TOPIC:

freez, tm, shark58, and all

On the subject of ruckmen, besides the big three, would you say there has been a relative paucity of class ruckmen at the club in the last 50 years?

I have got:

Purser
Harding
Sandilands
Bob Johnson?

anymore?

ArkRoyal wrote: freez, tm, shark58, and all

On the subject of ruckmen, besides the big three, would you say there has been a relative paucity of class ruckmen at the club in the last 50 years?

I have got:

Purser
Harding
Sandilands
Bob Johnson?

anymore?

One of greatest players the club had was a ruckman - but that was prior to 1970. Ian Newman was a handy pick up. Won a premiership with us something impossible at the basket case club he was at. Justin Sanders helped Harding in 94. Paul Harding I would say is the best since 1970 that we have had. He along with centreman Wrensted and Big Ron Alexander helped change the course of the club in the early to mid 80's secondo mi

ArkRoyal wrote: freez, tm, shark58, and all

On the subject of ruckmen, besides the big three, would you say there has been a relative paucity of class ruckmen at the club in the last 50 years?

I have got:

Purser
Harding
Sandilands
Bob Johnson?

anymore?

I think you have nailed their best 3 since 1970 there AR, a few others of note imho were-

Ron Alexander- was also a good on field influence on a young Paul Harding & Andrew Purser
Jonathon Griffin- almost singlehandedly got them back into the 2012 GF after early CL blitzkrieg
Brad Tunbridge- was a good contributor in the years after 1986 & before 1992 era

TE has also named a few more good types there.

Honourable mentions also for-
John Nolan- was a good mobile ruck in the 80s and an able ally for Harding & Alexander
Graeme Carter- big lad who had a good 79 season but stagnated after
Paul Lindsay- was a good player in the late 90s early 2000s

Whilst Patrick Ryder didnt play much for EF but has been a very good ruckman in the afl for a long time & kudos must go to Big Bob Becu who I didnt see a lot of his career being too young at that time but he did play 150+ games in a great era

tm;bh -- great posts men

Newman was a good import
tunbridge had talent
vaguely remember Carter

One of the reasons I put the thread up was to suggest that the club had done well to win the premierships it has because of its relative weakness in the ruck. You know I love ruckmen and key position players.

Harding the best in my time, Purser was a good in, big Ron and big Bob Becu I have fond memories of....obviously Sandi and Ryder have had exceptional careers, sadly not with EF....can see Luke Jackson being just as good.....loved the effort of Sanders during the 90s....Tunbridge talented as well.

ArkRoyal wrote: tm;bh -- great posts men

Newman was a good import
tunbridge had talent
vaguely remember Carter

One of the reasons I put the thread up was to suggest that the club had done well to win the premierships it has because of its relative weakness in the ruck. You know I love ruckmen and key position players.

You might be right there Ark. 6 flags in 50 years is a bit meagre - though we have blown a few it that time. We have done best though when we have an exceptional ruckman. Paul Harding has shown that because he helped change our fortunes and we won 2 flags with him. He was very good in both wins. Ian Newman was very good ditto Purser - we won flags with both. But Harding the best - great player for us, as someone observed he was like having 2 players.

Another one, who was a bit before the 70's, was David Imrie. I mention him as I notice Bob Johnson's name was raised.
I think both men would have played around the same time.

Old Easts -- thanks mate -- good name too

ArkRoyal wrote: Old Easts -- thanks mate -- good name too

One very unrated player and ruckman at Moss Street was Lance Durack. It was a great time to support the club when lance played although we could not quite get on top of Claremont and Subiaco during that period. But still we did have some great tussles with both clubs during that time. The 1988 Preliminary was a roller coast ride that careened off course for us in the dying moments. Durack played in that match - was not one of his better games though because coach Graham Melrose played him as backman. Durack was at his best in the ruck where his strong body work at ball ups helped the mids massively. He was also a good mark and kick in front of the goals.

ArkRoyal wrote: tm;bh -- great posts men

Newman was a good import
tunbridge had talent
vaguely remember Carter

One of the reasons I put the thread up was to suggest that the club had done well to win the premierships it has because of its relative weakness in the ruck. You know I love ruckmen and key position players.

Surprised you said we had a weakness with rucks in the club, although that’s pretty much it in recent times.
Some good names in this thread. Must say that I remember two ex east perthies that had an influence. Big Ron and Brad Smith - while they didn’t do a lot of ruck work, you could almost feel the players grow a a foot when they ran on to the field. Certainly, the members and supporters loved it when they did.