    I know the last 2 weeks can be deceptive, but I have been pleased with the way Spida and Jolls have been rotated through the ruck, the forward line and the bench.

    I thought it worked a treat in the last 2 weeks (even though they were quiet around the ground against Freo) in particular.

    The effort in the West is going to need to be massive but they are going to be vital. 5 goals between them against Carlton, another 5 and Sydney must be in a winning position you would think.

    Spida has been an excellent pick-up. How many would have thought Spida would pick up 2 or 3 BOGs in 2007 SO FAR? I would love to see the story of Everitt win a flag in his last or second last season...great romance to that story.
    The Pain of Discipline is Nothing Like The Pain of Disappointment
  • hammo
    Veterans List
    • Jul 2003
    • 5554

    #2
    Originally posted by TheHood

    Spida has been an excellent pick-up. How many would have thought Spida would pick up 2 or 3 BOGs in 2007 SO FAR? I would love to see the story of Everitt win a flag in his last or second last season...great romance to that story.
    I am happy to say I was a supporter of Spida's recruitment from day 1. A review of the RWO archives could be very embarrassing for some people though.
    "As everyone knows our style of football is defensive and unattractive, and as such I have completely forgotten how to mark or kick over the years" - Brett Kirk

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    • barry
      Veterans List
      • Jan 2003
      • 8499

      #3
      I'd like to see Everitt win back to back flags in his last two seasons.

      The value of ruckmen in AFL has never been higher. Now teams need TWO quality ruckmen to have a shot at the flag. This is why St Kilda will never really challenge unless they get Gardiner up and fit, or recruit heavily in the next couple of years.

      Roos has had to totally rebuild our ruck division since it was decimated under Eade through trades (which got us Hall so I'm not complaining), and Doyle not coming on as expected.

      We should be looking now at developing the Everitt replacement, as we dont want to give away our early picks again for a ruckman.

      Comment

      • originalswan
        On the Rookie List
        • Aug 2004
        • 550

        #4
        Originally posted by hammo
        I am happy to say I was a supporter of Spida's recruitment from day 1. A review of the RWO archives could be very embarrassing for some people though.

        I won't indulge in chest thumping but must say the only disappointing thing about Everitt's form so far has been one or two good games followed by a couple of average performances. He seems to be improving in fitness and form as the year progresses which looks like a very timely turnaround.

        It would be fantastic to be able to kick the Hawks out of the finals race with Everitt starring though!

        Comment

        • dendol
          fat-arsed midfielder
          • Oct 2003
          • 1483

          #5
          Originally posted by barry
          We should be looking now at developing the Everitt replacement, as we dont want to give away our early picks again for a ruckman.
          With the success we've had with Ball, Jolly and Everiitt, maybe trading is the only way we can get higher quality big men?
          Last edited by ScottH; 18 July 2007, 10:22 AM. Reason: fix tag

          Comment

          • dimelb
            pr. dim-melb; m not f
            • Jun 2003
            • 6889

            #6
            I was originally sceptical about Spida coming and am very happy to have been wrong. As for what he may pass on to others, what a bonus!
            He reminds him of the guys, close-set, slow, and never rattled, who were play-makers on the team. (John Updike, seeing Josh Kennedy in a crystal ball)

            Comment

            • general mac
              On the Rookie List
              • Feb 2007
              • 37

              #7
              Originally posted by dendol
              With the success we've had with Ball, Jolly and Everiitt, maybe trading is the only way we can get higher quality big men?

              Ever heard of a Recruit ?

              Sydney still have a lot of room for improvement in their drafting if you ask me.

              Comment

              • dendol
                fat-arsed midfielder
                • Oct 2003
                • 1483

                #8
                Originally posted by general mac
                Ever heard of a Recruit ?

                Sydney still have a lot of room for improvement in their drafting if you ask me.
                What is your question supposed to mean? I've been talking about recruiting..

                anyhow, my point was that recently we seem to be unable to cultivate quality big men at this club (apart from Goodes, but even then he doesnt play ruck and failed as a key defender). Our backline has been "undersized" for years, and our gun forwards have come from other clubs.

                Comment

                • giant
                  Veterans List
                  • Mar 2005
                  • 4731

                  #9
                  After the whole "Spida is a cancer" crap you hear from Hawks supporters it will be a tad embarrassing if they're only a quality ruckman away from winning a flag this year.

                  Comment

                  • NMWBloods
                    Taking Refuge!!
                    • Jan 2003
                    • 15819

                    #10
                    That may be all it is!
                    Captain Logic is not steering this tugboat.

                    "[T]here are things that matter more and he's reading and thinking about them: heaven, reincarnation. Life and death are the only things that are truly a matter of life and death. Not football."

                    Comment

                    • TheHood
                      On the Rookie List
                      • Jan 2003
                      • 1938

                      #11
                      Originally posted by giant
                      After the whole "Spida is a cancer" crap you hear from Hawks supporters it will be a tad embarrassing if they're only a quality ruckman away from winning a flag this year.
                      It's all it was for us last year. With Jolls failing at the last hurdle (including a very ugly finger dislocation prior to the First Final), a "Spida" ilk partner would have been the difference.
                      The Pain of Discipline is Nothing Like The Pain of Disappointment

                      Comment

                      • liz
                        Veteran
                        Site Admin
                        • Jan 2003
                        • 16787

                        #12
                        Originally posted by giant
                        After the whole "Spida is a cancer" crap you hear from Hawks supporters it will be a tad embarrassing if they're only a quality ruckman away from winning a flag this year.
                        Numerous negative comments have been made over the years, firstly by Saints fans and more recently by Hawks fans. Other than vague comments about some raffle at Hawthorn last year, it is unclear exactly why so many people label him negatively. He's had publicised run-ins - like the racial vilification incident and the can-throwing incident at a race track - but he clearly seems to have learned from the first (and is hardly the only person in the world to make racial comments without appreciating the hurt they can cause) and the latter is something that many immature, high-spirited young men will have done. He seems to have grown up. Both can be put down to mistakes learned from, and neither seems to deserve the "cancer" tag.

                        In Ray McLean's book, he talks quite a lot about his work with St Kilda in the mid/late 90s and specifically singles out Spida as the one younger player who really took to the ideals he was trying to develop. Again, this doesn't sit with the unspecified slurs people throw around.

                        From what I can see, he seems to have done everything right since he came to the Swans. It is evident that he has won the respect of his Sydney team mates - certainly on field and it appears off-field too. Everything he has said to the media has been spot on, in that bland kind of way we've come to expect. He continually talks about the club respectfully and as if he's been there for years (eg once he talked about how we used to have Plugger and then got Hall - very much using the "we").

                        Also I find his slot on Fox Sports News every Monday night to be intelligent, insightful and articulate.

                        It is very hard to reconcile all the negative stuff with what we're seeing right now.

                        Comment

                        • liz
                          Veteran
                          Site Admin
                          • Jan 2003
                          • 16787

                          #13
                          Originally posted by dendol
                          With the success we've had with Ball, Jolly and Everiitt, maybe trading is the only way we can get higher quality big men?

                          I think it has something to do with the difficulty of recruiting 200cm giants at the age of 17. Every draft pick is something of a lottery but as a general rule, the taller the player is, the harder it seems to be to predict whether they'll be a great or a dud. Quality rucks seem to come from either the very top end of the draft, or the bottom end (ie via the rookie draft). West Coast are a perfect illustration as they have arguably had the best ruck in the competition for several years - firstly in Gardiner, until injuries and social habits got in the way, and as soon as he started to decline, Cox stepped up to the plate. One was a no 1 pick in his time; the other came via the rookie list and was reportedly so unathletic and unpromising when he arrived at the Eagles that he was almost laughed at at training.

                          So if you need to draft, say, two young mids to get one good'un, for rucks the ratio is probably at least three to one, maybe higher. You can pluck lots of them, stick them on the list for a few years and hope that out of that number, at least one will emerge. The rookie list helps in this but even with that, the overall size of team lists is such that it is hard to carry four or five developing rucks for the time you need to to enable them to develop.

                          Or you can let someone else do the work and then step in and take one, ala Jolly. The problem with that is you may never get the absolute top notch ones, since clubs won't let those go. But you can get someone like Jolly who is solid and reliable, has shown his body will stand up to the rigours of AFL footy and who is therefore relatively cheap at a late round 1 pick because you know exactly what you're getting.

                          In reality, clubs will do a bit of both. While recruiting the Balls, Spidas and Jollys, the Swans have also tried the Brett Whites, James Meiklejohns, Earl Shaws, Andrew Eriksons and now Daniel Currie. The first four were misses (assuming Earl will part ways at the end of this year) while we can but keep our fingers crossed for Currie. Then there's the even bigger punt in Hyphenator 2 (Ryan B-N). And of course they haven't had the draft picks over the past decade to get them a shot at the likes of Leuenberger, Hale, McIntosh, Fraser, Ottens, White or - this year - Kreuzer: those deemed outstanding enough to be worth a very early pick.

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