Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life 2025: Round 14 Bye / Round 15 Preview

 

Greetings, fellow True Believers.

 

Past half way; heading towards the Finals.

 

Go Pies.

 

 

Round 14

 

Bye. No stories of trips to Bali, yet?

 

 

Round 15

 

Saturday, 21^st June – Collingwood versus St Kilda at Marvel Stadium; bounce at 7.35pm. Why Marvel? It’s one of our home games, isn’t it?

 

This game is between 1^st place, us, on the Ladder and them in 14^th place. It would ordinarily be seen as an ‘easy-Win’ but, the balance of teams across the competition this year means no game can be taken for granted.

 

Betting? Needless to say, we are pretty substantial favourites. Interesting adjustments to the favouritism:

 

• 9 June – $1.26 (a Win by us) / $3.90 (a Win by them);
• 10 June – $1.22 / $4.30;
• 14 June – $1.17 / $5.10; and
• 16 June – No change. We’ll see what happens once the teams are announced?

 

Them

 

St Kilda finished the competition last year in 12^th place; following 6^th and 10^th places in the two preceding years. Their step into the Finals in 2023 was short-lived with a defeat by GWS by 24 Points in Finals Week 1. Of course, we went on to beat GWS by 1 Point in the Preliminary Final before taking the Grannie a week later. So, they don’t have a huge history of success.

 

Always remember 1966 (umpiring?) and 2010, particularly Heater’s ‘smother’.

 

St Kilda’s 2025 season has been a mixed bag. In various commentary pieces before the season got underway, it was expected that they would improve. And, for a little while that appeared a valid idea – they Won three out of their first four games including Wins over Geelong and Port in Adelaide. At the end of Round 4 St Kilda were sitting 7^th on the Ladder, immediately below us based solely on percentage. Since then, they’ve Won a total of two games – against Freo and Melbourne in Alice Springs, slipping out of the Eight after Round 5, dropping to their current position. So, the scope to do worse than last year remains in place; they certainly have not improved, so far. Indeed, substantial Losses make up the balance of their results. Last weekend they Lost to WB by 72 Points, neatly matching their 71 Point Loss to them in Round 6.

 

Over the last few weeks I’ve suggested we need to recognise and maintain the longer-term future of the team throughout the season. Here, I don’t consider St Kilda a particularly challenging opponent. As such, some resting (management) will be suggested below. I watched some of St Kilda’s game against the WB. In reality, they were underwhelming; basically the WB ran them into the ground.

 

Players to watch for:

 

• Wanganeen-Milera     CHB / Wing;
• Sinclair                        Centre / HB;
• Macrae                        Rover / RR / Centre;
• Higgins                        FP / HF;
• Marshall                      Ruck;
• Windhager                   HB / Wing / BP;
• Wilkie                          Full Back; and
• Owens                         HF.

 

This collection from their Best listings is indicative of a focus on the Midfield and selected individuals forward and back,

 

Us:

 

Context?      This game follows our Bye. It is notable that following this game against St Kilda, we confront the WCE before running into Carlton in Round 17 on 4 July. As such, the “rest rotation program” should continue, probably up to and excluding the Carlton 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 – pursue Top 4; Then? Which teams do you consider a threat? I’ll start – I consider Geelong and the WB threats; I don’t consider Brisbane or the GC threats.

 

Changes? Accordingly, the following suggestions are made:

 

• Out:

• Hoskin-Elliott; and
• Howe, Cameron and Membrey – managed; and

• In:

• De Goey;
• Maynard;
• Mitchell; 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 / on-field coaching to the collective Midfield.

• Passing. Accuracy of passes by foot and hand much better. 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; and
• 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’.

 

Our Aim?

 

 

• Be happy. Our team has been noticeably happier than most other teams (though this was not the case in Sydney in 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, substantially, if we decide that and implement our Game plan on the game, but note we did it a bit hard against Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. We need to Win, throughout the game, not letting up.

 

Winning Selection. Collingwood to Win by 47 Points. BOG – De Goey with 27 touches, including 10 Clearances. Goal kickers include Mihocek, Hill and Elliott each with threegoals. Other notable action (suggested last week, too): Maynard tags NickD’s tagger – some very solid tackling but no Reports. Well done to all.

 

TV: No FTA coverage. Go to Kayo and Fox Footy.

 

Weather: Guys, if it’s raining, just shut the roof.

 

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

 

Other:

 

• AFLW – Pencil the start date in – Thursday, 14 August, including getting to the competition’s first game: Carlton versus Collingwood at Ikon Park; bounce at 7.15pm. The draw? Go to www.afl.com.au/fixture?Competition=3&Season=84&Round=1301.
• VFL – Last game we Lost to the Casey Demons by 9 Points. The past weekend they had a Bye too. Their next game is on 21^st June against the Sandringham Zebras at the AIA Centre; bounce at 2.05pm. This game is between 8^th place in the Ladder (us) and them at 19^th.   Critically, the Top 10 places go through to the Finals; so well-placed, so far.
• VFLW team – Another great Win by the girls against Essendon last weekend. Next is against Port Melbourne on 21^st June at ETU Stadium; bounce at 11.05am. This game is between us, placed 6^th on the Ladder, and Port, placed 7^th. Will be a tight tussle. In this             competition, the Top 6 go into the Finals.
• US AFL Combine – 20 – 22 June at Dallas, USA. Apparently the principal qualification is to be at least 206 cm tall. Geelong, Hawthorn, GC and St Kilda are joining us at the event. Cox, reflecting his selection at the 2014 Combine at Los Angeles, has very big boots to fill           –  211 cm, 135 games, 125 goals, 2023 Premiership and, perhaps most importantly, Australian citizenship.
• Do you favour the return of a State of Origin series? Why?
• Anything else, everyone else?

 

Next:

• Round 16. Saturday, 28^th June – Collingwood versus West Coast at Marvel Stadium (again); bounce at 7.35pm. Can someone explain to me why we are hosting home games at Marvel?

 

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

 

Cam

 

 

To return to the www.footyalmanac.com.au  home page click HERE

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help keep things ticking over please consider making your own contribution.

 

Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE