marking the ball. Some forward pockets can even jump so high that they can contest marks, despite their lack of height. Notable forward pocket players: Jeff Farmer Silvio Foschini Vin Catoggio Peter Daicos Norm Goss Brad Johnson Brad Hardie Leon Davis Angus Monfries Phillip Matera Eddie Betts Brett Ebert Stephen Milne Mark LeCras Hayden Ballantyne Michael Walters Followers The followers are three different roles, the "ruck", "rover" and "ruck-rover". Also known as the on-ball division, the followers consist of three players: a ruckman, a ruck-rover and a rover. They are known as followers because they have traditionally been used as players that follow the ball all around the ground as opposed to playing in a set position. With modern Australian rules football there is a decreased emphasis on set positions, but followers generally cover much more ground than other players on the field. Ruckman—their role is to contest with the opposing ruckman at centre-bounces which take place at the start of each quarter or after each goal and also at stoppages (i.e., boundary throw ins, ball ups). The ruckman usually uses his height (typically players are over tall) to palm or tap the ball down so that a ruck-rover or rover can run onto it—similar to an NBA centre at the tip-off. Traditionally, ruckmen have simply been tall players with limited skill and speed, whose only job was to provide a contest in the ruck. In recent times, however, ruckmen have become faster and more skilled, so they can play as an extra midfielder in between ruck contests. The tallest AFL players ever are ruckmen Mason Cox (Collingwood), Aaron Sandilands (Fremantle), Peter Street (Western Bulldogs) and Ned Reeves (Hawthorn), all of whom measure . Before them the record was held by Matthew "Spider" Burton (Fremantle and North Melbourne) at . Gold Coast's Jarrod Witts also stands at . Notable Ruckmen: Syd Coventry Jack Dyer Roy Cazaly Vic Cumberland Percy Bentley Roy Wright Alan Gale Jack Clarke Denis Cordner Polly Farmer Sam Newman Carl Ditterich John Nicholls John Schultz Noel Teasdale Mike Pyke Len Thompson Gary Dempsey Don Scott Stephen Michael Rick Davies Graham Moss Peter Moore Barry Round Simon Madden Peter Carey Jim Stynes Shaun Rehn Greg Stafford Scott Wynd Jeff White Paul Salmon Brad Ottens Peter Everitt Dean Cox Aaron Sandilands Max Gawn Ruck-rover—their role is to be directly beneath the flight of the ball when a ruckman taps