Longmire press conference at 2pm

[Ludwig]

I hope that Longmire was foxing when he said that Tippett would become a back-up ruck when he returns from injury. If that happens, we'll get little return on Tippett's full forward ability for which we've invested heavily.
Tippett has chronic knee tendinitis. Its common name is Jumper's Knee, as it's an over-use injury caused by the stress of jumping and landing. That Tippett's tendinitis should have reached stage 3, after a relative handful of games following a long period of rest and presumably treatment, is a real concern.
Rucking is out of the question. It would also be smart to put more emphasis on being a leading rather than simply a contested marking full forward. That, of course, would require our mids to stop simply bombing the ball in and instead hitting a bloke on the chest.
Since Tippett isn't a ruck option, the question becomes, who is? Obviously, not LRT.

I think this is jumping to a conclusion that is not all that clear. We don't know what kind of knee tendinitis Tippett has, and if it will effect his rucking or even that it's a chronic condition.

If Tippett can't ruck, we will have some problems with structure, because we will have too many talls in the team when everyone is fit. Tippett will push out LRT from the 22. If we want to play another ruckman, a midfielder might have to go, or perhaps Rohan. I don't think it will happen. I think we will see Sam Reid or even Franklin ruck before that happens.

[vincere]

I hope you're right that Tippett's tendinitis isn't acute but the signs aren't good. If it was stage 2, he'd be experiencing pain during and after playing but would be able to perform satisfactorily. He's suffered this injury after a dozen games, following a long lay off, and his return, after six months off, is still uncertain.
I appreciate the impact on team structure if Tippett doesn't ruck, but that impact will be much greater if he's unable to play because he was required to ruck on top of the demands of full forward.