Ivan Soldo | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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Ivan Soldo

CarnTheTiges

This is a REAL tiger
Mar 8, 2004
25,348
11,173
Victoria
Sounds like they promised a ruck role, but . . . we'll see what they actually do once he is there and on the payroll. I never thought of him as anything but a forward and relief ruck at best. As a forward I reckon he has potential, not superstar level, but a solid tall forward who will kick goals and tie up a couple of defenders. That's why I am sorry to see him go. But his aspiration to be a first ruck, can't see it myself.

DS
They’re #lolnorf. They need both a forward and a ruck, they’ll play Goldstein into the ground and then expect CCJ to seamlessly take over, even though he’s been played mostly forward up to that point.
 

Dont Argue

Tiger Legend
Jun 26, 2018
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Soldo reminds me of the robot in Lost In Space when someone reprogrammed him for nastiness
Kill, Crush, Destroy
 

year of the tiger

Tiger Legend
Mar 26, 2008
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Tasmania
I don't want to bring down the mood, but I'd be highly doubtful it will be a quick bounce back for Soldo.

Big men tend to take a good year or so to build confidence in a reconstructed knee and to get over the mental challenge of it. I'd expect he will struggle next year, probably be out of the side at different points and won't start playing consistently at the level he has before until 2023.

Nah - he will come good with his form in time for round 24 next year. ;)
 
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Carter

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Nov 14, 2012
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I don't want to bring down the mood, but I'd be highly doubtful it will be a quick bounce back for Soldo.

Big men tend to take a good year or so to build confidence in a reconstructed knee and to get over the mental challenge of it. I'd expect he will struggle next year, probably be out of the side at different points and won't start playing consistently at the level he has before until 2023.

He’s been building confidence for a while now, he’ll be right within a month of senior footy I reckon.

There is way too much baseless cynicism on this thread.
 
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Berwick boy

Tiger Superstar
Apr 27, 2004
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Baseless cynicism huh?

Suggest you do some research into the knee reconstruction recovery experiences of 95 kg plus AFL players.

You will find they talk about a 2 year recovery, the 12 months post surgery and then 12 months to regain playing form.

Having a knee reconstruction as a 110kg ruckman is a high risk procedure. Not only is the risk of recurrence much higher in larger athletes, but most of their play is based around putting stress through the knee.

There is a greater likelihood of secondary issues with the knee like cartilage damage, loss of motion and function and other like issues.

You can also build all the confidence you like in the knee at training but until you stand face to face with another 100kg plus monster who is going to charge at you and try and put all his weight into your body, or stand in a pack under a high ball while 350kg worth of pack crashes into you, then it is all pretty worthless. Ask any reconstructed player and they will tell you it understandably takes some time to clear the thoughts of risk and danger from your mind and start to attack the footy again in the same way you did before. It's not a case of playing a couple of scratchies and being good to go.

Soldo is returning from a very significant injury and will need a long time to fully recover. Our expectations on him for next season should be very low, any contribution he makes will be a welcome bonus.
With it being around 18 months (not 12) when he starts playing again help ?

Sep 2020 to March 2022.
 

tigerlove

Tiger Legend
Aug 9, 2014
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I don't want to bring down the mood, but I'd be highly doubtful it will be a quick bounce back for Soldo.

Big men tend to take a good year or so to build confidence in a reconstructed knee and to get over the mental challenge of it. I'd expect he will struggle next year, probably be out of the side at different points and won't start playing consistently at the level he has before until 2023.
Nah. He will win the pre-season B&F.
 

tigerlove

Tiger Legend
Aug 9, 2014
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The other Richo kicked 91 goals off a knee reco in 1996, so it can be done.

I'm just saying our expectations should be very low because that is by far the exception.
For what it's worth I agree with you (except for the pre-season B&F).
 
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AngryAnt

Tiger Legend
Nov 25, 2004
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Yeah, I guess our dud form this season meant no need to rush him back, and those minor setbacks could be a blessing in disguise in terms of lengthening the recovery time. I did see him in the PR car park in October chatting to a coach.. he looked tall (no kidding) and very lean, so at least he was in shape. It took him a long time to become the great tap ruck that we saw in 2019 so I'm not expecting too much early season next year. Gives Nanky a chop out though
 

Carter

Tiger Legend
Nov 14, 2012
9,346
7,505
Baseless cynicism huh?

Suggest you do some research into the knee reconstruction recovery experiences of 95 kg plus AFL players.

You will find they talk about a 2 year recovery, the 12 months post surgery and then 12 months to regain playing form.

Having a knee reconstruction as a 110kg ruckman is a high risk procedure. Not only is the risk of recurrence much higher in larger athletes, but most of their play is based around putting stress through the knee.

There is a greater likelihood of secondary issues with the knee like cartilage damage, loss of motion and function and other like issues.

You can also build all the confidence you like in the knee at training but until you stand face to face with another 100kg plus monster who is going to charge at you and try and put all his weight into your body, or stand in a pack under a high ball while 350kg worth of pack crashes into you, then it is all pretty worthless. Ask any reconstructed player and they will tell you it understandably takes some time to clear the thoughts of risk and danger from your mind and start to attack the footy again in the same way you did before. It's not a case of playing a couple of scratchies and being good to go.

Soldo is returning from a very significant injury and will need a long time to fully recover. Our expectations on him for next season should be very low, any contribution he makes will be a welcome bonus.

September 11 2020 so roughly 19 months before he potentially lines up in Round 1 2022.

He will ease into the season and gain confidence with every hit out.

Importantly, if Nank is fit Ivan won’t be shouldering the load of first ruck.

This, plus the critical factor that two big, talented rucks give us much more in the way of structural advantage than their individual possessions can ever do.

The structural advantage, so well deployed in 2019, is what we are looking for here and goes far beyond any expectation that Ivan will tear games apart.

Nah, I’ll take the more optimistic route here.
 
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