What to make of the Hawks’ ruck revolving door
Goodbye Cegs 👋 Hello Max 👋
The AFL “ruck merry go round” has made its final stop at the 11th hour of the 2021 trade period.
Max Lynch is on the way to the Hawks from Collingwood, Darcy Fort to the Lions, and Jon Ceglar to the C*ts, where he’ll fit right in among their contingent of ageing stars. I won’t bore you with the third and fourth round pick exchanges - the deal was effectively a straight swap.
Cegs gave us great service and was gently nudged out the door of the Ricoh, so he should leave with the fans’ full blessing, unlike he shall not be named who turned down a contract at the Hawks and engineered a move to our sworn enemy. (Read more on Cegs’ injury plagued career below.)
So will Lynch actually make our ruck division better?
Well, it’s a bit of an unknown quantity. He’s played three games of AFL footy in the four years he’s been on Collingwood’s list, but when you’re understudy to one of the best bigmen in the game in a system that prefers one ruck, it’s no surprise he decided to seek greener pastures.
At age 23, he does fit our age profile, and if he can develop alongside Ned Reeves - well, that’s our ruck combo sorted for the next five years. At the same time, going into 2022 with two project ruckmen who have played a collective eight games is a pretty terrifying prospect. Thankfully, they’ll have a 244-game dual premiership veteran guiding their development off and on the field (if his body allows it).
Without reading too much into a tiny sample size of senior footy, Lynch competed well in his two games for 2021. He battled admirably against Adelaide’s Riley O’Brien in round 12, negating his influence rather than winning much of his own footy, and backed it up a week later against Max Gawn in a surprise win against Melbourne.
In his breakout performance, Lynch finished the game with 15 disposals, two clearances, three marks and a goal assist. He actually ended the game with three more hit-outs than Gawn in a performance that “showed promise” according to Jon Pierik in The Age. Here’s what the Collingwood website said about that display.
“In just his 3rd AFL game, Lynch continues to impress with his work in the ruck. In fact, Lynch led the game for hit-outs with 23, 3 more than Gawn who finished with 20 for the match. There was a stage early in the 3rd quarter in which Lynch had over double the amount of hit-outs than the Demon’s champion.”
Lynch has been described as a “battler”, “solid”, “reliable”, a “decent clubman” and “not a spud” by the Collingwood supporters in my life. He was picked up from the Murray Bushrangers at pick 56 in the 20116 rookie draft, and was always going to be a later bloomer given his background in soccer.
When Collingwood supporters are describing the deal as an “absolute steal” on Big Footy, you know you’re onto a winner. The other person who presumably signed off on the deal is our new assistant coach Robert Harvey, who would’ve got a decent look at Lynch in his time at Collingwood.
So who is our #1 ruck?
From all reports Lynch doesn’t mind a bit of the physical stuff. He has a big body and isn’t afraid to use it. That makes him a nice foil for Reeves, who is less of an aggressor and more of your classic tap ruckman who has strong hands and a “wicked kick” (Michael Hartley’s words).
At Hawthorn, Lynch will likely challenge Reeves for the #1 spot. McEvoy has been the leader we needed over a tumultuous 12 months, but his big body is banged up and it’s likely he’ll spend big chunk of 2021 splitting time between forward, ruck and pine.
In many ways, bringing Lynch into the club tells a bit of a story as to where the Hawks view Reeves in terms of his development. As Daniel Prins wrote last week:
“If the Hawks believe Reeves is ready to take up the [#1] ruck mantle, moving on Ceglar will clear any blockages from the path that will allow that to happen.”
That hand has been played now, despite some early interest in Peter Ladhams. In a previous piece, I talked up the prospects of Ladhams coming in as a readymade replacement for Ceglar. But the club obviously didn’t rate him highly enough to part with the high draft price Port were asking. It probably also means they are ready to fully unleash the Big Noodle on an otherwise unsuspecting comp.
Lunchtime at the Hawks?
Despite the on-field uncertainties what we do know for sure is the Hawthorn content team has gained an absolute star in Max Lynch. The boy from Jindera “with a mullet and a dream” is a bit of a character around the club and is apparently close with former Pie, full time larrikin, and fellow member of mullet club Tom Phillips.
He even hosted his own podcast series, Lunch Time, where he “interviewed past and present Collingwood players in a weekly segment to give the Magpie Army and wider football community an insight to their lives, on and off the field”. Hands off The Golden Years though, Max.
Farewell Cegs (2013-2021)
Who better than ‘Angry’ Brad Klibansky to give a tribute to his favourite whipping boy Cegs?
After nine seasons, 101 games and many injuries at the Hawks, it’s time to farewell Cegs. Thanks for the memories.
Cegs was recruited by Collingwood with pick 25 from the Murray Bushrangers (sound familiar?) in the 2010 National Draft. After not playing a senior game for the Magpies, he was delisted at the end of the 2011 season.
In a bargain for the Hawks, Cegs was picked up with pick 15 in the 2012 Rookie Draft. He made his debut late in the 2013 season against the Lions.
We decided to take the punt and promoted Cegs to the senior list by selecting him with pick 59 in the 2013 National Draft. He became a senior team regular in the 2014 season, averaging 12 touches and 19 hit-outs a game in his 15 games. Unfortunately for Cegs he was unluckily replaced by Ben McEvoy in Hawthorn's winning Grand Final team.
2015 and 2016 were both solid seasons for Cegs, however, he was hampered by cruel injuries, including doing his ACL in his 50th match against the Eagles in Perth in the final round of the home and away season.
Despite missing all of the 2017, Cegs signed a two year extension to remain at the club until the end of 2019.
Unfortunately in his final four seasons at the club, Cegs could only average 12 games a season due to his lack of consistency and injury. While he did play some excellent games to finish the 2021 season after Ned Reeves got injured, the timing is perfect for him to move on.
We wish Cegs all the best at the Cats but hopefully we don’t ever see him and Isaac Smith lift the premiership cup.