Billy hanging around a little longer ?

[tony74]

Not sure why... Watched him closely Saturday... He is the 4th best ruckman on the list now, he took zero marks and whilst he throws his weight around nicely at stoppage and is as aggressive as f*** he struggled to find the ball at all... Even at VFL level

Probably not unusual for a big guy who has missed the best part of 10 weeks with concussion.

And still struggling with it

[saintly]

Not sure why... Watched him closely Saturday... He is the 4th best ruckman on the list now, he took zero marks and whilst he throws his weight around nicely at stoppage and is as aggressive as f*** he struggled to find the ball at all... Even at VFL level

Probably not unusual for a big guy who has missed the best part of 10 weeks with concussion.

And still struggling with it

If he is struggling with it, why is he playing?

[bob__71]

Not sure why... Watched him closely Saturday... He is the 4th best ruckman on the list now, he took zero marks and whilst he throws his weight around nicely at stoppage and is as aggressive as f*** he struggled to find the ball at all... Even at VFL level

Probably not unusual for a big guy who has missed the best part of 10 weeks with concussion.

And still struggling with it

Given you make no secret of being connected within the club, I think it might be sensible to watch what you say on here.

[CURLY]

No issue what was posted. Longer probably is struggling with the ball in the air.

[BigMart]

And has been for three years

[Bluthy]

His bash and crash and tap work are his strengths. That makes him a dinosaur in today's game. .

I don't agree with that for a couple of reasons :

1) Billy went pick 8 I think - he must have showed some serious skills to go that high not just because he was a big unit. I think he is going to one of these late bloomers who need to get strong enough to carry all his 100 kg weight around while rucking and then still have enough left to lift those big arms up in marking contests and get down to the ground to be effective off the deck.

2) The rotation cap drop does seem to have opened the game up a bit early in the season but even now its starting to become pretty congested again with clubs and players adjusting. But
during finals its gets even more congested again and its here that the bash and crash ruck style becomes a valuable commodity that coaches love. Guys like Clark Keating, King and Mumford were notorious for just being ok through the year but in the heat of finals their strength and aggressiveness was a tower of strength in winning contested ball which is vital. Coaches love a big physical aggressive guy in finals who will open a path for onballers, crushing oppo mids by landing on top of them and generally make the oppo think twice about keeping their eyes on the footy. Some of the more 'technical' tap rucks like Goldstein and Sandilands seem less effective during finals.

If you follow the "around the ground is vital for a ruck" to its extreme conclusion you end up like Grant Thomas using Blake in the ruck There is no doubt Billy needs to be improve his marking and get more disposals. But his strength and aggressiveness can certainly be a weapon particularly in finals. Its also why grand final teams tend to have the two rucks with one who can also play as a decent forward. You don't want any let up in your ruck capacity when contested ball is so vital in finals.

[supersaints]

Bigmart... I've sat back and looked at your posts in your desire to reduce our ruckmen... I find it unfounded and contrary to what every AFL team list has in ruck numbers on thier list

I have listed below the ruck stocks for every team at the start of 2016... This was in s fox footy report back in February.

For simplicity the numbers are
Ruckman
Pinch hitter
Developing

Adelaide 2-1-3
Brisbane 2-2-1
Carlton 4-1-1
Collingwood 2-2-2
Essendon 3-1-1
Fremantle 4-1-1
Geelong 4-1-1
Gold Coast 3-1-1
GWS 4-1-1
Hawthorn 3-3
Melbourne 2-2-2
North 2-2-1
Port 2-2-1 (included Ryder suspended)
Richmond 2-3-1
SAINTS 3-1-1
Sydney 4-1-2
West Coast 3
Western Bulldogs 3-1-1

So apart from pinch hitters ( we only have Bruce) we have less or around the same
rucks than most teams and you want to get rid of Longer who is likely as good as most of the second string ruckmen on other lists
You really should stop beating your tired old drum..




Crows