More than one way to skin a cat.SaintSimmo wrote:
I guess kicking goals for a forward is nice to have, but non essential?
Tapwork is sort of what the ruckman is there to do.
We have defensive forwards and defensive midfielders in footy now and everybody accepts the role they play for the team- why not a defensive ruckman?
Someone who makes it harder for the good tapwork guys to do what they do best?!
If a ruckman's big strength is is tapwork- negate that, then run off him.
I'll take an extra runner on the field every day of the week over a win in ruck contests.
And I'm not alone in that- most coaches seemingly agree when they sub out a ruckman for a mid.
Of course we all want a Dean Cox who runs all day, wins hitouts, has footy smarts, takes marks and kicks goals... but the reality is that complete package doesn't come around too often.
From a team perspective- winning hitouts is the least important aspect of what a ruckman does in today's footy.