Bereft of a ruckman, Collingwood coach Craig McRae has turned his mind to imaginative solutions for the Magpies but the answer he finds most tantalising, albeit unavailable, is a mid-season trade period.
Trading players mid-year, not just drafting a player in from the state leagues, will not solve McRae’s problem of finding a ruckman to play against Brisbane on Thursday night, but it is the hoary chestnut that excites McRae.
Having the scope to trade in a player mid-year and keep alive a premiership hunt while giving a player lacking opportunities at another club a crack and easing that club’s salary cap pressure is the sort of scenario the AFL has long been attracted to in exploring the idea of a return to mid-year trading.
Darcy Cameron, left, and Marlion Pickett contest the ball during round three. Credit:Daniel Pockett, Getty
The AFL said when it introduced a mid-season draft in 2019 it remained open to the idea of a mid-season trade period and would continue to look at how it could work.
“I’m big on that mid-season trade. I think it would be great for the game within the right parameters,” McRae said.
“I think it will add something for the fans, and opportunities like this, for example, to come up where we might need someone.”
The most obvious impediments to a trade period are the impact on the salary cap and the potential for tanking, with lowly clubs whose seasons are shot offloading players to get better draft picks and open salary cap space.
Instead, Collingwood will have to find a player from within after first ruck Darcy Cameron was sidelined for a couple of months with a bad medial ligament knee strain, joining Mason Cox who was already out with a hematoma behind the ribs and will miss about a month.
Aiden Begg is a month away from playing again after a back injury while Nathan Kreuger is close to a return to play after a shoulder reconstruction.
McRae admitted his likely first choice now would be moving key forward recruit Dan McStay into first ruck with Ash Johnson as second ruck, as the club did in the last quarter against Richmond after Cameron’s injury.
Logically, Collingwood would bring Reef McInnes back in place of Cameron and to play McStay’s forward role. McInnes was the sub in the first two games, booting three goals, but was dropped to the VFL to get full game time at the weekend. He kicked another two goals.
“We are lucky, on Friday night we got a little sample size; we played a quarter without a ruck and had to be creative. We’ve got some things up our sleeve,” McRae said on Monday.
“We are not going to say one person, I think we will have to carry the load. I like being creative. We’ll get to match committee and look at some options. We might … play some minutes with Bill [Frampton], some minutes with Dan and some others.”
McStay attended 22 ruck contests in the last quarter against Richmond winning just three hitouts and none were to advantage. However, of the three centre bounces that quarter Collingwood won two of the three clearances. Of 22 ball ups that quarter Collingwood got first hands on the ball 13 times.
That was the Jordan De Goey and Tom Mitchell factor. De Goey had nine clearances on Friday night. Mitchell ranks equal fourth in the AFL for first possessions and fifth for clearances across the first three rounds.
This point speaks to why Collingwood embraced the Brodie Grundy trade last year, preferring to invest in the midfielder who gets first hands on the ball rather than a ruckman.
The Magpies could look to a mobile competitor in the ruck – the Shaun Grigg model Richmond won a premiership with. McRae was a former Richmond assistant coach so well appreciates that dynamic.
Against two strong rucks in Oscar McInerney and Darcy Fort at the Gabba going in with mobile short rucks would be bold indeed.
Frampton is also an option to ruck, given he was a ruckman before he was a forward or back. This is made problematic by the tall Brisbane forward line of Joe Daniher, Eric Hipwood and Jack Gunston, and with Jeremy Howe already out with a broken arm.
Nathan Murphy was excellent against Richmond and competes well in the air against taller players.
At least Frampton could be asked to do the ruckwork in the Brisbane forward line.
Teenage ruckman Oscar Steene was recruited in the supplementary list period this year but is raw and unready.
“I just want to make it really clear, we are rapt with how he’s going. He has come in and really shown what he is capable of. We’ve got a player for the future, no doubt in that,” McRae said.
“I’m not keen to put people to the wolves as you put it. I want to make sure we set them up to succeed, so we’re just going to make sure that’s the right time.”
