Ruckmen will play an even bigger role in season 2016 with the abolishment of the sub and further reduction to the interchange cap, according to Sydney Swans senior coach John Longmire.
The sizeable crowd who attended Friday night’s intra-club would have caught a glimpse of the Swans’ potential first-choice ruck combination in Kurt Tippett and Callum Sinclair, who squared off against Toby Nankervis and Tom Derickx.
Both Tippett and Sinclair are genuine ruck-forwards, meaning both have the height and ability to compete at centre bounces while also making a solid contribution up forward.
Tippett proved his worth last season, amassing 380 hit outs and 44 goals – his majors second only to leading goal-kicker Lance Franklin. Meanwhile Sinclair played a similar role at West Coast before arriving in Sydney during last year’s trade period.
Speaking post-match on Friday night, Longmire said he believes such attributes will be important weapons during a season in which endurance will be paramount.
“Particularly with the capped interchange,” Longmire said.
“We’ve got a number of blokes who can play forward and ruck. To have those attributes will be really important and we think whoever lines up in the early part of the season will be able to give us those aspects.
“They can not only cover the ground as ruckman but they can play forward, put pressure on, take marks and hit the scoreboard as well.”
Longmire wasn’t about to settle on which combination will line up during the NAB Challenge, but he was pleased with what the Swans’ ruck division produced during the intra-club.
“It’s always about the combination of ruckmen. It’s all about having a team of ruckmen. You need that over a long season,” he said.
“Callum gets around the ground really well, he’s got great mobility. But we also think Toby Nankervis did a few good things (on Friday), so did Tom Derickx.
“It’s good to have strength in that ruck division. Those blokes have had decent pre-seasons, which is a good sign.”
