Adelaide must address its lack of ruck depth, says premiership big man Dean Brogan
PREMIERSHIP ruckman Dean Brogan says the Crows must address their lack of ruck depth in the off-season or risk crashing out of flag contention for a second consecutive year.
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PREMIERSHIP ruckman Dean Brogan says the Crows must address their lack of ruck depth in the off-season or risk crashing out of flag contention for a second consecutive year.
Brogan, a member of Port Adelaide’s 2004 premiership side, said Adelaide is playing with fire by putting all of its ruck eggs into the basket of a 30-year-old who battled a bad back this year.
While the Power appears to be on the verge of securing West Coast restricted free agent Scott Lycett as support for its ageing ruckman Paddy Ryder, the best back-up on the Crows list for ruck ironman Sam Jacobs is two-gamer Reilly O’Brien, who hasn't played an AFL game for two years and is coming off a shoulder reconstruction.
“Jacobs has done an unbelievable job for several years now, pretty much shouldering all the load, but what’s the succession plan in place for him?’’, said Brogan.
“I think Adelaide’s list is pretty good but who do they have as back-up? There doesn’t appear to be much there.
“While Port has got on the front foot by trying to get Lycett, who will be very good for them, you wonder what would happen to Adelaide if Jacobs got hurt and missed significant playing time.
“Even if he’s not hurt he showed signs of slowing down this year and I can tell you, from experience, that the end for ruckmen can come quickly.
“He’s had a big workload for a long time and while he sets the bar really high he looked tired and sore this year, so you wonder how much good football he has left.
“The time has come for the Crows to look at what else is out there.’’
Jacobs was one of only four Adelaide players to play all 22 games this year but his struggles were illustrated in him finishing 12th in club champion voting.
He has played 179 of a possible 183 games since joining the Crows from Carlton at the end of 2010.
Brogan says Adelaide must take a close look at trading for a mature-age ruckman from another AFL club, naming Hawthorn’s Jonathon Ceglar, St Kilda’s Tom Hickey and North Melbourne’s out-of-favour Braydon Preuss as possibilities.
He said South Adelaide's Keegan Brooksby, who played 14 games for Gold Coast from 2015-17, would be an “outside the square’’ addition from the SANFL who could provide valuable insurance if Jacobs is injured.
“Brooksby has been the standout ruckman in the SANFL and can play a bit of forward to,’’ Brogan said of the 28-year-old.
“I’ve worked closely with him at South and I think he’s definitely worthy of being on an AFL list.’’
Brogan said the Crows also need to draft a young ruckman, saying every AFL club should have at least four ruckmen on their list.
“To cover all your bases you need a developing one on the rookie list, a young one you have drafted on your main list, a mature-age one plus your number one,’’ he said.
“Ruckmen came back in vogue this year and at the moment the Crows are leaving themselves short.’’
andrew.capel@news.com.au