Great effort bbs, I appreciate the work gone into this. What it shows is that teams must be consistent in their quest for ruckmen as success doesn't come easy in search of 1 let alone 3 ruckmen. There's a high failure rate.

I would consider the following genuine ruck prospects from your list (in terms of 200 cm in size) with reference to Carlton's commitment to securing ruckmen in the past:

1994 =1 draftee:[/u] Allan
1995 =0
1996 =0
1997 =[u]2 rookie: Porter older bloke, risky (from VFA), Tom Hedge
1998 =0
1999 =1 rookie: Matthews (rookie) injury prone from day 1risky
2000 =0
2001 =0
2002 =1 trade & 1 rookie Smith (Kanga reject) French (4th string ruck from Port)
2003 =2 trade & 1 int rookie McKernan, Angwin (risky self destructing reject from Crows) Setanta (int rookie risky)
2004 =1 draftee & 2 rookie: DeLuca (very late pick); Mott (broken reject from Swans); Aisake (risky int rookie)
2005 =1 Batson (rookie)
2006 =[u]1 draftee & 1 rookie [/u]: Hampson; Jacobs (rookie)


Despite the fact that Aisake and Setanta were not selected as rucks but as project players who haven't played footy before...ie huge risk...I've counted them. I wouldn't consider them as serious attempts to secure ruckmen....but rather BIG punts.

So what does that account for over the last 13 years?

4 drafted ruckmen ...........(Allan, Porter, DeLuca, Hampson)
3 trades for ruckmen........(French, McKernan, Angwin)
6 rookies ........................(Matthews, Smith, Mott, Batson, Jacobs)
2 international rookies......(Setanta & Aisake)

7 drafted and traded ruckmen in 13 years (including late draft picks)
11 risky bets for ruckmen

It's not what I would consider a concerted attempt to secure ruckmen...long time between Allan 1994 and Porter in 1997 (from the VFA) and 2002 for French....followed by 2006 for Hampson.

Merrington, Hotton, Prenders, Beasy, Kouta, Lance are not ruckmen
Cloke, McLaren, Ackland recruited as ruckmen, but destined to fail for being too short.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Funny (and very sad) thing is bondi, you can make a similar case re: our drafting for every position on the ground over those years.

Porter was a wookie. Got elevated after Madden wetired.

And the real issue in all that Bondi and Sean, is how many serious draft picks we used? Not just late drafts, rookie pics etc, and let's hope they come good.

Porter = rookie
Hotton = 86
Merrington = 90
Matthews = 92
Beasy = 61
McKernan = trade
Smith = trade for pick 61
Prendergast = rookie
French = trade for pick 16
Mott = 57
Deluca = 72
Bryan = 73
O'hAilpin x 2 = rookie
McLaren = pre-season
Hampson = 17
Ackland = pre-season
Cloke = pre-season
Jacobs = pres-season

It makes for pretty damning reading!! Until the last draft, the highest pick we used in the national draft for a ruckman was pick 57

And even with Hampson, it could be argued that he wasn't the next best available.

Bondi, my fear is that drafting 4 ruckman (although 2 could barely be classified as that) last year was a knee jerk reaction to our non-existent ruck stocks, not a change in philosophy. Another reason for a change of coach.

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Mens sana in corpore sano.

Bring back the laurel wreath logo!!!

Seigfried wrote



Well picked up Seigfried. I was going to put the draft picks in too, but I thought I'd leave that up my sleeve against rebuttle. It's damning alright!



Knee jerk reaction? Probably... I think.

But I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, and I'll take a keen interest at this years draft....lets see if its philosophy or knee jerk. I'm sure they see the need. If they don't stock up this year, and take serious the balck ruck hole we have and will continue to have (despite having Hampson and Aisake on the list), I will protest that hard, in so may ways, that their ears will be ringing. I have my ways.

It's time to get the list in order and balanced; we've had long enough....draft penalties are over.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Mordan wrote



Absolutely Mordan! List management has been a farce at this club for over a decade.

We need modern guns (not bandaids) on all lines to win the next flag.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Forgot Tommy Hedge....

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thanks Synbad

Tom Hedge

1997 rookie (200cm)

good tap ruckman, but didn't mark many around the ground...would be handy this week though (as a replacement for Ackland)

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Darren Hulme would be better than Ackland - all we need someone is with a bit of ticker and wee bit of height.

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

I was disappointed that the club did not promote Aisake or Batson at the end of 06. To rely on Ackland and Cloke to be our ruckman was as risky as buying shares in Alan Bond's latest company.

Brisbane
Voss
Black
Lappin
Aker
Power

Port
K Cornes
P Burgoyne
S Burgoyne
Stevens
Francou

Adelaide
McLeod
Ricciuto
Goodwin
Edwards


Over the period you've highlighted for the ruck recruiting of those sides, I've included some names that might have allowed said teams to take a more pro-active role with their ruck division.

As noted elsewhere, we haven't really started drafting responsibly until the last couple of years until then we were topping up faster than an evangelist before the armageddon.

That said, your point is excellent, and further highlights what a train wreck our recruiting policies were like.

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