Big Boy McEvoy

[Dan Warna]

my question to Ben McEvoy was WHY WASN'T HE PLAYING LIKE THIS IN 2004? Too late for me now...trade him for 3 round 1 picks and a snickers...rebuild time

[saintsRrising]

A point to consider.....Ryder and Hille normally go forward and destroy us.

Ben often played back and chopped off many direct kicks to their rucks.

He made a HUGE difference IMO and a big reason why the normal Dons gameplan did not work.

[The Redeemer]

58 hit outs to 21... Making very hard for our mids...

Around the ground he was pretty good.... I thought Hille was easily their best.

Divide by 2 and he was shaded by his opponents slightly in the rucks last night. I thought he had to ruck for prolonged periods of time last night without any backup however 21 hit outs by himself compared to roughly 30 each for the dons rucks it s fair result really.

[SydneySainter]

Beat Ryder and Hille around the ground, go beat in the ruck. His 2nd efforts were good, but needs to start getting his hands first to be ball. Start winning more hit-outs, particularly to advantage, then he goes to the next level.

[bigcarl]

Just watching the replay now, big Mac does seem to have a bit of a timing issue at centre bounces. He's up too early most of the time, giving his opponent a stepladder.

Still, he's a very good player.

[Sobraz]

Has very slow movements but a super fast brain.... Already knows where to handball or kick to before he has it, which is crucial, as his natural movements are not exactly sharp...

Will hold him in great stead as he matures and learns the game even more..

I honestly believe he'll be in the top 3, if not the best (hard with NicNat also in this field) ruck in the comp in 5 years time... Clearly a leader and professional as well... Great for the club...

[BigMart]

Adelaide's mids would beg to differ if you think tap work is not important?? And it seemed to play an important role last week against North

And
More to it than just thinking adding Lenny, that's a bit simplistice... Considering he averages around three centre clearances per game.
A new midfield coach, Armitage, Jones, Steven, Dal and Joey go through there. It has a more to do with set up, match up, and process than personnel.... Len does help, as he is a good centre square operator though, but its more complex

If around the ground is all that counts....we could play another mid who could rack up 30 touches??.... Ultimately it's why Blake could be no more than a pinch hit ruckman

[plugger66]

Interesting.

[hayes66]

And Freo's mids would disagree. Sandilands is the most dominate tap ruckmen in the league but Freo don't dominate the clearances. It's not black or white. Can I give the anology, the players who gets the most disposals in a game is not necessarily the most effective or best player. Sometimes they are sometimes they aren't.

[BigMart]

Are you saying Sandilands is ineffective??

Imagine their mids without his dominance....

Again, it's more about the combination of Ruck/Mids that is effective... Not just one aspect.... Set up is crucial

Mumford..... Kennedy
Cox/Natinui.......... Kerr/Priddis
Everett...... Burke/Thompson/Harvey
Gardiner...... Cousins/Judd/Kerr
Ryder....... Watson
Jacobs........ Thompson

The list goes on....

Ruckmen and Mids have a symbiotic relationship

[hayes66]

I'm a little confused but I think we might be in agreement. My point is, to look at just tap outs eg, Hille 34, McEvoy 22, etc . Is too simplistic. Watch the game, see the trends etc. use stat's as an aide, guide and then make up your own mind. If stat's are the sole bases of your opinion then I'd argue let a computer coach.

[Moods]

Are you saying Sandilands is ineffective??
Imagine their mids without his dominance....

Again, it's more about the combination of Ruck/Mids that is effective... Not just one aspect.... Set up is crucial

Mumford..... Kennedy
Cox/Natinui.......... Kerr/Priddis
Everett...... Burke/Thompson/Harvey
Gardiner...... Cousins/Judd/Kerr
Ryder....... Watson
Jacobs........ Thompson

The list goes on....

Ruckmen and Mids have a symbiotic relationship

To the contrary - Sandilands is VERY effective - around the ground. Interesting that Lyon has stated that Freo's weakest link is their mid field - despite having the most dominant ruckman. Who has the symbiotic relationship with Sandilands? He's supposed to win the most tap puts?

I would say that Nic Nat is the best tap ruckman in the league

[BigMart]

They would hope going fwd

Barlow, Moribito and Mundy I suppose... But their mids were not fit in 2012

Natinui has two clearance animals at his feet.... Kerr/Priddis
Jacobs and Thompson are the one IMO who are #1
Maric and Tuck/Cotchin
Mumford and Kennedy
Are also excellent.

[saintbrat]

http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/ ... fault.aspx

St Kilda lost the hit-outs 59-21 but managed to stabilise the clearance count 33-35, which can be attributed as much to McEvoy's ability to nullify the tap work of Bomber duo Paddy Ryder and David Hille as the efforts of the Saints' midfielders.

McEvoy's effort is made all the more meritorious by the fact he was playing just his third game back after being sidelined for six weeks with a knee injury that required minor surgery.

In his 61st AFL game since making his debut as an 18-year-old in 2008, he had 18 hit-outs, 12 possessions, eight marks - including one contested and several saving grabs deep in defence - five tackles and two clearances.

His follow-up work at ground level and general physical presence was one of the key factors in St Kilda's shock win

http://bigpondvideo.com/AFL/466630/School%20of%20ruck/