The rise.... and RISE of Marc Pittonet

[crashlander]

You want your rucks to be involved in the game. I have always found Brodie Grundy very passive. He is not a player who has got involved in games. When he is around the ball he is good but the rest of the time he is a bit of a statue. Silvagni, whom is more of a follower than a ruck gets into the packs, tackles and shepherds, but it would be good if his kicking improved. TDK and Pittonett do involve themselves but I think Pitto is still struggling with his knee a bit. I think TDK should be using his pace more and should make himself more of a marking option around the ground. A lot of the problem with the rucks gets back to our midfield lacking pace and not being clean with their hands so when we don't get the ball we can't get it back and when we do get the ball we are not being effective with it.

Grundy had one, maybe 2 seasons where he was really involved. In those seasons he was probably the best ruckman going around. He hasn't really been able to reproduce that form. Not sure he has ever wanted it enough, to be honest.
Gawn is the one who is always involved in the game. It is one of his real strengths.

Tom de Koning has the tools to be really good, but I wonder sometimes if he has the smarts. Against Sydney last year, he played the sort of game we want him to play. He did his best in the ruck, but it was around the grounds that he really made a difference. He got into good spots and held his marks. He has never quite been able to reproduce that. If he can, at least some of our problems will go away.
Pitto has not been able to outbody his opponents like he did last year. The reason is obvious; his knee. He will get better at it, but that is probably going to be next year, assuming no further issues with it. He has always been a competitor and has been a contributor around the packs. But it would be nice if he could find some real form.