RUCKMAN Jake Spencer is set to have his biggest influence at the club this year, according to big man teammate Mark Jamar.

Jamar, who has been sidelined so far this year with hamstring and calf problems, said Spencer had made genuine strides in the pre-season and started the 2014 strongly against St Kilda in Melbourne’s season opener last week.

“Credit to Jake, because I think he’s been the only big man to do the whole pre-season, so they’ve actually had to hold him back a few times, because he’s been too keen to do everything,” Jamar told Dee TV.

“[The coaches and medical staff] have said ‘you’ve got to hold back, because if you go down, no one else is quite ready’.

“He’s done a great job and you’ve seen his numbers in round one – they were terrific – nine tackles and 40 hit outs – so that’s a great game. I’ve been pleased with Jake and we’ve been working pretty closely, nutting out the opposition together.

“When I have been out on the park, we’ve been able to do some ruck work together, which has been fantastic and he’s improving every week and building on that every year, so he should have a really good full year of footy.”