Five strategies for selecting your ruckmen in KFC SuperCoach

Selecting your two starting rucks in SuperCoach was meant to be easy. As coaches weigh up spending big on Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy, see the pros and cons — and four alternative strategies.

Selecting our ruck division in KFC SuperCoach looked like the easiest decision of the year.

Then Max Gawn got injured.

Then the SuperCoach rookie crisis hit.

Now we are left in a pickle.

Many players will still fork out the big dollars for high-scoring duo Gawn and Brodie Grundy.

But given the steady decline in Gawn’s ownership numbers — he is in 26 per cent of teams compared to Grundy’s 65 per cent — clearly a lot of coaches have other plans.

So what is the best way to attack the rucks in 2020? Whatever your approach is, it’s vital you know why you’re doing it — and stick tot he plan.

Here are six different ways you can approach the ruck line in 2019. In each case we recommend selecting a cheap as chips ($123,900 or cheaper) ruckman on the bench either to make some cash or take advantage of the vice-captain loophole.

1. SET AND FORGET

Brodie Grundy scored more SuperCoach points than any other player last season. In third place was Max Gawn (his average of 128.4 was second behind Grundy).

Given the numbers for both rucks was almost identical to the year before, you can confidently gamble on them producing something similar again in 2020.

Gawn’s average was 20 points a game more than the third-best ruckman (North Melbourne’s Todd Goldstein), so if it’s points you’re after, you can’t go past the big two.

Another bonus is the option of making one (or both, if the loophole works) your captain to take advantage of their huge scores.

What a set and forget ruck strategy looks like.

2. GUN AND ONE

The “one” in this case refers to a cheap ruckman to partner one of the big dogs.

The idea is to save a truckload of money without sacrificing too many points.

There are a few cheap rucks to choose from, including Nic Naitanui ($457,800) and Sam Naismith ($251,500), but the standout option is GWS recruit Sam Jacobs, who carries a $348,400 price tag — a tick under $350,000 cheaper than Gawn.

Jacobs fell off the radar last season when Reilly O’Brien took over as the No.1 big man at Adelaide but he has posted premium SuperCoach numbers in the past, with a 115.4 average in 2014 a career-high.

That was a few years ago but coaches backing in the 31-year-old would have been encouraged by his 111 points against Richmond in the Giants’ final Marsh Series game.

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SUPERCOACH STRATEGY IN OTHER POSITIONS:

DEFENCE | MIDFIELD | FORWARD LINE

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Unless something unexpected happens we are expecting Grundy and Gawn to be the top-two ruck scorers of the season, so if you start with Jacobs you’ll be hoping he gains enough value to trade him up to Gawn after he comes off the bye in Round 14 (Jacobs will provide handy ruck cover when the Pies and Demons have the week off in Round 13).

And that $348,700 could be very valuable in other positions.

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That's a lot of money saved on a second ruckman.

4. GUN AND ROOKIE

We know “guns and rookies” is a favoured selection strategy in other SuperCoach positions but in the ruck things look a bit different with just two players on the field.

This is an approach that has worked spectacularly well in the past but it relies on a dirt cheap ruckman who will play every week and shoot up in value (remember Jonathan Giles?).

After the first round of Marsh Series games it looked like Collingwood recruit Darcy Cameron could be that man in 2020 after he scored 127 against Richmond. But he was dropped for the Magpies’ next game and seems to be behind Grundy and Mason Cox in the selection queue — which probably puts a line through this as a tactic in SuperCoach this year.

What a guns and rookies strategy looks like in the rucks.

5. MID-PRICE MADNESS

If going in with one cheap ruckman isn’t risky enough for you, why not try two?

This partnership offers a whopping $593,800 saving on the Grundy-Gawn partnership — the equivalent of turning a basement rookie into any player you like (how would you like to pick Nat Fyfe instead of Connor Budarick?)

The upside is big but the risk is also huge — you could be starting 80 points a week behind players with the big two.

You could argue the upgrade it allows would cover that margin, but if Jacobs averages 80 like he did last year you’re even further behind.

And if the value of your bargain picks doesn’t spike it will make it even harder to trade up to Grundy or Gawn during the season.

What a risky SuperCoach ruck strategy looks like.

MORE SUPERCOACH ADVICE:

Seven selection strategies you can use to build a winning KFC SuperCoach team

KFC SuperCoach: Every score from Marsh Community Series week 3

KFC SuperCoach Rookie Bible: Every potential cash cow for season 2020

Herald Sun chief football writer Mark Robinson reveals his KFC SuperCoach team

6. DON’T DO THIS

In a private moment we can dream about starting two rookie ruckmen and saving over $1 million compared to players going with the Gawn and Grundy combo.

This strategy could work in theory, but only if both players score well enough to keep them in your side all year or at least jump enough in value to trade them up to a premium. Both scenarios look highly unlikely.

You would also want a decent back-up at R3.

It’s fun to play with, though.

This is really cheap but a really bad idea.

Originally published as Five strategies for selecting your ruckmen in KFC SuperCoach