06-12-2024, 10:16 PM
Hitouts have always been and are largely worthless, directing where the football goes oddly has very little to do with actually winning the hitout and it's about positioning, But too many fans hear rhetoric like that and infer "rucks are worthless"!
In ruck work the 2nd efforts are worth 10x whatever hitouts they may get, that is why having a ruck who only wins taps and does little else is mostly worthless. Winning taps might make life a little easier for some of the Mids but it will torch the team, the difference in importance is why Kreuzer went No.1 and Warnock was a spud. Pitto is 5x the player this season because of how he follows up his initial effort.
As I've mentioned many times, you can control the stoppages by the way you jump, angle of approach, etc., etc.., Where an opponent will direct the footy is massively influenced by your own ruck even if your own ruck isn't winning taps. Which side of the body you target, whether you turn left or right, whether you use your left or right arm, will all alter the opponents positioning and tactics.
Any stat measuring an individual that depends on the actions of a 3rd party is next to useless, as a measure of rucks alone the Hitout to Adv stat is much the same, it's like blaming or crediting a Mids for a small forward who either drops or marks on the chest.
In ruck work the 2nd efforts are worth 10x whatever hitouts they may get, that is why having a ruck who only wins taps and does little else is mostly worthless. Winning taps might make life a little easier for some of the Mids but it will torch the team, the difference in importance is why Kreuzer went No.1 and Warnock was a spud. Pitto is 5x the player this season because of how he follows up his initial effort.
As I've mentioned many times, you can control the stoppages by the way you jump, angle of approach, etc., etc.., Where an opponent will direct the footy is massively influenced by your own ruck even if your own ruck isn't winning taps. Which side of the body you target, whether you turn left or right, whether you use your left or right arm, will all alter the opponents positioning and tactics.
Any stat measuring an individual that depends on the actions of a 3rd party is next to useless, as a measure of rucks alone the Hitout to Adv stat is much the same, it's like blaming or crediting a Mids for a small forward who either drops or marks on the chest.
"Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck ....... Ruck, ruck, ruck, ruck"