Senior Coach Justin Longmuir agrees with the stats that illustrate Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson's effectiveness in the ruck so far this season.
The pair face their biggest test this Saturday against Narrm, where Walyalup’s younger ruck combo go head-to-head with two of the greats of the game in Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy.
Darcy’s effort as the primary ruck see Walyalup sit no.1 in both hitouts (52 per game) and hitouts to advantage (15 per game).
Narrm rank sixth for hitouts with 39.5 per game and eighth for hitouts to advantage for 12 per game.
Speaking on SEN, Longmuir agreed with the suggestion that Darcy and Jackson had been the standouts so far this season.
“We think we do (have the best ruck combination),” Longmuir told SEN.
“It’s going to be a great challenge this week, and Grundy and Gawn have a bit of experience on our guys, but I feel like Jacko and Sean Darcy in particular have been really good at giving our mids first look.”
Longmuir said Walyalup are starting to make the most of this ruck dominance on the scoreboard.
Between rounds one and seven, Walyalup ranked 12th in the AFL for scores from stoppages with 30 points per game.
Between rounds 8-10, Walyalup have ranked no.1 for scores from stoppages with 44 points over their three-game winning run.
“I think the last couple of weeks we’ve been able to translate (hitouts) to not only stoppage wins but stoppage scores, which has given us a bit of bang for buck around that area of the ground,” Longmuir said.
“We need to continue that, and like I said, it’s a great challenge for our young rucks against two really mature rucks who are playing at the top of their game.”
The stats that show Walyalup's change in form
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Gallery: Main training 24 May
