blueblood95 wrote:
Does anyone know of a good ruckman in the draft?
We really need a good ruckman.
maybe we should have bred Harry Madden with Liz Ellis.
It would be ugly but talented.

My last post until after the U18s. So I better make it good.
There are 3 good prospects in the draft as far as I can see (at this early stage).
James Sellar
Matthew Leuenberger
Brent Renouf
Now Sellar (Gibbs teamate at Glenelg) is the classical tall follower. Can play forward and ruck and has a great build and everything you want ina footballer. But as far as rucking goes he struggles up against the 2m plus gimats in the SANFL. He gets plenty of ball around the ground but as far as getting tap outs he struggles.
Now I have seen him dominate at U16 level up agianst similar sized players at palning the ball. So if he is able to get to that 2m of height then to me he is going to have all the qualities a ruckman needs.
He is bottom aged and turns 18 in March next year. He is on a level as good as anyone in the draft pool right now. But for me I prefer he grows some more and is not that in between size he is now. I dont want any Justin Longmuir scenarios. A little big for KPP when they fill out to compete with Scarlett types and a little small up against Cox etc.
So prefer he is 199cms plus (by draft camp). Then we can take him first and have our long term ruck. If he is going to be a 197cm forward then I prefer others over him at this stage.
That is just my early opinion.
Others are the 202cm Matthew Leuenberger who has had a number of injuries and an interrupted pre season. Beat Rydter last year at the Colts level in the WAFL and has a strong basketball background and is only just giving all his time to football. Should indictae a strong chance of rapid improvment. But maybe not.
He is well over 90kgs and can take contested marks and is a good kick. Great tap ruckman. Could go anywhere in the draft. I tjhink he will go in the first round. But Cameron Wood slipped a long way downa few years ago after being very highly rated.
Pretty easy to see how good Sellar and Leuenberger are. Watch the SA/WA game when they hopefully ruck against each other and see how they go.
The other is Brent Renouf. A 199cm ruck from Qld. Takes a good mark also but does not possess the rucking skills of Leuneberger at this stage. Raw but has something about him. Needs a bit of work around the ground. Does not have the 'presence" of Sellar or Leuenberger. If thats makse sense.
These are just a few earky thoughts of mine. They should not be taken as anything other than a nuffy nuffy (me) expressing an opinion about something very early on. That said nuffy nuffy (me) will be changing his mind many times between now and the draft and just put up a few things to encourage discussion.
Not meant for it to be used to beat other people around the head with about who we should pick. Just be a bit sceptical of the hype and the newspaper articles about the latest wonderkid.
This is me signing off until after the U18s. I will be back after that.
Mickstar I will ask about Bryon Murphy from Frankston and get back to you. Have not had time to get the old tapes out to watch him. Sorry about that.