Strategy Using Our Rucks Like Baseball Pitchers

[Cheesey Mac]

sorry to intrude - was intrigued by the title, but thought this comment the most easily modified into our game. Baseball has both Starting Pitchers and Relievers (close to our 1st/2nd ruck situation). Adapting this into our game "could" provide flexibility to include another running option.

Pick two rucks, play one as the sub. Still use a "2nd ruck" option from another tall player to rest your main, but your 1st ruck plays 90% of the first half with only a few brief rests. Give them one more go after half time until redlined, then sub them out for a fresh ruck.

Given how taxing the ruck position is, it's likely to create a mismatch in the second halves - a fresh, fit ruck who can physically dominate an already tired opponent, either in the taps or through being an option around the ground.

This is an interesting theory but I feel like AFL coaches are too risk adverse to do this.

Lose a midfielder or other small player to an injury or head knock in the first quarter and all of a sudden you're potentially too tall for the rest of the game and down a midfield rotation.

They don't get shorter and would provide a mismatch if sat in the forward line against the 3rd tall defender, but you'd want to hope the sub ruckman could play that second position sufficiently (i.e. able to be involved as a forward and run out the game, rather than just be an immobile giant forward of the ball) and that your midfield had the legs to absorb the loss of rotation and get it to the mismatch enough to make the most of it (which from a Port perspective ignores the issues with forward entry and tactics in the Hinkley era).

It would obviously depend on the opposition, but I don't reckon AFL coaches would go for it, they all tend to stick to the narrow conventional wisdom.

 

[philthy05]

sorry to intrude - was intrigued by the title, but thought this comment the most easily modified into our game. Baseball has both Starting Pitchers and Relievers (close to our 1st/2nd ruck situation). Adapting this into our game "could" provide flexibility to include another running option.

Pick two rucks, play one as the sub. Still use a "2nd ruck" option from another tall player to rest your main, but your 1st ruck plays 90% of the first half with only a few brief rests. Give them one more go after half time until redlined, then sub them out for a fresh ruck.

Given how taxing the ruck position is, it's likely to create a mismatch in the second halves - a fresh, fit ruck who can physically dominate an already tired opponent, either in the taps or through being an option around the ground.

Using the sub position on a ruck to sub into the game is in no way similar to a pitching bullpen you can churn through.

Using the sub to select a ruck robs you of having another runner and for what? Rucks are as a capable of running out a game as any other player.

I don’t see what any club, port, crows , melb , Geelong, would get out of swapping out their first ruck at 3/4 time for their 2nd or 3rd best ruck.

Imagine us in a nail biting game and subbing out soldo at 3/4 time for sweet while guys like mcintee sit on 5d for the game and not getting near it.