Rd 11: Pre Game Patter: Carlton vs Brisbane

[kruddler]

Gorringe can't hold position against opposition ruckmen and is too easily brushed aside in contests.  If he is going to play mainly as a ruckman, he has to be bigger and stronger.  He is most suited to playing as a tall half forward, as was his stated position in the pre-season.

How many ruck contests do you reckon occur during any given game?

Whatever it is, halve it, as he is rucking in tandem with kreuzer.
Halve it again as the opposition will win half anyway.

Of whatever is left, what % of them are there clear hitouts to advantage? maybe 20%.

Given about 80 stoppages a game, thus ruck contests.
Kreuzer takes 40, Gorringe 40.
Opposition win half - leaving gorringe with 20.
Of that 20, 20% go to advantage.....so 4.

Now assume Gorringe only wins 10% of his hitouts, instead of 50%.
Hitouts to advantage drops from 4 to 1.

You want to drop a bloke because over the course of a game he might get you 3 hitouts to advantage less than someone else....say phillips.

What about the rest of the game played outside the ruck? He's kicking 1.5 goals a game at the moment and offering a target around the ground. I'd argue that is far more valuable than 3 hitouts to advantage we might be losing.

People think ruck = hitouts.....and forget that for 95% of the game the ruckman doesn't do any rucking!