A conundrum

[Purple 77]

What should i do...........

My 'worst' two ruckman are Giles and Stephenson

And i have Smedts, Kerridge, Couch and Walsh in the forward line

Should I:

a) drop Stephson for Pattinson (a very very cheap ruckman who is very unlikely to play, but is a Ruck/Forw) and drop either Smedts, Kerridge or Walsh (not couch coz he is also very cheap) and pick up Sam Rowe (a Forw/Ruck)

b) Leave it be

c) If (a), who should i drop?


This isn't really a money saving thing, although i do pick up a handy 20k from doing the swaps, this is just deciding which way is better to go. Because having Rowe and pattinson will give me flexibility, and it might allow me to get away with having one premium ruck. But Rowe and pattinson also have the bye in the same round, but that doesn't really matter coz pattinson probably wont ever play this year.........

Desperate for opinions.

[Patrician]

I guess the question is do you really need that much coverage for a Ruck spot?

You'd only need to move Rowe to your ruck spot if one of your main rucks AND Giles AND Pattinson don't play.

By "get away with having one premium ruck" - do you mean you're only going to select one Premium? Or do you mean you can get away with one of your two starting rucks being injured?

If you are only getting one Prem Ruck, I can understand the need for flexibility. But what I'm finding difficult is planning for use of that DPP player, when we've had our bench numbers reduced. Its probably more likely you'll need to fill holes in your forward line before your rucks, as you have a higher bench-to-field ratio in the Rucks.

Personally, I'd go for b) or a new option d) which is just pick up Rowe. You could then perhaps use his DPP to move him to the Ruck as part of a trade and replace him with a forward.

[Kuruki]

Going into this year with a player you are not expecting to play will cop you a big fat donut. Dpp or not, you are only going to move the donut from your ruck to your forward line, you wont eliminate it. You cant afford to carry anyone this year that is not going to play. Waste of space waste of cash waste of time.

[Purple 77]

Cheers guys!

Personally, I'd go for b) or a new option d) which is just pick up Rowe. You could then perhaps use his DPP to move him to the Ruck as part of a trade and replace him with a forward.

I totally forgot about that rule! Great advice patrician with the whole lot  :)

I have never used a fourth ruckman in my SC career which is why i brought up pattinson

[Patrician]

I have :(

When Sandi was out last year and Cox had the bye, my bench Rucks had to step up the to plate.

Zac Smith did ok. Brad Moran, not so much  ;D

[SydneyRox]

and most people probably wont this year either. If you can guarantee that Giles and Stephenson (the most prolific 3rd and 4th ruck combo in most team) will play on the off round byes you own a time machine. Not that I endorse starting the year with a player simply for the DPP status if you are more than 40% sure he will never get a game. That move is for later in the season when your C/F's and B/C's will come in handy to cover injuries

[Footyrulz]

I dont think its worth having DPP in rucks this year.

Last year, tippet was great cause:

It helped with byes, this year it doesnt.

There were no good 4th rucks. Stephenson is great.

[liamgray]

last year was great having petrie up forward, but this year no one looks up for the role unless roughy can get his game on

-- LHG #2

[c4v3m4n]

My advice with the rucks is simple. Just set and forget.

I've only ever had to make a trade in my rucks only once, which was last year when Sandi got injured. Apart from that, never needed to.

With this years byes, it's pretty simple to avoid the donut in the rucks.

My ruck line at the moment looks like this:

Mumford, McEvoy (Giles, Stephenson)

Giles misses in Round 11 with the bye. No worries there.

Mumford and Stephenson miss Round 12. McEvoy and Giles become my rucking duo. If for some unknown reason, one of them (McEvoy or Giles) isn't available, then I'll be forced to trade Stephenson or Mumford.

McEvoy misses Round 13. Giles or Stephenson are available to replace him.

That's my two cents. There's no need to go overboard with the DPPs.

[Ringo]

It is easy to avoid a donut in rucks but not elsewhere. Depending on Form I am thinking of using Cordy in Ruck and Pattinson in forward line - Reason being I can sub Pattinson with Cordy in Round 13 and avoid donut.  Been working on all possible permutations and the only way to avoid a donut during bye rounds is to Have 2 players with Ruck DPP from Different Bye rounds.  However not a lot to chose from with most having bye in Round 13.

Will be posting the full strategy once I have completed my testing and experimentation.