The rise.... and RISE of Marc Pittonet

[Mantis]

Do what ever needs to be done to get him to a trade by seasons end and get something back of quality while people are still interested in him.

[Baggers]

Been a few days and not a single person has gone into bat for TDK.

Perhaps people are starting to see what i see in terms of ruck balance, output, importance?

If rumours of TDK being out on the sauce are anything to go by, i fear the lad may never 'see the light' until its too late.

I was someone who went in to bat for TDK, and still would... but... what he has served up in 2023, to be as polite as I can be, has been very disappointing.

[Lods]

His trade value after round 6 is probably considerably less than pre-season. :

[PaulP]

I was someone who went in to bat for TDK, and still would... but... what he has served up in 2023, to be as polite as I can be, has been very disappointing.

His form has been up and down, but he's not exactly alone. Plenty of our boys are struggling for form. He's definitely worth a 2 year deal, and definitely worth persisting with. Like all big blokes, he will take time to get his sh1t together. He's too mobile and too athletic to be simply labelled a ruckman.

[Lods]

He's probably worth more to us persisting for two seasons than trying to trade him.
A lot will depend on counter offers....and he'll end up where he wants to end up.

The thing is...while big guys do take time, he is five years into the system, he'll be 24 by seasons end, how much longer before he starts to realise some of  his potential.

[northernblue]

He's probably worth more to us persisting for two seasons than trying to trade him.
A lot will depend on counter offers....and he'll end up where he wants to end up.

The thing is...while big guys do take time, he is five years into the system, he'll be 24 by seasons end, how much longer before he starts to realise some of  his potential.

As a ruckman usually 24-26 is when they start to impact hence the 2 year deal

[LP]

Like for like at the same stage of a career TDK would be well ahead of our other options.

I was someone who went in to bat for TDK, and still would... but... what he has served up in 2023, to be as polite as I can be, has been very disappointing.

The problem is the team form line influences the perceptions, ignoring the highlight reels from 2022, TDK has statistically improved from 2022. Whether the stats are valuable ranking tool or not is one issue, but if nothing else they are at least a relevant measure.

By the same measure Pitto has actually gone backwards since 2021, yet we would all probably rate his ruck work at least equal to if not ahead of TDK at the moment. But I think it is horses for courses and my reasoning follows.

In fairness it's not realistic to make a direct comparison as they are polar opposite players, Pitto has only hit the scoreboard in one of his eight seasons because he is a D50 type ruck that sits behind play and closes space. TDK is a F50 type ruck that pushes forward and links play stretching opposition defences. One assists the KPDs, the other assists the KPFs.

I think sorting out the tap work is far easier than trying to turn one or the other into the opposite type of player. For me we should be playing both and using them accordingly when we want to set or control game momentum.

Midfield dominance has very little to do with tap work, you can often have tap dominance like when we had Warnock and also the way we have Mirkov in the VFL, and still be soundly beaten in the Midfield. Our problem isn't so much not having tap dominance, but not being able to put the brakes on opposition when we aren't winning the clearances.

You could run TDK as a Blicsav's type ruck, and give him the task to tackle ahead of winning tap work, ideally you want both, but rarely is that actually possible.

[PaulP]

De Koning has played 46 games, which is 2 seasons.

2018 - 2 games
2019 - 0 games
2020 - 7 games
2021 - 13 games
2022 - 19 games

He may turn out to be no good, my point is that it is too early to tell.

[LP]

He may turn out to be no good, my point is that it is too early to tell.

By ruck standards at 23 TDK is a baby and fans talk like his papers have already been stamped.

Fans should take note of the way Luke Jackon's output has fallen in the absence of having Gawn as a partner, it's a massive tell about benefits of running a strong ruck duo. Jackson's stats are stable but his game day influence has plummeted, which is because 1+1 adds up to more than 2, when you run 2 strong rucks you don't just get twice the player you degrade the opposition at the same time!

[PaulP]

..................

You could run TDK as a Blicsav's type ruck, and give him the task to tackle ahead of winning tap work, ideally you want both, but rarely is that actually possible.

I can see the similarity and I can see the potential for De Koning to develop into a Blicavs type ruck man, but we need patience. You don’t need to look back too far to see that Blicavs was labelled a spud by all and sundry. And now regarded as one of their most important players.