Blues spoilt for ruck choice

CARLTON'S young ruck division promises to deliver plenty of excitement in 2010, but it will also be the scene of some fierce competition according to ruck coach Matthew Capuano.

The Blues, whose recent history is devoid of dominant big men, now have to figure out how to best utilise giants Matthew Kreuzer, the incumbent No.1 ruck, Shaun Hampson, Sam Jacobs and the as yet unseen Robbie Warnock.

With the recent trend toward smaller, more mobile back-up ruckmen most clubs are loathe to take more than a couple of 200cm-plus giants into a match, but Capuano foresees some interesting combinations next season.  

"Our forward structure is going to change without Fev [Brendan Fevola] so maybe there is an opportunity for a Kreuzer or a Hampson to play more time up there," Capuano said.

"Then Sammy and Robbie will be creating a bit of pressure for ruck spots as well. There's going to be some good competition there and it will be interesting to see how it all pans out."

The talk of using Kreuzer and Hampson up forward is not new, but Capuano is keen to ensure that the young duo continue to hone their field positioning and tap skills first and foremost.

"They're pretty keen to improve as ruckmen and also carve a niche for themselves up forward as well," he says.

"All of them are pretty keen to add as many strings to their bows as they can.

"For Robbie, who is coming from a little bit further back, the focus for him is to just get him back out on the track consistently before we start talking about trying him in different positions."

Warnock is currently undergoing rehab from a post-season shoulder clean-out, but is expected to be into full training around Christmas time with a view to being ready to take part in the Blues' practice match schedule in the new year.
 
"He really could be the x-factor for us," Capuano said. "If he is fit that creates some really good competition with four guys that are all capable of playing AFL footy.

"Sammy came from the clouds a little bit last year and did pretty well, so he's another big factor in the ruck scheme of things as well."

A group of 14 mostly younger players that started pre-season training on Monday, November 2, swelled by about a dozen more senior players last Monday. The remainder of the list - including Chris Judd, Richard Hadley, Heath Scotland and Bret Thornton - will be present next Monday when the campaign kicks off in earnest.

"It's pretty much just been a lot of testing and getting blokes back into the daily schedule of footy," Capuano said of the past fortnight.

"It's reasonably low-key at this point and it's more about getting them back into the swing of things.

"In the next two weeks we should be going pretty hard on the things we need to work on both individually and as a team. As a coaching group we've already spoken a fair bit about the strategy side of things looking to next year and that will develop in the next couple of weeks.

"In terms of where we want to go as a group we have a firm idea and we'll be training the guys accordingly."

Capuano recently made the leap to full-time ruck and development coach after coaching the rucks on a part-time basis last season.