Our Rucks

[BoredSaint]

I thought Hawkins was pretty decent in the Ruck until he had that injury..
could work with him being a second ruckman with the new rule coming in..

[bunyip]

We do have options. The fact is, if Ottens can stay injury free, he's as good as any ruck in the league. I have a feeling though, that this might be Blakey's last season, because the guys knocking at the door are better all round footballers, whereas Blakey is pretty one dimensional.
I'd like to have a look at Dawson Simpson to, 206cm and 105kg. my god, imagine what he could do if he turned out OK.

[Cicjose]

is it worth geelong trying Blake at FF and letting Hawkins and Simpson ruck?

[bunyip]

Unfortunately one of Blakey's glaring deficiencies is his defensive skills. He's slow and his second efforts are half hearted. I doubt if he is a key position player. I think it's either ruck or nothing for Blakey.

[Junktimer]

Blake is not a footballer, blake is tall, that's it.

nothing to offer, and i cannot believe he can get a game at a team of the calibre of geelong.

Ottens is good, just injury prone.

Vardy and Simpson too early to say.

Hawkins, not sold on, should be forward option though.

[bunyip]

Blake holds his place in the team because he is one of the best tap ruckmen in the league. Next season that may not be enough though. They let Mumford go, and I've heard that Trent West wanted to be traded. Their patience only runs so deep.

[bunyip]

All in all though, I think our ruck situation is OK. We should be able to match it with most teams next season.

[MTTY]

I would rather see Simpson and West get a gig with Ottens

[BoredSaint]

i think blake will lose his spot because of the new interchange rule

[bunyip]

Some teams (Geelong included) experimented with just 1 ruckman and a pinch hitter. Personally, and I'm probably showing my age here, I still like the option of resting  one ruckman in a forward pocket. They don't do it now, probably for a good reason, but I'd be inclined to try it again if I were coach.

[cookie311993]

how do you reckon they will be feeling after letting go of Mundy to the swans in favor of Blake. Mundy out performed Blake in both matches

[bunyip]

Won't worry them. That happens a lot to all teams. It's hard to break into Geelong's team at the moment and you would expect some young players to get tired of it and seek greener pastures. It will happen to Collingwood now, they are a fairly young team.

[cookie311993]

yeah fair enough. Collingwood and Freo are both young teams. And melbourne are removing senior players

[Damoz Merry Men]

Ottens is such a good player, and no doubt has his talent week in, week out. But he just keep's getting injured, that is what's stopping him.

[bunyip]

We've had a couple of games now, and it's mildly surprising that Otto has to do it all by himself, with some help from Hawkins and Co.
I notice we usually have a ruckman named as an emergency in case.
So far, you have to say that Ottens is coping well. He seems fit, and strong. I would not be surprised if he was rested from time to time throughout the season.