Reilly O’Brien and Scott Lycett ready to go head-to-head in Showdown 47
For the past few years the Showdown ruck battle to watch has been Sam Jacobs v Paddy Ryder. But in Showdown 47 on Saturday there will be a different heavyweight title fight, writes The Phantom.
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The Sam Jacobs-Paddy Ryder duel has been the heavyweight battle within the Showdown since 2015 but the challengers have risen and they are ready to fight alone.
It’s time to crown a new champion big man in South Australia.
In Showdown 47, in-form ruckmen Reilly O’Brien and Scott Lycett are set to go head-to-head for the first time in a match-up is likely to define Saturday afternoon’s clash.
The pair faced off in Round 8 but Lycett shared the load with Ryder and O’Brien, despite showing enough in the five matches since Jacobs’ injury, was just finding his feet at senior level.
But he’s well-and-truly found them now.
In the past three weeks, O’Brien has averaged 18 disposals, 11 contested possessions, seven clearances and 14 hit-outs-to-advantage per game.
The 23-year-old, who made just two senior appearances in his first four seasons on Adelaide’s list, ranks equal-first for clearances, second for tackles and fourth for contested possessions at the club since Round 12.
O’Brien’s 132 hit-outs-to-advantage in the first 14 games of his career is more than any other player on record.
The aggressive big man tallied 22 against the Tigers in Round 13, on his way to 181 Champion Data rankings points, the highest by any ruckman since 2017.
It’s form which has kept — and likely continue to keep — Jacobs, a three-time Showdown medallist, in the SANFL.
While Geelong attempted to work over O’Brien last week with Mark Blicavs joining Rhys Stanley in the ruck, Adelaide was still +5 in clearances and O’Brien’s nine hit-outs-to-advantage was still one more than Stanley and Blicavs combined.
Ryder’s tap-work is, arguably, far-superior to both Cats but given the success of Lycett as the lone ruckman, it’s unlikely coach Ken Hinkley elects to recall the 238-game veteran to double-team O’Brien this week.
In the four matches this season when Lycett has played 85 per cent game-time or more as a ruckman — two with Ryder still in the side — he’s averaging 19 disposals, 14 contested possessions, 10 hit-outs-to-advantage, five clearances and 141 ranking points.
In comparison, Lycett has averaged just 82 ranking points in the nine matches the ruck duties have been more-evenly split.
On the back of two huge performances in the past two rounds, following Ryder’s omission, Lycett has recorded more ranking points than any other player in the competition in the past month.
The former Eagle ranks first for contested possessions and third for disposals of all ruckmen since Round 11.
Speaking on AFL360 following the win over the Cats, Hinkley revealed what he said to Lycett — a player he believes “needs to play on the edge” — after dropping Ryder.
“You need to play well. We’re not messing around as a football club. We’ve got to make decisions that’ll make us better quickly and one of those decisions (Ryder) we’ve already made. Don’t let yourself became No. 2 or 3 in that list of decisions,” Hinkley told Lycett.
It’s fair to say, Lycett’s response will keep him away from that list for the moment.
But it will affect the decision on Ryder’s return to the senior team.
While, at his best, Ryder can be a damaging forward, with Lycett becoming so influential, is there a need for Port Adelaide to play two ruckmen at all again this season?
Opposition-wise, the immediate fixture doesn’t suggest so.
Port play Richmond (Ivan Soldo), GWS (Shane Mumford) and Sydney and Essendon, two sides which lost its No. 1 big man in Round 15.
It’s the same story at the Crows with O’Brien’s form and no desperate need to play two primary ruckmen, with Elliot Himmelberg filling in for Josh Jenkins as back-up, keeping Jacobs out of the side.
One-on-One. Let’s see who becomes the new ruck king in Adelaide on Saturday.
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