Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life 2025: Round 10 Review / Round 11 Preview

G’day all, True Believers.

 

Fabulous reporting by Matthew and Sal. Everyone, it’s a bit quiet’ish. Let’s have some more reporting , please?

 

We had an interesting experience on the weekend. We were in Sydney for a few things but had Saturday afternoon free, so I Googled ‘Sydney Collingwood supporters’ – ended up at The Royal Exchange in Marrickville – not too far out of Sydney Central and joined a relatively small group of dedicated True Believers, good food and an occasional drink. It was a relaxing way of watching the game. So, if you are Sydney based or stuck in Sydney on Game Day, I can strongly recommend joining these people at The Royal Exchange hotel. They are more than happy to have others join them. The TV screen is large, the food is good and the beer is cold. Other contact details are accessible on Google. You are welcome to tell them I sent you. A couple of snaps. Their President is Steve Anderson.

 

Back to the footy.

 

Go Pies.

Round 10

 

Collingwood 11.12.78 defeated Adelaide (aka Kuwarna) 10.8.68.

 

Scoring shots – 23 (us) / 18 (them). Broadly matches the result. They got close with more accurate kicking.

 

Match Report – www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/7047

 

Coach’s comments – www.afl.com.au/video/1322874/mcrae-post-match-r10-its-horrible-there-is-so-much-sadness?videoId=1322874&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1747464698001. Interesting comments in dealing with their dominance in Clearances and Inside 50s, and attributing our success to our Backline – see comments below. A touch emotional at the end. Worth watching / listening.

 

Goals scored:

 

Q1       4 (us) / 3 (them). Basically up and down a bit. Margin at QT + 7 Points;

Q2       2 / 3. Same as Q1. Margin at HT + 5 Points;

Q3       3 / 1. Significant dominance. From mid Q3 to early Q4 we scored four unanswered goals. Margin at the Final break +16 Points;

Q4       2 / 3. From a fairly strong position mid Q4, they fought hard including scoring the last two goals reducing our lead to two kicks; and

Total    11 / 9. Winning with a margin of 10 Points.

 

Statistics

 

Some numbers to seek to identify where there was a substantial difference and how this impacted on the game, watching for the accumulated ‘oddities’:

 

Statistic	Numbers (us / them)	Comment
Disposals	343 / 327	A small advantage to us. Handballs, a notable strength of ours, – 149 / 125. Again we sought to push them out to the Wings rather than allowing them to transition the ball more directly through the corridor.
Hit Outs (HO)	26 / 40	A particularly not-useful number decided by whichever ruck touches the ball first. A better assessment is ‘HO to advantage’, which I don’t have. And a much, much better measure is under Clearances, below. This number surprised me. I thought it was fairly even. The significant disadvantage to us here, could have affected the flow-on in Clearances and Inside 50s and scores. It did and it didn’t. See more, below.
Clearances	29 / 39	It certainly did here, though we reduced the advantage they had from the HO. As such, you’d credit our Midfield as winning the Midfield Battle. Centre clearance – 9 / 12; and Stoppage clearance – 20 / 27. This is a much better measure than the HO. It should have indicated a substantial advantage to Adelaide’s next step – Inside 50s and, ultimately, their scoring. This failure to exploit this advantage highlights the incredible performance by our Backline to blunt their Clearance dominance.
Inside 50s	47 / 55	This is the next step in the heading to Goal and should broadly reflect the Clearance numbers. Well, they didn’t – while their advantage here still exists the margin has been progressively reduced. Next? Well; Clearance advantage, should be reflected in an Inside 50 advantage, which should be the basis of a scoring advantage. How did they go? With these statistics they should have been on a direct line to a substantial Win.
Disposal Efficiency (DE)	69.4% / 68.8%	Close enough. See next.
DE Inside 50	53.2% / 45.5%	A really extraordinary result – here the numbers reflect a significant team advantage over us getting the ball into a scoring position. Then? From a difference source, Adelaide scored on 27% of their Inside 50 entries. We scored on 45%. For us, this reflects the performance by our Forwards and the defensive performance by our Backline. Well done to all. This was a game-Winning achievement.
Goals scored	11 / 10	And it did.
Player numbers with DE > 80%	3 / 6	Not sure what this shows; maybe a willingness to take chances with adverse consequences. I think the numbers reflect risk-taking in the game, something encouraged by the coaches.
Free Kicks	20 / 22	Comment from last week: The approximate equivalence of the Frees amazed me. What I saw that was critical was the failure to penalise, what I thought were obvious, incidents. Last week I blamed the ‘crowd influence’. Can’t do that here. I would suggest follow-up with the umpires, watching their decisions, asking them “why?”? Inconsistencies are widespread – incorrect disposal, caught with the ball, in the back, etc.
Contested Possession (CP)	139 / 137	Combined, the difference in the two measures usually reflects the team style of play. The winning of the CP is less significant than control of the ball through UCP domination. Our team was ahead in both categories, reflecting a much more direct approach to goal, compared with their use of the Wings. Both teams were successful for periods, though their accuracy let them down. I like it when the ball is locked in our attacking half.
Uncontested Possession (UCP)	197 / 174
Turn-overs (TO)	74 / 89	Again, I think the willingness to take risks, encouraged, is also part of this, as identified above.
Possession	44% / 39%	Across the game. Last 10 minutes: 25% / 45%. Note. We were in a very healthy game-winning position halfway through Q4. Then they scored two, unanswered goals.
Marks	69 / 72	Marks inside 50 – 13 / 11; and Contested marks – 9 / 15. Our domination of the Marks inside 50 contributed positively to our scoring. The total Marks’ minor disadvantage, appears based on the style of each sides’ play – we used much more direct avenue towards goal. The contested mark disadvantage was significant and reflected their tall dominance.
Tackles	59 / 53	Tackles inside 50 – 7 / 8. This, pretty much, reflected application. I have no compunction in recognising that both sides worked hard; with our boys totally committed for the whole game. The multiple tacklers were impressive, again.
1%’ers	46 / 42	Spoils and defensive actions. I haven’t gone back to add up the numbers but the general equivalence supports the contention that both sides were working hard.

 

Best:

 

The AFL website identifies Collingwood’s Best as:

 

• JoshD;
• Maynard;
• NickD;
• Howe;
• Sidey; and
• Long.

 

I don’t disagree with any of those identified though might regarding the order. I note the Coaches’ Award included JoshD – 10, Howe – 7 and Long – 2, plus a couple of Crows players in between. It’s worth recognising Long’s contributions: He is becoming recognised as a “driving force in the Midfield”. Within game numbers of 19 Disposals and 9 Tackles, in a short Q2 period he made three Tackles within a minute and contributed 2 Goal Assists in 90 seconds. At 194 cm tall he is doing well contributing against smaller, usually more mobile opponents. I’d also have recognised two players who I’ve been critical of in the past – Frampton and Hoskin–Elliott. Both had great games. Got a minute? Go to: www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/1784378/top-5-round-10-v-kuwarna?videoId=1784378&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1747492495001. Do we have another GOTY entry by Bobby?

 

Your thoughts?

 

Crowd:      67, 697. Apparently this was a record for an Adelaide H&A game. Welcome to Melbourne, where we’d see it as a bit disappointing.

 

Result: A great game reflecting our ability to stabilise a situation and then drive back establishing our dominance. The Crows are a very capable side and can be expected to be there in the Finals. Like Port, they are much better at home than away. Watch this space if they get into the Top 4. Other noticeable aspects include:

 

• The team-performance, mentioned above. Everyone was involved, again;

• Clearance and Inside 50 numbers were a major achievement by Adelaide, but our advantage in DE inside 50 against their disadvantage, appeared to dominate. We Won, with a higher score, so, obviously, the DE prevailed;

• Adelaide initially Won the Battle of the Midfield but this changed during the game. Related to this, the performance by our Backline and our Forwards was extraordinary; and

• I thought the absence of umpire protection to players was substantial, particularly talents like NickD. I note the coach’s comments regarding the team better protecting him. I’d like to see that.

 

In summary, the Pies Won because we established control of the game, that we exploited for extended periods, critically Won by our dominant Forwards and Backs. The Margin could have been much larger.

 

Round 11

 

Saturday, 24 May 2025 North Melbourne versus Collingwood at Marvel; bounce at 7.35pm.

 

Betting:           $1.16 (Pies’ Win) / $5.30 (North Win).

 

This is a game between 1^st and 17^th on the Ladder. We are Favourites, not surprisingly.

 

One other thing – the VFL and VFLW teams are both playing North at Vic Park on Sunday, 25 May – Detail below. Consider multiple-game attendances?

 

 Them:

 

North had a pretty awful season last year Winning only three games – R13 – WCE by 9 Points, R17 – GC by 4 Points and R21 – Richmond by 13 Points. But, they had a number of close Losses that could have easily pushed them up the Ladder, including our 1 Point Win at Marvel in R14. However, they haven’t improved too much this year, yet.

 

This year North are sitting 17^th with 2 Wins against Melbourne and Richmond, 7 Losses and a Draw with Brisbane. So, regardless of my comment above, they’ve very nearly matched last year already. Their current percentage is 80.2%, is significantly better than last year’s 63.5%. They come into this game following a Draw and a Win, particularly noting the Draw was with Brisbane just two weeks ago.

 

This game, however, is an opportunity to push our percentage and provide the long-suffering supporters with a nice, comprehensive Win without undue stress?

 

It is difficult to clearly identify their game plan because of the limited time period, so far. Certainly, North are in a state of change. Notably their fairly new Senior Coach – Clarkson, is having an effect. Note, also, Monkhorst helping as the Rucks coach. Looking too far back is not hugely useful.

 

Players to Watch. Based on their performance this season suggests the following players of significance:

 

• Simpkin – Wing / Rover;
• Powell – RR / Centre / HB;
• Sheezel – HF;
• Daniel – CHB;
• Xerri – Ruck;
• Parker – Rover; and
• Davies-Uniacke – RR / Centre.

 

Note the emphasis on the Midfield plus a couple of individuals Forward and Back. Consider tagging.

 

Us:

 

Changes?  A number of suggestions, based on continuing to manage our ‘too old, too slow’ team:

 

• Out: Frampton (managed), Sidebottom (managed), Perryman (managed) and Cameron (managed).

• In:  De Mattia, West, Ryan and Steene. Your views?

 

Game Plan –No changes of substance from last week. A couple of points, as usual:

 

• Application. Nothing is more important. Well demonstrated in our last few games. And Attitude is King.

• Taggers. Tagging roles might be useful, including an occasional hard lock-down role on their Forwards and / or our Midfield winning the ball early? And protecting our players?

• Midfield Management. Pendles guidance to the collective Midfield. C’mon De Goey, I acknowledge that you had some useful contributions previously, however nothing like the game-breaker you are capable of; you need to perform (I said that last week too when you were given a week off).

• Passing. Accuracy of passes by foot and hand much better – really good last week in challenging circumstances against a highly mobile opposition. Critical – watch the individual DE figures.

• Drive. Drive out of the Backline is a key part of our game plan. Be prepared to cross the field, even to kick backwards to change the direction. Kick-ins are an issue – we need to have a plan that everyone knows.

• Kicking for Goal. Ball delivery needs to be to the best goal-kicking position. Be prepared to acknowledge difficult shots on goal and be willing to pass the ball inside the 50 to a better placed teammate. I value GA (goal assists) more highly than actual goals scored. This continues to need improvement – the question should be “Why didn’t you pass it rather than seeking to score the ‘impossible goal’?”.And, to get the best from your Forward ‘talls’, get them to lead to different parts of the 50; don’t compress into packs;

• Tackles. A major success but still some opponents are spinning out of tackles. Love the multiple tacklers. The perennial complaint: “Hold your tackles!”, “never stop chasing” and be aware of who’s behind you before you ‘play-on’; and

• Umpires. Not sure what happened in the last week, again. Perhaps invite the Umpires to explain.

 

Our Aim?

 

• Be happy. Our team has been noticeably happier than most other teams (though this was not the case in Sydney). They usually smile and laugh when things work and, importantly, when they don’t. They actually look like they’re enjoying the game, that they are Winners, regardless of the actual score on the scoreboard (thank you, Coach McRae). We should follow their lead and enjoy the game from our perspective, even when things don’t work.

 

Summary? Again, this is our game to Win, if we decide that and implement our Game plan on the game, but note w3hat happened last year and to Brisbane a couple of weeks ago.

 

Winning Selection. Collingwood to Win by 53 Points. BOG – NickD with 39 touches, including 12 Clearances. Goal kickers include Mihocek and Hill each with four goals. Other notable action: McCreery tags NickD’s tagger – some very solid tackling but no Reports. Well done to all.

 

TV: No FTA; rely on Kayo and Fox Footy. Head off to your local or Club.

 

Weather: Just shut the bloody roof. No effect.

 

Ground Reports? Reports please (after or before)? I’d especially like to hear from the armchair warriors watching from afar?

 

Other:

 

• VFL –After a Win over GWS last weekend, their next game is on Sunday, 25 May – Collingwood versus North Melbourne at Vic Park; bounce at 2.05pm. If you go, Reports please? I want to know how some of our potential ‘fill-ins’ to the AFL side are going? Looking forward to another good Win, guys;
• VFLW team – A close Win over the Box Hill Hawks by 2 Points last weekend. Their next game is against North also at Vic Park on Sunday, 25 May; bounce at 10.05am. Maybe get to both games?
• Discussion about Bucks starting as Senior Coach at the Tasmanian Devils? Well, they pinched our List Manager, now him? Thoughts?
• Do you favour the return of a State of Origin series? Why?
• Anything else, everyone else?

 

Next:

 

• Round 12       Friday, 30 May 2025 – Collingwood versus Hawthorn at the MCG;  bounce at 7.40pm.

 

This is our year. Always believe; never, ever give up! Go Pies.

 

Cam

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