It’s very rare that there are such newsworthy developments throughout the week devoted to one position in the AFL, especially the often-maligned ruckmen.
While not overly glamorous or skilled, this week has been about the rucks and it’s about time we acknowledged them.
Shane Mumford’s injury
This is a tragedy for Mummy and the Giants, but mostly for fans of old-school, rough-and-tumble footy.
Few teams’ aspirations rise and fall with one player – Gold Coast and Gary Ablett come to mind, but Shane Mumford is the most important player in his team.
Mumford brings All-Australian ruck work, and the fiercest attack on ball and player by a big man in the AFL.
What also makes this so upsetting is that Mummy is such a relatable player. Granted, it takes a certain genetic blueprint to be 200 cm, 110kg and still be able to run all day at the highest level, but the way Mumford plays the game is similar to ruckmen at suburban and country footy venues across Australia. He’s a big man who uses his strength and aggression in an era of football where this usually results in detrimental free kicks.
Mumford is a true throwback and to be robbed of the opportunity to see him lead his Giants into finals football for the first time is a real downer on an otherwise stellar 2015 campaign.
Backhanded compliments to Aaron Sandilands
Sandliands’ record-breaking efforts have all but proven his proficiency in the art of the putting hand on ball, but is there more to it?
In his two record-breaking games of 69 and 70 hit outs, Fremantle have logged their two least impressive victories of the year; one against an erratic Adelaide, and the less said about the Suns win the better.
‘Imagine what the result would have been if he didn’t get the taps’ or ‘he was one of the few playing at his usual high level’ are good arguments.
But so is, ‘why are we celebrating a stat predicated on height and reach and surprised when the tallest man ever to play breaks it?’
Whether he is truly the best ‘tap ruckman’ in history is debatable, but no other player knows his body or has got as much out of it as Sandilands. Being 212cm is clearly an advantage, but every one of those 212cm is accounted for in proportional muscle, which makes him as hard to budge as he is to jump over. That could not be said about Peter Street, Spider Burton and a litany of other bookmarks in the history of ruckmen.
No third-man knee jerk
This needs to be said over and over again. The third man up is a calculated, risk/reward decision. Recent discussions and calls for potential rule changes to outlaw or regulated the third jumper at a contest seem to assume the jumping team has an automatic advantage. It is a conscious decision to have an extra man in the air and one less roving: this is neither and advantage nor disadvantage, it is a team prerogative.
The third man up has been a part of football for years and there has always been one solution; If you don’t like it, don’t let it happen.
We don’t need yet another mid-season Spanish Inquisition (we all expect it now) resulting in even more adjudication needed from umpires, who are also attempting to keep the game as free flowing as possible.
Will rucks and rovers need to declare themselves to umpires as to their position similar to that of wide receivers in American football? And what happens when ruckmen are caught out of position or behind the play in a game in which stoppages are encouraged to be restarted as soon as possible?
It’s worth noting the irony of Leigh Matthews calling the third man up to attention after he tormented Collingwood in the 2002 and ’03 grand finals using a healthy dose of Darryl White as an extra jumper at the contest.
Blicavs and Stanley, the AFL’s ‘two tight-end formation’
Speaking of third man up…
In 2010, the New England Patriots drafted tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez and developed them into the premier positional duo in the league. Their success was predicated on their freakish athleticism, ability to create individual mismatches, and complement each other on the field.
Shortly after seeing the Patriots’ success, other teams started thinking of two tight-end sets as the way of the future. In reality, it’s about having the right players at the right time.
Many AFL pundits may be thinking that Geelong has finally discovered the answer of what to do when you don’t possess an elite ruckman. It’s as simple as two-minute noodles right? Just find yourself a couple 200cm track stars, put them in at the centre bounce, stir the contents there you have it! Delicious, perpetual centre clearances and mismatches until you die due to metal poisoning from all the premiership cups in your possession.
Yeah, it’s not that easy.
They haven’t been able to replicate it in the NFL and unless either Stanley or Blicavs goes all ‘Aaron Hernandez’ on us, I only see Geelong having the capabilities in the near future.
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