Hit Outs

[B.M]

77 to 19

Centre Clearances
9 to 9

Stoppage Coearance
37 to 27

Won by 3 goals (should’ve been 6 or 7 but for some putrid kicking)

In the second half the HO numbers were even more damning- we won the half by 5 goals
And it’s not if they had no decent inside mids either (Kelly, Taranto, Ward, T Green)

[Saintmatt]

Preuss was terrible. To have that height and size advantage and just bash it forward with no ruck craft was mindless garbage. Imagine Ryder in that situation? Our mids would’ve been vomiting all night from all the leather Ryder palmed down their throats.

[StPeter]

Maybe Grant Thomas had it right about hit outs and knock ruckmen being over-rated.

[Trixilver]

As soon as Marshall went off we actually got a run on and hit the front

[Wayne42]

The GWS ruckmen's hit outs went to no one most of the time.
Braydon Preuss didn't have a clue where the ball was going when he won the ruck contest.

Good tap ruckmen who can tap the ball to a teammate seem to be rare. Teams have that have one are very fortunate.

[Jacks Back]

What sort of ruckman is Max Heath - Tap or knock?

[bigcarl]

Good tap ruckmen who can tap the ball to a teammate seem to be rare. Teams have that have one are very fortunate.

Yes, we’re lucky to have Ryder, that’s for sure.

[B.M]

Do you reckon our good patch in the third was in anyway related to the ruck situation?

We dominated the first 20 mins of Q1 with Marshall - who at that stage was BOG

Point I’m making
Hit Outs are ridiculously overrated

Clearances are somewhat important (especially in a stoppage game)

Defence = critical
for two reasons 1) stops the opposition scoring 2) offensive transition comes off the back of defensive turnover

Ball movement = very important
Knowing when to pull the trigger and when to possess

[Sainter_Dad]

Point I’m making
Hit Outs are ridiculously overrated

Point myself, and others, are making

Hit Outs to open space/contested ball are overrated
Hit Outs to advantage - ie straight down the throat of a running mid are gold

We should have been smashed out of the middle last night - if the ruckman was any good. Their mids should have been tearing up any stoppages.

I was concerned going into last nights game with only Marshall v Pruess and Flynn
Turns out that GWS thought that as they were only rucking against Battle and Steele all they had to do was thump it forward - gentle taps to advantage would have torn our heart out

Big men are good
Smart Big Men (Paddy, RoMa, Gawn) are GOLD
Dumb Big men are a liability and a clever, bigger mid (ala Battle) are better.

The clearances clearly showed this after 1/2 time.

[The_Dud]

Hitouts from Marshall and Preuss are different to those from Paddy and Gawn.

Paddy will make a big difference for us in the middle when he comes back.

[perfectionist]

Anyone who thinks hitouts are irrelevant should watch the last five minutes of the third quarter or the first five minutes of the final quarter of the 2021 GF. But it takes two to tango. The best ruckman in the world can't make up for dud midfielders. That is, the midfielder has to know what is about to happen and time his run to perfection. He also needs to trick his opponent if he is being tagged, in In other words - force himself onto the game and dominate. As other, have noted, Paddy and Max Gawn possess these qualities better than most others.

[skeptic]

I don’t think anyone has ever argued the the genetic statistic of hit outs is an important

As per usual, there’s responding to comments that were made by no one by the OP

What ppl tend to notice is when a ruckman is able to guide the ball down to team mate or set up a good play from the bounce.

It’s not a huge part of the game but an elite ruck like Ryder is prone to setting up a goal or 2 a game this way. Marshall is more on the department of just trying to stop his opponent from doing that

The GWS rucks really failed to capitalise on their height advantage with most of us noting that Battle was more influential than his opponents

[saintsRrising]

The stupidity of GWS in the ruck last night was amazing.

[meher baba]

Maybe Grant Thomas had it right about hit outs and knock ruckmen being over-rated.

“Tap ruckmen” is what he called them.

He was mostly right about this but, as Paddy has shown, a highly skilled tap ruckman gives an advantage. And of course Paddy is so much more besides.

[CQ SAINT]

If you have a dominant tap ruckman, you still need dominant inside mids to take full advantage.

[B.M]

Didn’t realise Paddy was Polly Farmer like?

[B.M]

Are the GWS mids no good?

Ward
Kelly
Taranto
Green

Pretty good players IMO

When the hit out occurs, it’s still 3 vs 3 even if the Ho is to advantage (which only 20-25% are) you still have an opponent to beat.

[saynta]

Are the GWS mids no good?

Ward
Kelly
Taranto
Green

Pretty good players IMO

When the hit out occurs, it’s still 3 vs 3 even if the Ho is to advantage (which only 20-25% are) you still have an opponent to beat.

No, they are good, it's just because ours are better. Better than any of the nuff nuff's in the general footballing media were prepared to accept or acknowledge. That f*** wit Wilson who tipped the Saints to finish in the last four on the ladder even asked her equally ignorant panel members why the saints were winning, as she"failed to see this coming".