Lewis Roberts-Thompson, You Star!

[adnar]

I was quite sceptical when I saw LRT get tossed in the ruck because none of his previous performances in that position where terribly great. He really played well tonight, even starting in the ruck in the last quarter and repaying Roos faith. Although I wouldn't want him as my starting ruckman every week he showed he can really ad another dimension.

[C-Train]

Originally posted by adnar
I was quite sceptical when I saw LRT get tossed in the ruck because none of his previous performances in that position where terribly great. He really played well tonight, even starting in the ruck in the last quarter and repaying Roos faith. Although I wouldn't want him as my starting ruckman every week he showed he can really ad another dimension.

he was great tonight... well done Lewis

[shole]

ditto
he seems to play a bit smarter these days
and he was much better than Torture :p

[Thunder Shaker]

Agreed, I think LRT played very well in the ruck. He did ruck at under-18 level so it's not like he hasn't done it before.

[ugg]

Nothing sort of sensational. Totally nullified Longmuir who was on top of Jolly and I would attribute his performance as the turning point of the game.

It will be interesting to see if they continue with this setup as he's also an important member of the backline.

[elroy67]

Originally posted by ugg
Nothing sort of sensational. Totally nullified Longmuir who was on top of Jolly and I would attribute his performance as the turning point of the game.

It will be interesting to see if they continue with this setup as he's also an important member of the backline.

If you allow LRT to play as the 2nd ruck, it surely keeps the door open for Vogels as a tall defender.

[The Big Cat]

LRT turned the game. LRT=> clearances

[liz]

Can we clone him?

[satchmopugdog]

Are there enough bad hairdressers in Sydney to cope with that?

[ScottH]

Originally posted by liz
Can we clone him? He's not that attractive , liz!!

[NMWBloods]

I thought he was very good, but I think "star" is a bit over the top. The stats are interesting.

LRT 10 disp, 2 marks, 8 HO

Jolly 6 disp, 3 marks, 27 HO

Longmuir 13 disp, 4 marks, 16 HO

Polack 9 disp, 3 marks, 9 HO

[ScottH]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
I thought he was very good, but I think "star" is a bit over the top. The stats are interesting.

LRT 10 disp, 2 marks, 8 HO

Jolly 6 disp, 3 marks, 27 HO

Longmuir 13 disp, 4 marks, 16 HO

Polack 9 disp, 3 marks, 9 HO -ve!!

[ugg]

A statistic I'd like to see is the clearances when LRT was on/off the ruck. I think you underestimate the impact he had when he went on in the 3rd. Jolly was being outpointed by Longmuir and LRT not only stemmed the flow but delivered some clearances our way. He did so well that he started the 4th quarter as well.

[Nico]

Originally posted by elroy67
If you allow LRT to play as the 2nd ruck, it surely keeps the door open for Vogels as a tall defender.

Sorry only as a tall forward. Knows how to create and kick a goal.

[Nico]

27 hitouts for Jolly, none effective. His second efforts in the centre were appalling. Doesn't get off the ground.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Nico
27 hitouts for Jolly, none effective. His second efforts in the centre were appalling. Doesn't get off the ground. I think you exaggerate in the same way as this thread title is an exaggeration.

LRT was very good and Jolly was disappointing.

[elroy67]

Originally posted by Nico
Sorry only as a tall forward. Knows how to create and kick a goal.

Yes very good in front of goal, but will get more game time as a defender, and I see him in much the same vein as Adam Hunter for the weagles.

[Nico]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
I think you exaggerate in the same way as this thread title is an exaggeration.

LRT was very good and Jolly was disappointing.

I guess we cant agree all the time NMW.

[barry]

Double positive.

LRT had a great game as ruck. He's still a bit short for long term solution, but if he can string a few games together there I'll be happy. BTW, he played a great game as fill in ruck in that Adelaide final we won against Port a few years back.

But the even greater positive was Vogels at CHB (or somewhere around there). Played with poise and assertiveness. Something this board has long called for and worked really well.

All new comers to the team player well. Moore looked a little out of touch but certainly got near the ball enough. Beats me why Matthews, Chambers, and co were getting games ahead of these guys.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by Nico
I guess we cant agree all the time NMW. No need to.

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by barry
BTW, he played a great game as fill in ruck in that Adelaide final we won against Port a few years back.
'Great' is possibly also an exaggeration. He had 3 hitouts.


All new comers to the team player well. Moore looked a little out of touch but certainly got near the ball enough. Beats It's certainly tough for these guys to come up from that crappy league to play in the AFL. Hopefully they get given some time to get used to the pace of AFL.

[barry]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
[B]'Great' is possibly also an exaggeration. He had 3 hitouts.



A misleading stat if ever there was one. In the context of the game it was definately a great performance.

[NMWBloods]

Meh - I would have said 'handy', to provide a contest and to give Goodes a rest.

[barry]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
Meh - I would have said 'handy', to provide a contest and to give Goodes a rest.

'Meh' back at ya.

;) ;)

[NMWBloods]

Originally posted by barry
'Meh' back at ya.

;) ;) Meh - different opinions! :)

[Mike_B]

The big difference here is the balance we get with Vogels in for Chambers and LRT playing in the ruck. LRT is far more mobile and apart from getting a few crucial hitouts and actually making a contest at the ruck, he is capable of winning the ball himself whereas Chambers is lucky to move again. Meanwhile Vogels can cover at CHB for LRT when he moves into the ruck.

A big positive to come out of tonight's game, but it will be interesting to see what the approach is for next week against more recognised ruckmen than Longmuir and Polak.

[nomae]

great game lewie!!! best ive seen him play since..well... perhaps the GF or maybe ever. hopefully he can continue his good form, leave him as the 2nd ruckman and we can leave vogels in the backline to replace him. vogels has good skills which we need in the backline, but the best thing is... no torture! :p

[wyatt]

Throwing Lewie into the ruck in the 3rd quarter was the turning point of the game. Whilst he probably had the same number of hit outs as his opponent(s), it was his second and third efforts that were so impressive. At about the halfway point in the 4th quarter I think it was Malcolm Blight who mentioned that the clearances were something like 14-3 in the Swans favour. Up until LRT going into the ruck we were getting absolutely hammered at the clearances. This was an experiment from the coach that certainly paid off and something to consider more in the future - especially with Vogels looking fairly poised in the backline (don't know if he can take on the monster CHFs [e.g.Brown] but I'd put him up against most others).

[Treefrog]

Originally posted by elroy67
Yes very good in front of goal, but will get more game time as a defender, and I see him in much the same vein as Adam Hunter for the weagles.

As long as he doesn't go the Adam Hunter mullet!

[hammo]

That was LRT's best game of the year. He was great in the ruck.

[BigBadBarryNo1]

Although I've been worried about Kirk / Bolton in the clearances for some time now, I really think that LRT made up for that in doing a "Goodesy-style ruck / rover" clearance in the 3rd quarter. It allowed Goodesy to run around the ground too. Certainly the losses in the clearances made Dockers get into the ruck and stop their stupid flooding which was stuffing up our kicking. Add on the fact that our forwards stopped playing around with the ball inside 50m arc by the 4th quarter we figured out a way to crack it back.

Crows and Eagles of course will be an entirely different story....

[Ajn]

Originally posted by hammo
That was LRT's best game of the year. He was great in the ruck.

Amazing what heart and passion can achieve for lack of skill. 10/10 LRT

[Nolie]

Originally posted by elroy67
If you allow LRT to play as the 2nd ruck, it surely keeps the door open for Vogels as a tall defender.

Chuck Barry Hall in the backline. i will cop a roasting here but I reckon he is next to useless in a one on one marking contest - but he is a god nullifier. That is everytime he goes for a mark it goes to ground. Perfect back man stuff. Put Vogels up forward.

[punter257]

LRT looked like polly farmer compared to torture :eek:

but credit where credit is due - played very well at a crucial point in the game and helped us around the stoppages

[punter257]

Originally posted by Nolie
Chuck Barry Hall in the backline. i will cop a roasting here but I reckon he is next to useless in a one on one marking contest - but he is a god nullifier. That is everytime he goes for a mark it goes to ground. Perfect back man stuff. Put Vogels up forward.

you can't be serious............

:confused:

[Carolyn]

Could LRT possibly be our next No. 1 ruckman?:eek:

[DST]

LRT's game was significant last night and one that can not be gleaned from just stat's.

Up until LRT went onto the ball we were getting smashed in the clearances at the feet of the ruckman. Both Krik & J Bolton were just not able to win the usual contested ball that they do and as a result Freo were winning those clearnaces we have become famous for (much like last week against the Pies).

While LRT didn't really get a clean hit out to advantage, when the ball hit the deck he provided a strong contest on the ground and helped get the ball moving our way.

Really was a case of stats being misleading.

DST
:D

[NMWBloods]

No doubt it turned, but I also think better work from the midfielders in clearances, plus also Freo's midfielders just stopping, were also factors that only partly relate to LRT's good work.

[SimonH]

1. The #1 player who seems to get our stoppage clearances when LRT is rucking is... LRT! Had an uncanny ability last night to get his own ball, and quite simply works harder than other ruckmen, who go for the hitout and then drop back, thinking, 'Right, that's my job done then'.

2. Credit where it's due for Roos. When I saw that LRT was our second ruck I thought it was worrying, bordering on suicidal: but it turned out to be a masterstroke.

[NMWBloods]

According to the stats he had 3 clearances, same as Jolly.

[Ruck'n'Roll]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
I thought he was very good, but I think "star" is a bit over the top. The stats are interesting.
Leaving aside what picture the stats do, or do not, reveal. It was a good effort by LRT (didn't he get a rising star nomination in the ruck?) and good move by Roos.
The change from a traditional meat-axe ruckman (there is no criticism in that epithet) to a more mobile leaping ruckman is often very effective. It should go without saying that we need to play 2 ruckmen, but I believe that contrasting styles is the best option (it can confuse your grass burners but not as much as theres).

This week against Adelaide we face a forwad line that may contain Riccuito, Hentschell, Burton and possibly McGregor. If Leo, B2, Dempster and Vogels repectively can handle them ~ then the LRT ruck experiment can continue against the crows 2 big ruckmen.

[ScottH]

Originally posted by NMWBloods
According to the stats he had 3 clearances, same as Jolly. The stats wouldn't count the bullocking work done to get the ball out of a pack situatuation.

[Rizzo]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/afl/accidental-ruckman-turns-hero/2006/07/02/1151778813002.html

...when coach Paul Roos turned to Roberts-Thomson at three-quarter time on Saturday and asked if he could take the place of Darren Jolly in the ruck, the 22-year-old told the coach: "Oh, can you put Jolly in?".

Roos said: "I said OK, but then I think he remembered who he was talking to and he said: 'Oh no, no, I'm right, I'm right'.

[Missy]

lol...its such an LR thing to say. Geez he's a dork. How can you not love him?;)