Carlton ruckman Marc Pittonet is grabbing his opportunity at the Blues after the door opened through injury to Matthew Kreuzer
He’s been one of the SuperCoach buys of the year. But what else do we know about Carlton ruckman Marc Pittonet? His path to the big time started in unique fashion, with some ‘list analyst’.
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In his final year in the under-18s at the Oakleigh Chargers, Carlton big man Marc Pittonet took it upon himself to become a list analyst.
Described as a footy intellect and deep thinker of the game by his junior coaches, the promising young ruckman scrutinised every AFL list to determine where his best prospects might lie.
“I remember in his draft year, he analysed every AFL list to see how many ruckmen each club had,” the Chargers’ former talent manager Mark Smart recalled this week.
“He then went about thinking where the best opportunity would be for him if he was drafted.
“He did some sort of analysis of every club and their ruck needs and where possibly he thought he might be best suited.
“That just goes to show how much of a deep thinker he is of the game, he really is a student of the game.”
Of course, the draft doesn’t allow prospects to pick and choose their destination and history will show Pittonet landed at Hawthorn as a third-round selection at No. 50 overall in the 2014 draft.
Now in his first season at Carlton, the 202cm Pittonet is making the most of his opportunity to fulfil those once analysed “ruck needs” after the door opened through injury to Matthew Kreuzer and Tom De Koning.
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Pittonet made his debut for Hawthorn in Round 1, 2016, but managed only seven senior games in his four seasons with the Hawks, arriving at the Blues as a standout ruckman in the VFL.
Since his Round 2 debut for the Blues against Melbourne, Pittonet’s SuperCoach price has rocketed by more than $80,000 – one of the biggest increases of the year – after scores of 134 and 137 in his matches against the Demons and Geelong.
He hasn’t had an easy initiation either.
First up. Melbourne captain and two-time All-Australian ruckman Max Gawn. He held his own, finishing with 23 hit outs, 14 disposals and five clearances in the one-point loss to the Demons.
The 24-year-old’s sharp off-field analysis again underlying his performance.
“He’s a great ruckman. He’s (been) a great ruckman for years,” Pittonet said after taking on Gawn.
“Anytime I can play against a good player, I watch what they do. I’ll review it, check it, check what he does, see what worked well (and) what didn’t work well.
“I’d like to think I’m in the prime of my age, but I haven’t played many games so I can only get better from here.”
Next was Geelong’s Rhys Stanley, coming off a big performance against the Hawks the week before.
Pittonet’s 36-hit-out effort caught the eye in the Blues’ first win at the Cattery since 1996.
Not that anyone involved with Pittonet at the Chargers is surprised.
Pittonet was part of an impressive draft crop from the Chargers’ premiership team in 2014, which included Magpies Jordan De Goey and Darcy Moore and Western Bulldog Toby McLean.
Mick Stinear, Pittonet’s coach in his draft year at Oakleigh and now coach of the Demons’ AFLW team, said the former elite junior basketballer always went above and beyond in his preparation.
He recalled Pittonet engaging his own personal trainer regularly to improve his athleticism and mobility in his drive to get drafted.
“Back then I remember he was very driven, he was a professional athlete back then even when he was 16, 17 and 18,” Stinear said.
“He had his own trainer and he was just determined to get the best out of himself.
“One thing I learnt after being back in the AFL environment the last couple of years is just how important being a competitor is and that’s how he is wired. He is fiercely competitive on the field whether he was playing basketball as a junior or trying to be the best footballer he can be.
“That is what is holding him in good stead now. He has had to fight for his spot in the team the last couple of years at Hawthorn and now he is getting more of an opportunity at Carlton.”
Carlton coach David Teague had backed Pittonet’s “ability to get physical” before his big assignment against Gawn.
It’s a part of his game that was clear early.
Smart said he’d never been shy of hitting bodies in packs.
“His ability to contest pack situations where he is able to crash bodies … he is very competitive in that area,” said Smart, who has been on the Hawks’ recruiting team the past three years.
“Certainly for a big fella, his follow-up work is quite good. He likes to follow-up and knock into a few bodies and things like that and it’s something that he prides himself on.”
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That’s what the Blues want from him as well.
“He competes, he follows up and then he puts on pressure. What we want from him is big physical pressure and he delivered that,” Teague said after the win over the Cats.
“You look at the age profile of ruckmen and they sometimes take until they’re 24 (to develop). I don’t think, from a numbers point of view, they peak until they’re around 27.
“Hopefully he’s got a lot of football ahead of him.”