RUCK JUMBLE

Cats needed plan weeks ago: McKernan

PREMIERSHIP ruckman Corey McKernan says Geelong created its own problem by failing to back in a finals ruckman eight weeks ago.

The North Melbourne premiership ruckman believes history shows premiership teams have a single ruckman who thrives on a lot of game time and the confidence of his coaching staff.

McKernan likes the analogy of ruckmen as Clydesdales who thrive on the work.

Geelong dropped Rhys Stanley before Friday night’s qualifying final loss to Collingwood. Stanley admitted yesterday he was told at the club’s last training session he would be dropped despite the club’s failed attempt at subterfuge.

The Cats now must decide whether to bring him back against West Coast’s in-form pairing of Tom Hickey and Nic Naitanui.

Not only did Stanley not play, he missed a Geelong-Collingwood scratch match on Friday afternoon that would have given him a chance to build his confidence.

McKernan said Scott was within his rights to back in any Cats ruckman, given he knew which one was more likely to perform. But Geelong has five ruckmen on its list and played none of them against Collingwood, chopping and changing in the weeks leading into the qualifying final.

The Cats have gone through 11 ruckmen since the end of 2011 when Brad Ottens retired — Hamish McIntosh, Orren Stephenson, Trent West, Dawson Simpson, Nathan Vardy, Mark Blicavs, Stanley, Zac Smith, Wylie Buzza, Darcy Fort and Ryan Abbott — but haven’t been able to settle on any one ruckman or combination for any period of time.

“It baffles me that clubs don’t wake up to the model which is successful,” he said.

“The message from the final is whoever the ruckman was going to be, they needed to say to him you are our No. 1 ruckman. You have got to say, six to eight weeks out going into a finals campaign, ‘he is our man and we back him in and play him because we need him’.

“For mine who they play doesn’t matter. As a player if you have that backing, you love the fact you have been backed in by the coach and don’t want to let him down.

“Even if he plays this week, he will still feel a bit unsure about his spot.”

McKernan says ruckmen are unique given their skill set and challenges in rucking in tandem with another big man.

“I think they thrive on the responsibility and love the workload. If you looked at 90 per cent of the ruckmen who have been All-Australian, they ruck alone. Nic Naitanui bucks the trend because they play him in such a different burst role.”