Oscar McInerney is a ruckman in the mould of the Leigh Matthews era, almost completely innocuous in media attention compared to the club's star-studded midfield and forward options but just turning up to do the job on the QT. Ruck work can be rather difficult to gauge in terms of quality, and clearance numbers tend to wax and wane throughout a game, but McInerney's role is to not let things get out of hand to let his coalface brigade go to work. An occasional goal would be handy, but he lets others do most of the link work and earns his pay in other, less flashy ways.
Oscar McInerney is a ruckman in the mould of the Leigh Matthews era, almost completely innocuous in media attention compared to the club's star-studded midfield and forward options but just turning up to do the job on the QT. Ruck work can be rather difficult to gauge in terms of quality, and clearance numbers tend to wax and wane throughout a game, but McInerney's role is to not let things get out of hand to let his coalface brigade go to work. An occasional goal would be handy, but he lets others do most of the link work and earns his pay in other, less flashy ways.
Oscar doesn't clean up
A key prong in the Lions' rise up the ladder to the top four last season, Oscar McInerney enjoyed career highs in hit outs, tackles and handballs while splitting his time between key forward and ruck, although dropping in goal output. With Stefan Martin reaching his career twilight, expect McInerney to receive further time in the middle. He is a skilled contested mark but has less effect at ground level, not a good trend if he transitions to a more permanent ruck role. Evidence suggests he'll struggle for production.
Oscar McInerney has been a lesser figure in fantasy this year with the pre-eminence of the Grundy/Gawn tandem filling most spots in salary cap leagues. Question marks won't go away about his longevity past the age of 30, with Archie Smith still lurking on the list despite not playing seniors for most of his tenure at the Lions. Father Time is undefeated in the long run, though Martin's owners can expect at least one more good season out of him - even though there is always the prospect of a midseason tandem experiment.
Supporting role for Oscar
Perhaps surprisingly, it was Oscar McInerney who played ahead of Archie Smith in support of Stefan Martin in the ruck for Brisbane last season. The hit out counts were about 75% the way of the older man, with McInerney booting 14.8 from 16 games in a deep forward role most of the time. McInerney's roles were to bring the incoming ball to ground for the Lions' smaller forwards and forward-runnning midfielders, and to prevent Martin suffering a late-season burnout from carrying the ruck by himself all year. Neither of these tasks involve much in the way of fantasy scores.
An award for Oscar
Oscar McInerney spent most of 2017 playing second fiddle to Archie Smith in the NEAFL after transferring from Casey in the VFL. When Smith was kicked upstairs from round 10 through 16, he racked up four 40+ hitout games but was beaten by the Suns rucks. He ended up winning the reserves best & fairest. McInerney might be an interesting free agent pick up if the Lions get slaughtered by injuries yet again, though he's third in the pecking order and it would be a stretch to see him play as a ruck/forward in the ones where requirements for chasing defenders are far greater.
