THE COMBINATION between a ruckman and his rover is one of the most important in the game.

It's the chance to give a team first possession of the ball and either move it into an attacking zone, or clear it from defence.

But who is the most dangerous duo in the competition? The pair opposition coaches and midfields should put even more homework into than they already do?

Statistics provided by Champion Data show there's a handful of combinations that can rip the ball away from congestion via a perfectly placed ruck tap and piece of timing from a midfielder to extricate the ball.

There's some obvious combinations – and some not-so-obvious.

Not surprisingly the pair that dominate most numbers in this breakdown are Gold Coast co-captains Jarrod Witts and Touk Miller.

Witts, who is making a bold push for his first Therabody All-Australian team, has more hitouts-to-advantage than anyone else in the competition, and Miller is ranked third in the League for clearances.

And neither has missed a game.

They are responsible for not only the most clean ruck-to-rover clearances (34), but also average the most (2.4) each game.

But it's not just Witts and Miller that cause headaches for the Suns, with Witts and Matt Rowell (24) ranked second in clean takeaways.

Sean Darcy and Andrew Brayshaw are also a prolific pairing for Fremantle, Reilly O'Brien and Rory Laird similar for Adelaide, while Carlton and Greater Western Sydney should be encouraged by the data coming from their midfield.

They just need their ruckmen to stay on the field.

Braydon Preuss and Tom Green (2.4) and Matt Flynn and Stephen Coniglio (2.3) are both among the top-five combinations and just need more continuity.

Marc Pittonet has not played for 10 weeks since injured his PCL against the Dockers, but in his five matches, made a huge impact, partnering with George Hewett for the highest number of clearances (seven) in any game in 2022.

Who's the best ruck/rover combination in 2022?

Clearance average per game

Highest number of clearances