Top 10 Rucks in the league

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I'm going to rank them in order based simply on what their output in the ruck (as in I don't care if they can rest fwd and kick goals) in 2010 alone would be IMO if they played first ruck...

Cox
Sandilands
-

if your going to discount around the ground then sandilands is obviously number 1, he wins the most taps, the most to advantage and the most clearances of any ruckman.
 
Jolly is good. But the rest made up the worst ruck division in the 2009 season. The stats dont lie.
and dont come out and say you were 15th in hitouts. You only had 1 more hitout than Richmond from 29 more ruck contests.
so as a % you were the worst
Hit outs relative to stoppages paints a proper picture, not hit outs as a whole.

You'll find Jolly's total number of hit outs will be well down in 2010 when compared to recent years, for example. This is because Collingwood have far less stoppages than Sydney. not because his performance will go downhill.
 

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Broges is the man. He's the game's biggest arseh*le, but he's a bloody good ruckman. I expect him to have the best year of his career in 2010.

For me:

1. Cox
2. Sandilands
Stupid amounts of unmeasurable daylight
3. Jolly
4. Brogan
5. Hille
6. McIntosh
7. Ottens
8. Hudson
9. Gardiner
10. Clark

I like Patty Ryder and Kreuzer as players, but they get murdered in the taps. They obviously make up for it with the other strings to their bow but if I want a ruckman in my team, I want a big bastard who is hard to beat (also why Clark is no.10).

And FWIW, best young ruckman:

1. Clark
2. Ryder
3. Kreuzer
4. Goldstein
5. Cam Wood
6. Renouf
7. Leuenberger
8. Maric
9. McEvoy
10. Mumford

Hampson?
 
Hit outs relative to stoppages paints a proper picture, not hit outs as a whole.

You'll find Jolly's total number of hit outs will be well down in 2010 when compared to recent years, for example. This is because Collingwood have far less stoppages than Sydney. not because his performance will go downhill.
I am pretty sure this was exactly what he said.
 
1. Cox/Sandilands


(big gap)


3. Jolly
4. Clark
5. MacIntosh

(gap)

6. Hille
7. Ottens
(little gap)
8. Gardiner
9. Brogan
10. Ryder

Struggled to make that list, there really aren't many outstanding Ruckman atm.
 
Jolly is good. But the rest made up the worst ruck division in the 2009 season. The stats dont lie.
and dont come out and say you were 15th in hitouts. You only had 1 more hitout than Richmond from 29 more ruck contests.
so as a % you were the worst

where are you getting these stats?
 
What are we basing a Ruckman on? Tap outs, Tap outs to advantage, possessions, contested marks, goals or overall package.

I feel this can only be based on hit out to advantage. The skill of a ruckman is his ability to
1. get his hands on the ball &
2. get it to the advantage of his team mates.

If someone can provide me with this stat then i will make judgment. E.G Cox is great ruck man in a sense that he can get the ball around the ground, but as a pure tap ruckman, what are his %ages.
 

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1. Sandilands
2. Ottens
3. Jolly
4. Hudson (blue collar at it's finest)
5. Hille
6. Cox (an outside midfielder & with no Judd, no wc)
7. Clark (could rise in the rankings, was brilliant in 2009)
8. McIntosh
9. Brogan (2 old. good, but old)
10. Gardiner (can't stand him, but he can ruck)

i know i will cop flack for my ranking of Cox, but i stand by my beliefs.
Good on you son! You've probably kept your belief in the tooth Fairy and Santa as well despite all proof to the contrary...a bit like your footy knowledge really.
 
For dominant displays in crap matches:

Darren Jolly, Aaron Sandilands

What's your definition of crap matches? Because Sandi had one of the most dominant games ever seen by a ruckman against Geelong last year.

Or are you one of those chest thumping types who claim no H&A matches are important, only finals are? Because those types of people seem to forget you still have to win H&A games to even make the finals.
 
What are we basing a Ruckman on? Tap outs, Tap outs to advantage, possessions, contested marks, goals or overall package.

I feel this can only be based on hit out to advantage. The skill of a ruckman is his ability to
1. get his hands on the ball &
2. get it to the advantage of his team mates.

If someone can provide me with this stat then i will make judgment. E.G Cox is great ruck man in a sense that he can get the ball around the ground, but as a pure tap ruckman, what are his %ages.
For some reason hitouts to advantage are really difficult to find. The only stats I managed to find during the year were from Inside Football, after round 11 I think it was.

Brogan 29.7% (75 from 252)
Cox 23.3% (71 from 305)
Jolly 22.2% (73 from 329)
Sandi 20.9% (76 from 363)
McIntosh 19% (52 from 274)
 
if your going to discount around the ground then sandilands is obviously number 1, he wins the most taps, the most to advantage and the most clearances of any ruckman.

Not at all. I meant I would only include their work whilst they are in the ruck, and not their ability/flexibility to play in other positions when considering their worth.

ie. Ottens may very well be a better FF then McIntosh, making him the better player as he has more strings to his bow, but it does not make him a better ruckman.
 
1.Sandilands- even tho Cox had a rotten season i think Sandilands is "THE" ruckman
2.Cox- Still one of the best
3.Hille- might think im biased here but before his injury he ad Cox were the best in the buisnss
4.Jolly
5.McIntosh
6.Ryder + Clark tied- Both had breakout season's carnt split them
7.Kreuzer- will be one of the best just not yet
8.Simmonds- back in his day he was just awesome and i still rate him
9.Brogan- now the best for Port
10.Ottens- Geelong supporters are gonna go off here, but i just dont rate him as high needs to do a bit more but is still very good
 
What's your definition of crap matches? Because Sandi had one of the most dominant games ever seen by a ruckman against Geelong last year.

Or are you one of those chest thumping types who claim no H&A matches are important, only finals are? Because those types of people seem to forget you still have to win H&A games to even make the finals.

Not at all....Sandilands is a great ruckman but has just played in too many crap matches because he plays for Freo - thus his influence is meaningless a lot of the time. Would love to see him play finals footy, but again he plays for freo....
 
You're having a laugh if you're seriously putting Ryder ahead of Kreuzer...

Dude, Ryder is like 2 years older than Kruezer and has spent an entire year in as main ruck.
Kruezer on potential is about even with Ryder though.
 
where are you getting these stats?
I collected them througout the year
% of ruck contests won
Fremantle 58.9%
Port Adelaide 56.61%
Sydney 53.99%
Western Bulldogs 53.93%
Adelaide 52.86%
Geelong 52.75%
North Melbourne 50.7%
West Coast 50.63%
Melbourne 50.24%
St Kilda 49.43%
Carlton 48.86%
Hawthorn 48.48%
Brisbane 45.59%
Essendon 42.62%
Richmond 42.43%
Collingwood 41.68%
 
The order of Ruckmen at their best IMO.

1. Cox - The best, changed ruck work in the AFL, admit it.
2. Sandilands - Massive and an amazing tap ruckman.
3. Hille - Was bordering elite in '08, Knee sucked.
4. Jolly - AA Last year cannot argue with it either.
5. Ottens - Machine around the ground and kicks goals.
6. HMac - Underrated, Amazing ruckman.
7. Gardiner - We saw it in the big game vs Geelong mid year.
8. Clarke - Amazing year, AA in my mind.
9. Ryder - Anzac medal, carried Essendons ruck division all year practically solo.
10. Brogan - Good ruckman, has a large head.
 
10 dominant ruckmen in around 5 years time. In no particular order

Nic Naitanui
Matt Kreuzer
Ty Vickery
Matt Leuenberger
Nathan Vardy
Max Gawn
Jake Spencer
Shaun Hampson
Todd Goldstein
Cameron Wood
 

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Top 10 Rucks in the league

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