How the Hawks are making their two-ruck strategy work

In the cut and thrust of a game of AFL football, almost all the attention centres on the play around the ball.

There is only so much focus you can spare with 36 frenzied bodies scrambling for a bouncing pill of leather in the middle of the paddock.

But occasionally attention — and TV cameras — turns to the sidelines.

Five players and a bevy of staffers fill the dugout. Occasionally there will be players running or stretching up the sideline, or getting a rub-down to restore the body.

There will often be a coach with a board in hand, signalling the next moves, and officials of some variety pacing around.

But usually there will be at least a couple of players sitting passively, watching the world move around them.

Often those seats — closer to the action than any that can be bought — are the ones furthest from the heat of the battle.

Until this year those players — one on each side — would be resplendent in a fluoro vest.

This year, while the sub is (again) consigned to the dustbin of history, there is still often a player who spends extended time on the bench.

With the extension of the interchange bench to five, teams have taken a variety of approaches to managing the new interchange rules.

Some have opted for sub-like cameos, others have loaded it with extra bodies through the middle of the ground.

And a handful have looked to go bigger to dominate the game in the air.

Once thought to be dead and buried, the era of the dual ruck has been resuscitated by a handful of notable clubs in finals contention.

Originally a casualty of limited rotations, the second ruck had been replaced by part-timers and pinch-hitters.

This season, some contenders are gambling that dominance in the air can make an impact on the scoreboard. One side in particular is splitting their rucks out more than anyone else, with dramatic results.

Hawthorn has deployed the duo of Ned Reeves and Lloyd Meek whenever both have been fit this year, but the two have almost never shared the ground together.

Reeves and Meek have combined to form one of the league's premier big-man divisions, providing strength at the stoppage and in general play.

This is how Hawthorn (and other contenders) have utilised the new interchange rules.

Subbing out the sub

Whenever rule changes are enacted there is always a period of readjustment. After a change, clubs take time to figure out the impact and how they might exploit the new arrangements.

Since the expansion to four interchange players, bench rotations have increasingly become more solidified.

Teams usually set the ideal rotation schedule in the week before the game, with players rotating in groups following set patterns. Groups covering the three lines across the ground are common, as well as a group covering "talls".

A good example is Hawthorn's defence last week. Seven players rotated throughout the game, but only six were on the field at any one time.

Teams lean heavily on training and game data to know the limits of each player and how to deploy them most effectively.

The incorporation of the fifth interchange player, however, looked to break this settled thinking. More importantly, sides were unsure what type of player would fill that last slot on the bench.

A common early suggestion in club land was the idea of a sub-like impact player. The impact player was toyed with by some sides early in the year.

The most prominent example of the early game hold-out was Scott Pendlebury's scintillating performance in the opening round. The AFL games record holder spent the first 20 minutes of the game on the pine before tearing the game apart.

Despite Pendlebury's stellar early season performance, returns of others in the role have been patchy at best. As the season has progressed, fewer sides leave players off for long periods of time before getting into the swing of things.

In the past month, impact interchanges have been used just five times compared with 19 times until the end of round four.

Two teams in particular have used the impact player more than anyone else: Port Adelaide and Sydney.

Despite both sides being more successful than many expected before the season started, few have followed their lead in this respect.

Other sides have decided to supersize the fifth interchange spot. For the past few seasons the use of dual rucks had fallen out of favour, with sides preferring the foot speed of more mobile players.

Instead of using a second ruck, most clubs have relied upon ruck-forwards to pinch-hit the 20 to 30 per cent of game time the primary ruck had to take a spell on the bench.

A small handful of clubs persevered with dual rucks, but those clubs were usually blessed with unicorn-like rucks, such as Fremantle and Luke Jackson, or Geelong and Mark Blicavs.

This year, there is a return to practices of years past with two lumbering specialists filling the team sheets. No side has been as dedicated to the cause as Hawthorn.

"We haven't used the double rucks in quite a long time, and obviously there is a little bit of risk," Hawks coach Sam Mitchell told the media earlier this year.

"But Ned (Reeves) has been a really high performer, even though he hasn't played a lot of AFL footy in the last 18 months."

Although the strategy is relatively new to Mitchell, it is one he was keen to stick with earlier in the year.

"Certainly, we will be sticking with two rucks," he said.

That resolve for a two-ruck strategy has been tested in recent weeks, however there are clear signs that the strategy has been working for the club.

Tall Hawks flying together

At the end of last season rumour abounded that there was interest from rival clubs in Reeves.

At one stage, it seemed likely that Reeves would be a member of the annual ruck carousel, heading to another club. But Mitchell sold Reeves on the benefits of staying at the club.

Instead of Reeves fighting incumbent ruck Lloyd Meek for a spot in the 22, the Hawks explored the idea of the two playing together in the same 23-player squad.

While both share a position, there are some differences that present opportunities for dual deployment.

"I think … me and Meeky (Lloyd Meek) are quite different," Reeves told 3AW earlier this year.

"So it's a nice little one-two package where we can throw some different looks at the oppo (opposition).

"Not many can compete with his strength at all and I'll try and get on for the centre bounce as much as possible.

"I think that a little bit less game time has allowed me to run out of games a bit better."

Reeves's final thought hinted at Hawthorn's extreme approach to the split. So far this year, Reeves and Meek have existed in almost complete isolation to each other, rarely sharing the field.

Even with Reeves unavailable the last couple of weeks, the Hawks have worked to maximise Meek's on-field time to preserve the approach as much as possible.

No pair of players has come on and off at the same time as much as Meek and Reeves, despite injury-enforced absences.

Reeves and Meek exclusively traded places on the ground in four games this year. In several others they shared part of one stint together, often late in games.

The rest of the league have combined for only three other instances of full-game exclusive ruck swaps.

That use of two rucks in such a staggered way helps preserve the freshness and fitness of both on the ground. It helps the two run out games and get to as many contests as possible.

While many perceive the main value of a ruck to be to control the ball in ruck contests, perhaps a greater value is their use to prevent transition, halve long kicks down the line and present a tall target when required.

Both Reeves and Meek have excelled in these areas, with the Hawks cementing themselves as one of the best stoppage sides this year.

This is in stark contrast to their ruck performance when Mitchell first arrived at the club.

Using the two rucks in this way means they can feast on the part-timers and pinch-hitters thrown their way in relief, allowing their teammates access to effective first use at the contest.

These are the little things that can elevate a side from good to great.

Individually, neither ruck stands out. Combined, however, they mark and goal like Rowan Marshall, intercept like Brodie Grundy, clear it like Tristan Xerri and spoil more often than any of their peers.

Each ruck has their own strengths, ones that can kick the opposition off balance. Together, Mitchell and the Hawks' brain trust figure that the duo can counter even the best opposition rucks in the competition.

"Having the two rucks gives us, on paper, an advantage against teams with someone like him (Luke Jackson)," Mitchell said earlier this year before playing Fremantle.

"[For example] Can we test him the other way? Can we form our own threats? A bit of the game is going to be played out not exactly how you think."

The near-full split of ruck duties and low time on ground might be catching eyes and prompting imitators around the league.

Brisbane's recent uptick in form since the bye has coincided with a precipitous drop in the time rucks Sam Draper and Darcy Fort share the field.

Fort's on-field time has been cut to around half a game as the Lions look to work Eric Hipwood into their talls set-up. This has allowed the Lions to also find a bit more speed on the ball.

Elsewhere around the league, Melbourne's Max Heath has been recalled to pair with Max Gawn this week. When tried in combination earlier this year the duo resembled the Hawks pair.

Some were concerned with a drop in Max Gawn's raw numbers, but the two were incredibly efficient and effective when on field.

Three of the league's current top six have explored the split-ruck strategy, with Fremantle going a step further by playing two rucks simultaneously more than any other club.

A too tall future

It is too early to tell whether this new ruck strategy will stick, and whether big players around the league will get a new lease on life.

This year's finals series may go some way to determining the tide of the rest of the league.

Some strategies can work in the home-and-away season, but they need to be battle tested in finals before everyone takes them seriously.

But there are some other hints that it is working beyond raw ladder position.Teams fielding two rucks against one have gained the upper hand around the ball this year, getting first hands on the ball five times more often per game.

These teams also are ahead in raw score against teams who play just a single ruck, but the sample is potentially skewed by the success of the teams listed above.

In any event, the hopes of rucks everywhere may just be boosted by a flag by the double-ruck brigade.