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Craig
1st March 2003, 04:53 PM
I have just heard that we have been flogged again - this time by Carlton! They beat us by 40 points this afternoon. Apparently we were kept goalless in the second and third quarters.

This is very disappointing, I thought that we would have put up a better effort than that - even though it was only a practice match.

swansrock4eva
1st March 2003, 05:02 PM
looks like our lack of defense and a ruckman of any sort may have cost us. but meh. i think i'd actually prefer to see us get flogged at this stage so that everyone thinks "hehe swans - easybeats" then we come out and whomp them when it counts! :D

desredandwhite
1st March 2003, 05:13 PM
I guess it depends how seriously the respective teams were taking the match. If Scott Stevens was going to be our #1 ruckman, then the match mustn't have been much of a priority ;)

I'd wait for reports and the real season before writing us off though. I keep saying.. Remember Collingwood last season - We beat them by 80 points in the pre-season, but THEY made the grand final in September.

desredandwhite
1st March 2003, 05:19 PM
From the AFL website article: http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=76516



Adam Goodes, Paul Williams, Daryn Cresswell and captain Stuart Maxfield will be rested, while Jason Saddington, Jared Crouch and Nic Fosdike are available after injury.

Roos sees the match on the New South Wales north coast as a final chance to try something different ahead of the season opener, also against the Blues, at Telstra Stadium on 29th March.

?We will play Jude Bolton at halfback flank so really tomorrow (Saturday) is giving the young kids time, experimenting again,? Roos said.


?The last two practice games is when we will look at getting our better players on the field. That is when you start to get a bit more concerned about how we are playing, the team chemistry and all that sort of thing.?

?We have Scott Stevens rucking, and he?s not played there since Auskick, so that will be an interesting experiment. I was going to get Dylan and Tyler (his children) but they are not quite tall enough,? Roos joked.

?Saddington and Crouch will play a half while Barry Hall and Andrew Schauble will only play the first half as we just have to be continually mindful of monitoring the guys throughout the pre-season.


What this DOESN'T tell us is what Carlton did. We saw with the Essendon game that Roos pretty much sticks to his game plan in these early matches (one hopes that he will be as adaptable as necessary in the H&A season) - the kids would have got a good taste of it, and be better for it.

You NEVER like losing, but here's hoping we start showing something next week (wherever that's going to be played.

Mike_B
1st March 2003, 05:32 PM
Originally posted by desredandwhite
You NEVER like losing, but here's hoping we start showing something next week (wherever that's going to be played.

True, but I prefer losing when the game counts for nothing. Just remember, the score only matters come March 29. Till then, as long as the kids are getting a chance and we are not suffering injuries, I don't give a hoot if we lose practice games by 200 points.


Originally posted by desredandwhite
Remember Collingwood last season - We beat them by 80 points in the pre-season, but THEY made the grand final in September.

Keep focused on the important stuff. Yes its nice to have a couple of wins under your belt going into Rd 1, but its what you do from Rd 1 on that counts.

chammond
1st March 2003, 05:52 PM
As you say, the result is irrelevant. But there is still cause for concern, if for no other reasons than -

we've failed to kick a goal in three out of our last eight quarters of football;

with only two practice matches to go, neither of our (only) two ruckmen have yet kicked a ball in anger!

Mike_B
1st March 2003, 06:03 PM
<HR>http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=76695

Carlton has broken through for its first win of any description under new coach Denis Pagan, with a 40-point win over Sydney at Coffs Harbour in their Wizard Regional Challenge Series clash on Saturday.

In front of more than 5000 people on the northern coast of New South Wales, the Swans were held scoreless from late in the first term until early in the last as Carlton?s experienced players ? Brett Ratten and Scott Camporeale - took control of the match.

The improved Brendan Fevola booted three goals for the Blues, as did Simon Beaumont.

The Swans, who took a young and inexperienced squad into the match, had five single goalkickers.


The two teams meet again in round one of the 2003 AFL season at Telstra Stadium on 29 March.

Carlton: 12.7 (79)
Sydney: 5.9 (39)

GOALS: Carlton: Fevola 3, Houlihan 3, Camporeale 2, Davies, Beaumont, Wiggins, Waite. Sydney: Hall, Kennelly, Dempster, Crouch, Schneider.
BEST: Carlton: Ratten, Camporeale, Hulme, Beaumont, Houlihan. Sydney: Schauble, McPherson, Stevens, Malceski, O?Keefe
At Coffs Harbour
<HR><BR>
Good to see Malceski listed in our best and Dempster and Schneider on the scoresheet.

Reggi
1st March 2003, 06:31 PM
Sydney were up 3 goals to 2 at half time.

It's a practice match, interesting to see Malceski got in the best I guess the team was shocking or he was good.

Interesting to see if he plays next week seeing as Roos nominated it as his final hit-out.

Collingwood actually won zero games in the pre-season including a flogging by St Kilda.

Roos seems to be doing the sensible thing of experimenting and resting the older guys, but good to see O'Keefe and Malceski get named.

Re: previous posts I understood the kid was pretty skilful?

SWANSBEST
1st March 2003, 06:40 PM
Does anyone know if Meiklejohn is injured? If not ,why didn't he get a game? He is inexperienced but he is at least a ruckmen and played reasonably well against Essendon. Surely it is better to play a young ruckman in a practice game rather than playing people out of position to fill in. Meiklejohn seems mobile , contested strongly and his kicking was OK . I would love to know the club's thinking on Meiklejohn.
On a positive note it is good to see Malceski among the best players.

NMWBloods
1st March 2003, 08:26 PM
The match report is at:

http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=76724

Some of the worrying comments are:

"A victory looked anything but assured when the Blues took 20 minutes to score and trailed by 21 points at quarter-time."

"The Blues piled on eight unanswered goals in the two middle quarters to give Denis Pagan his first win as Carlton coach."

"Without Hall as a target, the Swans went close to an hour without scoring a goal."

Here is the full text:

Carlton's waning confidence received a much-needed boost with a solid 40-point win over Sydney in the AFL Wizard Regional Challenge Series match at Coffs Harbour on Saturday.

Inspired by a 10-goal-to-two second half, the Blues won 12.7 (79) to 5.9 (39) after an ordinary start to the year, with humbling losses to the Aboriginal All Stars and Collingwood in the Wizard Home Loans Cup.

A victory looked anything but assured when the Blues took 20 minutes to score and trailed by 21 points at quarter-time.

But a brilliant third term from midfielder Scott Camporeale (two goals) and three goals to full forward Brendan Fevola turned the game for Carlton.


The Blues piled on eight unanswered goals in the two middle quarters to give Denis Pagan his first win as Carlton coach.

"We had a talk at quarter-time and the players said they wanted to lift the situation and do something about it and they did," Pagan said.

"We got a little fired up and we just had to stand for something.

"Scott was terrific and I thought some of our more seasoned and experienced players like Lance Whitnall and Brett Ratten and Fevola were pretty good."

Star Blue Anthony Koutoufides, still on the comeback trail from his knee injury, worked his way into the game after a slow start.

"He's completed four games now and his confidence is going to grow week by week and hopefully he will be cherry ripe by round one," Pagan said.

Sydney rested Nick Davis, Darryn Creswell, Stuart Maxfield, Michael O'Loughlin, Jason Ball and Adam Goodes and was stretched even further when spearhead Barry Hall left the field in the second term after copping a knock to his hip.

Without Hall as a target, the Swans went close to an hour without scoring a goal.

The Swans lacked height around the ground with 194cm Scott Stevens carrying much of the workload in the ruck.

"The hot conditions probably played into their hands a bit more given our lack of size in the key position areas," Sydney coach Paul Roos said.

Despite the capitulation after the first break, Roos was impressed by youngsters Nick Malceski, Scott Dempster, Jared McVeigh and Josh Thewlis.

"The way they finished off their three-game senior experiment was really positive," he said.

Sydney could have Goodes, Davis and Ball return next week, with Stephen Doyle the week after.

Carlton rested big men Corey McKernan and Matthew Allan.


CARLTON 0.1 2.3 8.4 12.7 (79)
SYDNEY 3.4 3.6 3.9 5.9 (39)

Goals: Carlton: B Fevola, R Houlihan 3, S Camporeale 2, J Davies, S Beaumont, J Waite, S Wiggins. Sydney: B Hall, S Dempster, J Crouch, A Schneider, T Kennelly.
Best: Carlton: S Camporeale, B Fevola, D Hulme, S Beaumont, R Houlihan, T Sporn.
Sydney: A Schauble, N Malceski, S Stevens, D McPherson, R O'Keefe.
Injuries: Carlton: Nil. Sydney: B Hall (hip) R Warfe (corked thigh).
Reports: Nil.
Umpires: M Head, M Lee-Archer, B Sheehan.
Crowd: 2537
At Coffs Harbour.

jude_boltons_babe
1st March 2003, 09:17 PM
i know the swans lost but adam goodes wasnt playing and plus rowan went off with a corked thigh and barry hall with a hip injury and plus micky and others wernt playing

Norris Lurker
1st March 2003, 09:25 PM
Playing Scott Stevens as a ruckman, comments before the game about too many trial games, playing people out of position in trial games, not really going flat out to win.
Roosy's never played under Sheeds, but what he's been up to comes straight out of the Kevin Sheedy coaching manual. And it usually works out OK once the real stuff starts for the Bombers; so be patient. As long as the Swans don't get any more injuries (and Warfe & Hall today are a worry) then they'll be fine.

Jimmy C
1st March 2003, 09:34 PM
Bah! I would be worried if this was the H&A season and not some crappy practise match where important players were either not listed or being rested. It counts for little imo. Sure hope that I'm not wrong.

NMWBloods
1st March 2003, 09:54 PM
I've seen these comments nearly every year though!

Rod_
1st March 2003, 10:33 PM
This is a game is very much a past tense - What happens next?

You can hardly rate this as a game as both side were trying something new - Swans played younger ones and Carlton had better (Older players named in the best)

Therefore I am not placing a lot on this game!!

Rod_ ( I did loose a couple of beers on the game)

What is next weeks game and who is playing......

Craig
2nd March 2003, 08:41 AM
Whilst it was only a practice match, I still think that there were some worrying signs. The actual result isn't the issue, it is the fact that we couldn't score a goal in over a half of footy and once again couldn't stop the oppositions FF dominating.

Yes we had a lot of senior players out, but that is no excuse. Don't forget Carlton were playing a handful of youngsters as well. From the two practice matches I have seen this year, the team was trying extremely hard, so I question those who think the Swans were there for a picnic.

Let's hope that we can turn it around quickly, get over our usual long injury list and be firing come round 1.

Steve
2nd March 2003, 11:30 AM
All you have to do is compare the mindsets of the respective coaches:

Paul Roos (prior to the game):

"If Carlton beat us, they've beat us. "It's no great drama for us. It's important for us to just prepare for the season."

?We will play Jude Bolton at halfback flank so really tomorrow is giving the young kids time, experimenting again.?

?The last two practice games is when we will look at getting our better players on the field. That is when you start to get a bit more concerned about how we are playing, the team chemistry and all that sort of thing.?

?We have Scott Stevens rucking, and he?s not played there since Auskick, so that will be an interesting experiment. I was going to get Dylan and Tyler but they are not quite tall enough.?

?Saddington and Crouch will play a half while Barry Hall and Andrew Schauble will only play the first half as we just have to be continually mindful of monitoring the guys throughout the pre-season.

?Hopefully next week we will get a couple more back and gradually start to get our better players back on the field.?


Denis Pagan (after the game):

"Our confidence was shot to bits and we needed to lift this situation and do something about it and they did."

"We got a little fired up and we just had to stand for something."

"I'm sure the win was what the doctor ordered in readiness for the first match against the Swans in four weeks and we needed this win and take a lot of positives from the game."

Carlton were desperate to win to gain some sort of (misguided) confidence going into the H&A season, although even they would have been surprised with the Herald Sun's view on the win:


CARLTON is ready to shake off last year's wooden spoon tag after thrashing Sydney by 40 points in a practice match in Coffs Harbour yesterday.

The victory was new coach Denis Pagan's first at the club and gave an indication they could be one of the season's big improvers.

Roos has been quoted as saying there are too many PS games anyway, and has placed greater emphasis on using them to prepare players individually rather than the overall team structure.

Is anyone worried about Brisbane? Matthews publicly states that he'd prefer to lose to Geelong, they do whilst resting a number of players, yet presumably that is no indication of how successful there season will be.

LondonSwan
2nd March 2003, 12:41 PM
Anyone see the article on Goodes in the Sunday paper - looks like it has always been the plan to have him as a permanent fixture in the ruck. Seems a bit of a waste to me. But he is big, far bigger than I thought, he would intimidate any opposition ruck, not only size but speed and agility to boot.

Ball looks fragile and what is happening with Doyle.

desredandwhite
2nd March 2003, 01:10 PM
Funny thing about Goodes is he seems to be more focused when asked to have a run on the ball. He can only at best providfe a contest to the taller, more experienced specialist ruckmen at ruck contests, but he will smash them to pieces playing around the ground. He's been tried at CHF (with wildly inconsistent results) and at CHB (with equally inconsistent results, and the tendency to run forward to be the leading goalkicker anyway) and his best performances are STILL in the ruck - Probably kickstarted by the game vs North Melbourne in 99 (round 4?) when we lost Stafford early.

Cheer Cheer
2nd March 2003, 01:11 PM
Ball should be back next week and doyle the week after which is good news, its looks like we will have a full list by round 1 , but alas with alot of players with no match practice.

By the way one S.Stevens was in the top 3 best swans players again. Watch this space the kid is going to have a big year.

Mike_B
2nd March 2003, 01:16 PM
I saw the article, but can't seem to find it anywhere online to post here. Interesting that Goodesy himself said he wants to play in the ruck or on the wing. I would hope then that we see him on the wing, as Ball and Doyle would be my top 2 choices for ruckmen, and if Goodesy is playing in the ruck, then it means one or both of those 2 aren't playing.

Mike_B
2nd March 2003, 01:19 PM
Originally posted by Cheer Cheer
By the way one S.Stevens was in the top 3 best swans players again. Watch this space the kid is going to have a big year.

Stevens must have played well considering he would have been off the field for a while at one stage during the game - "Stevens left the ground with blood streaming from his head early in the first quarter and Hall retired with a hip strain after kicking the opening goal. " (full article can be found at http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/articles/2003/03/01/1046407803857.html )

LondonSwan
2nd March 2003, 01:19 PM
Originally posted by Cheer Cheer
Ball should be back next week and doyle the week after which is good news, its looks like we will have a full list by round 1 , but alas with alot of players with no match practice.

By the way one S.Stevens was in the top 3 best swans players again. Watch this space the kid is going to have a big year.

CC Where did you hear that Ball would be back next week ?

Des - Do u know where the Swans are training this week and what days?

Craig
2nd March 2003, 01:22 PM
I definately agree with your comments about Goodes - his best position by far is in the ruck. CHF should be left to Scotty Stevens.

I would like to see Ball fit again. Having him in a forward pocket, swapping with Goodes would be very nice. I'm a big fan of Jason. Yes he had a shocker last year, but in 2001 he was great and really showed what he is capable of.

Not sure on Doyal. He has been injured every year he's been at the club and when he has played he didn't particularly set the world on fire. IMO he is very over rated.

desredandwhite
2nd March 2003, 01:26 PM
Not sure about training in the offseason Andy.. Give the club a call, they are usually pretty good at giving out training times for anyone who's interested.

LondonSwan
2nd March 2003, 01:29 PM
Originally posted by Mike_B
I saw the article, but can't seem to find it anywhere online to post here. Interesting that Goodesy himself said he wants to play in the ruck or on the wing. I would hope then that we see him on the wing, as Ball and Doyle would be my top 2 choices for ruckmen, and if Goodesy is playing in the ruck, then it means one or both of those 2 aren't playing.

Your tabloids all look the same to me - but he was quite clear that he wanted to play in the ruck and expected to. If Sydney are to get a high scorer in the Brownlow - he might be the one to do it.

How good is Doyle, he seems to be in and out a lot - a lot of hype but nothing to suggest he lives up to it.

Mike_B
2nd March 2003, 01:56 PM
IMHO Doyle was really starting to show how good he could be when he got injured in the Burgoyne charge in Rd 15 last year. He could be a VERY good player, but so far in his time with the club, he has never really been able to string a series of games together due to injury. Hopefully this year could result in a change in fortunes for him.

I would prefer to see Ball as the No 1 ruckman with Doyle playing as a tall option up forward and doing some work in the ruck in the latter part of quarters where he can use his height to advantage. IMHO his mobility can be exloited by some of the more mobile ruckman in the comp, hence not playing him in the ruck all the time.

LondonSwan
2nd March 2003, 02:08 PM
Originally posted by Mike_B
IMHO Doyle was really starting to show how good he could be when he got injured in the Burgoyne charge in Rd 15 last year. He could be a VERY good player, but so far in his time with the club, he has never really been able to string a series of games together due to injury. Hopefully this year could result in a change in fortunes for him.

I would prefer to see Ball as the No 1 ruckman with Doyle playing as a tall option up forward and doing some work in the ruck in the latter part of quarters where he can use his height to advantage. IMHO his mobility can be exloited by some of the more mobile ruckman in the comp, hence not playing him in the ruck all the time.

With my limited knowledge, I would agree but it worries me that both are injury prone - this would be more so for Ball than Doyle.

Roos maybe right in trying Goodes out as full time ruck.

gloveski
2nd March 2003, 05:57 PM
I would love to see Goodes playing on a Wing I really think if we could get someone else fit enough to play in the ruck and go with Scotty Stevens at CHF it would be the making of him.

But I still think he will be used as the man to plug gaps week in week out as he is so versatile.And in all honesty with our rate of injuries we will have plenty of gaps to fill

liz
2nd March 2003, 06:00 PM
I'm not convinced by the idea of Goodes as a full-time ruckman. There are games when it will work, but (I suspect) far more when it won't. Against Brisbane last week the best he was able to do was provide body contact against taller opposition. Only a few of times did he get a clear hit-out to Sydney's advantage and those were mostly thumps forward (to a Brisbane midfielder!) His body will take a huge battering playing that role continuously and I fear it will eventually take away from his ability to provide something around the ground.

Against Melbourne in R21 last season it most definitely did work. On several occasions he helped the midfield win the ball from centre bounces and was then in the F50 in a flash to either create or score a goal. Meanwhile the commentators noticed that Jeff White (himself supposedly one of the more mobile rucks) was still in the centre square. But we aren't going to have that many games where our midfield is that dominant, or the opposition ruckman so inept.

I'm also a little dubious if he's being played there because he wants to play there. As a ruck you are often taken to the ball and that maybe why he finds it a relatively easy role to play. But are the coaching team doing the right thing by the team by having him as the ruck. Maybe they should be focussing on teaching him to read the play better so he can fulfill a different role where he would be more damaging - ideally a Kouta circa 2000/1 role) and leave the bulk of the ruckwork to those with the height for it.

On Doyle, he has gradually bulked up since he joined us as a beanpole, so hopefully his body will be less injury prone. The one against Port last year was nothing to do with his body being injury prone - just a reckless act from the opposition. Templeton was a huge rap for Doyle - on more than one occasion he named him as being the most naturally talented player in the squad. Fingers crossed...

Reggi
2nd March 2003, 06:10 PM
Doyle needs to stop jumping so high, as long as he keeps jumping like that he'll keep getting injured.

Agree on Goodes plays better away from the ruck. Hopefully Meiklejohn will come on because you can see that spot being a weakness for us.

SWANSBEST
2nd March 2003, 06:33 PM
Sometime ago I made a comment about Goddes being best suited to a midfield or a ruck rover role .He would be very difficult to match up but I also think that, unfortunately, he will be used to plug holes . I have a bee in my bonnet about Meiklejohn and I used the "ask Roosy" e - mail facility to find out what is going on . He played OK against Essendon and has not been sighted since. Other rookies have been used in the 2 follow up matches and he would have been helpful against Carlton as no regular ruckmen were included.

I do not expect a reply from the club as they advised only a few queries are answered fom the "1000s'' received each week.

NMWBloods
2nd March 2003, 06:43 PM
I think the issue is not that we lost, because it's a pre-season match and who cares. The bigger issue is that we played a team that barely managed to win one game last year and we were flogged. Sure, we had a lot of key players out, however that means that the others in our side were not even up to matching it with, or even coming close to, a pretty ordinary side.

chammond
2nd March 2003, 06:45 PM
I'm in favour of playing Goodes in the ruck, but only in bursts. Playing him on the ball for extended periods just gives bigger, heavier ruckmen time to wear him down.

There's no doubt in my mind that Goodes' rucking style seriously confuses some teams. In particular, rucks like Allan and White, who pride themselves on their mobility, are bemused by having Goodes continually beat them to the ball, and then sprint away from them.

If Roos is able to rotate Ball and Doyle between ruck and forward line, and use Goodes in the ruck in bursts to upset the rhythm of the opposition, the Swans could do some major damage this year.

liz
2nd March 2003, 06:57 PM
Originally posted by NMWBloods
I think the issue is not that we lost, because it's a pre-season match and who cares. The bigger issue is that we played a team that barely managed to win one game last year and we were flogged.

Agree to a point - but one of the reasons Carlton were so bad last year was because they had lots of injuries to key players. Their list isn't that much worse - if any - than that of probably 10-12 other teams, including ours. The worrying sign for theirs (and still ours) is how many of their better players are the veterans. Even having lost Schwatta, Dunks and PK from last year, we're faced with the fact our 3 best and most consistent players are Willo, Maxie and Cressa. We can only hope the kids will turn out alright. Carlton's problem is more severe, I suspect, with Ratten, Kouta, Hickmott, McKay, Martyn, McKernan, Manton all 30 or very close to it. I also think they have more out-and-out duds than we do in their mid-aged player group. And of course limited access to the best kids for a while won't help their cause.

But back to yesterday, they did have a much stronger squad playing than we did, and 40 points isn't really much in the overall scheme of things. When one team gets on top it is pretty easy for the score to blow out a bit. Certainly no reason to panic, unless they are able to repeat the performance come March 29.

NMWBloods
2nd March 2003, 07:02 PM
No - I agree not a time to panic, just some mild concerns. I think this is a big year for our side to see if that middle group of players can stand up and replace the veterans who have left or will do so soonish.

LondonSwan
2nd March 2003, 08:50 PM
Originally posted by SWANSBEST
[
I do not expect a reply from the club as they advised only a few queries are answered fom the "1000s'' received each week. [/B]

I must have been one of the lucky ones then.

With state of the side - you arent going to have a choice - if Ball fails to come up - Goodes has got to do it - who else can.

desredandwhite
2nd March 2003, 08:57 PM
Originally posted by LondonSwan
Goodes has got to do it - who else can.

Amon Buchanan? :D

Or probably Scott Stevens, Demon Ruckman (tm).

In a sense, this is not something we're wholly unfamiliar with, sad as it sounds. Barry Hall and Andrew Dunkley have been doing ruckwork when the ball is down their end, and now I expect Stevens and Schauble to do a little too. As long as we can have someone provide a contest in the middle, I think we can cover the ends (though it's not ideal)

LondonSwan
2nd March 2003, 09:05 PM
Originally posted by desredandwhite
Amon Buchanan? :D

Or probably Scott Stevens, Demon Ruckman (tm).

In a sense, this is not something we're wholly unfamiliar with, sad as it sounds. Barry Hall and Andrew Dunkley have been doing ruckwork when the ball is down their end, and now I expect Stevens and Schauble to do a little too. As long as we can have someone provide a contest in the middle, I think we can cover the ends (though it's not ideal)

Crikey- you wouldnt put Barry Hall in the ruck would you - they would be asking for trouble. Stevens - yes I can see that but Schauble - DRW please explain.

NMWBloods
2nd March 2003, 09:21 PM
Originally posted by LondonSwan
Crikey- you wouldnt put Barry Hall in the ruck would you - they would be asking for trouble. Stevens - yes I can see that but Schauble - DRW please explain.

Why would either of these be a problem? In the backline, you could also use Saddington.

In any case, I still believe that the ability to have talls to mark and provide a contest around the ground, and also having a good midfield, is more important than a big ruckman.

Dpw
2nd March 2003, 09:40 PM
Originally posted by desredandwhite
Amon Buchanan? :D

Or probably Scott Stevens, Demon Ruckman (tm).

In a sense, this is not something we're wholly unfamiliar with, sad as it sounds. Barry Hall and Andrew Dunkley have been doing ruckwork when the ball is down their end, and now I expect Stevens and Schauble to do a little too. As long as we can have someone provide a contest in the middle, I think we can cover the ends (though it's not ideal)

Steven's rucking for Perth, must of been in the two's Des because I sure don't recall seeing him playing there.

desredandwhite
2nd March 2003, 09:42 PM
the first time I saw Scotty in the ruck was last week vs Brisbane!! I think Roosy said during the week "the last time he rucked was in Auskick", re: throwing him in there ;)

I suspect it's an experiment, not much more - though he may be used in a fill in role ocassionally.

liz
2nd March 2003, 11:32 PM
I could have sworn I saw Powell doing ruckwork last weekend against Brisbane. Were my eyes deceiving me?

Rizzo
3rd March 2003, 11:16 AM
The report I read said that when Hall went off the ground with his hip injury the scoring dried up. With Stevens in the ruck who did we have in the forward line?