08-19-2024, 06:35 AM
(08-19-2024, 05:51 AM)DJC link Wrote:Bailey Williams has rucked for his entire AFL career, is the same size as Tom De Koning and is just a shade smaller than Pitto. He is ranked one spot behind De Koning for hitouts this season. He was ranked 11th in the competition for hitouts last season, one place ahead of Marshall and several ahead of Gawn, Cameron, Xerri and Pitto. I doubt whether De Koning could have done any better than Pitto against Williams and probably would have conceded more hitouts. Marshall is a very polished ruckman but it will be a tight contest if Pitto can reproduce the form he showed in Perth.
West Coast won the hitouts but we dominated the clearances. Geelong smashed St Kilda in hitouts but only just won the clearances, in part because Marshall was more focused on clearances than hitouts. Our midfield should dominate, even if Marshall gets on top of Pitto in ruck contests. Pitto's main challenge will be negating Marshall's impact around the ground - and it would be have been nice if we were able to double team Marshall with Pitto and De Koning.
Pitto had 9 HTA
Williams x2 combined for 11, but had an extra 28 ruck contests between them to get those extra 2.
Pitto had 8 clearances himself, only outdone by Cripps (10) who ironically, got himself a few extra by grabbing it out of the ruck!
Williams x2 only managed 3 between them, again with 28 extra ruck contests.
Nobody doubts TDK athletic ability, especially compared to Pitto.
However, if you look at the numbers, the point about TDK offering more on the ground is a bit of a myth as Pitto has him (and almost all rucks) covered for clearances.