Our Ruck Dilemma

[Vortex]

I wonder if the club has made a phone call to Grundy.

Paddy has been down a few weeks now and he looks like he's running out of petrol tickets, when the end comes it will come quickly. Might have another year in him but will he be able to maintain his high standard for that long.

When our Rucks are down, in particular Paddy, our midfield struggles. Admittedly we dont have Steele in there at the moment but I think we might be seeing how clubs get on top of us...well at least in from the centre bounces. From there we have another serious structural flaw, a Jack Hayes type that gives our midfield a better strategy with thier F50 entries. Sharman is not the answer yet as he isn't AFL grade.

Now somebody will tell me Paddy won the hitouts and was our best player but my eye test tells me he his struggling. RoMa is all over the shop presently and needs to find form quickly.

[Crossy66]

Both need a break. Roma not right and Paddy was never going to be able to play much more than half the rounds.

[Ghost Like]

If, as you say, Paddy has been down then that makes Marshall's efforts & performance twice as bad. Paddy is desperately holding back Father Time whilst doing his best to make an average midfield look better than what it is.

Marshall, IMO, has been very disappointing. He is one of our barometers. Sadly he's not one of our leaders.

I see the Club's leaders as being Steele, Sinclair, Wilkie and Membrey. Only Steele can truly lift the side on his shoulders. Marshall could but he cannot due to a lack of form, confidence & belief.

Heath must be given some opportunities before this season is done, whether from resting Paddy or dropping Marshall.

[The_Dud]

The rucks can only do so much when the midfield is so poor.

With Steele back I think they’ll start to look a bit better.

[older saint]

Marshall clearly playing injured. Campbell or even Heath could play as restricted as Marshall is at the moment there isn't a loss there.
Grundy may have the worst contract in the AFL ( Hanners is nearly done so the title is u for grabs) - no thanks

[B.M]

Both good ruckmen and play better when on the ball

Ryder in the ruck contests is good, doesn’t contribute much around the ground
Marshall around the ground is very good, just OK in ruck contests

Both average forwards

[saintsRrising]

Our main ruck problem is our lack of elite mids.

When our rucks our down it just exposes our pedestrian midfield. Especially with Steele out.

[Saintmike65]

The reality seems to be that Marshall plays at his best when he’s the main man.
The Marshall/ Hayes combo worked well but with Hayes going down, maybe time for Marshall again be the number 1 ruck, with Ryder forward and giving Marshall a chop out.