Top 2/5 rucks, 2018 Thread

[SilverLion]

As has always been the case, will monitor him in JLT. If hers through and plays Rd. 1 I'd find it hard not to pick him.

[Money Shot]

What are peoples thoughts on Zac Smith as a pod???

He finished the year with scores of 133, 119, 80, 103, 103 and with GAJ coming into the side making Geelong have the strongest (or one of) midfields in the league he could improve his hit outs to advantage as well. Also has a nice bye.

I think he is as good a chance as any to be in the top 5 rucks come seasons end and he is slightly cheaper than Goldy/Jacobs etc.

[SilverLion]

What are peoples thoughts on Zac Smith as a pod???

He finished the year with scores of 133, 119, 80, 103, 103 and with GAJ coming into the side making Geelong have the strongest (or one of) midfields in the league he could improve his hit outs to advantage as well. Also has a nice bye.

I think he is as good a chance as any to be in the top 5 rucks come seasons end and he is slightly cheaper than Goldy/Jacobs etc.

He's a possibility definitely. But I'm finding it hard to consider all these Geelong players due to their bye and also how feasible is it to have 10ish players in a side all go 95+.

[Money Shot]

What are peoples thoughts on Zac Smith as a pod???

He finished the year with scores of 133, 119, 80, 103, 103 and with GAJ coming into the side making Geelong have the strongest (or one of) midfields in the league he could improve his hit outs to advantage as well. Also has a nice bye.

I think he is as good a chance as any to be in the top 5 rucks come seasons end and he is slightly cheaper than Goldy/Jacobs etc.

He's a possibility definitely. But I'm finding it hard to consider all these Geelong players due to their bye and also how feasible is it to have 10ish players in a side all go 95+.

Yeah that is true but in a ruckmans case wouldn'y having GAJ, Danger, Selwood and Duncan at your feet only help your points per game?

[quinny88]

I wouldn't wish injury upon anyone but boy it would be handy if Kreuzer was out for the year. Lobbe at $253,000 would be a steal

[enzedder]

Beside Gawn the rucks are an absolute lottery.
I've just spent another 1-2 hours researching them some more and am none the wiser.
Kreuzer - 603k too expensive to start, should go well but injury risks in past and historically top rucks don't back up.
Ryder - second most expensive but R10 bye makes him hard to start, really want to start him as I think he'll be 110/ 2300pts.
Jacobs - solid, should be a real safe pick, play most games 100-105 / 2200pts
Martin - had a great 2017, but risk of missing games in the past, first ruck but Smith and McInerney on the up too. 95-100/ 2000pts
Gawn - locked. 105-110/ 2250-2350pts
Grundy - not at his price and with Cox in the team.
McEvoy - cheaper version of Jacobs. 100 ave/ 2000-2100pts
Goldy- who knows? Preuss is the future. Not for me. Could get anything from 30s-130s plus games missed.
Witts - could stagnate or improve further, speculative pick, worth considering but unsure on his present status.
Bellchambers - at his best he's great, too inconsistent and too many stinkers.
Z Smith - can make a case for him, could be anywhere from 1800- 2200pts if he has a good season. Buzza emerging type.
Nankervis- doesn't represent value to me.
Sandilands - 35 years old, Freo would be happy to get 15 games out of him. Darcy on the up.
Darcy - at price and with Sandi still about, can't entertain any thoughts of him.
Nic Nat - still have to consider, pre-season form and reports will determine his place in teams. Headache material with Vardy and Lycett too.
Longer - not enough high scores and too many stinkers, not a major winner of the ball, not a SC option.

I'm just going to keep NicNat in my team for the moment and watch how the pre season unfolds. Jacobs is probably my go to but I would need to find 60k for him. 100k if I get Ryder and cop the R10 doughnut.

The other option would be to start a rookie as R2 if one pops up with JS (e.g McInerney whois still a rookie  ;D ) and play an extra premo on one of the other lines. Pigs might fly but one can only hope.

[Holz]

Damn doctors should keep there mouths shut they already sprouted off about his knee being a degenerative problem last year and people were still picking him now this has come out any chance of a advantage gone now  :'(

A lot of people will still pick him in my opinion. However, I won't be.

even with all this im mighty tempted to pick him up

Gawn is locked away at 503k pending any crazy thing happening.

Grundy at 534k  high 90s the last 2 years, a little worried about cox but i think low 100s playing 20+ games. He wont be a great pick but i doubt he will be a bad pick. Is he worth an extra 70k over NN, quite possibly as he seems a more solid option.96 average with 44/44 games played in the last 2 years is good for a ruck.

Goldy: Now this might be crazy and possibly very bias but surely goldy worth a look too. Im going to take away round 3 from his average as he would clearly not 100%.

So on that he played 18 games and put up a 97 average.

Preuss is obviously a big factor.

Goldy with Preuss: 105 96 88 32 92 = 83 average yes that is bad but thats largely due to the 32.
Goldy without Preuss: 87 77 111 107 135 89 103 128 91 100 129 62 122 = 103 average.

He is a risky option because of the preuss factor, but it is no secret that he was dealing with off field issues, had a limited preseason, got injured round 1. Even with all these issues he played 19 games and was within 8 points of the 2nd best ruck in the comp and within 3 points of the 3rd best ruck.

This also may conflict but if Goldy does lose his spot then Preuss at 347k is worth a look.

It may sound stupid but im rolling with Goldy Gawn at the moment. With all of Goldy's ups and downs in the last 5 years he is averaging 110 with 125/132 games played. even the last 2 years is 102 average with 40/44 games played. If he just replicates that i feel you will be happy in the rucks.

[enzedder]

Damn doctors should keep there mouths shut they already sprouted off about his knee being a degenerative problem last year and people were still picking him now this has come out any chance of a advantage gone now  :'(

A lot of people will still pick him in my opinion. However, I won't be.

even with all this im mighty tempted to pick him up

Gawn is locked away at 503k pending any crazy thing happening.

Grundy at 534k  high 90s the last 2 years, a little worried about cox but i think low 100s playing 20+ games. He wont be a great pick but i doubt he will be a bad pick. Is he worth an extra 70k over NN, quite possibly as he seems a more solid option.96 average with 44/44 games played in the last 2 years is good for a ruck.

Goldy: Now this might be crazy and possibly very bias but surely goldy worth a look too. Im going to take away round 3 from his average as he would clearly not 100%.

So on that he played 18 games and put up a 97 average.

Preuss is obviously a big factor.

Goldy with Preuss: 105 96 88 32 92 = 83 average yes that is bad but thats largely due to the 32.
Goldy without Preuss: 87 77 111 107 135 89 103 128 91 100 129 62 122 = 103 average.

He is a risky option because of the preuss factor, but it is no secret that he was dealing with off field issues, had a limited preseason, got injured round 1. Even with all these issues he played 19 games and was within 8 points of the 2nd best ruck in the comp and within 3 points of the 3rd best ruck.

This also may conflict but if Goldy does lose his spot then Preuss at 347k is worth a look.

It may sound stupid but im rolling with Goldy Gawn at the moment. With all of Goldy's ups and downs in the last 5 years he is averaging 110 with 125/132 games played. even the last 2 years is 102 average with 40/44 games played. If he just replicates that i feel you will be happy in the rucks.

That's biased crazy talk Holz. Agree it's risky. Agree about Gawn too.
Will be interesting to see what you do.

[Holz]

It may sound stupid but im rolling with Goldy Gawn at the moment. With all of Goldy's ups and downs in the last 5 years he is averaging 110 with 125/132 games played. even the last 2 years is 102 average with 40/44 games played. If he just replicates that i feel you will be happy in the rucks.

That's biased crazy talk Holz. Agree it's risky. Agree about Gawn too.
Will be interesting to see what you do.

You are very possibly right but to me there are no standout options. Im not paying up for Kreuz on one good year and then pretty much everyone else went around 95-100 last year. The preuss factor is real but even with Goldy's worst year in 5 years he was still a good R2 option.

Here is a question though, If Goldy is named round 1 with no preuss will anyone jump on board?

[Huttabito]

Think I'm just going to lock in Jacobs/Gawn for now. If NicNat does fire up and smashes the end of pre-season, I'll probably free up some cash. Kruezer could still be an option for Jacobs, expensive, but helps the bye structure, will put up the points you pay for and if he does go down early can trade to anyone. Too hard to fit Ryder in with his bye and no real cover option.

[enzedder]

It may sound stupid but im rolling with Goldy Gawn at the moment. With all of Goldy's ups and downs in the last 5 years he is averaging 110 with 125/132 games played. even the last 2 years is 102 average with 40/44 games played. If he just replicates that i feel you will be happy in the rucks.

That's biased crazy talk Holz. Agree it's risky. Agree about Gawn too.
Will be interesting to see what you do.

You are very possibly right but to me there are no standout options. Im not paying up for Kreuz on one good year and then pretty much everyone else went around 95-100 last year. The preuss factor is real but even with Goldy's worst year in 5 years he was still a good R2 option.

Here is a question though, If Goldy is named round 1 with no preuss will anyone jump on board?

Don’t think I would because Preuss would still be a risk unless he had a LTI.

[Money Shot]

Considering the rucks this year are a complete guess I am thinking Gawn/Smith. Has the best midfield in the comp under him so hit outs to advantage are going his way. Slightly cheaper than Sauce and Big Boy and has a good bye.

In saying that I will probably end up with Sauce.

[Money Shot]

can someone find me the hit outs to advantage stat from 2017?

Had a bit of a look around and I can't find it but im sure one of you experts can.

[Gigantor]

can someone find me the hit outs to advantage stat from 2017?

Had a bit of a look around and I can't find it but im sure one of you experts can.

Don't think it's a stat that's released to the general public

[crowls]

NicNat is a holder to see how the team looks.  Have a couple of others with Jacobs in at R1.    Also looking closely at Goldstein.   Big risk with Pruess factor though Goldy still capable of 115+ season. 
i just want to 2 x 22 games from my starting rucks and no stress.  Not a lot to ask?