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View Full Version : Round 8, 2008 Opposition Player Focus: Aaron Sandilands



LostDoggy
13-05-2008, 05:31 PM
Thanks to Lantern and Dry Rot for asking me to review an influential opposition player for our game against Freo this week.

Any analysis of Freo would have to include Matthew Pavlich as the key player but I think there is another who opposition sides need to counter if they are to beat the Purple Horde.

Aaron Sandilands (no relation to Laurie) at 211cm / 124kg is a massive unit who makes a mockery of the line “white men can’t jump” basically because he doesn’t need to. Despite his size, Sandilands is unusually athletic and represents a major problem for opposition ruckmen. It has been said before but there is truth in the theory that as the day goes on, big men get no shorter.

Sandilands greatest strength rests with his ability to win hit-outs, often giving his mid-fielders first use of the ball. So far this season, he averages almost 25% more hit-outs than the Competition’s next best, West Coast’s Dean Cox. Around the ground his athleticism makes him a more than useful opponent particularly if he is allowed to drift forward unattended.

http://http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Aaron_Sandilands_and_Lance_Whitnall.jpg/150px-Aaron_Sandilands_and_Lance_Whitnall.jpg
DOB : March 19, 1975 (age 33),
Recruited from : East Fremantle
Height and weight : 211cm / 124kg

Player profile from Wikipedia:

Aaron Sandilands (born 6 December 1982) is an Australian rules footballer. At 211 cm (6ft 11in) tall and weighing 124 kg (273 lbs), he is the equal tallest and the heaviest player in the history of the Australian Football League (and the preceding Victorian Football League).[1] Sandilands plays as a ruckman for the Fremantle Football Club.
Originally from the small town of Mt Barker in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, Sandilands was selected by Fremantle in the rookie draft prior to the 2002 season. He spent the entire 2002 year playing for East Fremantle in the WAFL, before being elevated to the senior list prior to the 2003 season.
Playing in 19 games in his first season, the highlights were being nominated for the AFL Rising Star and earning a Brownlow Medal vote for a dominant display against the reigning premiers, Brisbane Lions in Round 14 and playing in Fremantle's first ever finals match. Despite Essendon being convincing winners, Sandilands was one of the few to perform well, with a personal record 41 hitouts.
As ruckmen are generally considered to peak in their late 20s, Sandilands has impressed many to rank 6th or 5th in total hitouts in each of his first three seasons in the AFL, improving to 2nd (with the highest average) in 2006 .Despite this dominance in hitouts, it doesn't always result in Fremantle winning the clearances.

WOOF player analysis:
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Sandilands’ ability to give his midfielders first use of the ball by using his significant height and weight advantage will give Ben Hudson and Will Minson sleepless nights as they ponder a way of combating the mammoth from Freo.

His efforts against the Catters recently went a long way towards getting them over the line until they were pipped on the post.

Sandilands averages 31.7 hit-outs per game this season compared with the combined average of Hudson and Minson at 25.6. Whether that translates into a similar advantage on the possession count is debatable but clearly if Sandilands is winning them then the opposition is not.

Hudson who is not a great leaper (ruckmen with knee problems rarely are) will have his own problems whilst Big Will is not confident against those who reach high and often tends to simply run into his opponent in an attempt to thwart the opposition from getting a free hand to the ball.

It will be unlikely in ball-up situations that our blokes will out reach Sandilands and their best bet might be to attempt to negate his ability to give the ball into the hands of his midfielders. I have noticed that Sandilands only palms the ball with his right hand and rarely uses the left. Our ruckmen need to be aware of this and position themselves to attack him from his right hand side even if they attempt to make contact with his right arm. At boundary throw-ins a third man up may be deployed.

If we can force the ball into a contested situation at ground level, I have faith in our little blokes doing the job for us but if Sandilands gives first possession of the ball to the likes of Bell, Palmer and Crawley etc, we well may have our work cut out.

Sandilands is also fairly athletic for such a big man and possesses football skills not usually enjoyed by the big units. He is particularly dangerous when running ahead of the play into the forward line and our ruckmen will need to follow him in order to provide a match up when Freo take the ball deep into their fifty metre zone.

At the other end of the ground, he can make life difficult for forwards by getting himself into the hole between FF and CHF. Fortunately, this tactic may not be very useful against us as we tend not to bomb the ball directly into the danger zone but to move the ball into the area with some precision.

One side issue is that Sandilands’ rucking partner, Gilmore (grand-son of Bulldog’s premiership player, Brian) is no world-beater so that when Sandilands hits the bench, we ought to be in an advantageous position. Likewise, given the good oil from a Woof poster, if Warnock is the rotating ruckman there is an opportunity for us to take control as he averages only 5 hit-outs per game this year.

Fortunately, Sandilands is a bit like the entire Freo side. You don’t know whether they are going to actually turn-up to play. Whichever way it goes, our ruckmen and on-ballers need to do their homework before tackling the man mountain.

Dry Rot
13-05-2008, 06:13 PM
Great profile EJ.

Interesting that Sandilands has Street's problem to a degree ie wins taps but not necessarily to their advantage.

His work rate around the ground could give us a few headaches.

1eyedog
13-05-2008, 06:58 PM
Good stuff EJ thanks heaps good read. Do you think it will be up to our talls to go 'two up' against him in throw ins and for our mids to rove to him at ruck contests or do we have enough faith in Huddo and Will? Others here have suggested Streeter might get a gallop to counter Sandilands height dominance. I don't think he will but what are your thoughts on this?

LostDoggy
13-05-2008, 07:02 PM
Great analysis!

Opponents tend to shark to Sandilands a lot, I've noticed? It's almost like because teams know they'll lose the majority of hit-outs against the man-tree they plan around winning it off the tap exclusively with their own ruckman providing nuisance value. It'll be interesting to see how many times Huddo doesn't actually go up for the contest but instead provide physical pressure then scrags like mad at ground level.

Scorlibo
13-05-2008, 07:25 PM
Yea great review EJ, he is definitely the one who will cause us most trouble. I didn't know he was that old?!

Bumper Bulldogs
13-05-2008, 09:04 PM
Good review EJ, He is more than likely going to win the run contests, but I think this is where West, Boyd & Cross will come out on top. They have the smarts and Eade will be all over this one.

Mantis
13-05-2008, 09:19 PM
Good review EJ, He is more than likely going to win the run contests, but I think this is where West, Boyd & Cross will come out on top. They have the smarts and Eade will be all over this one.

Loooks likely to miss another week with his knee injury.

BulldogBelle
13-05-2008, 10:33 PM
Great report EJ - good player to focus on and a terrific read. Well done!

1eyedog
13-05-2008, 10:58 PM
I didn't know he was that old?!

Me either, would have said 27-28 tops

westdog54
14-05-2008, 01:46 AM
Me either, would have said 27-28 tops

He has 2 DOBs listed, for some ungodly reason. One in 1975, one in 1982. Methinks the latter is the correct one.

Hudson and Minson certainly have their work cut out for them. Not only will they be in strife at the ruck contests but he's great to watch as he works around the ground also.

Our mids are going to have to be as sharp as knives to make sure he doesn't give them first use every time.

Perhaps we could play Cooney in the ruck again?

The Underdog
14-05-2008, 09:03 AM
Excellent work EJ.
Sandilands moves pretty well for a guy his size (ie freakin massive) and against anyone has a clear advantage at the bounce and throw ins, however, I think this will be where Hudson's ability on the ground is really going to help us out. He may not be able to win a lot of tap outs but he'll be an extra mid in the clearances. Surely Freo will play Warnock this week. They need 2 ruckmen.
Some have suggested playing Street to combat Sandilands but that drops out a running player and I think the more running mids the better in this game.

LostDoggy
14-05-2008, 09:14 AM
Good stuff EJ thanks heaps good read. Do you think it will be up to our talls to go 'two up' against him in throw ins and for our mids to rove to him at ruck contests or do we have enough faith in Huddo and Will? Others here have suggested Streeter might get a gallop to counter Sandilands height dominance. I don't think he will but what are your thoughts on this?

Firstly, I think it highly unlikely that we will play Street. It is almost an impossiblilty for both our ruckman to compete with him (at the same time) at throw ins and moreover it is undesirable as our other tall can be put to better use behind the ball. I think it more likely that a third man up jumper might be used against him.

Candidates for this are Hahn and perhaps Wight. Cross (despite the perception that he is a small - he's actually 188cms) has been used successfully in this role in the past.

Go_Dogs
14-05-2008, 09:56 AM
I'm hoping he does alright, he is my supercoach starting ruck.... but yes, he will certainly be one who we must be mindful of. Hudson's ability to get down and dirty becomes more important this week, as although Sandilands isn't a bad mover, he just does not have the below the knees agility that Hudson has (Imo at least).

We must also be weary of Will giving away frees against him in the middle.

Good write up EJ.

Dry Rot
14-05-2008, 11:10 AM
Sandilands is pretty underrated - IIRC he's gone well against Cox in their local derbies.

bornadog
14-05-2008, 01:10 PM
Expect Sandilands to ruck in the middle and then move forward to try and outstretch us. More mobile than our Peter Street and same height, will be hard to beat in the ruck. Hudson and Minson will have to try and make a contest of it and if the ball hits the ground, Hudson will be there.

Mantis
14-05-2008, 01:37 PM
Expect Sandilands to ruck in the middle and then move forward to try and outstretch us. More mobile than our Peter Street and same height, will be hard to beat in the ruck. Hudson and Minson will have to try and make a contest of it and if the ball hits the ground, Hudson will be there.

As the ruckman or as a permenant forward allowing someone else to carry the ruck duties around the ground?