Player Watch Welcome to Hawthorn, Ned Reeves. Extends to 2026!

[TheFourPillars]

Was there any explanation for the glove he was wearing? Injury related or to help with grip?

Injury related

 

[Simon Crawshay]

If only we could figure out a way to play Noodle and Meeky together…

Just won't happen I'm afraid. It's impossible to play two pure rucks in the same team in today's footy.

Carlton have the same dilemma at the moment with TDK and Pittonet.

It only ever works when you have a ruckman who is a genuine forward threat as well which is why the Doggies can play both English and Darcy together.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

I tend to disagree.

Meek has clearly improved and Reeves showed he was happier to engage and deal physically with O’Brien and obviously did some handy things at ground level.

So my very brief assessment on Ned is he is working hard on improving his weaknesses. Both of these guys are getting better.

Collingwood at their best play Cameron and Cox together and it works well. They often play one deep forward resting to help Mihocek. No reason why we couldn’t do the same.

The key is for one of our two rucks to add confidence to their ability as a marking target inside F50.

Would mean Gunston probably slides out in a full strength team.

Cox is like a Temu Paul Salmon, he's actually a naturally good mark and also a decent kick for goal. Neither Meek or Reeves are anywhere close to Cox in regards to marking / forward craft. I doubt they will ever get much better at it either, it's just not their thing.

There is no way I can see either Meek or Reeves offering more as a marking forward than Gunston either, even in Gunners final year/s.

 

[Stottzy]

Meek is clearly our number 1 ruckman. He's in the top 5 ruckman in the league this year. I'm not the the biggest Reeves fan, however credit for yesterdays game, he played well and contributed outside of just ruck contest. I'd say Meeks spike in form has created a contest between the 2 of wanting to be the "it" ruckman. Good problem to have.

 

[Simon_Nesbit]

Was there any explanation for the glove he was wearing? Injury related or to help with grip?

He's playing with a broken hand (well recovering from).

Interesting what we do from here - both rucks with injured ankles, Reeves could barely stand - let alone jump in the last quarter.

 

[cryptor]

Meek is clearly our number 1 ruckman. He's in the top 5 ruckman in the league this year. I'm not the the biggest Reeves fan, however credit for yesterdays game, he played well and contributed outside of just ruck contest. I'd say Meeks spike in form has created a contest between the 2 of wanting to be the "it" ruckman. Good problem to have.

Sam has flagged previously he’d like to find a way to play both.

They’ve each improved their post ruck contest work, Meek clearly ahead in this regard, but Reeves perhaps not as far behind as it seemed a week ago.

If one, or ideally both, could add more inside 50 aerial threat to their game it would make selecting both a real possibility.

 

[Dewyyyyy]

I’ve noticed with Reeves whenever he plays, is his opponent when he plays well is usually poor. Or ineffective. Meek has played well whilst his opponent also does, an interesting observation.

 

[HedgeFund]

Cox is like a Temu Paul Salmon, he's actually a naturally good mark and also a decent kick for goal. Neither Meek or Reeves are anywhere close to Cox in regards to marking / forward craft. I doubt they will ever get much better at it either, it's just not their thing.

There is no way I can see either Meek or Reeves offering more as a marking forward than Gunston either, even in Gunners final year/s.

Freo just smoked Melbourne with Darcy and Jackson playing.

Now I accept that it’s highly unlikely Meek or Reeves will ever be as good as Jackson as a forward, but he is another ruckman who plays forward and is a big threat that helps take pressure off Amiss and Treacy.

Improvement as a forward from one of Meek / Reeves could well see Chol playing as forward #2 with Dear as #3 in the coming seasons.

Most of us thought Meek was a VFL level hack at rd 3 who just wasn’t going to make the level as age 25. Two months later and he’s a top 5 ruck in the competition.

 

[Noel Gallagher]

Ned played well yesterday- best game I have seen him play in quite a while. Have no doubt that clubs will start circling him towards the end of the season

 

[KermitJagger]

I said at the start of this season it would be interesting to see if Meek retains the #1 ruck role when we have a full midfield and his bullocking work is possibly a bit less necessary.

With Day back and the way we're playing at stoppage now it seems like maybe the dial might shift back to crafty tap work and the ability to get clean breaks from clearance. Our centre clearance work was easily the best it's been all year on the weekend. Reeves has an opportunity, but it's certainly Meek's to lose.

 

[Dewnior]

I said at the start of this season it would be interesting to see if Meek retains the #1 ruck role when we have a full midfield and his bullocking work is possibly a bit less necessary.

With Day back and the way we're playing at stoppage now it seems like maybe the dial might shift back to crafty tap work and the ability to get clean breaks from clearance. Our centre clearance work was easily the best it's been all year on the weekend. Reeves has an opportunity, but it's certainly Meek's to lose.

Ned only got 30% of the taps yesterday. He was serviceable around the ground but unlike Meek he doesn't become another midfielder after the tap, nor does he present as a dangerous forward option.

If I had to choose between two fit rucks I'm choosing Meek every day of the week.

 

[Suntory Boss Coffee]

Ned only got 30% of the taps yesterday. He was serviceable around the ground but unlike Meek he doesn't become another midfielder after the tap.

If I had to choose between two fit rucks I'm choosing Meek every day if the week.

Agreed, love the big noodle though! Would love to play both

 

[Dewnior]

Agreed, love the big noodle though! Would love to play both

One or both would need to improve their forward craft dramatically before I'd want to play both together. I'd rather a Meek/Ramma combo if we were to play two rucks.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Referencing Sam’s comments in the post game about how hard players work, and what the game means to them, it was evident after Noodle kicked our first that his teammates really got around him to welcome him back.

Can’t help but think that he’s probably had some dark moments over the last couple of months after the AFL decided to change the ruck rules which took away his greatest strength, while then dealing with concussion and a broken hand.
He was told to go back to Box Hill and pretty much change his entire way of playing, and that he needed to “work on everything”.

Credit to him that he was able to come back and provide so much for us that we barely noticed that Meek was missing, and we now have a very good problem of having two capable rucks who can provide great service to the mids.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Was there any explanation for the glove he was wearing? Injury related or to help with grip?

“Ned broke his hand in the second quarter but full credit to him, he played out the game, which was really pleasing. He had an influence on the game in the second half and he kicked a goal to get us back within a goal. It’s a great effort, I don’t know if anyone has ever played with a broken hand, it couldn’t have been an easy thing to do but that’s full credit to his mentality and his toughness to get through and still help the team. We already had Henry out at half-time and we were about to lose Chad at three-quarter time so full credit to Ned.”​

 

[KermitJagger]

Ned only got 30% of the taps yesterday. He was serviceable around the ground but unlike Meek he doesn't become another midfielder after the tap, nor does he present as a dangerous forward option.

If I had to choose between two fit rucks I'm choosing Meek every day of the week.

Ned only got 30% of the taps but he had 7 score launches, which means that he started the chain for 7 scores. The most of any player in the league on the weekend. Considering we had 27 scores, I think one player starting the chain for 1/4 of those is fairly compelling.

I know he doesn't act as an extra midfielder, which is why I said "when we have a full midfield and his bullocking work is possibly a bit less necessary." If we don't need the extra midfielder, we may see the dial shift back towards those taps to a clear advantage that Ned is capable of.