Past ruck greats lament the changing role of the big man

THERE was a time when they used to rule the AFL, and premierships were decided by their impact. But is the moden ruckman headed for a hard fall?

Giant Shane Mumford and Melbourne’s Max Gawn in a ruck contest. Picture: Colleen Petch

THERE was a time when they used to rule the AFL, when Brownlow medals and club best and fairests were regularly struck in their honour. Premierships were decided by their impact.

Now a ruckman is lucky to walk the red carpet on Brownlow night, let alone win one — 25 years having passed since the last genuine practitioner, Scott Wynd, saluted.

Their lack of recognition is no better when clubs vote on best and fairest awards.

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Ten teams last year decided that no ruckman was worthy of a place in their top 10 (only third-placed Stefan Martin and Max Gawn, plus Brodie Grundy, fourth, placed in the top five).

It’s also got to the stage where clubs are reticent to take them early in the draft, preferring to trade for a mature and ready-made commodity in their mid-20s.

It raises the point — do ruckmen exert the same influence in today’s game, or are they headed down the same doomed road as the Sauroposeidon, the tallest species of dinosaur that hasn’t been sighted for 40 million years?

Maybe Clark “Crackers” Keating of Brisbane Lions fame was such a player, a 197cm and 105kg battering ram who played 139 games from 1996-2006, including the 2001, ’02 and ’03 premierships.

Keating was dubbed “Mr September”, such was his form during Brisbane’s hat-trick of flags when he regularly belted the ball forward as part of a plan that bears little resemblance to today’s game.

Clark Keating says ruck contests have become more predictable.

Keating, 41, enjoys aspects of today’s ruckmen, marvelling at their extreme fitness, but he can’t help yearning for the days when brute strength played more of a role.

“To me it was exciting to see two big blokes at the start of a game, steam coming out of their ears, so focused on getting that first knockout and to have a crack at their opponent,” Keating said.

“I don’t enjoy ruck contests as much because the unknown has been removed. It’s more robotic and contests are much more predictable. The only unknown is how well can the umpire bounce the ball.

“Some fans still say to me the game misses a ruckman hitting the ball forward to clear the congestion and open up play.”

Keating was a master of that craft, as was four-times Essendon best-and-fairest Simon Madden, a ruckman regarded by many as the equal of any over the past 50 years. Madden, 59, agrees with Keating’s thoughts on his craft becoming predictable.

“Sometimes I worry that midfield coaches want the ruckman to drop the ball at his feet, where there are 25 blokes, meaning you don’t get the value out of a hitout,” Madden said. “What about being prepared to take a risk and hit it longer? I still think that is a viable option but we have become a little risk-averse.

“Why not drop two or three longer and punch it 20m? Mix it up and pose a few questions. You become unpredictable.”

Like Madden before him, Wynd was a ruck master during his 237-game career with the Western Bulldogs from 1988-2000. He doesn’t believe the art is being devalued, but he does worry at the constant rule changes directed at ruckmen.

“No other position has had the changes that ruck has in the past 20 years. You can’t grab it out of the ruck now, making it the only position on the ground where you are restricted from actually grabbing the ball,” said Wynd, 47.

“They banned grabbing it out of the ruck because they reckon it caused congestion. I would have thought the 25 players around the contest caused the congestion.

“Now you aren’t allowed third man up, and before that the circle was introduced to reduce your run-up.”

Simon Madden and Gary Dempsey do battle in the ruck.

Gary Dempsey, 67, remains the most decorated ruckman in AFL history following a 327-game career with Footscray and North Melbourne from 1967-84. He also worked with the Bulldogs, Hawthorn and Carlton as a ruck coach.

He struggles with today’s game at times, likening it to British bulldog.

“Ruckmen clearly aren’t the dominating players they once were, no doubt because of the way the game is played. They virtually ignore the ruckman around the ground,” said Dempsey, the 1975 Brownlow medallist.

“So that gives him just one area of influence, unless he can go forward. And most can’t. So that area is a stoppage where you rarely if ever see anyone giving the ball a decent punchoccasionally to break things up.

“If they did, and it went straight to an opposition player, there would be a national inquiry. Sometimes I watch players and it’s as if they are too frightened to actually be a ruckman. They seem reluctant to do anything different.

“That’s why I like the way Shane Mumford plays for GWS. He enjoys the physical contact, in fact he seeks it, and he protects his ball space and brings his smaller players into the game.”

“Obviously with 20 players around the stoppage it’s harder to find a teammate for a clearance, but it’s no coincidence that when I coached at Hawthorn, Sam Mitchell would come to every ruck session just to increase his chances of winning the contest.”

The last word goes to Madden, who says if any aspiring ruckman asks him for advice he says the same thing: “Don’t be a player who can only ruck, for if you can go forward and mark, two things will happen. You will spend more time on the ground and you will get paid a lot more.”

Originally published as Past ruck greats lament the changing role of the big man