Marshall. Ruckman, forward or a bit of both?

[bigcarl]

Now we have Ryder/Abbott, it potentially allows Marshall to spend more time forward.

Marshall seems to be a good footballer wherever you put him. He was recruited as a forward. Significantly he kicked two goals - when we needed them - to effectively kill off the Hawks last night (albeit in a practice game).

I don’t mind the idea of him spending half his time forward. He, Membrey and King (eventually) ought to be a test for most opponents, given decent supply.

Thoughts?

[shrodes]

That seems to be the plan.

I can see them doing a Ryder/Marshall combo a lot, and giving Ryder some weeks off for an old man rest where Abbott can come in and fill that spot or just go solo Marshall like last year.
Marshall is a very good mark and kick for his size and is a genuine presence in the forward line (unlike Longer and to a lesser extent Hickey in prior years), and Ryder has done the same before also.

[shmic_s]

Bit of both.

When we drafted Marshall, think he was profiled as a defender.
First couple of games played as a key forward and remember big marks and long kicking.

Obviously exploded when playing ruck. He's smart, agile, can take a mark and a good set shot.
I view him as a ruck who will rest forward. Want him involved in as much play as possible, but think he would be a good key forward if required.
Ryder to play key forward, ruck relief for 2 years until King has increased his strength.

Will be interesting to see where Abbott fits, did well in the ruck contests last night.

[saynta]

What ever he is, he's f****** good.

[The Fireman]

we have a dilemma...... it's called a bevy of riches.

[skeptic]

Now we have Ryder/Abbott, it potentially allows Marshall to spend more time forward.

Marshall seems to be a good footballer wherever you put him. He was recruited as a forward. Significantly he kicked two goals - when we needed them - to effectively kill off the Hawks last night (albeit in a practice game).

I don’t mind the idea of him spending half his time forward. He, Membrey and King (eventually) ought to be a test for most opponents, given decent supply.

Thoughts?

Careful BC, I made this suggestion a year ago and still occasionally get slapped by my stalker for it

[desertsaint]

He's going to be a champion ruck who's also going to be very, very handy when rested forward.
But a ruck!

[Saintmatt]

Both. But also remember - RoMa has exceptional/freak qualities below his knees. His last goal at the southern was a true Kevin Bartlett front n square rovers goal. He's not Grundy nor Gawn - both are phenomenal - but he has something that both of them don't have - he's shown he can crumb a goal like a rover. A 6'7" rover. After having clunked contested pack marks on the wing 5 mins before. Let that sink in.

He's actually a revolutionary player.

And again - well done Cho for picking Pierce in R1 last year.

[Sainter_Dad]

Where ever he wants to play - just lock him away as R,W&B

[saynta]

Midfielder for mine - the old style Ruck Rover!

They had Battle playing that role at times last night

[Sainter_Dad]

Midfielder for mine - the old style Ruck Rover!

They had Battle playing that role at times last night

I edited my post as the old style Ruck Rover was effectively a Tagger - and RoMa is so much more than that!

[Sainter_Dad]

Midfielder for mine - the old style Ruck Rover!

They had Battle playing that role at times last night

I edited my post as the old style Ruck Rover was effectively a Tagger - and RoMa is so much more than that!

[saynta]

Midfielder for mine - the old style Ruck Rover!

They had Battle playing that role at times last night

I edited my post as the old style Ruck Rover was effectively a Tagger - and RoMa is so much more than that!

Barrassi would be pissed off reading your post.

Also we had a couple of very good ruck rovers, neither of whom were taggers. Travis Payze and Barry Pascoe

[Sainter_Dad]

Midfielder for mine - the old style Ruck Rover!

They had Battle playing that role at times last night

I edited my post as the old style Ruck Rover was effectively a Tagger - and RoMa is so much more than that!

Barrassi would be pissed off reading your post.

Also we had a couple of very good ruck rovers, neither of whom were taggers. Travis Payze and Barry Pascoe

Ruck rover
Before the 1950s, the role of the ruck-rover was known as the follower. His role was to assist the ruckman and rover at centre bounces by blocking and shepherding them from opposition players.[3] This position disappeared in the 1950s with the success of Ron Barassi, Jr. in a role designated for him by Melbourne coach Norm Smith.[3] The closest equivalent of the follower position in today's game is known as a tagger.[3]

[To the top]

Marshall is an extraordinary footballer

His skill set is amazing especially for a player of his size

I would play him forward - with Membrey and King which trio will test opposition defences - before the ball hits the ground, if it does

With those targets our mids and defenders have no excuses - move it quick and get it in there one out

Marshall rucked last year because we had no one else given Longer finished where he was always going to finish and Hickey was an automatic selection at West Coast where he played very well

I never understood Richardson and his preference for Longer - a favouritism which destroyed Hickey at St Kilda by taking his confidence

Now with ruck options we can play Marshall as a forward which is the bonus - and not burn him in ruck contests

[minneapolis]

What about a big bodied midfielder and tagging Cripps when we play The Blues? Didn't Harvey tag Jimmy Stynes successfully?

[Sainter_Dad]

What about a big bodied midfielder and tagging Cripps when we play The Blues? Didn't Harvey tag Jimmy Stynes successfully?

What about Cripps tagging Marshall????

Marshall > Cripps

[Gershwin]

As long as I have followed the Saints (60 years) we have struggled in the ruck. Most of the time I am happy to break even. The only decent ruckmen in that period have been Carl Ditterich. Jeff Sarau and Peter Everitt. Yes we have had the odd good game from Sidebottom, Wow Jones, Vidovic, etc. but opposition clubs have never had to worry about St Kilda's ruck strength.
But now we have a bloke who can match it with the best if not beat them. In my mind he plays Ruck with relief from Ryder who can hopefully kick goals from the forward line. No 50/50 split. 80/20.

[Shaggy]

As long as I have followed the Saints (60 years) we have struggled in the ruck. Most of the time I am happy to break even. The only decent ruckmen in that period have been Carl Ditterich. Jeff Sarau and Peter Everitt. Yes we have had the odd good game from Sidebottom, Wow Jones, Vidovic, etc. but opposition clubs have never had to worry about St Kilda's ruck strength.
But now we have a bloke who can match it with the best if not beat them. In my mind he plays Ruck with relief from Ryder who can hopefully kick goals from the forward line. No 50/50 split. 80/20.

Agree.
Ro is genuinely an elite ruck.
As a forward he is good only.
Hopefully we will not have the same spamming as we did the first half of last year from a certain poster who continually pushed for Ro to pinch hit only.
As a mater of courtesy and accountability hopefully we can keep discussion to this thread on whether Ro should be ruck/KPF for 2020.

[skeptic]

As long as I have followed the Saints (60 years) we have struggled in the ruck. Most of the time I am happy to break even. The only decent ruckmen in that period have been Carl Ditterich. Jeff Sarau and Peter Everitt. Yes we have had the odd good game from Sidebottom, Wow Jones, Vidovic, etc. but opposition clubs have never had to worry about St Kilda's ruck strength.
But now we have a bloke who can match it with the best if not beat them. In my mind he plays Ruck with relief from Ryder who can hopefully kick goals from the forward line. No 50/50 split. 80/20.

Agree.
Ro is genuinely an elite ruck.
As a forward he is good only.
Hopefully we will not have the same spamming as we did the first half of last year from a certain poster who continually pushed for Ro to pinch hit only.
As a mater of courtesy and accountability hopefully we can keep discussion to this thread on whether Ro should be ruck/KPF for 2020.

Lol... I suggested it a thread and you overreacted to it like i was trying to lick him into a contract and have brought it up in every thread you could since then. What’s becoming apparent is that he’ll be spending more time forward as he’s a better forward than our other rucks which was the whole basis for the suggestion in the first place.

[bigcarl]

Ro is genuinely an elite ruck.
As a forward he is good only..

He’s a genuinely elite FOOTBALLER imo. If only we could clone him.

[minneapolis]

What about a big bodied midfielder and tagging Cripps when we play The Blues? Didn't Harvey tag Jimmy Stynes successfully?

What about Cripps tagging Marshall????

Marshall > Cripps

I think Cripps is the Blues player that is most likely to win the game for them. Therefore the argument to tag him. Perhaps I was being a bit "enthusiastic" nominating a ruckman to tag a mid-fielder.

Perhaps the oppo think that Marshall is that player for us. It's a bit harder to tag a ruckman though because he must be unhindered during stoppages.

An interesting question though Pop. Who would you rather have in your club. Marhsall or Cripps. I love em both but would have to choose Cripps. It is a hypothetical though.

[Sainter_Dad]

What about a big bodied midfielder and tagging Cripps when we play The Blues? Didn't Harvey tag Jimmy Stynes successfully?

What about Cripps tagging Marshall????

Marshall > Cripps

I think Cripps is the Blues player that is most likely to win the game for them. Therefore the argument to tag him. Perhaps I was being a bit "enthusiastic" nominating a ruckman to tag a mid-fielder.

Perhaps the oppo think that Marshall is that player for us. It's a bit harder to tag a ruckman though because he must be unhindered during stoppages.

An interesting question though Pop. Who would you rather have in your club. Marhsall or Cripps. I love em both but would have to choose Cripps. It is a hypothetical though.

LOL - Are you asking my opinion when referring to Pop?

If so - then I agree with you when you say you would rather both, however, if I really turn off my St Kilda bias (which is welded on) I would say I would rather Marshall.

Cripps is damaging - Marshall also

Patrick Cripps	Player	Rowan Marshall
Carlton Blues	Team	St Kilda Saints
Midfield	Position	Ruck
101	Career Games	33
East Fremantle	Origin	North Ballarat
24yr 11mth	Age	24yr 3mth
195cm	Height	201cm
92kg	Weight	104kg
2013 National Draft	Last Drafted In	2016 Rookie Draft
Round 1, Pick #13	Last Draft Position	Round 1, Pick #10
Career	Category	Career
101	Games	33
9.7	Kicks	8.7
16.5	Handballs	7.3
26.3	Disposals	16
3.5	Marks	4.7
0.5	Goals	0.4
0.5	Behinds	0.5
5.9	Tackles	3.1
0.7	Hitouts	20.8
3	Inside 50s	2.8
0.4	Goal Assists	0.2
2	Frees For	1.5
1.7	Frees Against	1.6
15.6	Contested Possessions	9.2
10.9	Uncontested Possessions	7.5
18.3	Effective Disposals	11.3
69.6%	Disposal Efficiency %	70.6%
3.7	Clangers	2.9
0.8	Contested Marks	1.1
0.4	Marks Inside 50	0.7
7.5	Clearances	3.6
1.2	Rebound 50s	0.9
1.1	One Percenters	2.8
0.4	Bounces	0
84.4%	Time On Ground %	84.5%
-	Centre Clearances	1.2
-	Stoppage Clearances	2.4
-	Score Involvements	4.5
-	Metres Gained	208
-	Turnovers	2.6
-	Intercepts	2.8
-	Tackles Inside 50	0.4

Effectively Marshall is almost as damaging as Cripps as a Midfielder - plus he is a pretty decent Ruck!

And whilst position in draft is highly irrelevant at this stage - we got Marshall for nothing effectively as a Rookie!!!!

If you just look at last year - Marshall is pretty damn close to Cripps in terms of being a Midfielder.

Patrick Cripps	Player	Rowan Marshall
Carlton Blues	Team	St Kilda Saints
Midfield	Position	Ruck
101	Career Games	33
East Fremantle	Origin	North Ballarat
34776	Date of Birth	35027
24yr 11mth	Age	24yr 3mth
195cm	Height	201cm
92kg	Weight	104kg
2013 National Draft	Last Drafted In	2016 Rookie Draft
Round 1, Pick #13	Last Draft Position	Round 1, Pick #10
Carlton Blues	Last Drafted By	St Kilda Saints
2019	Stats for Season	2019
20	Games	20
10.6	Kicks	9.9
17.5	Handballs	7.8
28.1	Disposals	17.8
3.1	Marks	4.2
0.7	Goals	0.4
0.3	Behinds	0.1
6.2	Tackles	3.5
0	Hitouts	28.4
3.1	Inside 50s	3.3
0.3	Goal Assists	0.3
2.4	Frees For	1.8
1.9	Frees Against	1.9
16.9	Contested Possessions	11.2
11.3	Uncontested Possessions	7.2
19.9	Effective Disposals	12.6
70.8%	Disposal Efficiency %	70.8%
4.3	Clangers	3.2
0.8	Contested Marks	1.1
0.2	Marks Inside 50	0.5
8.4	Clearances	5.5
1.1	Rebound 50s	1.2
1.4	One Percenters	2.5
0.5	Bounces	0
89.8	Time On Ground %	86.2
3.3	Centre Clearances	1.9
5.1	Stoppage Clearances	3.5
5.2	Score Involvements	4.8
268.6	Metres Gained	254.9
4	Turnovers	2.8
2.8	Intercepts	3.1
0.8	Tackles Inside 50	0.1
$753,000	AFL Fantasy Price	$736,000
101.5	AFL Fantasy Score	99.2
$635,900	Supercoach Price	$598,700
117.1	Supercoach Score	110.2

[Lyon Tamer]

This will be one of the key questions of this season.

While we all know the impact RoMo has as a ruckmen and midfielder, but as a FWD he would cause such problems for the opposition defenders and would also give us a really well balanced forward line. He can take a big mark, will bring the ball to ground and is pretty good below his knees. It will also allow Membrey to play as a 3rd tall and will also take pressure off King and allow him to use his legs up th ground.

The key to this of course is Paddy.....how much are we willing to rob Peter to pay Paul....

[Sainter_Dad]

This will be one of the key questions of this season.

While we all know the impact RoMo has as a ruckmen and midfielder, but as a FWD he would cause such problems for the opposition defenders and would also give us a really well balanced forward line. He can take a big mark, will bring the ball to ground and is pretty good below his knees. It will also allow Membrey to play as a 3rd tall and will also take pressure off King and allow him to use his legs up th ground.

The key to this of course is Paddy.....how much are we willing to rob Peter to pay Paul....

Horses for Courses - How amazing it will be this year to have the option!