Get Rucked: What’s the best ruck combo?
One of the biggest challenges we face in this pre-season is finding a good ruck combo. We used to lock in Cox, find a bit of value and have two rookies who are playing on the bench. Last year I started with Cox, McIntosh, Jacobs and Spencer. That would have been a very common ruck structure. But things aren’t that easy this year.
We’re going to try to find the right combo for you this year. But first, you want to limit your spending on the bench. I don’t think you really want to be going in thinking ‘what if one of my rucks is injured’ and wanting ‘decent’ cover for them. A heartbeat is fine. That’s just someone who is playing… and maybe getting you a 40 point score is enough!
You’ve got to think about what your strategy is here. Do you want to just lock and leave your rucks? Hopefully having two dudes that should be in the top 3 or 4 ruckman at the end of the year? Or do you want to chase some value and hope they could be a keeper or look to upgrade mid-season?
The Bench.
Let’s start with locking our bench in. At the moment everyone is all over Matthew Lobbe ($94,500) from Port Adelaide as a bench ruckman. Well, why wouldn’t we be? He should be right for games with Lade gone now. Also, Robert Warnock ($101,800) being priced as he is will be another decent bet on the bench. Not much more than base price. These will be the bench rucks of the following combo’s. Other guys to think about are Jackson Trengove ($94,500) from Port. However, he is available as a defender also… which could be more valuable than as a ruck bench. Wayde Skipper ($95,800) was picked up by the Hawks this year and they will probably need him. Their rucks are shot! Even Chop’s mate Brent Renouf (from “Renouf, Renouf, Renouf is on Fire” fame – which came true in this off season) isn’t having the best pre-season. Trent West ($101,500) is also pretty cheap. He is behind Brad Ottens and Mark Blake at the Cats though. I personally wouldn’t look outside of these guys (or this price range) to limit that spending.
The WA Combo
Dean Cox ($471,500)
Aaron Sandilands ($419,800)
Robert Warnock ($101,800)
Matthew Lobbe ($94,500)
TOTAL: $1,087,600
It’s a pretty safe bet that these two blokes will be the top two rucks this year. Then there are the ‘buts’. I think Sandi will at least maintain his average if not improve it, but Big Cox, I’m not too sure about. His body isn’t 100% and had a couple of niggles this pre-season and it will be tough to back up a 107 average – especially playing 22 games.
The McValue Premo Ruck Combo
Aaron Sandilands ($419,800)
Hamish McIntosh ($396,300)
Robert Warnock ($101,800)
Matthew Lobbe ($94,500)
TOTAL: $1,012,400
Hmac proved himself to be a very handy DTer last year. He played all 22 games with a great return of over 100. Those that had him would have loved what he did for his price. Pretty consistent and very durable. I can’t see his numbers being any worse. And you’re saving about $75K by picking the Kangaroos instead of the Cox and most likely having the 2nd and 3rd highest scoring ruckmen for the year.
The Young Guns Combo
Matthew Kreuzer ($330,500)
Kurt Tippet ($319,400)
Robert Warnock ($101,800)
Matthew Lobbe ($94,500)
TOTAL: $846,200
This would be a value keeper combo where you should find some upside in both of these players and at a price tag that is affordable. That couple of hundred thousand dollars you will save there could be very hand elsewhere. And both of these dudes played 22 games last year and are in improving teams. Get on!
The Old Faithful Combo
Darren Jolly ($381,500)
Dean Brogan ($315,900)
Robert Warnock ($101,800)
Matthew Lobbe ($94,500)
TOTAL: $893,700
Jolly is a gun, no doubt about that. In a better team, will we see better output? He will be the #1 ruckman at the Magpies now and they are a top 4 team. Nice and consistent too – not a lot of low scores. Old man Dean Brogan will be the #1 ruckman at Port and with more opportunity should knock out a better average with increased TOG. Oh, and don’t forget that traditionally ruckmen do get better with age – peaking in the late 20’s.
The Cheap Returning from Injury Combo
Brad Ottens ($239,000)
David Hille ($237,300)
Robert Warnock ($101,800)
Matthew Lobbe ($94,500)
TOTAL: $672,600
Risky, risky, risky. You probably couldn’t do this combo, but of them in your team will offer heaps of value. Hille was the 2nd best ruckman in ‘08 but started like shit before a knee injury limited him to 5 games. So being priced in the 50’s is well below his ceiling. Brad Ottens is the same. He has been an 80+ averager in the past, but playing out 22 games has been an issue for the big Cat.
The Keeper and Upgrader Combo
Aaron Sandilands ($419,500)
Jamie Charman ($169,900)
Robert Warnock ($101,800)
Matthew Lobbe ($94,500)
TOTAL: $785,700
If you haven’t guessed it already, Sandi looks pretty tasty to me. I reckon he will figure in a few of my combos I will look at up until the first lockout. But look at someone like Jamie Charman as your #2. He is very cheap and should get game time (monitor NAB games). In a perfect world, he would have his 70-odd average and I would turn him into Coxy when he drops a bit of value after a slow start. I can dream about that anyway. That sort of planning doesn’t come off a lot. But at under $170K, you will get some value!
Maybe one of these combos will do for your team. Otherwise, look to mix and match. There are plenty of blokes who I haven’t mentioned. Like Mitch Clark (who I see as dropping his average by 5-10 points this year) and Josh Fraser (just about done), but I guess some might think they’re alright still? The bench may change depending on what happens over the next 6 weeks or so, but I wouldn’t be getting any dudes that are valued much higher than Lobbe and Warnock, so structure won’t change that.
Below is the complete list of ruckmen for Toyota AFL Dream Team 2010
| NAME | CLUB | 09 GAMES | 09 AVE |
| COX, Dean ($471,500) | (WCE) | 13 | 107.31 |
| SANDILANDS, Aaron ($419,800) | (FRE) | 20 | 95.55 |
| CLARK, Mitch ($414,800) | (BRL) | 22 | 94.41 |
| MCINTOSH, Hamish ($396,300) | (NTH) | 22 | 90.18 |
| FRASER, Josh ($385,800) | (COL) | 16 | 87.81 |
| PETRIE, Drew [FWD] ($381,700) | (NTH) | 22 | 86.86 |
| JOLLY, Darren ($381,500) | (COL) | 22 | 86.82 |
| RYDER, Patrick ($360,300) | (ESS) | 21 | 82.00 |
| KREUZER, Matthew ($330,500) | (CAR) | 22 | 75.23 |
| WOOD, Cameron ($320,000) | (COL) | 11 | 72.82 |
| TIPPETT, Kurt [FWD] ($319,400) | (ADE) | 22 | 72.68 |
| BROGAN, Dean ($315,900) | (PTA) | 20 | 71.90 |
| JOHNSON, Paul ($302,000) | (MEL) | 18 | 68.72 |
| SIMMONDS, Troy ($299,600) | (RIC) | 11 | 68.18 |
| MINSON, Will ($296,000) | (WBD) | 22 | 67.36 |
| JAMAR, Mark ($284,700) | (MEL) | 7 | 72.00 |
| BRADLEY, Kepler [DEF] ($283,000) | (FRE) | 15 | 64.40 |
| CLOKE, Cameron [FWD] ($279,900) | (PTA) | 9 | 70.78 |
| GARDINER, Michael ($279,900) | (STK) | 17 | 63.71 |
| HUDSON, Ben ($273,500) | (WBD) | 21 | 62.24 |
| GRAHAM, Angus ($251,300) | (RIC) | 16 | 57.19 |
| BLAKE, Mark ($245,600) | (GEE) | 18 | 55.89 |
| MUMFORD, Shane ($242,900) | (SYD) | 18 | 55.28 |
| TAYLOR, Simon ($242,400) | (HAW) | 18 | 55.17 |
| MARIC, Ivan ($240,400) | (ADE) | 18 | 54.72 |
| OTTENS, Brad ($239,000) | (GEE) | 3 | 68.00 |
| PATTISON, Adam ($238,800) | (STK) | 8 | 60.38 |
| HILLE, David ($237,300) | (ESS) | 4 | 67.50 |
| KING, Steven ($235,600) | (STK) | 16 | 53.63 |
| HAMPSON, Shaun ($234,800) | (CAR) | 14 | 53.43 |
| NAITANUI, Nick ($232,400) | (WCE) | 10 | 52.90 |
| MORAN, Brad ($230,500) | (ADE) | 7 | 58.29 |
| SEABY, Mark ($226,700) | (SYD) | 5 | 51.60 |
| GOLDSTEIN, Todd ($221,100) | (NTH) | 13 | 50.31 |
| WHITE, Jesse ($215,100) | (SYD) | 18 | 48.94 |
| RENOUF, Brent ($212,700) | (HAW) | 15 | 48.40 |
| GRIFFIN, Jonathon ($210,900) | (ADE) | 2 | 48.00 |
| LEUENBERGER, Matthew ($202,100) | (BRL) | 3 | 46.00 |
| VICKERY, Tyrone ($197,200) | (RIC) | 9 | 44.89 |
| JACOBS, Sam ($196,600) | (CAR) | 4 | 44.75 |
| MEESEN, John ($194,200) | (MEL) | 4 | 55.25 |
| MCEVOY, Ben ($194,100) | (STK) | 11 | 44.18 |
| SPENCER, Jake ($187,500) | (MEL) | 6 | 42.67 |
| CLARKE, Zac ($173,100) | (FRE) | 5 | 39.40 |
| CHARMAN, Jamie ($169,900) | (BRL) | 3 | 38.67 |
| SELLAR, James ($163,600) | (ADE) | 9 | 37.22 |
| LAYCOCK, Jason ($155,700) | (ESS) | 0 | 0.00 |
| BELLCHAMBERS, Tom ($153,800) | (ESS) | 6 | 35.00 |
| BAILEY, Max ($142,800) | (HAW) | 2 | 32.50 |
| PYKE, Mike ($128,500) | (SYD) | 8 | 29.25 |
| WARNOCK, Robert ($101,800) | (CAR) | 0 | 0.00 |
| BROWNE, Andrew L. ($101,500) | (RIC) | 1 | 12.00 |
| WEST, Trent ($101,500) | (GEE) | 1 | 13.00 |
| SKIPPER, Wayde ($95,800) | (HAW) | 0 | 0.00 |
| BOCK, Christian ($94,500) | (ESS) | 0 | 0.00 |
| CORDY, Ayce ($94,500) | (WBD) | 0 | 0.00 |
| CURRIE, Daniel ($94,500) | (SYD) | 0 | 0.00 |
| KEEFFE, Lachlan ($94,500) | (COL) | 0 | 0.00 |
| LOBBE, Matthew [FWD] ($94,500) | (PTA) | 0 | 0.00 |
| LOWDEN, Luke ($94,500) | (HAW) | 0 | 0.00 |
| MCCULLOCH, Bart ($94,500) | (BRL) | 0 | 0.00 |
| MCGRATH, Blake ($94,500) | (STK) | 0 | 0.00 |
| ORREAL, Jake ($94,500) | (SYD) | 0 | 0.00 |
| REDDEN, Jarrad ($94,500) | (PTA) | 0 | 0.00 |
| ROUGHEAD, Jordan ($94,500) | (WBD) | 0 | 0.00 |
| SIMPSON, Dawson ($94,500) | (GEE) | 0 | 0.00 |
| STANLEY, Rhys ($94,500) | (STK) | 0 | 0.00 |
| SULLIVAN, Will ($94,500) | (WCE) | 0 | 0.00 |
| TRENGOVE, Jackson [DEF] ($94,500) | (PTA) | 0 | 0.00 |
| CRAIG, James ($89,500) | (ADE) | 0 | 0.00 |
| FITZPATRICK, Jack ($89,500) | (MEL) | 0 | 0.00 |
| GAWN, Max ($89,500) | (MEL) | 0 | 0.00 |
| GRIMLEY, Sam ($89,500) | (HAW) | 0 | 0.00 |
| VARDY, Nathan ($89,500) | (GEE) | 0 | 0.00 |
| BASS, Daniel ($77,800) | (PTA) | 0 | 0.00 |
| MCCAULEY, Brock ($77,800) | (BRL) | 0 | 0.00 |
| MCNAMARA, Seamus ($77,800) | (COL) | 0 | 0.00 |
| PRATO, Eddie ($77,800) | (WBD) | 0 | 0.00 |
Make your own combos and post them in the comments. There are hundreds of different ways to look at this very important position. How are you going to go about it?
Click on the following players names for their Deck of Dream Team article written about them.
Mitch Clark | David Hille | Matthew Kruezer | Aaron Sandilands | Dean Cox | Mark Seaby | Kurt Tippett
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I’m going Kruz, Lobbe, Warnock, Trengrove with Tippett in the forwards to move across if required. This could make me or break me but I think it is worth the risk as it has given me 17 keepers.
If one of Lobbe Warnock or Trengrove fires and hits around 60+, the move has paid off however if they don’t I can then look to my 2 rookie forwards. If one on them starts hitting 60+ I can justify moving Tippett across to the rucks.
In short, I need one of 5 rookies to hit 60+ and be in a position to upgrade my 2nd ruck to a premium when I trade my 1st cash cow.
Thoughts ?
@adam 17 keepers, thats not a bad effort mate, sounds like an innovative plan. This multi positional stuff has made it very interesting this year.
sounds like a decent plan in theory but i reckon you will have to move tippett over as your rookie rucks probably wont hold up.
I was thinking Sandi Seaby/ Brogan Warnock and Trengove i think sandi will be the safest top 5 ruckman this year
sounds like a decent plan in theory but i reckon you will have to move tippett over as your rookie rucks probably wont hold up
I was thinking Sandi Seaby/ Brogan Warnock and Trengove i think sandi will be the safest top 5 ruckman this year
Wat about Ben Mcevoy as 2nd ruck behind sandi with warnock and lobbe on the pine?
at the moment kreuzer/tippet is the combo for me, would love to have Sandi but that will require a bit of a shake up
Just wondering if anyone thinks Will Minson can have a break out year? Has played all 22 the last two seasons, and shares ruck duties with Hudson who is about to turn 31!! Minson is going into his 7th season, around the right time for a ruckman to step up……..
I’m not brave enough to pick him though. I’ve got Kreuzer, Tippett, Warnock, Lobbe.
I figured Hille, who had a great 2008 year was a bargain, yet risky, at 250,000…. Any thoughts?
Read in the paper the other day that Malthouse is thinking of using Fraser as a winger/onballer/HFFer. Interesting.
Still spots in my league guys 677389
Sandi, Jolly and the two best preforming cheapies from NAB out of Warnock, Lobbe and Skipper, All three I think will get alot of game time this year barring injury.
I think Dr Dream Team on afl.com.au is plagiarising your work!!!!!!
Brogan + Kreuzer and Lobbe + Warnock
whats warnies, roys, calvs, chops n chooks ruck combo’s?
that could be interesting..
I talked to Roy on facebook. He says probably Hille and Sandi. So basically hes gaining money with a good player so I think Hille is an obvious choice.
I like the look of fraser. With collingwood picking up Jolly, who will be the No. 1 big man in the team hopefully fraser will be more reliable with injury through the season.
Lots are going with the Kruz/Tippet combo, I reckon you are selling yourself short with that.
For the same price you can have Sandilands and Hille. Hille is in a similar situation to HMac and Simmonds of the last 2 years, he could easily make 100K and be an easy upgrade to Cox.
Having Cox and Sandilands as your two rucks will smash Kruz and Tippet. An easy way to get a leg up on the competition.
laugh. i have exactly the young combo. you guys copied. lol
Laugh and lol on the same line… gay.
Am thinking Sandi/Hille and Laycock/Warnock on bench because if Hille is rested/injured surely Laycock will get more TOG and is fairly cheap. Also hoping for only 1 or none trades needed for rucks this year…..
I had Cox/Sandi from start of last year and it was a nightmare in the latter rounds. Graham covered Cox’s early injury but all three were out by round 22. I am not getting on the Bix Cox again………
Lobbe needed in FWD line due to lack of FWD cheapies.
i have the same prob, TDL and Tapscott on bench in fwds but cheapest on ground at the mo is Danger. Thinking i gotta do something about that.
I did the same thing because the only cheap guy in da forwards is gumbleton. However in the rucks there are heaps of cheapies like skipper, west, warnock, charman
Hille Charman
who would be your best bet out of hille and ottens?
Last year I had Hille and Cox, and ended up needing to trade them both. I’m really considering starting with cheaper options and upgrading near the final stretch to whoever’s fit and in form. Perhaps Hille, Charman, Warnock & Lobbe with Tippett in the forward line (can be subbed with Lobbe if needed) Should be plenty of value there, and I can pick who I really want mid season… perhaps Cox if he slides a bit.
My point is… you can pick premiums and cross your fingers that they’ll both play 22 games, or you might get screwed and need to trade anyway. Maybe it’s best to write a trade or two off to have options, as well as to receive some value from the rucks for once…?
I guess It’s really to early to be judging these guys coming back from injury, 6 weeks is a long time in footy, so nobody is a lock just yet. I would idealy have two rucks play the whole season and use trades elsewhere. Lobbe and Warnock /Skipper/Laycock/Trengove seem like pretty good cover/cash cows for rucks this season which will help.
hille or ottens!?
whose better pick!!
You gotta say hille, apparently starred in the internal trial. Ottens nearly cut his hand off a few weeks ago.
tipper + warnock on the field, with trengrove and lobe on the pine, hoping that this plann works cas other wise i might need to get rid of pavlich or carazzo to get some money for sandi
Who would be a better player for my dt? Hille or Ottens. They are about the same but I cant decide which one. Any help will be appreciated.
did anyone else see the story on the afl website abut justin westhoff staking a claim for the 2nd ruck position after performing better in the trial then lobbe? apparently their thought is if they can play westhoff as backup ruck they can bring in another tall forward.
dt wise, that sucks! big time!
i reckon naitanui, brogan, lobbe and w.skipper would be gun together
brogan is an unknown but might do well with lade out of the way. I’m not sold on Lobbe after yesterday, I’ll be looking at Jordon Roughead closely instead of him. And personally I’d go Warnock over Skipper, its worth the extra 6XG. Skipper didnt really show alot from last night and Warnock will be Carltons main ruck this year with Kruz going up forward