John Barnes - Ruck Coach

[BulldogBelle]

How is he doing in this position?

He may be a great coach and certainly a very good player.

But with regard to Will Minson, it seems to me either he is not getting the message through to him otherwise he is not being well coached.

At times Willy makes great tap outs and takes great marks which shows he is capable of being a very good player. Other times he doesn't compete too well in the ruck and at times seems to deliberately tap the ball out in marking contests where he is in a good position to take a mark.

[bornadog]

I think Minson is getting better and better in the ruck. How many times did he win the ruck contest on Sunday and he was up against guys that are way taller than he is.

I thought a couple of times he had a brain fade, but overall it was his best game for the year.

So, if you judge Barnes on the rucks and how well they are doing, I think he is doing a good job.

[BulldogBelle]

Yes - I think that was close to Willy's best game but prior to that he had not been doing that well......

He is one of my fave players and hope the club gets the best out of him, which I believe could be very good.

[BulldogBelle]

I think Minson is getting better and better in the ruck. How many times did he win the ruck contest on Sunday and he was up against guys that are way taller than he is.

I thought a couple of times he had a brain fade, but overall it was his best game for the year.

So, if you judge Barnes on the rucks and how well they are doing, I think he is doing a good job.


Minson is 198 or 199 cms, taller than Gardiner, and a cm or two shorter than King

Not a small ruckman really

We have to remember he is young for a senior ruckman, and will only get better with age. And he will get better when/if he plays as the number 1 ruckman. Look at how Darcy improved with age and when Scott Wynd retired.

The brain fades will improve with age, strength will increase, and his technical knowledge of ruckwork will improve also

[aker39]

Minson is 198 or 199 cms, taller than Gardiner, and a cm or two shorter than King




Gardiner is 199cm
King is 201cm
Minson is 199cm

[LostDoggy]

The brain fades will improve with age, strength will increase, and his technical knowledge of ruckwork will improve also

That's a good thing.

[bornadog]

Gardiner is 199cm
King is 201cm
Minson is 199cm

For some reason I thought Gardiner was over 200. I knew Minson was 199. Well any way, I think he is improving week by week.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Before Roughead got injured, John Barnes told Rocket that Roughead was ready for AFL football.

Rocket agreed with regard to ruckwork but he doesn't think Roughead is a good enough mark yet

[Sedat]

Before Roughead got injured, John Barnes told Rocket that Roughead was ready for AFL football.

Rocket agreed with regard to ruckwork but he doesn't think Roughead is a good enough mark yet
From memory, I think John Barnes might have also said that Jordan Roughead is the best exponent of tap ruck work he has seen at U-18 level.

Barnes might play the village idiot role in the media, but he is extremely well regarded as a ruck coach in AFL circles.

[azabob]

Before Roughead got injured, John Barnes told Rocket that Roughead was ready for AFL football.

Rocket agreed with regard to ruckwork but he doesn't think Roughead is a good enough mark yet

Interesting comment by Eade, considering I wouldn't class Minson and Hudson as strong marks.

[1eyedog]

I spoke with Barnsey about Will down in Tasmania after the Hawthorn game last year and he said 'We just have to keep it as simple as possible with Will'. He's a very smart man Will but Barnesy thought he played footy fairly instinctively. Barnesy also said that instinctive football has a place but their are negative aspects about instinctive footy and these can be hard to change in a player.

[Sleeve1970]

You can have all the ruck coaches in the world but you must have the student who is will and capable of learning the skill. I don't believe that Minson is a player that can take his game any further than he has. Three years in the seniors and he is still making the same errors. They say it takes time for big men to mature as footballers but I think he has had enough time. I feel Wade Skipper is more of a talent but Minson has body size. At least Skipper can go forward and actually take a grab.

Minson needs to really step up and use his head more than his body. Hudson is not on song at the moment and needs help, Minson is not there to do it and gets beat to many times. Time to try out Skipper again, he's hungry. Minson needs to go back to the VFL and learn how to really ruck.

If that don't work teach him to play forward, stick him in the goal square and kick long, crumber's will do the rest. Size down back and forward have long been an issue, lets fix it with Minson in the goal square, Hudson and Skipper in the ruck, able to rotate forward and Lake in the back, wow what a rotation those guys could make.

That would also keep the other team unbalanced with the rotations.. think about it.

[boydogs]

I like the idea of Skipper in for Hahn giving us a tall forward all game with either Skipper or Minson there. Skipper IIRC is a good kick for goal and so is Minson, Lake isn't ATM.

With Hahn and Welsh not firing this is the best move for mine.

I have been happy with the ruckwork this season, not sure how much John Barnes has to do with their work around the ground including marking and decision making which IMHO has been a little down

[GVGjr]

I like the idea of Skipper in for Hahn giving us a tall forward all game with either Skipper or Minson there. Skipper IIRC is a good kick for goal and so is Minson, Lake isn't ATM.

With Hahn and Welsh not firing this is the best move for mine.

I have been happy with the ruckwork this season, not sure how much John Barnes has to do with their work around the ground including marking and decision making which IMHO has been a little down

I have been impressed with Skippers performance so far with Williamstown however, the only problem with moving the in form Skipper to a key forward post for the senior side is that he hasn't played as a key forward for Williamstown for any great length this season.
At least 75% of the game he is in the ruck and I wonder if he needs to be given a full game as a forward just to test him out?

[soupman]

Minson needs to really step up and use his head more than his body. Hudson is not on song at the moment and needs help, Minson is not there to do it and gets beat to many times. Time to try out Skipper again, he's hungry. Minson needs to go back to the VFL and learn how to really ruck.


I think there is a perception on here that Minson is a poor ruckman. He isn't.

Minson is arguably our best tap ruckman, at least until Roughead comes along. When Minson goes until the middle we look more dangerous at centre bounces. Hudson's better at the boundary throw ins.

Minson's issue is rushing himself. He does take marks, he showed this last week. But what happens is that whenever he takes a mark there is usually an option open for him but he tries to rush the passs and consequentially screws it up. What we need is for players to run past him when he takes a mark, so instead of him turning and kicking off one step he takes the mark and handpasses out to a running Griffen or Eagleton.

[bornadog]

I think there is a perception on here that Minson is a poor ruckman. He isn't.

Minson is arguably our best tap ruckman, at least until Roughead comes along. When Minson goes until the middle we look more dangerous at centre bounces. Hudson's better at the boundary throw ins.

Minson's issue is rushing himself. He does take marks, he showed this last week. But what happens is that whenever he takes a mark there is usually an option open for him but he tries to rush the passs and consequentially screws it up. What we need is for players to run past him when he takes a mark, so instead of him turning and kicking off one step he takes the mark and handpasses out to a running Griffen or Eagleton.

Yes Scotty Wynd never kicked a ball, always someone running through.

[Mofra]

I like the idea of Skipper in for Hahn giving us a tall forward all game with either Skipper or Minson there. Skipper IIRC is a good kick for goal and so is Minson, Lake isn't ATM.
I've suggested something similar, however Skipper has been playing mostly ruck at Willy. If Roughead is elevated to Willy seniors, you'd hope Skipper gets a solid run forward. In any case it keeps the acid on Hahn this week to produce. Skipper always seemed to give his full measure at senior level, and knowing he is on a 1 year contract he'd be even more desperate if given one last crack at the bigtime.