Should we draft Wayde Skipper ?

[CamTinley]

In the Round 21 clash against Hawthorn in 2010 the hit out tally was ...

Skipper - Haw - 26
Renouf - Haw - 21
Clarke - Frem - 12
Bradley - Frem - 7

Clearly Skipper dominated our two back up ruckmen.

Hawthorn won 1 out of 7 games that Skipper didn't play in and won 11 out of 15 that he did play in. Hawthorn started winning as soon as Skipper got selected in Round 7.

He was popular at the Bulldogs and Hawthorn and always gave his best.

I'm amazed that Hawthorn dumped him (presumably because they got Hale) and think it would be a sensible idea to pick Skipper with our last pick.

 

[Clay Davis]

Nah.

 

[CamTinley]

Nah.

Why? Because Aaron Sandilands will never get injured or because our two back up ruckmen will do the job (and not get injured)?

 

[Clay Davis]

Should we get 10 back up ruckmen in case they all get injured?

 

[estibador]

Did you miss the part where we traded for Griffin?

How many back up WAFL ruckmen do we need?

 

[markfarmer]

No , we have Griffin and Zac and the half-rucks MJ and KB. If we didn't have similar types of players I'd consider Gary Moss though.. West Coast should have go at Moss.

 

[CamTinley]

Did you miss the part where we traded for Griffin?

How many back up WAFL ruckmen do we need?

We need a couple. We haven't won a game that Sandilands has missed in the past two seasons.

 

[anchor man]

A question on the question.
"WHY"?

 

[estibador]

We need a couple. We haven't won a game that Sandilands has missed in the past two seasons.

Yeah but he's only missed a few - one mature back up ruckman sitting in the WAFL is enough cover, otherwise we're just wasting list spots.

 

[CamTinley]

Yeah but he's only missed a few - one mature back up ruckman sitting in the WAFL is enough cover, otherwise we're just wasting list spots.

I hope you're right.

Skipper was drafted incase Hawthorn's ruckmen got injured, which they did. The problem was Skipper got injured too. They made the right call though.
If Skipper was fit for the first 6 games of last year, Hawthorn would have finished top 4. They got overrun in the last quarter in nearly all of those 6 games after they started getting dominated in the ruck.

Sure, if we don't get injuries he's taking up a spot.

 

[Taylor]

You have to wonder what he needs to do when Max Bailey has been on their list for as many years (and played as many games) as he's had knee reconstructions.

If he was 7cm taller, he'd probably still be playing for the bulldogs.

 

[silverscope]

Nope. But I'd like us to take a look at one or either of Beau Dowler, Gary Moss, Carl Peterson and Beau Muston.

Hawks cleaned house and I think most of the above players could get a gig at another club.

 

[estibador]

Remember Clarke will be another year older and another preseason bigger too. If we should lose two ruckmen to injuries I'm happy for him to come in and gain experience.

We have to keep some sort of carrot of opportunity dangled in front of him to spur on his improvement. There's no point grooming a talented up and coming ruckman if you keep disenchanting them by recruiting 5 journeyman hacks to put in front of them every year.

One big bodied back up is plenty for a team like us with a superstar ruckman who plays 90% of every game.

 

[greatgatsby]

Peterson's surely worth some thought, unless his head's not right for footy at all

 

[Selggad]

Remember Clarke will be another year older and another preseason bigger too. If we should lose two ruckmen to injuries I'm happy for him to come in and gain experience.

We have to keep some sort of carrot of opportunity dangled in front of him to spur on his improvement. There's no point grooming a talented up and coming ruckman if you keep disenchanting them by recruiting 5 journeyman hacks to put in front of them every year.

One big bodied back up is plenty for a team like us with a superstar ruckman who plays 90% of every game.

Yep.

 

[PapaJ]

We need a couple. We haven't won a game that Sandilands has missed in the past two seasons.

Thought I don't think we need him now that we've got Griffin and the club rate Clarke to come on, people seem to miss this point. We are so so much worse without Sandi and basically our part-time back-ups get shown up badly without him. We're just about covered I reckon, but it's not a totally stupid question all things considered.

...

One big bodied back up is plenty for a team like us with a superstar ruckman who plays 90% of every game.

Yes, exactly, that's the problem. He's playing too much. Even Harvs has said so. I wouldn't be surprised that he will regularly break down towards the end of seasons as he has done the last couple of years if the same pattern continues. He's not getting any younger (or shorter/less bulky) and he has to be managed. Though the s*!t sub system is going to make playing genuine ruck backups questionable, we still need to have somone to play games instead of Sandi that can actually hold the ruck for good parts of the game. Again, I reckon we're probably just covered, but the question is still out there and valid.

 

[Scham]

I can't believe this thread has lasted so long.

It should've finished with Clay's correct answer - nah!

 

[The Purple Hill]

I can't believe this thread has lasted so long.

It should've finished with Clay's correct answer - nah!

I second that

 

[the walloper]

I'd be surprised if you did. Bradley is as good a ruckman and much better around the ground. Skipper would only be taking his place as the reserve ruckman. Clarke and Griffen would be ahead too.

 

[Moo]

Sandi - Griffin - Clarke (1 - 2 seasons away from being a reasonable foil for Sandi) - Kep/MJ as insurance.

Spots are precious, I'd rather roll the die on the likes of the Moozungas and Fawkes.

 

[Nickos66]

No chance, if we had 100 list spots available then sure but we can't fill our list with pinch-hitting ruckmen when it's a midfielders game. Not to mention it'd be a further concern to Zac Clarke whether he has any real future here behind so many mature ruckmen.

That's a resounding 'NO' from me.

 

[Freo Dr]

Nope. But I'd like us to take a look at one or either of Beau Dowler, Gary Moss, Carl Peterson and Beau Muston.

Hawks cleaned house and I think most of the above players could get a gig at another club.

Agree. Dowler 196 cm Key forward - leading forward. Mitch Thorp (delisted last year and by accounts has had a much strionger season in the VFL) another in an area we need backup since Murphy has not worked out for us.

Peterson can certainly play and apparently delisted for personal issues/ability to focus on footy. Maybe our much stronger core of Aboriginal players can help him sort stuff out. Worth a Rookie selection or late draft maybe depending on the situation off field.

Having got Mzungu and Faulks I would be looking around at mature age forwards for PSD or rookie draft selection as well as hopefully getting a younger one with one of first three picks in the ND.

 

[CamTinley]

I'd be surprised if you did. Bradley is as good a ruckman and much better around the ground. Skipper would only be taking his place as the reserve ruckman. Clarke and Griffen would be ahead too.

Skipper is ahead of Bradley and Clarke. If you saw the game or look at the stats from R21, 2010 you would know that. Griffen is about the same as Skipper.

I think you need three good/adequate ruckmen that's all.

Leigh Matthews had McDonald (career ave 17 hit outs per game), Charman (career ave 17 hit outs per game) and Keating (career ave 13 hit outs per game) throughout the triple Premiership era and might have had one flag instead of three if he hadn't.

Injuries usually happen when you least need them. We need to be in a position to win a flag in the next three seasons, Clarke is three years away from being able to contribute in a finals campaign. That's why we played Sandilands, badly injured, in the Geelong final.

Skipper would be on a one year, base wage contract, not a Mundy type contract so there's not much downside.

 

[Hodgepodge]

Skip asked to be delisted because another club was interested in him and willing to give him more opportunity. So he's already taken, unless it's by your club.

I've been surprised by how good he was for us. Certainly got his share of hit outs and he is also small enough to be of use around the ground. Very good left boot.

 

[Clay Davis]

Going a long way back to use Brisbane under Leigh Matthews.

Collingwood won a premiership with one ruckman and Leigh Brown.