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With Fremantle giant Aaron Sandilands out of action, and his era of dominance quite possibly finished, the title of the AFL’s best ruckman is being fought for by Todd Goldstein, Nic Naitanui and Max Gawn.
The latter was not even in the conversation at the start of this season, but so dominant has Gawn been, and such an impact has he had on Melbourne’s season thus far, that he is worthy of being mentioned alongside that pair of All Australian ruckmen.
In Gawn’s first 26 games of AFL, spread across three seasons, his returns were paltry – nine disposals, 17 hit outs and 0.4 goals per game.
His transformation has been extraordinary, with his last 21 games across this season and last seeing him reap 14 touches, 39 hit outs and 0.7 goals per game.
At a towering 208 centimetres tall, Gawn always had a huge size advantage over his opponents. Only in recent times, however, has he started fully exploiting it.
There is one stat which is particularly remarkable when considering Gawn’s influence at the stoppages. Hit outs to advantage numbers are not readily available to the public, but on the Sunday Footy Show a fortnight ago, the panel revealed that after seven rounds, Gawn had recorded an incredible 113 hit outs to advantage.
Naitanui, who is famous for his ability to direct taps down the throats of his midfielders, was second in the AFL with 77 hit outs to advantage. The West Coast star’s average of 11 hit outs to advantage per game is elite based on the history of this statistic. So for Gawn to be averaging 16 per game is truly freakish.
The understanding he has formed with jet Jack Viney is among the main reasons Melbourne have become so much more dangerous this season. With swift, precise and daring ball movement currently in vogue in the AFL, having a ruckman who constantly gives you clean first possessions has never been more valuable.
Gawn isn’t just a hit out machine though. This season he has displayed an improved aerobic capacity, getting to far more contests and having a great influence around the ground. He’s also become a threat inside 50 metres. When he does slide forward, Gawn’s reach makes him a nightmare match up for defenders.
With seven goals from eight games this offensive side of his game is complementing his commanding stoppage work. So much so that, right now, he would probably be in the rolling All Australian team of many pundits and fans, ahead of Goldstein and Naitanui.
It took the Kangaroos big man until the age of 27 before he secured his first All Australian guernsey, last season. The West Coast ruckman, meanwhile, made the team at the age of 22, back in 2012, but has not featured again since.
The All Australian selectors did not pick a back-up ruckman to Goldstein last year. If they had that man may well have been Naitanui, who had an outstanding season, averaging 12 touches and 34 hit outs per game to go with a haul of 17 goals.
The spring-heeled Eagle has been even better in 2016 and may well be leading his side’s best-and-fairest voting at this stage. His work at ground level and his pressure on ball carriers remains elite for a big man. Naitanui also gets more possessions forward of centre than either of Goldstein or Gawn, sending the ball inside the 50 twice as often as that pair.
Where Naitanui is unpredictable and capable of the spectacular, Goldstein’s strength is his reliability. The gap between his best and worst games is impressively narrow. While this season he has not quite matched the lofty standards he set in 2015, Goldstein has been a key cog in North’s undefeated start to the year.
His wonderful stamina allows him not only to ruck for the majority of each game, but also to follow up his tap work with second and third efforts. When the ball hits the ground Goldstein stays involved. He may not rack up big possession counts but he works hard to clear space for his teammates or to put pressure on the opposition ball carrier.
Increasingly he is finding his way forward to hit the scoreboard. With nine goals in the first eight rounds, only Sydney’s Kurt Tippett has kicked more goals than him among regular ruckmen this season.
Who, then, is the best ruckman in the competition right now? The enigmatic Naitanui, workhorse Goldstein or rising star Gawn? My heart says Naitanui but my head says Gawn.