Lose the battle but win the war will be Carlton’s ruck tactics when they take on West Coast big man Nic Naitanui at Optus Stadium.
Naitanui has been in hot form this season, with even Geelong coach Chris Scott admitting it’s hard not to be mesmerised by the ruckman’s skills.
The 2012 All-Australian destroyed Geelong last week, and he is tipped to have another big outing against Carlton’s 202cm ruckman Marc Pittonet.
Carlton coach David Teague knows Naitanui’s game well, having spent three seasons as an assistant at West Coast.
The rookie coach concedes that in all likelihood Naitanui will win more ruck taps than Pittonet.
But Teague is confident his team can still come up with a way to win the war at ground level.
“Sometimes it’s not always about winning the ruck tap, it’s about controlling where the ball goes,” Teague said.
“I think the Bulldogs a couple of years ago were the leading team for clearances and they never got their hands on the ball (in the ruck).
“If we can help our midfielders and give them a rough area where we think the ball’s going to go, it allows them to go to work a little bit better.
“So his (Pittonet’s) game won’t be measured on hitouts, it will probably be on the actual impact on the game and what he does afterwards.
“Nic follows up quite well, and that’s one of Pitto’s strengths – he follows up, he tackles, he gets involved. We’re looking for that again from him.”
Teague expects forward Mitch McGovern to return from a hamstring injury, but David Cuningham has been ruled out.
Caleb Marchbank and Paddy Dow will return from knee injuries in the practice match.
Carlton’s No.1 ruckman Matthew Kreuzer remains sidelined with a foot injury, and Teague isn’t sure whether the 31-year-old will be able to return this year.
West Coast coach Adam Simpson is hopeful both Jeremy McGovern (thumb) and Liam Ryan (hamstring) will be passed fit to play on Sunday.
West Coast are riding high on a five-match winning run, while Carlton are aiming to bounce back from last week’s 31-point loss to Hawthorn.
