** We know we have these topics in forum but thought it would be better to get post on main page to try bring some more discussion on each position. They seem to get lost in forum. Will be posting other positions over next few days **

The rucks are possibly the biggest talking point of supercoach this year, with what appears to be abundance of choice. Not anymore is there your stock standard Cox/Sandi ruck combination that everyone locked in. Last year saw the emergence of the new brigade.

One thing to keep in mind when selecting your rucks is the fact last year their scoring got a little tweak, with hit outs to advantage becoming a major player. Rucks scores across the board seemed to be inflated by about 15-20 points, whether this was due to new points or fact the AFL sub rule forced ruckman to spend more time on the ground as clubs didn’t want to waste precious interchange spot on one of their big men.

One of the big talking points amongst supercoachers this preseason has been whether you run a 2 premium & 2 rookie ruckline, or you take bit of risk and run 1 premium & 3 rookies. Or if you’re really brave you could always run 1 midpricer & 3 rookies!

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The popular option (&amp; most safe) is to run 2 premiums, eg 2 of Sandilands/McEvoy/Mumford/Cox/ Leuenburger/Goldstein and then 2 rookies, which should be Giles &amp; Stephenson this year.

But there has been lot talk about running one of those “premiums” and spend the $400K+ elsewhere by running Giles as your second ruck. This theory allows you to upgrade midpricers elsewhere to top premiums, or say a Gibbs/Thompson/Watson/Hodge to a super premium like Swan/Ablett/Pendlebury. A lot people will say you will lose points doing this, but it all comes down to how you spend the extra cash. Use it wisely and you have some massive upside to your team. Breaking it down most people will start about 5 or 6 rookies on field, so you all Giles has to do is beat whoever would be your 5th-6th mid to come out in front. With the extra points that seem to be added to rucks last year its quite easy that Giles will average min 70, which is more then likely more then any of your other rookies.

Obviously there is lot risk and you could destroy your season within a few weeks, but to win it you have to think outside the box. Walsey will be going over the negatives to this in the comments! (ill also add some extra to it at some stage as I’m sure I’m forgetting something &amp;/or not explaining it propely)

Before I get onto break down of few of the rucks, ill just explain why some players ive classified as a “premium”. I cant bring myself to rate players as “premium” after 1 breakout season, I think to be true “premium” you need min 2 seasons of 90 or 100+ seasons in the bag. I think there is just as much risk picking a McEvoy/Burger/Goldy as there is picking a midpricer as they can easily be one season wonders!


ELITE

Dean Cox – 122, 88, 111, 112, 98, 99, 108

Is the Big Cox overpriced? I believe so, when you take into account before 2011 the highest ever average by ruckman was Sandilands in 2012 with 114. Keep in mind he will turn 31 during 2012 and has had been hampered by injury in recent times. Then there is the Nic Nat problem, how much game time will he pinch off him this year? If Cox scores 115 for first 10 rounds leading into his Round 11 bye, he will bottom out $572K which is almost 100K cheaper then his starting price. Looks to be a tasty upgrade option. But then there is the fact he is a Supercoach legend, one of the best we have ever seen and he did dominate the opening round of the NAB Cup!

Aaron Sandilands – 111, 114, 101, 93

Interesting when looking at Sandilands stats last year, before his injury during round 9 (where he still scored 113 &amp; included in this stat) he was averaging 121.25. He then next played in Round 14 for a massive 44 before sitting out until final 4 games. Take out his 44 and he averaged 116 for the season, so considering he is priced at only 111 he appears to be an absolute bargain.

Shane Mumford – 113 &amp; 93

Mummy is possibly the best option this year, is relatively cheap &amp; has proven he can do it over couple years. If he can curb his anger problems and stop getting stupid suspensions he would be lock in almost every team. He has everything going for him, is young, built like a tank and is one best tap ruckman in league.

“PREMIUM”

Todd Goldstein – 113, 65

A breakout 2011 saw his average climb an incredible 48 points due to Goldy becoming the Roos number 1 ruck and had no real opposition for the spot due to McIntosh spending fair amount of season injured. But heading into 2012 we see HMac &amp; Goldy both fit and firing and their coach coming out and saying the 3 big men (Petrie, Goldy, HMac) can all play in one side. What does this mean for Goldstein? Well for 1 you can rest assured he will be sharing the ruck duties with McIntosh and this in turn could potentially have big impact on his output. Would probably recommend stearing clear and having him as upgrade target during the year after having plenty time to see his actual role and how they will all work together.

Matthew Leuenburger – 102, 69

Ben Hudson, that is name that has put concern in potential owners of the Burger. Will he play more then just backup to Burger or will he just be on their list running around in reserves as backup if he goes down? Had 33 point increase in his scores last year but that was as sole ruckman. Watch closely over preseason and try get gauge on Hudsons role before committing.

Ben McEvoy – 101, 63

Fair to say I was Macca’s biggest fan before last season, telling everyone to get onboard at ridiculously cheap price. Is once again StKilda’s only ruckman so will be playing every week and playing most minutes every match. His ruckwork isn’t the greatest but he has said he’s working hard on that this preseason. His biggest strength is his endurance and skills around the ground. McEvoy was 3rd in AFL last year for contested marks. Definitely one to keep consider strongly, although im staying away this year. (just a gut feel, although hope im wrong!)

“POTENTIAL BREAKOUT”

Mathew Kruezar is priced at just over $400K and if his performance in last weeks Intra Club (even if it was against their reserves) is anything to go by then he is set for big year. Word from BlueLand is he dominated. He should have no troubles with knee injury from couple years ago, and he went at #1 for reason. Only concern is fact Carlton have about 100 different ruckman on their list. Who will play as main ruck? Warnock, Hampson or Kruezar?

Zac Smith is priced same as Kruezar and for mine was story of 2011. Is quite possibly reason so many are thinking about running a rookie in rucks this year. Averaged 80 in his first year and will be number 1 ruck yet again. Can he take his game to another level? Having another preseason under his belt will help Zac immensely as last season he tired towards end of the year, which looking at stats is clear as day!

Rounds 1-12 averaged 90

Round 14-25 averaged 66

This also shows that he has enormous growth in his scoring available. Personally think he is worth taking the gamble with, and offers more value then Kruezar/HMac.

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There are plenty of other breakout players, eg McIntosh, Jacobs &amp; Nic Nat but thought id concentrate on a handful and let you guys post things as to why you think other guys are good options, or post why you don’t think they are aswell.

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