Matthew Lloyd says premiership hopes of eight finalists could hinge on fitness of their ruckmen
IT has been the year of the ruckman with Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy taking all before them in 2018. Matthew Lloyd writes the flag hopes of all eight teams could hinge on the form of their big man.
Matthew Lloyd
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IT has been the year of the ruckman with Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy taking all before them in 2018.
The next month shapes as one of the more anticipated finals series in decades due to the marquee match-ups that we have in week one of the finals.
The respective rucks of the eight competing clubs are irreplaceable and have never been so important to their team’s chances of winning this year’s premiership.
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How engrossing will it be to see Toby Nankervis v Ben McEvoy and Scott Lycett v Brodie
Both duels are pivotal to what team will get straight through to the last four and a preliminary final berth.
In the knockout finals, Rory Lobb will be pitted against the much improved Callum Sinclair
while Rhys Stanley if fit, or three-game player Ryan Abbott, will have the daunting task of taking on the coaches’ MVP and arguably the best player in the game, Gawn.
There is no doubting that Gawn and Grundy stand head and shoulders above the rest of the ruckman in the competition.
Dustin Martin was all the rage heading into the 2017 finals series because of his home-and-away form and he took it to another level in September with not only a Brownlow but the most important individual medal of them all, the Norm Smith.
To me, Gawn and Grundy are the Dusty of 2018.
Both big men could not enter September in better form or with more confidence.
They look to have a healthy rivalry in that they both want to lay claims to be the best ruckman we currently have in our game.
So many times this year, Grundy has been best on ground on the Saturday and Gawn will then follow suit on the Sunday or vice versa.
It happened, most recently in Round 23 with both men their respective team’s best player.
Toby Nankervis, Scott Lycett, Ben McEvoy and Callum Sinclair could all class 2018 as career-best seasons.
Like Gawn and Grundy, their team’s premiership chances would be shot if they were to have a season-ending injury in week one of the finals.
The old chestnut of what would happen if Nankervis were to go down at Richmond is raised about five times a year but it’s a thought that Damien Hardwick would not even want to think about because Nankervis is irreplaceable at Richmond.
The Tigers have been so fortunate over the past two years that he has been so durable but it’s also a credit to the Tigers’ fitness staff as no other club keeps their players healthy like Richmond do.
Hitouts-to-advantage is the best and most effective way to rank ruckmen and Gawn is clearly No.1, averaging 16 a game.
Grundy comes in second with 12, while Lycett averages the least with just 4.9 a game.
Grundy averages a staggering 20 disposals a game and five clearances compared to Gawn’s 16 disposals and two clearances.
Grundy is like a ruck rover who hunts the ball at ground level and works extremely hard around the ground whereas Gawn is clearly the best tap ruckman who pushes back or forward so effectively to cater for wherever the team needs him most.
The Giants find themselves in a tough situation in that Lobb has become their No.1 ruck in the absence of Dawson Simpson, yet he sees himself as a forward and would much rather be playing there.
Gawn was far too good for him in Round 23 which will happen to most rucks opposed to Gawn but I just don’t feel he competes with enough aggression or intent and that worries me, a week out from the finals with the form of the other ruckmen in the competition.
Ben McEvoy has been brilliant for Hawthorn. He is an absolute warrior and is one of the best contested marks in the game.
I love seeing him push forward and it is his ability to compete so strongly in the air and at ground level that makes him a consistent finals player.
Nankervis also has a presence about him yet he is so mobile, averaging the second most disposals of the rucks behind Grundy and he will look to use his aerobic ability to spread on McEvoy in general play while McEvoy will look to beat Nankervis in the air.
I will be tipping Melbourne to beat Geelong because of the Gawn factor opposed to Stanley or Abbott.
It is just a massive advantage the Demons have going into this knockout final.
While some coaches and supporters are still extremely slow to come around to the importance of having a gun ruckman, I cannot emphasize just how important they have become in the modern game.
Winning a clean clearance at centre bounces before the congestion starts is critical, as are the deft taps inside forward fifty stoppages with the no third man up rule to create goal scoring opportunities.
Originally published as Matthew Lloyd says premiership hopes of eight finalists could hinge on fitness of their ruckmen