MELBOURNE is still Max Gawn's team.
For all of the summer talk around how the club's new-look ruck division would operate following the arrival of two-time All-Australian star Brodie Grundy, the Demons captain still ruled the roost in Saturday night's round one thrashing of the Western Bulldogs.
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According to Champion Data, Gawn spent 72 per cent of his game time in the ruck. In comparison, Grundy was deployed as the side's ruck for just 48 per cent of his time on the field and instead spent the majority of the match playing forward.
It was just the seventh time in Grundy's 178-game career that he's spent more time forward than in the ruck – once was his debut, while the other six occurrences happened within his first 36 games in the League – and the first time he's played the majority of any match in attack since August 2015.
Gawn, on the other hand, was the No.1 ranked player in the entire competition for AFL Player Ratings points over the weekend, with his 28.9 points significantly ahead of Sydney's Errol Gulden (26.4) in second.
The veteran's stat line reflected his ability to impact in a number of areas. As well as his 21 disposals and 21 hitouts, he kicked two goals, had a team-high 15 contested possessions, and finished with seven score involvements, six intercepts, six marks, five clearances and five inside 50s.
Despite being beaten out of the middle – the Western Bulldogs finished with a 37-30 clearance differential for the night – Gawn's importance in the ruck was also highlighted by the fact Melbourne was +1 for clearance from his 38 contests. The Demons were -4 for clearance from Grundy's 29 contests, with Tom McDonald (11 contests) and Ben Brown (one) also playing bit-part ruck roles.
Champion Data also notes that Gawn, despite playing just 28 per cent game time in the forward line, was targeted seven times inside 50. It was the most of any Melbourne player behind key forward Brown, who had eight targets, and again highlighted his ability to do a little bit of everything – and do it to a high level – on Saturday night.
As a starting point – given there have been so few instances of a team pairing two such dominant rucks together – it was an overwhelming tick for Melbourne's recruiting staff, with the pair combining for 38 disposals, 33 hitouts and three goals. But, according to Demons coach Simon Goodwin, it was only that – a starting point.
"What I'm worried about is judging them purely on scoreboard impact," Goodwin said after Saturday night's victory.
"Between them, they kicked three goals tonight. But I thought their ability in the ruck was outstanding. 'Gawny' was sensational when he was in there and I thought Brodie got better and better as the game went on.
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"I think it's going to continue to evolve over time and we're going to continue to use each player wherever the game needs it. They're going to continue to work on their forward play, but they give us presence. They're bringing the ball to ground for us and they give us a genuine target to kick to.
"I'm excited by what they could produce, but I'm certainly not set that it's a finished product yet."
