Grundy no Certainty

[Dave The Man]

Just saying we got the Highly Rated Brodie Grundy is not a 100% sure he become a Gun or even a AFL Ruckman.

Ruckman are the Hardest to Pick if they are going to make it or not. As mostly Rookie Ruckman become the Best Ruckman.

Plus Pies have a Shocking Record on Developing our own Ruckman. Fraser was Taken number 1 in 1999 Draft but never came a Dominate Ruckman. Guy Richards was a AA U-18 Ruckman but he was Usless. Fanning was even Not Up to it. We traded for Wood who played a Few Good Games but mostly was a 1 Trick Poney as he was just a tap Ruckman. Byran and Dawes where not Ruckman and Same as Leigh Brown but he gave us a Contest and Played his Best in the Late 2010 Regular Season and in 2010 Finals Series and Helped us win the Flag. Those 3 where more KPP.The Only Good Ruck we got since 2000 was Darren Jolly and he was a Big Reason we won the 2010 Flag

I Highly Rate Grundy and I reckon he will make it as he has the Drive for Success and Get better and is a thing I really Rate.

Just stating the Facts here

[rand corp]

Chill Dave, no one is ever a certainty but, he is at shorter odds than many.

Kid has great physical attributes, has shown he has good skill and smarts and has also shown he is very committed, focused and determined.

He has Witts there so they will push each other and Ben Hudson signals a new approach to developing young ruckman.

Let's give the kid his first season and see how he's developing by the end of it.

[Dave The Man]

[swoop42]

Grundy along with Witts are the best ruck prospects we have drafted since Fraser.

Josh had a very good early career for a young ruckman (better than most) but his lack of physical strength, laconic nature and inadequate ruck support meant he never reached the heights most expected.

Both Witts and Grundy already possess a physique more capable of allowing them to become a strong ruckman in the mould of Jolly and I get the sneaky impression both will enjoy playing the game in a more aggressive nature than Josh.

Whether or not this results in them becoming a star of the game or 10 year player for the club is anyones guess at this stage.

[Dave The Man]

[Mr Fabulous]

[Jezza]

Grundy is extremely talented. Some even say that he was in the top 3 players for the 2012 National Draft. I think he'll be a bargain for us.

He's physical attributes are excellent and he's a very aggressive player which is required in any ruckman. I felt that Cameron Wood and Guy Richards did not possess the same aggression that Grundy possesses. I don't expect Grundy to do too much in 2013 to be honest. 2013 will be a transitional year for him and he will be hoping to play some games, if the need arises. The kid is very young, so patience will be the key to his development.

Grundy and Witts are the future, but for now Jolly and Hudson will be our main rucks and they'll be the players most likely guiding us to a potential premiership in 2013.

Yes it's true that ruckman can take longer to develop. Look at Hudson, Jolly, Sandilands or even Maric from Richmond, but patience is the key. When Grundy does full develop, he will be a star for this club.

[MagpieBat]

^ Up until the final month before the draft, virtually every phantom draft expert had Grundy a lock for GWS at pick #2, behind Whitfield. Those who did not had him dropping, at worst, to Port at pick #7. Put down the glasses, he was a top 10 pick.

That the other clubs between picks #7 and #18 let a ruckman of Grundy's calibre slide to us is nothing less than a gift of the highest order.

If Derek Hine is to be believed (and we have every reason to do so), "Solomon" Grundy will start as a key forward in 2013 in the VFL, which he has done in the SANFL before, to a satisfactory extent. Witts will get the 1st crack at the primary ruckman's post, with Grundy getting minutes to chop him out, and Hudson playing if need be (that's not a certainty, what with his primary focus being a ruck coach and all, but he's there if necessary.)

Witts and Grundy. A ruck attack to salivate over... in theory.

Getting them to become the new Sandilands and Cox of the AFL... well, that's the tricky part. Anyone want to wager, given our track record since 2000?

[neil]

We have recruited/traded good rucks at times

Jolley need say nothing
Fraser everyone forgets how good Josh was when he started. Injuries and a lack of support ruined him. Those who label him soft forget he was aggressive when he started he kept getting reported.
McKee changes to the ruck rules ruined him

Witts and Grundy are potential

Bryan was not good enough as a second ruck but Leigh Brown was

Fanning was a project player win some lose some

Wood Richards Ceglar were not good recruits/trades

Remember MM never rated rucks highly

[stui magpie]

Good thread, welcome back DTM.

I agree with Neil about Josh and some of the others. Josh was the best ruck in the TAC, and on his day was reminiscent of Peter Moore.

Both Witts and Grundy come from a non footballing background and taking the game up late. Both have aggression, Grundy reads the play better from the videos I've seen, they could (and hopefully will) make an awesome tag team but as DTM and others have said, no guarantees, keep the expectations modest.

Jolly has 12-24 months left. We've got Lynch who has similar time (players from Perth in the AFL don't have long careers, all the travel seems to shorten them).

Get some time into them this year and by 2014 we would hopefully have Witts and Grundy swapping ruck and FF, with Cloke at CHF and a number of others coming through. I'm really excited about both our current and future prospects.

[Big T]

Normally Dave goes off his tits with excitement about new ruckmen, so I think he is wisely being more cautious. Agree with this threwd, Dave.

[Pebbles Rocks]

I would not look at our past ruckmen as a guide because we are one of only 18 clubs and our own past poor management/ bad luck are factors that will not necessarily going to be repeated.
A better guide is the performance of ruckmen from the last few drafts since drafting became such a professional caper.
You should also ignore the performance of ruckmen recruited after 2009 as they would be in their very early stages and they rarely make a significant contribution before 21yo.
Kruezer, natanui, vickery, cordy, etc are a better sample to look at.
From what i have seen he looks like a slightly bigger version of kruezer who is high quality but injury prone.

Just an opinion...

[Dave The Man]

[September Zeros]

[Cuthbert Collingwood]

Are you premature redact-ulating again Dave?