Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life 2024: Round 7 Review / Round 8 Preview

Greetings to all.

Like you, I don’t much like not winning any game, however even I could understand that this was one of the great games of our time. People will talk about this game into the future. Was I disappointed? Sure was. Did I yell my support when a ‘doddle’ goal was missed by our opponents? Sure did. Did I abuse the TV when a simple mark was dropped? Certainly. But I did remind myself that the final result is always the consequence of four Quarters of football. Single incidents are a part of that, but can never be seen as solely the cause of a result.

And, a couple of others’ views:

From Damo in the Friday AFL website of ‘Sliding Doors’:

If the draw on Anzac Day was not the optimum outcome …

then

there’s consolation in the form of Jamie Elliott taking one of the greatest marks in the history of the game and Darcy Moore enhancing his claims on being the best public-speaking captain ever. They’ll be thereabouts again, the Pies. But Nathan Murphy’s retirement has been crushing.

And from a wandering Facebook contributor, unidentified but seriously thanked by me, to the  Side By Side – Collingwood Magpies website at www.facebook.com/100068590245745/posts/734884042141264/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v:

I woke this morning and the sun had risen and the world as we know it still existed. I would be lying if, through my waking mind, I said I wasn’t a little surprised.

You see, like many of us, I went to sleep a fair bit buckled and thinking the world had ended. Football passion can do that to you.

But everything was the way I left it when I went to sleep.

I tossed some bacon and eggs in a sizzling frying pan, because it’s better than Panadol, dropped a Berocca in a glass of water and knocked that back quicker than a Vodka shot at 3am on a Sunday morning, grabbed my coffee and walked outside into the April morning air.

I just needed a moment.

I sat, sipped my coffee and watched the birds play and chirp in the trees and listened to the cars drift past the front of my house sounding like they were way off in the distance. And I exhaled.

It was the first time since the end of the dramatic Anzac Day draw that I had stopped to take an inventory of my emotions. There were so many feelings still going on, but they were silenced by one singular emotion that rose above everything else.

Pride.

I was proud of what both clubs had achieved on the day. Proud that Australians placed so much emphasis on the importance of the day. Proud of Darcy Moore’s brilliant, heartfelt and genuine post-game speech. And I was proud of how Collingwood played.

They gave it everything. There were moments of absolute brilliance. Elliot’s mark. Josh Daicos’s goal deep and wide from the flank. Checkers’ workhorse effort all game. Maynard’s big intercept mark from behind a pack. And of course Pendles’ disposal 10,000. I could go on…

They gave it everything.

They were committed.

They left everything out on the ground.

If these pictures do not fill you with a sense of pride, irrespective of the Pies not having got the 4 points….

Then you are a hard human to please.

Much love and enjoy your Friday ” src=”blob:https://www.footyalmanac.com.au/62a121f6-49ca-4d45-a59c-20729c7cd8ba” alt=”??” border=”0″ class=”Apple-web-attachment Singleton” style=”width: 0.1666in; height: 0.1666in; opacity: 1;”>

Go Pies.

Side By Side.

Forever.

And a final point – I don’t support the idea of extra time or Golden Point during the H&A season. At this game we had two teams that, ultimately, drew. That, in my view, was a totally appropriate outcome. If either of the two incidents (you know the ones I’m talking about) had resulted in what they were after I would have been disappointed and elated, respectively, but, after some time would have considered it a bit unfair.

 

Round 7

Collingwood 12.13.85 drew with Essendon 12.13.85. We didn’t Win. But we didn’t Lose either.

Go Pies.

Match Report. www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/5950#match-report. Covers everything. Have a look at the Match Timeline under the Summary here.

Coach’s interview. www.afl.com.au/video/1115881/full-post-match-r7-magpies?videoId=1115881&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1714035170001&references=AFL_MATCH:5950. Worth a look.

Goals:

Q1       2 (us) / 6 (them) resulting in a 19 Point deficit for our boys. Watch what happens next;

Q2       4 / 1 resulting in a HT lead for Essendon of a single Point, which we reversed, as follows, for the margin at the final break;

Q3       3 / 2 with us taking a single Point lead into the Final Quarter;

Q4       3 / 3 totalling the same score, same scoring shots, resulting in ….

Total:   12 / 12 and neither side Won.

Numbers (some statistics, with comments). The numbers should be treated with some caution because they are a record across the whole game. What would be better would be the ability to report Q1 and Q2 separate to the rest. PA demolished us in Q1. We reciprocated in Q2 and then maintained the skill advantage for the rest of the game increasing the lead. However, with some comments, they are interesting:

• Disposals                                             318 (us) / 397 (them). Look also at the Marks and Uncontested Possessions, below. Their substantial lead in these statistics represents their game play style (across the whole game). Exceptions apply, of course. An exception was their huge success in Q1;
• Hit Outs (HO)                                      25 / 31. A minor deficiency. As I’ve said before Cameron is the better ruck; Cox is a better Forward target;
• Clearances                                          23 / 40: Centre bounce: 8 / 19; Stoppages: 15 / 21. They were even more dominant than the HO numbers indicate. This is a critical deficiency – our Midfield is being beaten, substantially;
• Inside 50s                                            53 / 55.  Broadly, little difference. So, firstly, the link between the Clearances and the Inside 50s is being broken – I suspect at the Half Back line. This equivalence means each side got the ball into a position from where it, could reasonably, score the same number of times. Then, apply the Disposal Efficiency number (below) to separate the two teams’ effective scoring.
• Disposal Efficiency (DE)                    73.0% / 77.6%. Not critical. See next;
• DE inside 50                                       54.7% / 43.6%. This is a critical difference. What it means is that we were 20% overall (near 10% for 50%) better scoring result than Essendon. Combined with the approximate equality of opportunities (see Inside 50 numbers, above) this should have led to a substantial Win;
• Free Kicks                                           22 / 22. Just when I was swearing frequently at my TV we picked up a double – 50m penalty. But, they are still missing too many and the “caught with the ball” / “failure to dispose of it correctly” is still a lottery;
• Contested Possessions                      113 / 135. This is a bit of a surprise. But, they did work hard;
• Uncontested Possessions (UCP)      193 / 249. As indicated above, under Disposals, and below under Marks, this shows Essendon played, seeking to keep possession by multiple disposals (particularly kicks) to uncontested marks and possessions;
• Turnovers                                            63 / 73. Not too different – also see Tackles, below;
• Marks (M)                                           79 / 102. A substantial difference, as explained above under Disposals and UCP
• M inside 50                                         11 / 11. No difference.
• Tackles (T)                                          67 / 50. As a measure of intensity throughout the game this is significant;
• T inside 50                                          14 / 2. Absolutely not a typo (well, I don’t think it is);
• 1%’ers                                                 49 / 45. Okay, our backs working just a bit harder than them; and
• Players with DE of 80%                      12 / 12. This figure represents a pretty fair game standard of the individual players. Players were getting the ball to where it was supposed to be going.

Best. The AFL website identifies our Best as Nick D, Pendles, Moore, Mihocek, Noble and Josh D. I don’t disagree with any of those but, of course, everyone had their moment; Pendles has had more than 10,000 of them.

Game

Like last week, this was a game of parts, but unlike last week, Essendon didn’t effectively give up. We started slowly – accurate enough? They’d scored four goals before we got out first, and then hit another two before we got our second. This is not a good start. It was about pressure and momentum and the degrees of each as the game progressed.

That said, our DE inside 50 was way ahead of theirs and our inside 50s were only slightly less, so? This is one of those situations where the numbers do not tell the whole story. But they are illustrative of where some attention is warranted – Clearances.

Conclusions

• Fix and practice the Midfield control, including resting some players and replacing them;
• Fix and practice kick-in process;
• Consider and practice pack management – who should try and punch – not everyone; and
• Consider and practice crumbing arrangements around packs, both Forward and Back.

Crowd – 93,644. Love it. There did appear to be a preponderance of red with the black rather than the white. Not sure how that can happen.

 

Round 8

Friday, 3 May 2024. Carlton versus the Pies at Marvel; bounce at 7.40pm.

Carlton are sitting 6^th on the Ladder with five Wins and two Losses for a 112.1% percentage compared with us sitting 9^thwith three Wins, one Draw and three Losses for a 97.9% percentage.

Regarding my comments about fairness, good sportsmanship, etc above, they don’t apply in this case (nor in one or two others). The ‘olde enemy’ is our ancient foe. Nearly for the first time this season, we are not the favourite; Carlton is. Current betting is $1.98 for a Pies’ Win; $1.86 for a Carlton Win.

Them

Carlton made the Finals last year but ran into Brisbane at the Gabba in the Preliminary Final and their season ended.

With games against us last year, we had one of each – in Round 10 we Won by 28 Points; in Round 20, against a side that had made 6 changes, we Lost by 17.

This season they’ve started reasonably well with early Wins against Brisbane at the Gabba by a solitary Point in the Opening Round, Richmond 5 Points, North by 56 and the Dockers in Adelaide by 10. In the Dockers game they scored three goals in five minutes to Win. Effectively the Dockers let them Win. Since then they’ve produced some interesting results. In Round 5 they Lost to Adelaide by 2 Points, at Marvel. In Round 6 they beat GWS also at Marvel before losing to Geelong this week at the MCG. The GWS Win, the first Loss for GWS this season, is illustrative of Carlton’s endeavour and style of play. Reporting highlighted the effective control of the Midfield for the whole game and the fact that on two occasions Carlton recovered from a 20 Point deficit. In the Geelong Loss it was also remarked that Carlton came home fast forcing Geelong into a defensive posture. They rely on the drive out of the Midfield and they do not give up.

Players to watch (based on their Best listing this season):

• Cripps – Centre. Critical to the Centre Clearances. Warrants tagging;
• McKay – FP – major goal kicker;
• Curnow – FP – as above;
• Weitering – BP – relative newcomer close defender against opposition talls;
• De Koning – Ruck – has played different positions; and
• Cerra – RR.

Although not making their Best listing, two others are worth watching:

• Saad – HB; and
• Fantasia – FP goalsneak.

Us

Not too much needs to change (very nearly the same as previous weeks):

• Team? The addition of Macrae and Allan into the Backline may be useful (but don’t drop Noble) and maybe Begg into the ruck role but I’m not sure who to rest / manage. A couple of taskings, below? Your thoughts?
• Application? Possession of the ball lets you win the match – lose possession and you are fighting backwards. Let’s crank up the motivation and keep it there? Apply as per Q2, last game. No change to this general requirement – Application for four full Quarters. Hold the tackles. Establish and maintain control of the game (possessions). Look to where the ball is going before passing it. Keep it up and make it even better.
• Game Plan? No change to the current plan. Use varied entry to the 50 and be willing to move the ball to a better-placed goal scorer than setting packs. Crumb around packs, particularly defensively, importantly in front and behind the packs. Fix the kick-in plan – We need to keep possession, so it’s not immediately turned around. So, avoid the long kicks to packs; look to passing the ball between teammates, more generally, but particularly in the kick-in.
• Be happy? Let’s see some more chatter and laughter. Better each week, but there’s still room for improvement.

Necessary Actions?

• Close attention to their Midfield – tag Cripps (Pendles / McCreery?);
• Close attention to selected Forwards – McKay & Curnow;
• Win the Midfield battle – use the measures of Clearances and Inside 50s to assess;
• Note the number of kicks or handballs by our team members that are passed directly to an opponent; and
• Enjoy the Win.

TV.

Free to air on 7mate.

Other on Kayo and

Weather.

Dry and sunny with a tiny chance of rain. Rubber-soled boots okay.

My prediction.

Collingwood to Win by 7 Points.

BOG – Moore with 17 Disposals, 11 Intercept Possessions and 506 metres gained, keeping Curnow, his direct opponent, to 7 Disposals including I goal and 123 mg.

For us, Elliott, Schultz and Mihocek each get 3. Hill has 5 GA.

Other

• VFL. As I highlighted in my last email, their R5 game is on Saturday, 27^th May  (probably today (actually yesterday now), by the time I finish this.  Yep, home again. They Lost. They had a good start but at HT faced a 30 Point deficit. Great recovery taking a small lead for a period in Q4, but Essendon kicked the last two. Interested? Go to www.afl.com.au/vfl/matches/6344 ) at Victoria Park immediately following the VFLW game – Catch both games and send us some advice from the boys’ game. Irrelevant now. They are sitting 13^th on the Ladder needing to be Top 10 for Finals. Next: Saturday, 4^th May versus Southport in Southport; bounce at 12.05pm. Go get em, boys. Anyone up there?

• VFLW. Also Lost to Essendon, by 17 Points; also up and down. Go to www.afl.com.au/vflw/matches/6424. Sitting 10^th on the Ladder – they need to be in the Top 6 for Finals. Next: Saturday, 4^th May versus Sydney at Tramway Oval in Sydney; bounce at 12.00pm. Any locals interested in going?

Ground Reports? Guys, Reports please? I’d like to hear from other armchair warriors watching from afar?  My error – we weren’t at the Anzac Day game; just the Port game the previous week. But, I know some of you went to the Anzac Day game. More please.

 

 

Always believe. Go Pies.

Cam

 

 

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