rucks

[hellyeh12]

I have been umming and arrhhing on my rucks for over a week now and would like to know what people think of a ruck strategy this year.

Currently I have sandi and cox with smith and J tippet on the bench. I have petrie in the fwds to provide extra cover and can be swapped with tippet when needed.

Is this the best strategy? or would you be better having petrie as your second ruck and a stronger 5th fwd? my current fwd line is below

fanklin, sylvia, roo, pav, petrie, knights, prestia.

[Zarts]

mmmm I've seen this quite a bit, and I've considered it myself once or twice.

if jtippet performs well in NAB and looks likely to play, I say, go for it.
if not, don't.

[Blueboys]

I have changed this combo about 100 times but at the end I feel if I have 2 prem rucks, then they should be set. You can as you say have Petrie in the forward as a back up with Tippet so yeah I feel it's best to run your team with 2 prem rucks if you can....

[valkorum]

I like the setup and is most likely what I will be going with this year

[hellyeh12]

cheers for the feedback guys. Second ruck is a husge decision this year!! sure ill change it 500 times still through the nab cub

[CuStArDaRm]

i was originally going with that strategy but I cant bring myself to get Petrie, even if he cheap and averages 90 or and gos up in price Id rather get a rookie who will likely have the same average and make me more cash.
Im just gonna make sure my 4th ruck is actually playing as i have Smith as 3rd. after dumping him and putting another prem and rook in the fwd line my team looks soooooo much stronger!!

[MrRiosWan]

Am I the only one interested in J. Fraser? Seems to me at 237K hes a pretty tempting option.

[Swallow12]

Pretty much, and for good reason  :P

[Slap]

Fraser could be the unique that could win you an early advantage within this comp..  Nobody here can read the future, So if you have half a footy brain and a gut feeling, take the risk..  But then again, risks can backfire - then you loose a trade. 
If your gonna take this risk on fraser, make sure you dont take a risk somewhere else, youd hate to be at round 10 with half your trades left.

[Zarts]

^ been way worse than there last season lol.

[hardnut]

I know lots of good Dt'ers are going with J.Tippet but I feel it's a case of the tail wagging the dog. I see MPP as a bonus rather than dictating selection and picking a rookie listed ruckman who is apparently unlikely to play and has a price premium just doesn't feel right. I see Z.Smith as my cover and if I'm unlucky enough to lose two ruckmen then I'll look at the trade table happy that my fwd line has not been compromised in pursuit of MPP.
I guess we'll know by seasons end which is the right way t go.

[valkorum]

I know lots of good Dt'ers are going with J.Tippet but I feel it's a case of the tail wagging the dog. I see MPP as a bonus rather than dictating selection and picking a rookie listed ruckman who is apparently unlikely to play and has a price premium just doesn't feel right. I see Z.Smith as my cover and if I'm unlucky enough to lose two ruckmen then I'll look at the trade table happy that my fwd line has not been compromised in pursuit of MPP.
I guess we'll know by seasons end which is the right way t go.

What if Smith is scoring worse than a bench player in your forward line?

You would then MPP Petrie/Tippett and put Petrie on the field and then put your bench forward on in place of Tippett.  More points = better DT :)

[Slap]

Im with you Hardnut..

The only indecision i have with my team atm, is with my ruck stocks.  I have two guns who I want to keep for the entire season barring injury.  Zac Smith as cover.. He is good cover corect?  then I have tippet as bench fodder and Petrie int he FWD..

My dilemma is, should I/could I pick someone better in my FWD line than petrie, and have faith in my ruck stocks.  Aswell as turning tippet into a actual backup. 

The real dilemma in the dilemma is that, I also see Petrie as a buy low player..  He has had solid averages over the last 5 years (bar last year).. and at 200kish you'd be happy with a 70-80 average.  Would you not?

[8-6 Suited]

Interesting.

[hardnut]

Fair enough Valkorum but I could paint a "what if" picture involving actually needing a playing cover and your stuck with Tippett. Not to  mention your not making any money on him.
I can see the argument for Tippett but it feels like bending the fundamental selection policy of pick the best player available given cash.

As Slap says Petrie historical average would be borderline premium for a ruckman anyway so I see no need to pick another premium in the lowest scoring and least predictable spot on the ground.

One of the better debates going around though  :)