Look, my opinions on Ackland have been made well-known on other posts. I was bemused when he was selected, and he was one of the reasons why I recommended friends tip against Carlton this week. The fact is that, while he rucked better than Kreuzer today, he is completely useless the moment the ruck contest is over, and you can't afford to do that in the modern game. He applies no pressure, he turned the ball over to gift Brisbane two goals, and failed to provide any options going forward that a monkey couldn't be trained to emulate. All six of our other ruck options (Cloke, Hampson, Kreuzer, Setanta and Aisake O'hAilpin, and rookie Sam Jacobs) are better options than Ackland, and due to that high ruck contingent, it is clear that Ackland has no long-term future with the club; furthermore, it has always been clear to all but the stupidest of Carlton fans that we are still rebuilding, and that developing the youth, not making the finals, is the point of this season. Overall, it was probably the worst decision I've seen at a selection table since the ACB said "no, I didn't like that Brad Hodge double-century; let's take that hack Damien Martyn to South Africa instead."
But we can't make Cain Ackland a scapegoat for a poor performance. While his skills were poor and was physically incapable of applying midfield pressure, he had plenty of friends on both counts. It was the worst midfield pressure since the Essendon game, and Ratts must do what he did before the Collingwood game to get them back to applying that pressure - which will be even more important if Jamison's injury will lead to time on the sidelines.
