Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life 2025: Round 21 Review / Round 22 Preview

G’day True Believers.

I was committed to a family event on Saturday night – an 80^th birthday party with a shedload of guests, many from the ACT; not many from Victoria. As such, I kept an eye on the phone reporting during the evening. Didn’t understand what was going on.

Watched the replay on Monday. Apologies for the delay. Didn’t much enjoy that – more on that below. Enjoyed Q2; not so much the rest of the game. How about those who attended; your views? With a 80,000 plus crowd, with presumable a strong Pies’ supporter domination (Fitzroy supporters are starting to age a bit), the crowd should have been influential. But, it appears they weren’t – see Free Kicks, below.

This match was important in the lead up to the Finals. This was our first Loss to Brisbane at the MCG since 2014. Importantly, looking more currently, Brisbane has Won its last five games at the MCG. The old adage, “Brisbane can only Win at the Gabba”, seems to have lost its lustre. And we’ve got Hawthorn in three days and critically Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval in R23; more on these below and next week, respectively. If you think Pies’ supporters make a bit of noise at the G, you need to have a listen to an interstate game at AO. Unbelievable. Keep an eye on the Ladder – no team wants to play Adelaide at AO – 1 versus 4, Finals’ Week 1; a bit similar to avoiding playing Brisbane at the Gabba, though we did demonstrate in R12, this is achievable (by 51 Points).

Go Pies.

 

Round 21

Collingwood 10.5.65 were defeated by Brisbane 14.8.92.

Scoring shots: 15 (us) / 22 (them). This reflects good results by each side converting scores.

Match Report – www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/7133.

Coach’s comments – www.afl.com.au/video/1380186/we-were-outplayed-by-a-really-good-team-a-hungry-team-mcrae?videoId=1380186&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1754141208001. He freely acknowledged that the Pies were outplayed by a better team and while disappointing noted their ‘hunger’ and application. He acknowledged the significance of Howe’s absence and the overuse of handballs, frequently falling down, at the end. Worth watching.

Goals scored:

Q1       2 (us) / 5 (them). After a positive start, particularly in game domination, frequently without scoring, they cut loose, particularly marking in scoring positions. Margin at QT – (negative) 20 Points;

Q2       5 / 2. Our turnaround – Domination of the game by the Pies, with slight recovery by them towards the end of the Quarter. Included periods of our lead. Margin at HT – 1 Point;

Q3       1 / 4. Them, again. Progressive domination over the Quarter. Margin at the Final break – 19 Points;

Q4       2 / 3. Up and down; and

Total    11 / 12. Losing with a margin of 27 Points.

Statistics

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

 

Statistic	Us / Them			Comments
Disposals	291 / 376			Reflects their control of the game. Handball – 124 / 152. Coach’s comments criticised our overuse of handball. Can’t see it – a better criticism is focussed on the handball delivery – needs to go to a team mate, preferably.
Hit Outs (HO)	46 / 40			The next few statistics reflect just how irrelevant this number is. Matched my assessment. I thought we were routinely beaten.
Clearances   Centre clearances: Stoppage clearances:	34 / 51     12 / 13   22 / 38			Their substantial dominance of Clearances is evident here (in spite of the HO, above). This should have reflected a substantial domination of Inside 50 numbers, but it didn’t. The reason for this is important reflecting well on our defence Centre clearances broadly reflected my observations – fairly even.   The stoppage clearance surprised me. I saw it as broadly even, too.
Inside 50s	45 / 48			This was also a key difference reflecting that they had more entries into goal-scoring positions. See DE, below, regarding how we used them.
Disposal Efficiency (DE)	66.3% / 69.7%			Across the whole game. Not hugely different. Next is what counts.
DE Inside 50	37.8% / 50.0%			This difference here is huge. This reflects an overall huge advantage to them. Linking Inside 50s and DE inside 50 mean they got the ball into the 50 (broadly, into a scoring position) slightly more frequently than us, but used it far more effectively (scored). This represents the summing of the different statistics and the irrelevance of some earlier ones. This reflects the match-winning result.
Goals scored	10 / 14			The result.
Player numbers with game DE of 80%	3 / 7			Again, a reflection of their clean ball-handling and their pressure on us.
Free Kicks	13 / 20			These numbers didn’t surprise me. I observed different decisions on similar offences. In addition, repeating comments in previous emails, it was the offences not identified rather than those that were that rankled. Consistent areas of concern – caught with ball, failure to dispose correctly, in the back in tackles, and, in this game particularly, high tackles where the tackled player ‘slides down’.
Contested Possession (CP)	117 / 139			Interesting – we marginally dominated CP and dominated UCP by a greater margin. It reflects different styles of play with us happy to work in the midst of players; for them with greater emphasis on getting out of the crush. I like it when the ball is locked in our attacking half, of course, as it seemed to be for extended periods, but without useful scoring.
Uncontested Possession (UCP)	167 / 235
Turnovers	66 / 64			Reflecting a willingness to make a mistake?
Possession	36% / 43%			A huge difference.
Marks   Marks inside 50 Contested marks	67 / 83   12 / 13 9 / 4			They were dominant in marking.   The same about the same. This also surprised me. I thought we were largely out-marked  in packs.
Tackles   Tackles inside 50	66 / 65     12 / 13			This broad equivalence identifies that both sides were working hard. Actually, the domination of tackling was in parallel with the scoring achievement, so many of our tackles would have occurred in Q2. Same.
1%’ers	54 / 63			Spoils and defensive actions. Not hugely different.

Best:

The AFL website identifies Collingwood’s Best as:

• NickD;
• Sidebottom;
• JoshD;
• Schultz; and
• Pendles.

The Coaches’ Votes identified:

• Sidebottom – 3 votes; and
• JoshD – 3 votes;

An interesting pair of selections. I don’t have any comments on either.

Your thoughts?

 

Crowd: 82,326.

Result: This was a challenge to watch, reflecting the comparative competence of the Quarters, and which team would Win:

• Broadly, I don’t think we played badly. They opposed us with great endeavour and application. They played well.
• Again the scoreboard didn’t reflect our team’s periods of dominance.
• The speed with which they launched attacks, against the flow of the game, was impressive. Our approach to the Goal was weak in comparison. See comments above regarding entry into the 50.
• But they, against the flow of the game, were able to use the corridor to achieve quick, accurate passes resulting in scores. Need to look at how to halt this.
• Their ball-handling was better than ours, challenging because of the damp conditions.
• Their scoring dominance is reflected in their advantages in Inside 50s and Disposal Effectiveness, particularly measured in Inside 50s. Our close equivalence in Inside 50 numbers should be seen as adding to the importance of using the ball well, which we didn’t.
• We still badly need to put together a ‘Kick-in’ plan, both as a negative to stop their kick-ins and as a positive to facilitate ours. The kick-in following the scoring of a Behind is a cheap way of transferring ball-possession; the most critical part of using the ball.
• High kicks into the 50 to packs is not the best avenue to the Forwards (or out of our Backline) even with Cox (if playing) or Cameron as targets. Much better avenues are lower, harder kicks to specific targets. The speed of high kicks is also allowing defenders to intercept or, at the least disrupt, the passage of the ball.

In summary, we Lost comprehensively though the team never gave up or stopped trying. That was impressive right to the end.

 

 

Round 22

Thursday, 7^th August Hawthorn versus Collingwood at the MCG; bounce at 7.30pm.

This game is between us in 2^nd place on the Ladder with 15 Wins and 5 Losses with a 130.8% percentage and them in 7^th place with 13 Wins and 7 Losses and a 117.6% percentage.

• Our recent Losses:

R18     GC (placed 5^th on the Ladder)            by 6 Points      at PFS, GC;

R19     Freo (placed 7^th)                                 by 1 Point        at the MCG; and

R21     Brisbane (placed 3^rd)                          by 27 Points    at the MCG; and

• Our recent Win:

R20     Richmond (placed down the bottom of the Ladder)   by 36 Points. This Win could be seen as a challenge. The margin could (should) have been much higher. What it does indicate is a habit whereby the Pies play to the standard they need, rather than seeking the best outcome. This approach is fraught with some danger and, of course, it gives us, humble supporters high levels of stress.

• Their Losses of substance:

R18     Freo (placed 8^th (then))                       by 13 Points    in Perth; and

R21     Adelaide (placed 1^st (now))                by 14 Points    at AO; and

• Their recent Wins:

R17     St Kilda (placed 15^th)                          by 20 Points    at Marvel;

R19     Port (placed 11^th)                                by 38 Points    in Tasmania; and

R20     Carlton (placed 12^th)                           by 24 Points    at the MCG.

Betting: As at 4 August – $1.59 (Pies’ Win) / $2.38 (Lions’ Win) adjusted to $1.60 / $2.34 on 28 July. Not sure why.

Them

Hawthorn are the ‘up and coming’ team. They are in the Eight and can be expected to fight hard top stay there.

Players to watch:

• D’Ambrosio     HB / Wing;
• Ginnivan          FP / ex-Pies player;
• Sicily               CHB;
• Impey              HB;
• Meek               Ruck; and
• Gunston          CHF.

This collection from their Best listings is indicative of a focus on their Midfield plus key ‘corridor’ positions. So, win the Midfield battle, take control of the corridor and dominate the Inside 50 and Disposal Efficiency numbers.

Us:

Context?    We are still one game clear within the Top 4. We need to demonstrate that we are the undisputed Premiership favourite. We need to Win each of these last H&A games.

Changes? No substantive changes, except players becoming available:

• Outs: Your suggestions?

• Ins: Howe and Frampton (both, if available). Maybe we could rest a few from the final H&A game? That would give the rested players two weeks rest given the week break between the H&A season and the Finals.

Your thoughts?

Game Plan – No changes of substance from past weeks. 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 / Midfield? And protecting our players? That should also be key.

• Midfield Management. Pendles guidance / on-field coaching to the collective Midfield remains critical.

• Passing. Accuracy of passes by foot and hand critical – see comments above regarding Brisbane’s very clean ball handling. Critical.

• 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 a continuing 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. Importantly, scoring a Behind is a waste – for 1 Point you hand over ball-possession to the opposition. It’s not worth it – get the ball into a better position – be willing to pass.        within the 50

• Tackles. A major success (see last week’s numbers) but still some opponents are spinning out of tackles – too frequently. Love the multiple tacklers.

Our Aim? Be happy.

Summary? Again, this is our game to Win when we decide that and implement our Game plan throughout the four full Quarters. Hawthorn are a dangerous team. We need to scare the rest of the competition as we head towards the Finals.

Winning Selection. Collingwood to Win by 31 Points. BOG – JoshD with 29 touches, including 12 Clearances. Goal kickers include Mihocek and Hill – 4 goals each.

TV: FTA is back again on 7mate and 7+. Also Kayo or Fox Footy depending on which commentators you prefer.

Weather: There is a low chance of light rain on the day, but higher the day before. Get the boots with stops out.

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 (very soon), includinggetting 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 – One H&A game to go (2 Rounds to go, but the team have a Bye). Next is on Saturday, 16^thAugust against Port Melbourne (17^th versus our 6^th place) at ETU Stadium; bounce at 2.05pm. Good luck, boys.
• VFLW team – Into the Finals from 2^ndplace on the Ladder. Well done, ladies. Next – FW1 – North Melbourne (placed on top of Ladder) versus Collingwood (placed 2^nd) on 9^th August at Arden Street Oval; bounce at 2.35pm.- Finals. Good luck.

• Anything else, everyone else?

Next:

• Round 23. Saturday, 16^th August Adelaide versus Collingwood at AO; bounce at 7.35pm. Anyone going?

 

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

Cam

 

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