Have been casting an eye over the ruck candidates for this season, looking at established set-and-forget players, along with rookies who might get a run. There are quite a few surprises, which might translate into SC opportunity. The Doggies have only one established ruckman, Big Will, while others share the load. Dogs must be vulnerable if Will goes down.



Four teams have only 3 ruckman, being Richmond, Essendon, Collingwood and Port. Richmond the interesting case with the Mullet not making a promising debut to 2014 due to injury. He had a niggle for much of last year as well. The other two are Stephenson and Hampson, awkward mid-pricers and neither guaranteed, although clearly both were recruited as insurance, letting Derickx go in the process. Essendon also interesting, with Ryder, Bellchambers and Thurlow. BC currently injured, so Thurlow getting a bit of a look in. He is of particular interest in SC as he has DPP with FWD - handy if you have Dixon as insurance for Sandi. But can he hold his spot when BC returns? At Port, Lobbe clearly the No. 1 ruck, while Redden is injured and Renouf, well, Renouf is Renouf. Port have a number of players including the Hoff and Trengove who can back up in the ruck. Collingwood have Grundy, Hudson and Witts. Seems likely Grundy will take the load, Hudson will be insurance and Witts might get a bit of game time.



West Coast, Carlton, Adelaide, Geelong and the Saints have 4 apiece. West Coast have the pairing of Cox and NicNat. While the latter has a few niggles, Lycett is getting some game time and not doing too badly. However, his job security is zero if NicNat is fit. Carlton have solid ruck stocks, but seem to have trouble making up their mind where to play them. Warnock is a very good tap ruckman, while Kreuzer is more mobile around the ground. Rowe can also play forward and Wood has been showing a bit with limited opportunities. Unless you are a Kreuzer-lover, I would stay away until they figure it all out. The Crows have Sauce, and not much else. I can't find any love for McKernan as a ruckman, Angus has been a bad buy and Osborn is way back in the pack. If you believe the hype that Sauce is back to form, then he will get a lot of TOG. At the Cats, with Vardy gone for the season, it seems that Hamish might arise from the grave - or at least Geelong and Walesy hope he will. Taking the No. 1 mantle, he would haveSimpson and Blicavs as back-up. Both awkwardly priced and no DPP joy. The Saints are a curious case. Pierce and Holmes appear too far back to get a look in, leaving Hickey and Longer. Word from Morrabbin is that Hickey has more than his nose in front at the moment, although Longer is likely to get runs throughout the year, depending on opponents. Hickey becomes a tempting R2.



At North you have Goldmine, followed by Daw and Currie. It will be interesting to monitor how North develop Magic and it might spell opportunity for Currie as the back-up ruckman. He can ruck and really all the hoopla around Magic has been a bit of a distraction. There is also Wallace and Brown, who are unlikely to get a look in this year.



At Brisbane you have the Burger who, if he can stay fit for the year, is not a bad POD at R1. I would suspect that Michael and Smith will be given time to develop and backup for the Burger is more likely to come from Martin than West at this stage.



Freo have ruck riches, some of whom must end up on the table next year. In order they have, Sandilands, Clarke, Griffin, Hannath, Moller and Apeness. Based on NAB form, Sandi will be the No.1 ruck choice this year, in both Freo and SC. Clarke and Griffin would likely be starting ruckmen at any other club. Good riches to have. Hannath has potential, while Moller and Apeness unlikely to be SC relevant at this stage.



Hawthorn an interesting case, with many jumping on the McEvoy train. It seems the Hawks will play him, and play Hale up forward as often as they can. Both their numbers have never been high enough for me to consider at R1. Grimley has shown a bit, mostly up forward and has a good record at Box Hill. One to watch should anything befall McEvoy/Hale. From there it is Ceglar and Lowdon, both needing some time.



The Giants have an impressive line-up, but not great for SC. Mummy will hold the No. 1 spot for as long as he can play, while Giles will be the alternate. Further down you have Phillips, who has shown enough to suggest he will be a No. 1 ruckman somewhere in the future. Following this trio you have developers Downie and Lobb.



Gold Coast also well endowed, having Nicholls, Dixon, Smith, Gorringe and Leslie. Four ruckmen with game time under their belts. Nicholls was quite the revelation last year. GC can afford to play Dixon up forward, but will they? Not a lot for SC here, but Dixon does have DPP.



Melbourne a little bit similar to GC in that they have got game time into four of their rucks, all of whom are tempting if you are chasing that POD. They have Jamar, Spencer, Gawn, Fitzpatrick and King. One or two of those may spend most time forward, particularly Gawn. Can The Russian regain form?



Sydney intriguing. Willing to roll the dice, release Mummy and back-in the Canadian. Pyke has shown enough that he deserves the No. 1 mantle. It is what comes after that is of interest for SC. First it was Nankervis, then it was Naismith and now it seems to be Derickx (Mitchell at the back of the pack). Getting it right out of these 3 will be a boon for your SC bench. Hopefully the remaining practice match will give some indication, but many are already jumping on the Derickx band wagon (who has some experience from the magoos at Richmond).



So, the choices seem to be the Minson/Sandi or the Goldstein/Sandi combination for R1/R2, while R3/R4 remain a little clouded. Set and forget? I think not. The chances of NicNat and MacIntosh going big will always be there to tempt. And don't be in the least surprised if Big Cox bites us all on the bum for not having faith. These are observations and not gospel, but hopefully will help you in making your choice.