Ruck & Roll (Pittonet VS De Koning VS Mirkov)

[northernblue]

The club can call them ham sandwiches but who’s going to rushing the buffet ?
They are 3rd talls/pinch hitting as KPD at best.

[Blue Moon]

The question for our rucks is what is the combination going to be. We went to Adelaide with Pitto TDK and JSOS and look where that got us. We lacked a bit of pace on the the outside last season so having too many big guys isn't going to be helpful in this regard. I think JSOS is in our best 22,but where does he fit if TDK and Pitto play. I thought the biggest problem under Teague was getting the best team on the park. The best 22 players weren't the best 22 team. This is something Voss needs to  address as he got it wrong in Adelaide last year.

[pinot]

Don't want to see TDK leave as he is going to explode in 1-2 years but would take a top 10 pick for him.

[ElwoodBlues1]

Horses for courses in the ruck, some weeks you need two specialists, other weeks just one and a part timer.
Wouldn't mess with Young as a ruckman and just leave him down back.
Not sure why we have this obsession of trying to turn players into something else when they are succeeding very well in their original position especially given KP backs are like gold and hard to find.
Pittonet and Mirkov would be two stiffs playing together imo....neither have an impact anywhere else other than the ruck and we would become less mobile and have less options. Pittonet and TDK would be my ideal pairing when we need two ruckman and I'd be preferencing TDK as my No 1 when we use the solo option.
Ruckman as Geelong showed don't have to be high quality big contract players so if TDK gets offered megabucks I'd let him go and use the trade scenario to fix other list problems and look around for another ruckman like Bryan who is stuck behind Draper at Essendon.
You don't pay ruckman big dollars imho and as Stanley of Geelong showed you just need a athletic competitor who can run around the ground and work in combo with a swingman like Blicavs and give you options.

[LP]

Horses for courses in the ruck, some weeks you need two specialists, other weeks just one and a part timer.

Assuming they stay fit, I predict we'll find a bit of MC rotation going on this season, with TDK, SoJ and perhaps Durdin getting mixed opportunities as Pitto's back up.

I'm pretty sure if fit Pitto is physically still the No.1, but I'd expect TDK to go past him in the next season or two assuming TDK stays a bluebagger!

[PaulP]

Don't want to see TDK leave as he is going to explode in 1-2 years but would take a top 10 pick for him.

He would have had some great learnings last season as the No1 ruck, and hopefully with Pittonet coming back to be the main man, it will help his development further. I'd also like him to stay.

[kruddler]

TDK needs to be more aggressive if he wants to hold down the #1 ruck.
He needs to improve his ruckwork if he want to hold down the #1 ruck.
He needs to be more consistent if he wants to hold down the #1 ruck,

Can he? Yes.

Will he? Not sure.

Personally, i think we trade him in and get something else we need and let someone else pay TDK roulette.

[Baggers]

In terms of 'ruckman years' TDK is still a baby and Pitto is entering his prime. No way would I like to see us even entertain trading TDK. Together they pose a legitimate headache for opposition clubs, especially as they're both so different. And, the gods forbid, what if Pitto gets injured and there's no TDK! (Mirkov/Lemmey & O'Keefe are projects and still a way off).

[Thryleon]

Id play them both.

5 on the interchange this year isn't it?

[LP]

I suspect it's just a matter of time before TDK surpasses Pittonet, TDK has most of our other ruck options covered on athletic ability and aerobic capacity. Pitto has TDK covered for tactics and knowledge, but that is expected from someone who has been in the system longer.

TDK is about equal of Pitto on 2nd efforts but has Pitto easily covered for F50 involvements, however TDK still gets in the way inside F50.

Pitto has TDK easily covered for D50 involvements and defensive positioning.

TDK has Pitto covered for pace, but not necessarily positioning which depends more on game awareness.

When "All our Mids" are up and firing it probably doesn't matter much who gets the taps, or even if we get the taps, it's more about 2nd efforts and shepherds to Mids. ( In fairness at this stage we haven't really got to see a fit TDK rucking with a full compliment of 1st choice Mids, which I think tends to be the biggest influencing issue in specific ruck stats. When Pitto is in TDK was relieving along with the Alt-Mid rotations, when TDK was first ruck we had blokes like Hewett and Cerra under injury clouds. Even against the Dees we got on a roll and they switched Gawn forward and put Jackson in to try and stop it, yet Gawn dominated taps. When Jackson went in he lost the taps to Pitto, but they started winning clearances due to Jackson's better mobility and 2nd efforts.)

Unfortunately, none of our ruck options have durability as feature of their characteristics.