Player Watch #38: Tristan Xerri - signed thru '29 - 2024 All Australian squad member - runner up '24 SBM

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More love for X:


4. The All-Australian ruckman is no longer Max Gawn

From virtually the start of the season, Max Gawn has been the de facto pick in all our mock All-Australian teams.

But the combination of that ankle injury and the Demons’ capitulation over the last six weeks, plus the emergence of some bona fide alternatives, has made the title of the league’s best ruckman a wide open one. And for me at least, none of the candidates have been better than North Melbourne’s Tristan Xerri.

So confident was Alastair Clarkson in the man mountain that he was willing to move on from club legend Todd Goldstein to give Xerri full ruck responsibility; it is a job that the big fella has taken with both hands.

No ruckman in the game tackles harder or more often than Xerri, and it ain’t close: he sits second in the AFL behind Matt Rowell for tackles. His effort in the Roos’ win over West Coast earlier in the year to run down Liam Ryan and impact his kick is the most inspirational act I’ve seen this year.

Getting better as the Roos have surged, he is a stoppage force that allows the likes of Luke Davies-Uniacke and Harry Sheezel to play more of an outside role, receiving the ball from Xerri and George Wardlaw instead of having to win it at the source themselves.

There aren’t too many ruckmen in the game good enough and bullocking enough to have their star midfielders play in this way, and especially not for an entire year: Brodie Grundy, briefly, was one, while Lloyd Meek has certainly been another.

Without Xerri doing the hard yards at ground level against Richmond and a mighty tough opponent in Toby Nankervis, winning 20 disposals and laying ten tackles, Davies-Uniacke doesn’t get off the leash on the outside to kick three classy goals and win best-afield honours.

His work around the ground has improved vastly, too: he’s taken 11 marks in the last two weeks, well above his season average; just three of them contested shows how hard he’s working to get into space and be an outlet to use coming out of defence.

There’s no one more improved in the AFL in 2024 than Xerri, and while Rowan Marshall, Grundy, Meek and Gawn himself all have compelling cases to be considered, I can’t go past the Roo with a helmet and a whole lotta ticker.
 
Joey Montagna has been talking up the big X for at least the last 10/12 weeks (even before the bye) and now everyone else is taking notice. He deserves this wider recognition, his season has been amazing.
 

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The reason I've had my license to evaluate players revoked. Didn't see it with him and wanted him traded to St Kilda :$.
If there's one thing I shouldn't doubt it's North's ability to identify and develop rucks. Awesome to see him prove me wrong and play exceptional footy.
 
Joey Montagna has been talking up the big X for at least the last 10/12 weeks (even before the bye) and now everyone else is taking notice. He deserves this wider recognition, his season has been amazing.
Joey really sets the bar in terms of studying the game and forming his own opinions, rather than following the popular narrative. I've got a lot of time for his analysis.
 
Joey really sets the bar in terms of studying the game and forming his own opinions, rather than following the popular narrative. I've got a lot of time for his analysis.
him and kingy in combination make for a good analytical conversation
 
If X makes the AA team then we will have had a better period in terms of AA representation than at any time during Scott's tenure.

It would be the first time since Boomer in 07 & 08 that we had an AA in consecutive years.

If Harry and X get themselves jackets it would be the first time since 2005 that North had 2 players in the AA team.

Lastly if both players are listed on the ground it would be the first time since 1999 that we had 2 players in the team in the starting 18.
 
If X makes the AA team then we will have had a better period in terms of AA representation than at any time during Scott's tenure.

It would be the first time since Boomer in 07 & 08 that we had an AA in consecutive years.

If Harry and X get themselves jackets it would be the first time since 2005 that North had 2 players in the AA team.

Lastly if both players are listed on the ground it would be the first time since 1999 that we had 2 players in the team in the starting 18.
LDU is a chance…
 
"Tristan Xerri is now No.1 for the AA ruck position"

😲
 

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I've never seen anything like his year, certainly C McKernan was class and played with grace and could do the amazing.
Xerri clearly watched C Mc and thought, **** that, not for me. I'll use my Phar Lap sized heart and obliterate my opponents.
Great that Goldy has STF up about us not wanting him, and admits we made the correct call.

And Who recalls the chat about him standing there with his arms up and expecting to mark it, he has learned one of the hardest aspects of contested marking and that is to position yourself and arrive at the contest like a Swiss watch.

I mean perfect timing. This has been the best shit year ever for us.
 
He's surprised me a lot this year.

You could never question his work ethic even when Goldstein was still around. But what his produced this year has been remarkable.

I don't however think his had a better year than Gawn. Gawn's tap work, marking and ability to hit the scoreboard has been elite this year for a ruckman.

A simple solution for the AA selctors is to have one starting and the other on the bench.
 
He's surprised me a lot this year.

You could never question his work ethic even when Goldstein was still around. But what his produced this year has been remarkable.

I don't however think his had a better year than Gawn. Gawn's tap work, marking and ability to hit the scoreboard has been elite this year for a ruckman.

A simple solution for the AA selctors is to have one starting and the other on the bench.
the only thing that will help xerris case for AA selection(didn’t think i’d be typing this before the season) is that gawn has had a few injuries whilst xerris has played every game.
 
the only thing that will help xerris case for AA selection(didn’t think i’d be typing this before the season) is that gawn has had a few injuries whilst xerris has played every game.
Late season form has been strongly in Xerri's favour. 1722935409905.png

His tackle numbers are the biggest stat discrepancy between the two. As for ruck specific stats, while it could be argued Gawn's ruckwork is better with both quantity and quality of taps so he should be in ahead of X, Xerri then edges him for the number of clearances.

It would be a good debate.
 
Best Xerri moment vs Richmond was when Nankervis slapped and startled Sheezel and Xerri immediately confronted his opposing ruck with a look of "You were saying?"

I loved (note past tense) Goldstein but he ain't doing that.
He does everything at 100%. You can almost see him go "oh, we're doing push and shove now?" And he gets right into it. Not the half hearted peacemaker role.
 
Opposition are genuinely scared of him. Or at the very least hate playing against him ala Carlton.

I'm with the consensus to just put both gawn and xerri in. At the expense of a third tall, as I don't think the key fwds have blitzed it this year.

Hogan and curnow the 2 fwds with everyone else missing.

On that note, sheezel in as well at the expense of a true small fwd whose played there all year. Because again, they haven't been great (except sheezel when he's been there)
 
Just has a thought on big x, I reckon as a mid you'd choose him to play with over tbe best tap ruckman.

Yes the best tapper is gonna serve it to you, but the opposition can play to there taps to, happens all the time and nullifies the effect.

Having someone do the Grunt work, as has been reported vs richmond, allows the classy mids not to worry about it as much and they can be more free.

Conversely, the opposition mids definitely don't want the x style - especially the oppo ruckman, just ask de koning
 
When we got Clarko, a lot of people talked about one of the benefits being who he would attract to bring with him. Big Tristan's year suggests Monky might be a prime example.

And I'm absolutely not downplaying anything about what X himself has brought. He's close to my favourite player. But he has come such a long way in such a short time, some of it has to be put down to the guidance he's received from his ruck coach.
 
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Player Watch #38: Tristan Xerri - signed thru '29 - 2024 All Australian squad member - runner up '24 SBM

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