Have to Play 2 Ruck

[Dave The Man]

Tonight showed that we have 2 very talented young Rucks in Grundy and Witts but they both Struggle to run out a Game.

Grundy did not get a Ton of Touches but was very good in the Ruck vs Hampson.

Witts got more touches but I felt not as effective in the Ruck as Grundy.

We seen Grundy tire badly in last 2 games and that can really hurt the side so playing both means we have Ruckman who can still go in the last QTR.

[E]

this is the first time I agree with this idea. Witts looked fantastic. the idea of starting with two rucks and having one of them work really hard for 2.5 quarters and then sub off was pretty inspired I thought tonight.

Not sure what happens when Reid comes back (since he will really replace Witts I would have thought). From a real worry two years ago, we seem to now have a plethora of key position players. Keefe, frost, Brown down back. reid, Cloke, White up forward and Witts and Grundy in the middle.

Its a good problem to have.

[Brown26]

Witts wont play every week, and occasionally Witts will play and Grundy will be rested. I reckon Reid can play back some games too (possibly in place of Maxwell if he's sore / suspended / out of form) and I reckon it might work very well next year when Maxy retires

[AN_Inkling]

I agree with Browny. We won't play two rucks every week. Grundy and Witts will both miss some games, I'd expect.

What we do have is a good mix. If we are only playing Witts or Grundy in a particular game, then we have decent backup ruck options in White and maybe Keeffe. Playing both Witts and Grundy together works ok as well. I think Witts played his best game tonight and the Freo game was possibly his second best, so he's definitely making headway.

What we do not have is a genuine first ruck. Neither Grundy or Witts are quite there at this stage of their career. They can play good quarters or even good games, but they're not ready to ruck a whole game week in week out. If this were a year we expected to challenge for a flag, first ruck could be a problem, but as a development year, it's fine to have two players who are still making their way.

[roar]

Was very happy with Witts tonight: Excellent skills for a big man. And we seem much more dangerous with both big fellas on the ground.

[Dave The Man]

[Bob Sugar]

Back in the day we would've sent our hopelessly out of form power forward into the ruck, but i guess those power forwards didn't have an anti ruck clause in their contract, unlike another hopelessly out of form power forward we have now.


But yeah Dave it worked tonight, I thought witts was good.

[3.14159]

Witts put in better game than Grundy.

[RudeBoy]

I thought it was Witts' best game so far. His second efforts and tackling is fantastic for a big bloke. However, despite giving him such a big rap, I reckon Richmond got back into the game in the last quarter because Grundy had been subbed off. As good as Witts was around the ground, he seemed to be soundly beaten in the centre square hitouts. This is the area of his game he needs to improve the most. Both Witts and Grundy will be much better players in a few months time. The future looks very bright indeed.

[AN_Inkling]

^^It seemed that way. But thinking back on the numbers, maybe not. I know we were 8-3 down in centre clearances and were being smashed in the clearances around the ground in the first half, when Grundy was doing most of the ruck work.

Grundy definitely rucked better than Witts though. 24 hit outs to Witts's 10 and is able to provide more followup given his greater mobility. Witts was much better than Grundy around the ground, picking up 17 disposals. All Witts needs to do is get stronger and learn to use his size better. Grundy uses what he has well but also definitely needs to add strength as gets too easily beaten in marking contests, but that's understandable for a 19 year old.