Toby Nankervis is probably the median ruckman at AFL level: 27 years old which is still slightly young but with a lot of mileage on the body; able to hold his own in ruck battles and capable of dominating lesser opponents but outclassed by the true A-graders. His middling rankings made it all the sweeter for Richmond fans watching him receive premiership medals, and he still has a lot of currency with fantasy coaches who have ridden him at times of great value. Like the Tigers as a whole, though, his performance is sliding back towards mid-table.
Toby Nankervis is probably the median ruckman at AFL level: 27 years old which is still slightly young but with a lot of mileage on the body; able to hold his own in ruck battles and capable of dominating lesser opponents but outclassed by the true A-graders. His middling rankings made it all the sweeter for Richmond fans watching him receive premiership medals, and he still has a lot of currency with fantasy coaches who have ridden him at times of great value. Like the Tigers as a whole, though, his performance is sliding back towards mid-table.
Thanks again, Nank
Persistent groin problems caught up with Toby Nankervis in the middle part of last year, and things looked crook when he was still missing early in August. He won the race against time to get up for September and earn a second premiership medal in a tandem with Ivan Soldo in which he is sometimes the junior partner. Nankervis's best is a few points over the ruck baseline, which makes him a dodgy start at best given that you most likely want a bit more from that position. Off-season surgery to reattach the tendon to the bone sounded nasty, which made his preseason start late. That and the tandem situation will see his draft value plummet as a result.
Stank on Nank
As part of the second-last ranked team for hit outs and clearances, Toby Nankervis led the ruck for the Tigers for about the same statistical output as in the flag year, just failing to reach 25 hit outs from his own hands but pushing his disposal average up by two to 17. Richmond puts very little emphasis in its gameplan on stoppages, so the fact that Nankervis is worse than replacement-level doesn't mean much to their coaches. His worth comes from his work around the ground, and in that capacity he's worth a late pick if you also don't care about rucks.
Toby Nankervis has had almost exactly the same season in 2018 as the one before, which has meant that fantasy coaches who showed faith in him from their successful ownership have missed out on the gains from other rucks who have elevated themselves into the very top echelons of fantasy scorers.
Thanks Nank!
The preseason injury to Shaun Hampson last year was the making of Toby Nankervis as a player, as he was given sole ruck duties albeit with a July detour into a ruck committee with Ivan Soldo. He ended the home & away season with two fantasy tons, lifting the Tigers to victory in the prelim and holding his own against Sam Jacobs in the grand final. His hit out rate of 24 wasn't all that flash but it was around the ground where he proved his value, outworking his opponents for 15 disposals per game. Nankervis was the foundation stone for a lot of fantasy finalist teams in 2017, as not all of the hype from his obvious underpricing in salary cap competitions flowed through and you still could have taken him fairly late in drafts. However, in the wake of the removal of the third man up rule Nank's scoring looks not much better than baseline level, and the return of Hampson this season threatens his value further as Richmond have already shown they like tandem rucks. Fantasy coaches can be forgiven for waving a fond goodbye.
