Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life 2025: Round 11 Review / Round 12 Preview

G’day True Believers.

 

That was an experience, that was. The result, if you weren’t paying attention to the game, was a solid Win by 45 Points, which was what you would have expected given the placements on the Ladder ( 1^st v 17^th). How were you feeling by the end of Q3? What was extraordinary was the passage to get there given the general equivalence of the teams for the first three Quarters. More on this below.

 

Go Pies.

 

Round 11

 

Collingwood 15.18.108 defeated North Melbourne 9.9.63.

 

Scoring shots – 33 (us) / 18 (them), but at the Final Change the Scoring shots comparison was 24 / 16, much closer, based on the score comparison of 7.17.59 (us) to 8.8.56 (them) – a 3-Point margin. Q4 was a doozie.

 

Match Report – www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/7059.

 

Coach’s comments – www.afl.com.au/video/1329243/mcrae-post-match-r11-it-shows-we-have-some-depth-in-our-list?videoId=1329243&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1748092657001. He made much of the Club depth, acknowledging the absence of a number of very experienced and capable players. Worth watching / listening.

 

Goals scored:

 

Q1       2 (us) / 1 (them). Broadly even for the Quarter with a late goal to us. Margin at QT +8 Points;

Q2       2 / 5. Again, very even through most of the Quarter, however they scored three successive goals late in the Quarter to take the lead. Margin at HT –9 Points;

Q3       3 / 2. An early recovery by us with a couple of goals reestablished broad equality. Margin at the Final break +3 Points;

Q4       8 / 1. The numbers say it all – total domination, achieved in the first half of the Quarter – 8 of the last 9 goals scored in the game; and

Total    15 / 9. Winning with a margin of 45 Points.

 

Statistics

 

Some numbers to seek to identify where there was a substantial difference and how this impacted on the game:

 

Statistic	Numbers (us / them)	Comment
Disposals	346 / 371	A small advantage to them, but with Handballs, a notable strength of ours, a significant advantage to us – 152 / 130. 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)	29 / 34	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 – close to fairly even. The disadvantage to us here, should have affected the flow-on in Clearances and Inside 50s and scores. It did and it didn’t. See more, below.
Clearances	37 / 44	It certainly did here, though only marginally, we reduced the advantage they had from the HO. As such, you’d credit our Midfield as winning the Midfield Battle, perhaps less dominant around the paddock at stoppages. Centre clearance – 12 / 11; and Stoppage clearance – 25 / 33. This is a much better measure than the HO but still indicates a dominance by NM. It should have indicated a substantial advantage to NM’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	58 / 48	This is the next step in the heading to Goal and should broadly reflect the Clearance numbers. Well, they didn’t; it is reversed in our favour. Next? Well; Clearance advantage, should be reflected in an Inside 50 advantage, which it wasn’t, which should be the basis of a scoring advantage.
Disposal Efficiency (DE)	73.4% / 69.3%	Close enough. See next.
DE Inside 50	55.2% / 41.7%	This is a really extraordinary result – here the numbers reflect a significant team advantage by us getting the ball into a scoring position. Then? This reflects hugely on both our Forwards using the ball effectively and our Backs denying North the same. This represents the game-Winning achievement.
Goals scored	15 / 9	And it did.
Player numbers with DE > 80%	7 / 5	Not hugely different. I think this represents 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	17 / 15	Standard comment: 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. I reinforce my suggestion that the umpires be invited to watch their decisions and answer “why?”? Inconsistencies are still widespread – incorrect disposal, caught with the ball, in the back, etc.
Contested Possession (CP)	118 / 145	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 tended to use a much more direct approach to goal, compared with their use of the Wings. Both teams were successful for periods, though our accuracy let us down hugely in Q1 – 3. I like it when the ball is locked in our attacking half.
Uncontested Possession (UCP)	227 / 220
Turn-overs (TO)	49 / 61	Again, I think the willingness to take risks, encouraged, is also part of this, as identified above.
Possession	40% / 41%	Across the game. Last 10 minutes: 30% / 22%.
Marks	76 / 115	Marks inside 50 – 13 / 9; and Contested marks – 6 / 15. Our domination of the Marks inside 50 is the most important of these comparisons and contributed positively to our scoring.
Tackles	90 / 48	Tackles inside 50 – 20 / 10. 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. This statistic gives this emphasis pretty clearly to our boys. It reflected my view of the game, even towards the end when the outcome was clear. The multiple tacklers were impressive, again.
1%’ers	54 / 52	Basically, the same. 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:

• NickD;
• Long;
• Elliott;
• JoshD; and
• Quaynor.

 

I don’t disagree with any of those identified though might regarding the order. I’d be tempted to add a couple – McCreery (484 mGained, 14 Disposals @ 78.6% DE, 4 Marks, 4 Tackles, 1 Goal Assist, 7 Score Involvement and 6 Contested Possessions) and Mihocek (253 mGained, 16 D @ 56.3% DE, 2 M, 3 T, 1 GA, 11 SI and 11 CP). Both had very solid days at the office. Additionally Crisp, Howe and Perryman each had very busy days.

 

The newer players in the team, as might be expected, were a little less involved though Allan’s numbers are impressive:

 

• Allan – 24 Disposals @ 79.2% DE;
• Markov – 13 / 84.6%;
• Sullivan – 10 / 70.0%; and
• Parker – 7 / 85.7%.

 

Your thoughts?

 

Crowd:      Not published.

 

Result: A great game that reflected well on North for the first three Quarters then we, quite suddenly, exploded into action destroying their opponents. The game reflected our ability to stabilise a situation and then reestablish our dominance. North are an improving side but are unlikely to make the Finals now. They can be expected to defeat a number of teams placed higher than them on the Ladder. Other noticeable aspects include:

 

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

• Clearance numbers were a major achievement by North however our advantage in the next steps – Inside 50 numbers and DE inside 50– was totally dominant. We had a greater presence Inside 50 and used the ball more effectively;

• We, initially,marginally Won the Battle of the Midfield. Even more importantly, related to this, the performance by our Backline and our Forwards was quite extraordinary; and

• • I thought the umpiring was again poor, especially the absence of umpire protection to players, particularly tagged players – remember the change when Cox was finally routinely rewarded for defenders holding him? 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 12

 

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

 

Betting:           $1.70 (Pies’ Win) / $2.17 (Hawks’ Win).

 

This is a game between 1^st and 6^th on the Ladder. We are Favourites, but only by a bit.

 

Them:

 

Hawthorn made the Finals last year, even beating the Bulldogs in FW1. But their season ended with their defeat by Port at Adelaide Oval in the Semi-Finals.

 

This year, they are sitting 6^th on the Ladder based on 7 Wins and 4 Losses, giving a percentage of 117.4%. They had a pretty remarkable start to the season of four Wins against Sydney at the SCG, Essendon, Carlton and GWS. Since their R4 Bye, they have Losses against Port, Geelong, the GC and Brisbane with Wins against the WCE, Richmond and Melbourne between the two pairs of Wins. I broad terms they have Won against those sides we would expect them to beat and Lost against those we would expect. They have improved this year and have demonstrated significant enthusiasm in their games; typically descriptive terms include:

 

• “fast, fast, fast”;
• calculated risks
• turn chaos into perfect design
• exhilarating, whizzing the ball from end to end.

 

Note their ‘Mosquito Fleet’ of Moore, Watson and, yep, he’s there, our boy Jack (see below), and their added defenders, brought in this year – Battle and Barass.

 

The terms seem to match us a bit, don’t they? Your thoughts?

 

It is difficult to clearly identify their game plan because of the limited time period, so far. Certainly,Hawthorn have hit the ground running.

 

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

 

• Weddle – HF;
• Battle – BP / HB / Wing;
• Worpel – Rover;
• Newcombe – RR / Rover / Centre;
• Amon – HB / Wing / Rover;
• D’Ambrosio – HB / Wing / BP; and
• Sicily – BP / Wing.

 

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

 

Note also Jack Ginnivan for ‘Pies’ family’ reasons. Perhaps Darcy might have another discussion like their last time Jack thought he might join the discussion.

 

Us:

 

Context? It is important to recognise and maintain the longer-term future of the team this season. This game will be followed by games against Melbourne, a Bye, St Kilda and the WCE before we run into Carlton in Round 17 on 4 July. As such, the “rest rotation program” should continue, but only after this game. I would suggest we be at full-strength for this game. Apart from a couple of games (R18 – GC in the GC, R21 – Brisbane at the MCG, Hawthorn again in R22 and Adelaide at AO in Round 23) the rest of the journey to the end of the H&A season looks pretty achievable – head for Top 4, then?

 

Changes? Accordingly, the following suggestions are made:

 

• Out: Not sure of Maynard? Assume available at the moment. Allan, Sullivan and Parker; and

• In:  Pendles, Sidey and Hill. Markov remains sub. 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.

• Passing. Accuracy of passes by foot and hand much better – good last week in Q4, not good earlier in the game. 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. This is critical. 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 Sydneyin the OR). 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 23 Points. BOG – NickD with 39 touches, including 12 Clearances. Goal kickers include Mihocek, Hill and Elliott each with three goals. Other notable action (from last week, too): McCreery tags NickD’s tagger – some very solid tackling but no Reports. Well done to all.

 

TV: FTA on 7+ and 7mate and, of course on Kayo and Fox Footy. Pick your preferred commentator.

 

Weather: Very light rain is forecast on Game Day, however heavier rain is forecast on each of the three days leading up to it. Get some boots with stops.

 

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

 

Other:

 

• VFL –Their game against North is not yet over, however is a bit of a sound defeat. Their next game is on Saturday, 31 May against Box Hill Hawks at the Box Hill City Oval; 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 good Win by 13 Points over North Melbourne today at Vic Park. Their next game is against Sandringham Zebras on Saturday, 31 May also at Vic Park; bounce at 12.05pm.
• 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 13       Monday, 9 June 2025 (KB weekend) – Melbourne versus Collingwood at the MCG; bounce at 3.20pm. See other games in ‘Context’ above.

 

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

 

Cam

 

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