Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life 2024: Opening Round – Back to back?

 

G’day True Believers. 2024 beckons.

 

Firstly, let me welcome Darren and Rosemary, our latest additions. This is just a bit of fun within a sizeable family. Our membership list extends from Private soldiers in the Army, apprentices, and farm workers in regional Australia to captains of industry and senior government officials. We share a common view of our game and our Club as Collingwood supporters. Some of us are members; some not, but all staunch supporters, True Believers. We welcome your views and comments. Of course, there are no right or wrong answers amongst ‘our family’, noting that there are a couple of Cats supporters within the address list, mostly because of actual family connections. They were pretty quiet last year. Put into perspective, Rosemary described herself as “a happy tragic”. My response to her included: “aren’t we all”. Welcome. Look forward to your contribution.

 

An administrative request? I encourage all of us to ‘Reply to all’. It engages everyone, the critical foundation of our ‘family’, regardless of experience and knowledge. You will note that the version published in the Footy Almanac does not include the email addresses. Please also use the address list from the latest email. I try to keep this up to date, with some previous versions including errors. Thanks.

 

Last Year

 

Like many of you I’ve watched the Grannie replay a few times. I don’t really enjoy it much; except for our two final goals (Nick to Jordie to goal (https://www.afl.com.au/news/1076349/its-go-time-how-pies-mindset-made-one-of-the-greatest-gf-goals) and Sidey’s long shot) and the end – great tactic to smother the play at the end. I thought we were the better team on the day by a substantive margin. Brisbane scored well but frequently against the run of the game; not because they dominated the play. If Brisbane had won, it would have been an accident. The final margin did not reflect our general dominance. But, there are lessons in this great game we love. My general assessment following the win was published in the Footy Almanac website (G’day John!) at https://www.footyalmanac.com.au/cam-hookes-collingwood-life-grand-final-review-pies-premiers/ (Darren & Rosemary, worth a look at the more general site at www.footyalmanac.com.au/?s=Hooke some time). In retrospect, I’d probably be a bit harsher in my assessment of Brisbane than I was then. My excuse – being nice (Yeah, Right, I hear some of you say), it can be difficult to be too critical of your opponent when you’ve just won the Premiership. We’ll have a closer look at Brisbane as we head towards them.

 

This Year

 

There has been a reasonable absence of experts, like last year, anticipating a giant slide. Well, we showed them then. So they’re a bit cautious this year.  How about Back to Back? Well, check https://www.sen.com.au/news/2024/02/08/if-youre-ever-tipping-a-team-to-go-back-to-back-kings-big-collingwood-call/. Worth a read.

 

Which teams are a threat this year? Brisbane, again. Carlton, unfortunately. Hawthorn, maybe. Adelaide and/or Port if they manage to play well away from home? Sydney? See Buck’s comments – https://www.sen.com.au/news/2024/02/11/why-buckley-considers-sydney-as-collingwood-and-brisbanes-biggest-flag/.  Who do you reckon?

 

Preparation?

 

A lot, much of it quite positive, has been written / said about our Pre-Season. To put things into perspective, we have had a number of injuries, not always listed in the reporting:

 

• McStay – probable season;
• Murphy – not sure. I was actually waiting for this. His health must come first and may result in his retirement;
• De Mattia – 8–12 weeks finger injury, particularly annoying because he was training really well and getting noticed;
• Schultz – back injury – duration unknown;
• J. Daicos – calf injury;
• Eyre – hamstring, period unknown; and
• N. Daicos – whispers;  don’t know. Does anyone think that he has fully recovered yet?

 

So, there are a few holes to be filled.

 

Intra-Club hit-out

 

Wednesday, 14 February, bounce at 4.30pm at the AIA Centre: Intra-Club game. The two teams consisting of AFL, VFL and SSP-listed players played three periods of football with numerous players impressing in the first official match of the year. Of note were Macrae’s performance out of the Midfield, Bobby up forward and, while I’ve been critical of their performance in the past, both Krueger and Johnson were influential. Cameron’s performance was also significant but was mainly focused on his marking Inside 50, less about rucking. The replay highlights are on the AFL website. Worth a browse.

 

AFL Pre-Season

 

• Wednesday, 21 February – Match Simulation Session (arranged by Clubs); bounce at 10.00am at the AIA Centre: North Melbourne versus Collingwood; and

• Tuesday, 27 February – 2024 AAMI Community Series (arranged by AFL); bounce at 6.40pm at Ikon Park: Collingwood versus Richmond. This game will seek to support Foodbank; Go to https://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/1486331/collingwood-and-richmon-announce-inaugural-charity-shield.

 

So, can some of you go? I love the TV clips that show Collingwood fans five deep around the training field. Both matches will be shown live on Kayo. I’d love to hear some assessments by those unable to attend, but still watching.Reports please?

 

Outstanding Questions for us?

 

• Ruck(s). Begg and Steene should be useable in this role. I hugely value Cox and Cameron as Forward targets. Their ability to mark inside 50 and score is hugely influential, but they are not top of the line rucks. I have nightmares thinking about our first encounter with Sydney.
• Key Forward. Having said that, both Cox and Cameron can fulfill this key role. As above, I have been critical of Krueger and Johnson in the past.
• Midfield. We have a number of individuals tempted into the Midfield – Nick, Crisp, De Goey, McCreery plus Macrae, with Sidey and Josh on the Wings, supported by Pendles and Mitchell. Of these we need to identify a tagger, when we need one, replacing my past preference Adams – maybe McReery, though Maynard did really well on Greene last meeting with GWS; and
• Defence. The objective of our defence should be to allow Moore and Howe to play their intercept role without the Back 6 (or 7) freeing up key opponent Forwards. Rotating the Midfield off the Half Back line works well for some; with the same used for the small forwards. Dean did well in the Intra-Club game.

 

It would be useful to look at these specific questions after each of the warm-up games. Reporting?

 

And I note that the Pies just added Eyre, Bytel and Sullivan under the SSP to the List. Detail athttps://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/1490092/pies-finalise-list-for-2024.

 

Opening Round (OR)

 

The fundamental purpose of this email is to provide a basis for our OR game, but it includes a bit of detail covering the Pre-Season antics of the Clubs, including the practice matches.

 

OR: Saturday, 9 March, bounce at 7.30pm at Giants’ Stadium: GWS versus Collingwood.

 

History

 

Them:

 

GWS have come a long way in recent years. Most recently we defeated them in the 22 September 2023 Preliminary Final by a solitary point. They went into the game having won 11 of their previous 13 games, including a Club record of 7 Wins in a row. They had also, probably, every right to feel somewhat aggrieved, given our home ground advantage. My assessment of that game is at: https://www.footyalmanac.com.au/cam-hookes-collingwood-life-preliminary-final-review-grand-final-preview/. Significant game statistics from that game were:

 

• Hit Outs – 45 (us) / 28 (GWS);
• Clearances – 44 / 26;
• Inside 50s – 52 / 48;
• Disposal Efficiency (DE whole game) – 69.9% / 66.8%;
• DE Inside 50 – 38.5% / 43.8%; and
• Contested Possessions – 140 / 154.

 

So, we had a significant advantage in Clearances that we largely gave away leading to very close Inside 50 numbers and, with their much better Inside 50 DE, a balance was reached. Dominance through the game changed:

 

• Q1 – us (2 goals (us) to nil (them));
• Q2 – GWS (0 goals to 4);
• Q3 – us (5 goals to 2); and
• Q4 – shared (1 goal to 2).

GWS scored the same number of goals, but Lost the game. Their Best at that game were Green (C), Greene (FP), Taylor (FB), Whitfield (HB), Hogan (FF) and Coniglio (Rover). Our Best for the same game were De Goey, Crisp, Pendlebury, Quaynor, N.Daicos and Cox.

 

GWS GIANTS 2024 season assessment – Andrew Slevison, SEN:

 

Was last year a fluke or genuine? The Giants could be the next Collingwood. Perhaps. They could also be the Melbourne of 2019. Unlikely.

 

And back to me: I have no doubt they will make The Eight this year.

 

GWS players to watch:

 

• Green – C. Not sure who looked after him last time – maybe Pendles or Adams. Close tag job for McCreery?
• Greene – FP. Needs to be ‘hard-tagged’. Maynard did a great job last meeting – see the comparison of numbers between Maynard and Greene in my assessment of that game (link identified above);
• Callaghan – Mid;
• Ash – Defence;
• Briggs – Ruck;
• Himmelberg – Forward or Back; can play both. I rate him; the expert commentators don’t; and
• Keeffe – off the bench but tends to be Forward. Why? Family reasons as a former Pies’ player.

 

GWS’ pre-season reminds me of some Army or school cadet camp activities – route marches, carrying a patient on a stretcher for an extended distance, camping and such. Of course the abseiling would have been fun, not sure of the relevance. GWS have a pre-season game in Canberra against the GC on 29 February – Thursday is not helpful if you don’t live in town. Still, should be on Kayo. It would be good to get some feedback? GWS took four picks at the Draft plus one Rookie. I am unaware of the significance of their List changes. My greater concern relates to their Best at their last meeting game, plus a couple of others I’ve added (above). Commentators have identified two foundation issues that GWS need to address:

 

• Backline effectiveness – the ability to shut down an opponent’s attack, and
• Fitness – up to standard.

I think these observations are a bit silly, given GWS missed out on a place at last year’s Grannie by 1 Point. GWS are a very good side and should never be doubted.

 

Us:

 

Okay, I just love the daily Facebook announcement that “We are the champions”. Yep, every day. Clearly there are other True Believers who are not on our list!

 

Whatever. Comments regarding our last meeting are covered above, in particular our Best at that game, all of whom are still on our List. I am going to avoid identifying a starting 23. Some individual comments will sneak through. We’ll see how the practice games progress.

 

Our Pre-Season has been pretty impressive though not without concerns – see above re injuries.

 

Issues to pursue, particularly given the lead-in practice matches before OR – try things; if it doesn’t work try something else. Specifically:

 

• Ruck and contribution to the Midfield? Steene or Begg into the ruck; rotating with Cox and/or Cameron out of the Forward line. Measure ruck effectiveness with ‘HO to advantage’ and Clearance numbers (reflecting the total Midfield). Add Macrae to the Midfield mix. Add McCreery for the RO tagging job;

• Kick in effectiveness? Get Neon Leon to show you how (my memory of him in that role), if necessary. It needs to reflect the changeover of possession into our hands and cannot be simply, then, lost again. It needs to be planned, expected and implemented quickly;

• Defence? Identify and directly manage opposition dangers. Free up Moore and Howe to play their intercept role. Emphasise the drive from the HB line;

• Forwards? Provide multiple concurrent leads and be prepared to pass the ball inside the 50 to a better placed kicker; and

• Have fun. Let’s see the smiles and laughter in every game.

My guess?

 

Collingwood will Win by 23 Points. BOG – De Goey with 37 touches, closely followed by Maynard with 17 disposals against Greene who had 13. Mihocek had five GA. Bobby had three goals; Billy got two.

 

Next? Round 1

 

Friday, 15 March         Bounce 7.40pm           MCG               R1       Collingwood versus Sydney               First time opposing Grundy (away from Melbourne) and Adams.

 

 I love it when you get Sydney away from their ‘little’ home ground.

 

Beware the Ides of March!

 

Other?

 

Some other stuff:

 

• Our first Bye is in R5;
• Please keep an eye out for further members of our group – just let me know;
• VFL. The VFL competition R1 starts on Friday, 22 March against Sandringham;
• AFLW starts  last weeks in August 2024; and
• VFLW starts 22 March.

 

Go Pies.

 

Cam

 

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