This week senior coach Chris Scott spoke about the Cats new ruck combination and Cameron Guthrie’s flexibility on Cats TV.
Scott was quick to explain that the ruckmen's work, since losing 206cm ruckman Dawson Simpson, is measured on ball usage not on the number of hit-outs. Players like Nathan Vardy and Josh Walker have the flexibility to help their forwards, using their speed as well as their goal kicking skills.
This is why Scott doesn’t believe the Cats are failing in the ruck, because their centre priorities are now completely different.
“I’m not sure if I agree that we’re getting comprehensively beaten (in the ruck),” Scott said.
“Nathan Vardy performed extremely well against St Kilda and Ben McEvoy as our only ruckman when Dawson Simpson went down.
“There’s no doubt he and Trent West and Mark Blicavs are a different type of ruckman compared to a really big guy like Dawson.
“But I don’t think we should get sucked in to looking at the hit-outs, the more important thing is around the clearances and the effectiveness away from there and we were pretty good at that on the weekend.”
Scott concedes that the Cats would benefit from a larger man in the centre, however he’s confident the Cats smaller ruckmen will provide another significant dimension to the team.
“Nathan Vardy only had 10 possessions but his follow up work around the congestion was very positive and he and Walker give us the option of playing them as a genuine tall forward as well,” Scott explains.
“In a perfect world we’d love to have Hamish McIntosh and Dawson Simpson available as our number one ruckmen but they’re not so we look at different combinations.”
Scott admits the Cats ruck hasn’t been finalized for the finals. He says the players’ performance in the next few weeks will determine who’s selected for the role.
“In terms of our best combination I think we’re still experimenting to a degree but at this stage of the season form will dictate who plays.”
Scott is impressed with young Guthrie’s improvement on the field and believes his contribution to the team will continue to become more valuable with every game he plays.
“He’s already quite a complete player, he’s still in the early stages of his career as a third year player,” Scott said.
“He’s a really contested player, really strong defensively and he’s now starting to give us some great offence as well. He’s a great user of the ball and when he gives us some run-out from the backline we look like a better team.”
Scott says Guthrie, who is developing into a very flexible player, has the potential to turn into a very formidable Cat who will be able to adapt to a vast number of roles.
“Long-term I’m very confident he can be a midfielder, we do have a big group of those type of players but we value flexibility above all else at Geelong, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Cam play as a genuine midfielder next year and even push more into the forward line.”
Chris Scott also discusses on Tweet the Coach:
Josh Walker as the second ruckman
Tom Hawkins
And player rotations during the game
