Ahead of one of the most anticipated AFL clashes of the season, Carlton ruckman Marc Pittonet, a self-described “ruck nerd” obsessed with the granular tactical details of his position, is gearing up to face the man he calls the greatest ruckman to ever play the game: Melbourne’s Max Gawn. When the two heavyweights meet at the packed Melbourne Cricket Ground this Saturday, the outcome of their individual matchup is widely expected to go a long way in determining whether Carlton claims victory over the reigning contenders.
Pittonet’s obsession with ruck craft extends far beyond on-field physicality. The Blues big man has dedicated countless hours to breaking down every possible variable that can shift the tide of a centre bounce, a facet of the game that has shifted dramatically in recent years. Early in the current season, he shared concerns that new rules forcing ruckmen to jump immediately at centre ball ups would erase the nuanced, strategic side of the sport that has defined veteran ruck careers like his and Gawn’s. But as the season has progressed, he has watched the game adapt, arguing that tactical awareness and precise execution have never been more critical to gaining an edge over an opponent.
“Early in the year I had an idea of where I thought it would go and it didn’t quite go to where I thought,” Pittonet explained. What gives him a unique competitive advantage is his rare versatility: he can jump equally well off either leg and tap the ball effectively with either hand. He also spends every centre bounce assessing dozens of small details that most fans and even casual observers would never notice. From the height and angle of the umpire’s throw, to which side of the ruck circle the ball will land, to the opposing ruckman’s preferred jumping foot and movement patterns, every small detail is calculated to disrupt the opponent’s timing.
“If you can then vary that up so the other guy’s timing is not the same, it can give you an advantage even if the other guy is taller, jumping higher,” he said. He points to Gawn’s signature two-hand push as an example of the kind of specialized, fine-tuned skill that separates elite veteran ruckmen from the rest of the pack. “At the start it was a matter of ‘Have we taken away the art of ruck work at centre bounce?’… (but) we’re starting to find ways.”
This level of obsession with tactical detail has earned Pittonet the “ruck nerd” label he happily embraces. Even Carlton’s midfields have joked that his ruck strategy conversations with former teammate Matthew Kreuzer sound like a completely foreign language to outsiders. Fortunately for him, newly appointed Carlton coach Josh Fraser – a star ruckman during his own playing career at Collingwood and Gold Coast – speaks that language fluently. Pittonet recalled a halftime conversation during a recent match where Fraser shared a nuanced tactical insight that no previous coach had ever passed along to him, calling it “just great ruck coaching” that has already elevated his game.
As he prepares to face Gawn, Pittonet is under no illusions about the challenge ahead. He admits he has never truly beaten the Melbourne champion in their previous matchups, and this year Gawn is turning in what may be the best season of his already legendary career. At 35 years old, Gawn just posted a dominant performance of 28 hitouts and 10 clearances just last week, a stat line that cements his status as a freak of the sport in Pittonet’s eyes. “I think he’s the best ever – I think he’s a freak,” Pittonet said. “The fact he’s been this good for this long is just incredible.”
To stand a chance against Gawn this weekend, Pittonet says he will have to set his own personal stats aside and prioritize the team’s success over his own individual performance. “There will be times on the weekend where I will have to put my ego on the hook for the team and just go, ‘It’s not about my hit-outs, my marks, my touches, my goals’,” he explained. “If I can do what I need to do on him, limit his impact, then we’ll go a fair way to winning.” For the self-proclaimed ruck nerd, Saturday’s clash at the MCG is the ultimate test of his years of studying the craft – against the greatest to ever do it.