Big Stef Martin

[Toga]

Do not expect Archie Smith to play  unless Stef is injured, rested or form drops. We have sufficient targets up front with Schache, Close, Freeman, Hipwood, Bell, McStay and Josh Walker.
Andrews, Walker, Bell, Matthieson all have pinch hit in ruck previously.

:o :o :o :o Wait, isnt matthiseon like 5ft 8???

He did some ruck work at that height credited with 4 h/o in one game haha

That would be more likely to be from 3rd man up contests rather than actually lining up in the ruck surely... ???

[GoLions]

Do not expect Archie Smith to play  unless Stef is injured, rested or form drops. We have sufficient targets up front with Schache, Close, Freeman, Hipwood, Bell, McStay and Josh Walker.
Andrews, Walker, Bell, Matthieson all have pinch hit in ruck previously.

:o :o :o :o Wait, isnt matthiseon like 5ft 8???

He did some ruck work at that height credited with 4 h/o in one game haha

That would be more likely to be from 3rd man up contests rather than actually lining up in the ruck surely... ???

Correct :P

Ringo pls

[Ringo]

Do not expect Archie Smith to play  unless Stef is injured, rested or form drops. We have sufficient targets up front with Schache, Close, Freeman, Hipwood, Bell, McStay and Josh Walker.
Andrews, Walker, Bell, Matthieson all have pinch hit in ruck previously.

:o :o :o :o Wait, isnt matthiseon like 5ft 8???

He did some ruck work at that height credited with 4 h/o in one game haha

That would be more likely to be from 3rd man up contests rather than actually lining up in the ruck surely... ???

Correct :P

Ringo pls

He actually did line up at a bounce in one game that I can remember and we all laughed  ;) ;) which is why I added it.
So seriously though we do have sufficient pinch hitters if Stef needs a rest. At training a number of players have been rotated through adding to the suggestion that Stef will be sole ruck.

[BomberSam]

If Stef is sole ruck come round 1, I think I will pick him.

I don't imagine the intraclub tonight will reveal much as to whether or not he will be?

[BomberSam]

I don't understand.

In 2015, sharing ruck duties with Leuey for much of the season, Stef averaged 110.

In 2016, in the 5 games he shared, he averaged 56.6.

How does this happen?

[Ringo]

I don't understand.

In 2015, sharing ruck duties with Leuey for much of the season, Stef averaged 110.

In 2016, in the 5 games he shared, he averaged 56.6.

How does this happen?

It just shows Stef can not rest forward. In 2015 Berger was used more forward than in the ruck and this being one of the reasons he left as Stef was becoming the dominant ruckman. Berger only averaged 57.6 in 2015 as well to confirm.

As we know Stef is much more versatile around the ground when sole ruck.

[shaker]

That just confirms for me even if Stef starts as the lone ruck I am still not willing to take a chance that the coach will not introduce another ruck sometime during the season , when stef's woes started last year and West was introduced that is where my SC started to unravel losing 50 -80 points a game to rucks like Gawn this may happen to any ruck but he has shown that his scoring is terrible when played forward

[bAps]

I don't understand.

In 2015, sharing ruck duties with Leuey for much of the season, Stef averaged 110.

In 2016, in the 5 games he shared, he averaged 56.6.

How does this happen?

This is the reason I'm not starting with Stef this year. Started with him last season, and those 40's absolutely killed me. Ended up rage trading him, which worked out for the best, but I lost so many points sticking with him for as long as I did.
There's no guarantee the same thing won't happen again this year when Stef needs a rest.

[Holz]

I don't understand.

In 2015, sharing ruck duties with Leuey for much of the season, Stef averaged 110.

In 2016, in the 5 games he shared, he averaged 56.6.

How does this happen?

This is the reason I'm not starting with Stef this year. Started with him last season, and those 40's absolutely killed me. Ended up rage trading him, which worked out for the best, but I lost so many points sticking with him for as long as I did.
There's no guarantee the same thing won't happen again this year when Stef needs a rest.

Maybe its due to him being injured in 16 and not 15?

[BomberSam]

I don't understand.

In 2015, sharing ruck duties with Leuey for much of the season, Stef averaged 110.

In 2016, in the 5 games he shared, he averaged 56.6.

How does this happen?

It just shows Stef can not rest forward. In 2015 Berger was used more forward than in the ruck and this being one of the reasons he left as Stef was becoming the dominant ruckman. Berger only averaged 57.6 in 2015 as well to confirm.

As we know Stef is much more versatile around the ground when sole ruck.

But Leuey took his share of ruck contests too. So where was Stef then? Resting forward I'd presume, so it's still no clearer.

[GoLions]

Stef was nowhere near 100% for a fair chunk of last year

[Grufflez]

Martin said he had a leg or knee injury he carried for much of the year which limited his mobility.
In light of this if he is playing sole ruck he becomes a real option with Sandi and Goldy having problems.

[Ringo]

http://www.lions.com.au/news/2016-12-16/on-the-rise-stefs-hope-for-2017

Extract

"The bump, the concussion, and May's suspension, may have been the talking point of the incident, but for Martin, the pain in his knee was a much bigger problem.

It restricted him for most of the season and eventually led to an end-of-season bursectomy to fix the problem.

"Pretty much every step I was taking I was in pain so jogging was painful [and] I couldn't reach top speed," Martin said.

At times, his movements appeared as clunky as a shopping trolley with a wonky wheel as his ability to peel off opposition ruckmen and run into space disappeared.

Frustrated but forced to battle on, Martin did the best he could without being anywhere near the player he wanted to be in 2016.

[TomK]

Hmm interesting, with Goldy and his ankle problem, Martin could be a good shout.

[Pokerface]

it took Stef nearly half the season to come good after that concussion. look at his end-of-year games, he was right up there in terms of scoring rucks. He is seriously underpriced. Especially if Beams is back who will turn more hitouts into advantages.