One week 2 rucks is a bad idea, the next its a good idea, the next week, the 2 rucks is dead and buried, the week after that, its the panacea.

You can see by now the 2 rucks is a horses for courses strategy. There's reasons to run with the 2, and at times theres no reason to do so.



What we also have found out is having one ruck against 2 rucks is sometimes not a fair fight.

TDK will be a great KPF-Ruck for saints with Marshall as the No 1 ruck.

Can you imagine Pittonet against those 2? Can you imagine Weitering greeting TDK at FF, or Gov welcoming TDK at CHF? All this whilst Harry is in Sydney.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Hoyney, the stat guru, called two-ruck supporters “flat earthers”, then went on to use the second ruck’s CBAs as the cornerstone of his argument.

80-100+ ruck contests per game. 30 centre bounces, if you’re lucky.

He then went on to declare Harry one of, if not the, best 2nd rucks in the game. All 15 contests…

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

A genuine two-ruck set up that doesn’t eat into the interchanges is still a winning strategy.

BUT, you can’t force it. If you haven’t got a workable pair, don’t play them for the sake of it. ESPECIALLY when your best player & captain is an enormous inside mid.

De Koning: Ruck-Forward
Pittonet: Ruck
O’Keeffe: Ruck-Forward

Young: Utility
McKay: Forward-Ruck
Cripps: Inside Mid

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"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter" - Winston Churchill.

Harry in my eyes has been a standout.

More than winning the tap, he wins the ball at the highest point, brings it down, then handballs, instead of taps.

That's why his HO numbers are so low. He wins contested "Ruck" ball, then handballs it. 100% Def. Hits his target. Then its their problem.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I do get this set up. It does my head in.
No one would be offering TDK $1.7M if he was KPF/Ruck.
Pitto was good enough till he brokedown, just when TDK took the next step. Still left us one ruck down.

Its been like that for too long.

If Pitto wasn't and isn't good enough due to wear and tear, he should have been phased out during this year, and his replacement already playing...imo.

I'm really shiitry on this because I dont want to throw O'Keefe into the wolves just now, but I am sure he will make it as No 1 in ...2028-9. He may make up for the position in the meantime, but Im greedy, I want a flag in 2025...I mean 2026.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Is TDK as dominant in the ruck as some think?

We are last in hit outs to advantage.
We are only one of 3 teams who average over 100 ruck contests per game.
We welcome the stoppage to get our hands on ball first more than any team, but we are 2nd last in converting that win to a clearance.
We only win 33.3% of ruck contests.
We also don't rate high with CB clearances as some think. We are 11th in CB clearances.

A couple years ago we dominated CB clearances with Pittonet in the ruck.
Not saying Pitto is the same form as he was in 2023, but he service he provided our mids gave us more CB clearances.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue