Cats big man goes alone against the competition’s best ruckman

THERE are no secrets behind where Geelong can win and lose tomorrow night’s game against Melbourne.

Cam Mooney has written about it, Patrick Dangerfield has spoken about it and now Chris Scott has backed his man Rhys Stanley in to go toe-to-toe with the competition’s premier ruckman, Max Gawn, tomorrow night.

The 27-year-old has produced some of his most convincing performances in the blue-and-white hoops in the past six weeks, and the decision to go it alone with him against Gawn is as strong an endorsement he could have from the coaching staff that they have his back and believe he is capable of doing the job.

There is no Zac Smith, nor a notable back up in the Geelong side, but Scott said he was more than comfortable with the balance of his team.

“The second ruckman, in a strange way, is less important against Gawn because he just rucks so much,” he said.

“So it is more a battle in our view between the two No.1 ruckmen and the second ruckman becomes secondary.

“Our selection priorities are more based around what we think we need to do to play our best footy as opposed to tailoring it to the opposition.”

In other words, we see what you have, but we are backing our man in.

So, what is it that makes Gawn so imposing, apart from the 208cm, 109kg frame, and what will Stanley need to do to limit his influence?

Firstly, his tap work is second to none.

It is a throwback to players such as Simon Madden and Sam Newman, who would time their leaps to perfection and use their opponent to gain an advantage over them to get their hands on the ball first.

The Melbourne star is averaging 46.4 hitouts a game, as opposed to Stanley’s 29.9, but more than his ability to win the hitout, it is his knack of finding a teammate that puts him in rare air.

Gawn’s hit-outs go to the advantage of a teammate 22.3 per cent of the time, which classifies him as elite in this area according to Champion Data.

Contrastingly, Stanley goes at 11.2 per cent, which puts him below average.

Clearly Dangerfield was not paying Gawn lip service this week when he said the Cats would need to respect his tap work.

But Stanley will need to be mindful of Gawn outside of the stoppages as well.

He is rated as elite in terms of marks taken (4.8 per game), score assists (1.1) and score involvements (6.8) — categories in which Stanley is still rated as above average — and averages 17 disposals per game.

So while he can be damaging at the coalface he can also hurt his opponent around the ground, which has been an area that Stanley had battled with, despite his undisputed athleticism.

In addition to this, though, Gawn has helped provide reinforcement to Melbourne’s defence since Jake Lever’s season-ending knee injury, which means Stanley will need to work tirelessly not only to shut down his efficiency in Melbourne’s attacking end, but also to provide Tom Hawkins with aerial strength in Geelong’s attacking 50.

Stanley was not even in the Cats’ best 22 when these teams met in Round 1 but Gawn did such a number on Zac Smith that it resulted in him being dropped after only one match.

The Melbourne big man almost single-handedly won the game off his own boot and but for a strayed shot at goal would have given his side the four points.

Now it is Stanley’s turn to go up against the best, and all signs point to this duel playing a decisive role in what looms as a critical game for both the Demons and Geelong.