We need to talk about Oscar

[KissKiss]

Oscar did not take 1 mark last night and has taken 3 marks in the 5 games so far this season, as a comparison Ivan Soldo who is just a run of the mill ruck has taken 10 marks in 4 games... Gawn 33 in 6 games, although he is along with Dean Cox one of the 2 best ruckman of the AFL era.

I have often posted that IMO hit out stats are meaningless so I don't read anything into them at all, however would be interested in how many hit outs to advantage Gawn had last night which can be very damaging.

Actually wasnt that big a difference. Looks like Gawn won a bunch of meaningless hitouts (not sure if credit is to Oscar or the mids for that).

Gawn: 96 (Ruck Contests), 51 (HitOuts), 53.1 (HTWin%), 12 (HTAdvantage), 23.5 (HTA%)
Oscar: 87 (RC), 26 (HO), 29.9 (HTW%), 8 (HTA), 30.8 (HTA%)

Actually Oscar won Hit Outs to advantage at a much higher rate

 

[KissKiss]

Also worth pointing out our backup rucks did almost nothing in the ruck.

Daniher, Hipwood and Gardiner took 20 Ruck Contests for 1 single hitout and none to advantage

Melbourne had van Rooyen take 11 Contests for 7 hitouts and 1 to advantage

Really I think Oscar did about as expected in mostly neutralising one of the best ever rucks who is in AA form. Gawn started to really feed them late in the game and take his classic intercept marks only once the game was dead and we started to switch off. Again I do wonder if that was us putting the cue in the rack or could have made a sub to get more midfield effort.

Either way it was not a terrible effort by Oscar

 

[M Malice]

Actually wasnt that big a difference. Looks like Gawn won a bunch of meaningless hitouts (not sure if credit is to Oscar or the mids for that).

Gawn: 96 (Ruck Contests), 51 (HitOuts), 53.1 (HTWin%), 12(HTAdvantage), 23.5 (HTA%)
Oscar: 87 (RC), 26 (HO)m 29.9 (HTW%), 8 (HTA), 30.8 (HTA%)

Actually Oscar won Hit Outs to advantage at a much higher rate

That is enlightening, I wonder what they class as a "hit out to advantage", I only remember 1 from Gawn early in the game which was tapped straight down to a running Petracca who then gave it off to Neal-Bullen who kicked a goal.

Gawn's work around the ground is where he makes most other rucks look ordinary.

 

[dlanod]

The danger of taking front position against a guy like Gawn is being bigger and stronger he will more often than not nudge Oscar under the ball. This means that not only does Gawn still win the hit out, it opens up the entire corridor for his midfielders.

By taking back position, yes it likely means losing the hit out, but that hit out is more likely to go boundary-side and therefore be easier to defend.

And it did work - there were a lot fewer taps into space for Melbourne to launch attacks from than when they've got runs on against us. Look at their first goal as an example of what we prevented happening over and over again.

 

[dlanod]

Actually wasnt that big a difference. Looks like Gawn won a bunch of meaningless hitouts (not sure if credit is to Oscar or the mids for that).

Gawn: 96 (Ruck Contests), 51 (HitOuts), 53.1 (HTWin%), 12 (HTAdvantage), 23.5 (HTA%)
Oscar: 87 (RC), 26 (HO), 29.9 (HTW%), 8 (HTA), 30.8 (HTA%)

Actually Oscar won Hit Outs to advantage at a much higher rate

So he won 51 hit outs, 12 went to the Demons (advantage), 17 went to us (sharked) and 12 went to ground/OOB. I'd generally say a combo of both Oscar (stops the HO being straight down a mid's throat) and our mids (getting to the ball and taking it cleanly).

 

[Dom PC]

I actually thought Oscar was okay in the ruck contest last night. He was never going to have a blinder against Gawn who is a generational ruckman.

His lack of marks around the ground is concerning though - surely that is a fitness thing.

I'd still rather Big O than Fort tbh. Once Fort starts to get dominated, I feel like he doesn't have as many tools to combat that dominance and the opposition can really get on top. Whereas with Big O, he is a huge lump of a man and I'd argue is as strong as most of the ruckman in the comp, so he can at least use that pure strength as an out.

I actually think our midfielders are the ones that need to help Oscar more. Their hard work will make him look better - in the last two weeks our midfield has started to hit their straps, so I think if he is given the chance, Oscar will start to hit his staps too in the coming weeks - the key thing for me is Oscar needs to find a few more marks per game.

 

[knaf]

Oscar was beaten last night, but from the first centre bounce to the last he looked at the ball not Gawn. This made it a contest which is all a player can do when up a much more talented opponent. I thought it showed the way for the team and reduced Gawns influence even though Gawn generally got his hand to the ball first.

Previous matches Oscar has looked at Gawn and not focused on the ball. And Gawn has panced him.

Oscar has no where never the talent of other rucks, but no complaints, he tried his heart out last night.

Would like to see HSmith get a taste of it, sorry but Fort is a backward step.

 

[SizeMatters]

I didn’t think Oscar was that bad. I think it was his best game of the year considering his opponent all night. The others games he’s played have been pathetic but you can’t do much against a prime Gawn. He competed. Wouldn’t mind seeing Big O stretch his opponent by drifting forward sat times though. Seemed to have been instructed to just ruck these days. Shame he has a good grab and puts immense pressure on opposition defenders when floating around inside 50 just due to his size and reach.

 

[Big Sauce 21]

Why is he not marking the ball ? Once again the only player on the field last night to not take one.

 

[Johnny Bananas]

The more long term ruck situation is an interesting one… are Smith or Lane shaping up as legit prospects?

Smith could make it, he's played decently this year as a ruck/forward. Lane doesn't seem to have earned his opportunities and might be a list casualty at the end of the season.

 

[Grasshopper17]

At least it forces Gawn to have to think about shifting Oscar out of the way to win the hit out instead of having free reign in the contest

I know it might not always be common for ruckmen, but Max Gawn does strike me as the kind of guy who can walk and chew gum at the same time.

 

[Squizz89]

I had a look last night and noticed at the end of next season, when both are off contract, Oscar and Fort will both be over 31yo (Oscar 31) and Fort (32). Both could retire and/or be retired by the club at the same time.

Surely over the next 18 months we need to be giving Smith a go if we think he’s the one to take over the role, which I can only assume we did believe that given we gave him the extension last year.

If our opinion on Smith has changed, it looks like we may have to join the annual ruck merry go round, either this year or next.

 

[Mazza44]

Why is he not marking the ball ? Once again the only player on the field last night to not take one.

I think he deserves a pass this week for this. We were trying to avoid the long bomb to keep Gawn out of the picture. If we were kicking to Big O, there was a good chance Gawn would've been next to him to intercept.

 

[Kernel Kurtz]

Had to pick up my friends bed head over carina
Backing the hilux in had to wait for this young couple pushing a pram past me. Wasn’t exactly concentrating on them ,other than waiting for them to pass.
God bless it was Oscar and his family , was gonna yell out, but thought I d leave them be.
even Oscar looks different in normal clothes lol.

 

[M Malice]

I think he deserves a pass this week for this. We were trying to avoid the long bomb to keep Gawn out of the picture. If we were kicking to Big O, there was a good chance Gawn would've been next to him to intercept.

Oscar has taken 3 marks in 5 games this season.

 

[Mazza44]

Oscar has taken 3 marks in 5 games this season.

He has been poor, I agree. I was just stating that on Thursday night it was a good thing that our players weren't kicking in his direction and that he was a victim of our successful strategy.

 

[KissKiss]

I had a look last night and noticed at the end of next season, when both are off contract, Oscar and Fort will both be over 31yo (Oscar 31) and Fort (32). Both could retire and/or be retired by the club at the same time.

Surely over the next 18 months we need to be giving Smith a go if we think he’s the one to take over the role, which I can only assume we did believe that given we gave him the extension last year.

If our opinion on Smith has changed, it looks like we may have to join the annual ruck merry go round, either this year or next.

I really agree that we should be looking to give him a taste this year. Looking proactively we have mid-year games against Richmond and West Coast. Would be good for him to play backup ruck in one of those types of games.

 

[KissKiss]

Melbourne Milestone For McInerney

Oscar McInerney this week will achieve a milestone that eight years ago even he admits was less than unthinkable. He’ll play his 140th game to become the most experienced ruckman in Brisbane history.

www.lions.com.au

Interesting to read Oscar's story and hearing that he is about to become the Brisbane Lions most capped ruckman ever. While he is often a whipping boy to many (just read this thread), going off a lot of the numbers in this article he really stacks up as one of the best we've had.

Where would people rank him amongst all our former rucks?

 

[Dalions]

Melbourne Milestone For McInerney

Oscar McInerney this week will achieve a milestone that eight years ago even he admits was less than unthinkable. He’ll play his 140th game to become the most experienced ruckman in Brisbane history.

www.lions.com.au

Interesting to read Oscar's story and hearing that he is about to become the Brisbane Lions most capped ruckman ever. While he is often a whipping boy to many (just read this thread), going off a lot of the numbers in this article he really stacks up as one of the best we've had.

Where would people rank him amongst all our former rucks?

Would probably have Clark Keating above him purely on impact.
But he probably would be second.
Stefan Martin was awesome during his time at the club.

 

[Happy_Neale]

Melbourne Milestone For McInerney

Oscar McInerney this week will achieve a milestone that eight years ago even he admits was less than unthinkable. He’ll play his 140th game to become the most experienced ruckman in Brisbane history.

www.lions.com.au

Interesting to read Oscar's story and hearing that he is about to become the Brisbane Lions most capped ruckman ever. While he is often a whipping boy to many (just read this thread), going off a lot of the numbers in this article he really stacks up as one of the best we've had.

Where would people rank him amongst all our former rucks?

In the Dayne Zorko category of ‘criminally underrated by his own fans’ IMO

 

[M Malice]

Clark Keating

Clark Keating

Age

48

Ht

197cm

Wt

100kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

7.3

2star

K

4.4

2star

HB

2.9

3star

HO

13.8

5star

No current season stats available

D

6.0

2star

K

3.2

2star

HB

2.8

3star

HO

4.2

5star

AKA Mr September
Stef Martin
Oscar McInerney

46

Oscar Mcinerney

Age

30

Ht

204cm

Wt

110kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

8.1

2star

K

4.1

2star

HB

3.9

3star

CL

1.4

4star

HO

14.3

5star

D

6.9

1star

K

4.1

2star

HB

2.7

2star

CL

1.9

4star

HO

16.4

5star

D

7.6

2star

K

4.0

2star

HB

3.6

3star

CL

0.4

3star

HO

11.2

5star

Mitch Clark
Matt Leuenberger
Jamie Charman

Jamie Charman

Age

42

Ht

200cm

Wt

105kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.6

2star

K

5.4

2star

HB

4.2

3star

HO

17.8

5star

No current season stats available

D

6.0

2star

K

3.0

1star

HB

3.0

3star

HO

13.4

5star

Beau McDonald

Beau Mcdonald

Age

44

Ht

203cm

Wt

102kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

6.2

2star

K

3.4

1star

HB

2.8

2star

HO

17.3

5star

No current season stats available

D

5.4

2star

K

3.6

2star

HB

1.8

2star

HO

5.6

5star

Dylan McLaren

Dylan Mclaren

Age

42

Ht

196cm

Wt

100kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

6.4

2star

K

2.6

1star

HB

3.8

3star

HO

10.6

5star

No current season stats available

D

4.6

1star

K

2.2

1star

HB

2.4

3star

HO

7.4

5star

Llane Spaanderman

Llane Spaanderman

Age

38

Ht

198cm

Wt

104kg

Pos.

Ruck

Career

Season

Last 5

D

4.0

1star

K

2.7

1star

HB

1.3

2star

HO

1.3

4star

No current season stats available

D

4.0

1star

K

2.7

1star

HB

1.3

2star

HO

1.3

4star

 

[Darren Downunder]

Clark Keating AKA Mr September
Stef Martin
Oscar McInerney
Mitch Clark
Matt Leuenberger
Jamie Charman
Beau McDonald
Dylan McLaren


Llane Spaanderman

Gee. That’s a pretty uninspiring list. Pushing back into the Fitzroy era, you could mention Norm Brown, Ron Alexander and Matt Rendell. What about from the Bears era? Any decent rucks there? Merrett?

 

[Johnny Bananas]

Melbourne Milestone For McInerney

Oscar McInerney this week will achieve a milestone that eight years ago even he admits was less than unthinkable. He’ll play his 140th game to become the most experienced ruckman in Brisbane history.

www.lions.com.au

Interesting to read Oscar's story and hearing that he is about to become the Brisbane Lions most capped ruckman ever. While he is often a whipping boy to many (just read this thread), going off a lot of the numbers in this article he really stacks up as one of the best we've had.

Where would people rank him amongst all our former rucks?

To be fair he was playing poorly earlier in the year and has stepped it up a lot recently. Good to see, he's a key part of our improvement over the year.

 

[M Malice]

Gee. That’s a pretty uninspiring list. Pushing back into the Fitzroy era, you could mention Norm Brown, Ron Alexander and Matt Rendell. What about from the Bears era? Any decent rucks there? Merrett?

I was a latecomer to AFL addiction, late 90s so know very little about Bears/Fitzroy history.

 

[knaf]

Clark Keating AKA Mr September
Stef Martin
Oscar McInerney
Mitch Clark
Matt Leuenberger
Jamie Charman
Beau McDonald
Dylan McLaren


Llane Spaanderman

Underrating JamieCharman. Premiership ruckman 2003 and IMO rucking better than Keating in 2004 until injured. We really missed him in the grand finally if my aging memory is correct.

Definitely above Leuenberg and Clark