We look at how we can improve our clearances, and a young ruckman from Freo named Sean Darcy gives us a few hints.
Quote:
The first is hitouts to advantage. In round 16 against Carlton, Darcy had 22 taps to advantage – the most of any from the big four ruckmen, edging Grundy (21) and Gawn and Naitanui, who have both hit season highs of 17.
Quote:
His combination with young midfielder Caleb Serong against the Hawks was a highlight, setting up many of the NAB AFL Rising Star's 10 clearances.
Our mids don't get that sort of armchair ride from Pittonet, Levi or DeKoning. DeKoning may become more productive but at 21yo the norm suggests he has 3-4 years to go before he excels.
Then there's the other stuff we expect from the big ruckman (qualities we were use to from Big Nick, Percy, Madden, and Allan for a year or two, but not since them):
Quote:
The second area where Darcy's best has been the best among ruckmen this season is intercept marks.
Fitter and smarter in his fifth season, Darcy has pushed into defence when needed and he took seven intercept marks against the Hawks, edging Gawn's best effort this season (five) and well ahead of Grundy (three) and Naitanui (one).
His intercept marking provided protection from the Hawks' deep entries on Saturday, and at other times gave the Dockers' repeat inside 50s when he marked their clearing kicks in the midfield.
Our defenders can do with the added support when they are one on one defending.
Quote:
The third indicator is goals, with Darcy booting a season best three against the Hawks in round four, ahead of Gawn (two), Grundy (two) and Naitanui (one).
Frankly, I can't see Pittonet mirroring the above, and feel if we are to make Finals, and give them a red hot go as of next year, we need to get ourselves a bonafide ruckman to do it, and DeKoning can work on his forward craft in the meantime.
Easy ask, hard to find. But those who think ruck role is overrated is probably because they haven't seen what the good ones provide, and rarely a ruckman gives his team the above 3 qualities.