Player Watch Trey Ruscoe (Delisted 2023)

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He could be our Daniel Rich / Caleb Daniel. Designated defensive distributor.
 

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Contrary to some opinions here I've been really surprised at how good Ruscoe's kicking has been over the past few weeks to be honest - his turnovers last night were more because he was trying to force something that wasn't there rather than being really bad kicks but we really need guys who can take the game on and hit that quick 45 degree kick to open up the play so I don't mind that.

It'll take some adjustment from our players forward of the ball with the potentially good users of the ball by foot such as Bianco and Ruscoe (even Poulter to a lesser degree) who can make a quick decision and hit those type of kicks on a regular basis, but it's a very nice dilemma we seem to have found ourselves in (and a somewhat unsettling shake up of the status quo we've had for the past 5-10 years with not having reliable high-level disposal by foot outside of Pendles really).
 
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His first half was pretty poor and the second quarter in particular when they turned the match was horrible (his exit kicks cost us two goals), but his kicking is a strength so you wear that. The potential in this role is obvious and all youngsters have these ups and downs.

Projecting forward 50 matches and we’ve found one which is the main thing. Add him to Henry, Macrae, Bianco, McReery and I’m confident we’ve found some 10 year players this year! The only catch is none of them are talls…
 

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The potential in this role is obvious and all youngsters have these ups and downs.
I remember Maynard's clangers as a second year defender in 2016. If you're going the direction of youth, goal costing mistakes are something you just have to live with.

If Ruscoe can nail this role then that would be very useful. This position is a risk area for us with the looming end of Howe and his natural successors in Langdon and Scharenberg having their careers cut short.
 
He’s already better than Noble for mine
Harder at the ball and much better kicking technique.

Different roles for mine - Noble is more of your loose ball sweeper with pace down back who provides link up options and breaks the lines with his run, while I see Ruscoe as a bit more of your traditional one-on-one hard at the contest medium defender with what looks like a decent kick and a willingness to try to make the play. I think there's a place for both of them in our best 22 going forward if they continue to improve.

Having said that I think Noble is in for a very hard pre-season over the summer where we'll try to improve his one-on-one contested work and tackling a bit, because it is a significant liability at the moment especially against bigger bodied opponents.
 
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No argument there but has not yet had the opportunity to pierce the corridor with the regularity that Ruscoe has been given license to do.
Will be bloody interesting when we get him back.

I think all our players have the license to take the risky kick. I just don’t think many have the confidence to risk it. They’re thought risky kicks for a reason, that being they can result in turnovers that leave you exposed on the rebound. Adams is 1 player we’ve got who’ll chance his arm, gets a few picked off and he’s labeled by many here as a shit kick. Players can’t win really.
 
Some mixed reviews here, but I really think we have found one here. Brilliant move to put him to half back.

sure, he made a couple of mistakes last night, but there is a hell of a lot to like.

good skills, hard at the footy, looks a capable defender. He will have a big future down back for us.

2022
B: B.Maynard, J.Roughead, J.Howe
HB: I.Quaynor, D.Moore, J.Crisp
I: T.Ruscoe

It’s a really well balanced backline, that is a clear strength for us moving forward.
 
His clanger kicks were mostly when he was trying to chip 9-irons to short targets in traffic. He’s pretty reliable for the most part when taking a legitimate swing at them. I don’t think he’s overly quick but he’s not slow, and he has a frame that will allow him to play on all but the true KPFs.
 

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Player Watch Trey Ruscoe (Delisted 2023)

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