#19 Cameron Wood

[jack_spain]

Good signs.

Seriously?

He got absolutely torched by a very run of the mill ruckman tonight. No evidence that he is improved at all, no sign that is any closer to carving out an AFL career

He wasn't even close to breaking even with Graham who is a ruckman of the same age, a player initially not even good enough to get a spot on a senior list during his draft year and playing in a team that got beaten by over 10 goals.
Unacceptable.

Don't watch what he wasn't doing, watch what he did do. He had 9 possessions, multiple heavy contests, took 3 marks, laid 3 tackles, and had 16 hit outs in his first AFL game for the season. He has to increase his tank so he can get to more contests.

Wasn't that long ago that Jolly was just a tap ruckman as well, behind Jeff White at Melbourne.

Jolly at Melbourne
first 48 games - Averages
Kicks 2.89 - Marks 1.8 - Handballs 2.45 - Goals 0.23 - HO 8.7 - Tackles 0.97

Sounds like a realllll dud.

Wood at Brisbane and Collingwood
first 46 games - averages
Kicks 4.4 - Marks 3.6 - Handballs 4.91 - Goals 0.28 - HO 12.3 - Tackles 1.7

Interesting eh?

Dean Cox at WC
first 55 games - averages
Kicks 5.1 - Marks 3.5 - Handballs 4.6 - Goals 0.34 - HO 14.9 - Tackles 0.85

Even more interesting?

Not really interesting at all tbh. Did you cite those stats in Guy Richards and David Fanning's last years?

And yeah, forgive me for not seeing what he did do last night. I went and got a beer just before half time so I probably missed his big moment for the night - his inspirational run to the change rooms.

He has had 6 years to develop a competent fitness base for AFL football, so that excuse doesn't hold any water. How long can we wait for him to build his tank? He got lapped by first year players during the pre-season time trial ffs.

"Multiple heavy contests"? We must be talking about different Cameron Woods, unless you consider constantly standing on the outside of packs and stoppages as being involved in a 'heavy contest'.
Cameron Wood is allergic to heavy contests, he breaks out in a severe sweat and his body gets covered in hives.



It should be pointed out that I've actually supported Wood for quite some time because I genuinely thought he had enough talent to make it. He has stagnated dramatically though, his workrate is absolutely pathetic and his lack of bite/heart/backbone just seems like too big a hurdle to overcome.

No doubting that rucks take time, but during Cameron Wood's time I I'd estimate about 15 or so ruckman of the same age have gone flying past him. There is only so long you can use the 'ruckman take time' excuse.

Well said. If he has made no further progress by season's end, bring on Ceglar or even Keefe into the ruck and de-list Wood.

[Pies4shaw]

All those of you who have been bagging Wood in this thread should feel very welcome to pop down to Victoria Park for the last few minutes of the 2s. I went for the first half - intending to stay but not caring much for what I saw. I do not think it likely that Ceglar or Shae will be helping out in the rucks at senior level any time soon. Ceglar may be a ruckman one day but right now he is, amongst other things, way too light.

If MM wants to give Jolly a rest (and I believe he should, from time to time), you will just have to get used to watching Wood go around.

[jack_spain]

All those of you who have been bagging Wood in this thread should feel very welcome to pop down to Victoria Park for the last few minutes of the 2s. I went for the first half - intending to stay but not caring much for what I saw. I do not think it likely that Ceglar or Shae will be helping out in the rucks at senior level any time soon. Ceglar may be a ruckman one day but right now he is, amongst other things, way too light.

If MM wants to give Jolly a rest (and I believe he should, from time to time), you will just have to get used to watching Wood go around.

Fair enough. It highlights the one glaring omission of the Malthouse era that was only addressed with the recruitment of Jolly. Malthouse didn't recruit a first-class ruckman. Josh was never a ruckman and we persisted with him for far too long. Others were simply hacks. Once we got Jolly, hey presto, we won a flag. No surprise there and that must always stand as a black mark against the Malthouse era.

Bucks and Hine need to address this immediately for next year. Who's coming out of contract? Wood can go to GWS.

[pietillidie]

Collingwood, missing premiership ruckman Darren Jolly, was monstered in the hitouts 47-22, which Malthouse said was had a profound effect on the contest.

"Take nothing away from either end, but it starts and finishes where the ball is, and that's a stoppage, centre bounce or whatever," Malthouse said.

"They slaughtered us as far as hitouts go for most of the night. We had to play a different role at the stoppages, but when they controlled it they scored.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/p ... 6040006520

Says it all really. From Mick's comments it sounds like he's losing patience with Wood.

No, it doesn't say it all. The full interview gave a very different impression. But you actually have to make an effort to watch it.

[pietillidie]

Here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/collingwoodctv#p/u/3/NqvZU2Uek2c

[Pies4shaw]

Jack, the boy who rucked in the 2002 GF wasn't a hack - he was a big part of the reason Collingwood got so far that year. Unfortunately, the AFL changed the rules about centre contests and - because he was short for a ruckman - killed off his AFL career almost overnight.

Quality big men who can really play footy are still probably the rarest commodity going around. The Club certainly tried to find such players in the intervening seasons but without much success. It's not like the recruiters sat on their hands (eg, Fraser, Richards, Bryan, Fanning, Cameron Cloke all also come to mind) but none of the big fellows available to be recruited performed to the required standard.

[Pies4shaw]

Collingwood, missing premiership ruckman Darren Jolly, was monstered in the hitouts 47-22, which Malthouse said was had a profound effect on the contest.

"Take nothing away from either end, but it starts and finishes where the ball is, and that's a stoppage, centre bounce or whatever," Malthouse said.

"They slaughtered us as far as hitouts go for most of the night. We had to play a different role at the stoppages, but when they controlled it they scored.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/p ... 6040006520

Says it all really. From Mick's comments it sounds like he's losing patience with Wood.

No, it doesn't say it all. The full interview gave a very different impression. But you actually have to make an effort to watch it.

Yes, eg, MM saying "I thought Cameron would played OK" (in a positive sense of "OK", given the context of his comments) around 6 minutes into the post-match interview.

[stui magpie]

Jack, the boy who rucked in the 2002 GF wasn't a hack - he was a big part of the reason Collingwood got so far that year. Unfortunately, the AFL changed the rules about centre contests and - because he was short for a ruckman - killed off his AFL career almost overnight.

Quality big men who can really play footy are still probably the rarest commodity going around. The Club certainly tried to find such players in the intervening seasons but without much success. It's not like the recruiters sat on their hands (eg, Fraser, Richards, Bryan, Fanning, Cameron Cloke all also come to mind) but none of the big fellows available to be recruited performed to the required standard.

Bingo.

Consider just the fact that 2 metre tall people aren't that common to start with, finding ones with the right physical and mental make up to be a gun ruck is not an easy task.

Look at the current AFL lists. How many actual really good ruckmen are there out of 600 + people? Not very many.

Each club drafts 3-5 new players each year at a minimum. What percentage of those are gun rucks each year? Not very many.

[jack_spain]

Fraser, Richards, Bryan, Fanning, Cameron Cloke all also come to mind

My point exactly. Josh fraser could play but should have been a permanent forward. As for the others, they were simply HACKS the lot of them!

[Doc63]

The reason we didn't recruit a good ruckman before Jolly is because there weren't any available. Clubs tend to hang onto them. The only reason we got Jolly was because he wanted to come home.

A good ruckman is not going to go to a club to play a handful of games when the number one ruckman needs a rest, so we'll be hanging onto Wood for a while yet.

[BEAMER09]

All those of you who have been bagging Wood in this thread should feel very welcome to pop down to Victoria Park for the last few minutes of the 2s. I went for the first half - intending to stay but not caring much for what I saw. I do not think it likely that Ceglar or Shae will be helping out in the rucks at senior level any time soon. Ceglar may be a ruckman one day but right now he is, amongst other things, way too light.

If MM wants to give Jolly a rest (and I believe he should, from time to time), you will just have to get used to watching Wood go around.

Fair enough. It highlights the one glaring omission of the Malthouse era that was only addressed with the recruitment of Jolly. Malthouse didn't recruit a first-class ruckman. Josh was never a ruckman and we persisted with him for far too long. Others were simply hacks. Once we got Jolly, hey presto, we won a flag. No surprise there and that must always stand as a black mark against the Malthouse era.

Bucks and Hine need to address this immediately for next year. Who's coming out of contract? Wood can go to GWS.

Not only Jolly but Ball as well and hey presto, a flag.

As for Wood, I don't think he believes that he belongs in the AFL. I've been waiting for years for him to come on and still waiting. I somtimes wonder that if you gave me 5-6 years in the system, I could possibly become an AFL player. He's had ample years to come on and Woody, hurry bluddy up and start dominating this game because a premiership medal is waiting for you...

[Piethagoras' Theorem]

Always tough to come in as the bridesmaid and make an immediate impact. I thought he was ok, at the ruck contest he was the most effective on the night. Knowing that Jolly will pretty much be 1st choice every time and that we're unlikely to go in with 2 genuine rucks can't be all that great for his confidence either.

[Magpie Jack]

Bucks and Hine need to address this immediately for next year. Who's coming out of contract? Wood can go to GWS.

I thought Cam Wood did quite well on Friday night. I'm happy to keep him as our back up ruckman for the next few years. He is handy enough and won't be chewing up too much of our salary cap. We will need to manage the cap very wisely to fend off Western Sydneys poaching.

[Collingwood 4 eternity]

Bump

Looks like Cam Wood is the main man for at least the next 3 games , with Jolly having had knee op yesterday.

Time to step up again Cam

[Macedonian Marvel #35]

Bump

Looks like Cam Wood is the main man for at least the next 3 games , with Jolly having had knee op yesterday.

Time to step up again Cam

may be only 1 game

he plays this week , we then have the bye.

it will then be up to the docs i guess on if hes good for the game against the pussy cats