The Great Ruck Debate.

[DJC]

@djc, mirkov has no idea how to use his height to his advantage.  He should be running and jumping in ruck contests rather than worrying about his frame.  Matt can't help him with this.  Kreuzer was an excellent ruck but he was undersized and that means he can't teach how to use that size mirkov posesses to advantage.  You would think a volleyball convert would have the vertical leap to really own the aerial component of the ruck battle, and could jump all over an opponent.  Mirkov might learn more from tdk about that than he will from kreuzer.  His strength was not dominating the air but the follow up work after the contest.

Not jumping at ruck contests is commonplace and is one of the outcomes of rule changes intended to minimise injuries.  However, if you’re 210cm and 110kg, you should be able dominate opponents, jumping or not. Mirkov did that quite well in his first couple of seasons but it’s not so evident now.  He also doesn’t have much of a presence around the ground and I don’t think you can afford a ruckman who doesn’t impact contests these days.

Kreuzer wasn’t an undersized ruckman.  At 200cm and 105kg, he was right in the mix.  For example, Levi Casboult was 199cm, Sam Jacobs was 203cm and Shaun Hampson and Nic Naitanui were both 201cm. Paddy Ryder, at 196cm, was “undersized” but was one of the best ruckmen of that era.