Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life 2025: Round 6 Review / Round 7 Preview

G’day True Believers.

 

1 versus 4. Who’d have thought it? I was reasonably confident we would Win, as I was regarding last year’s Finals iif we’d made it, but a result like that? The team, in my view really showed up the current Premiers. Will Brisbane Top 4 by season’s end? I suspect not,, though with a 5 / 0 start they’d be difficult to miss the Finals. A prognosis? Get them away from the Gabba and they’ll fall away. Thursday night at the Gabba with a full stadium (for Brisbane, at least) was an even more impressive achievement by our team.

 

Next? Anzac Day – see below. Who has ever forgotten the Captain’s speech at the event a couple of years ago. I still have non-football fans commenting on it to me.

 

 

Round 6

 

Collingwood 16.9.105 defeated Brisbane 7.11.53.

 

Match Report – www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/7010

 

Coach’s comments – www.afl.com.au/video/1301425/mcrae-post-match-r6-we-talk-constantly-about-evidence-here-it-is-heres-some-facts?videoId=1301425&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1744897443001

 

Goals scored:

Q1                   4 (us) / 2 (them). A great start with Membrey’s two, plus his set-up of Mihocek’s, in the quarter. 1Q clearances were 11 /  4. Margin at QT was + 10 Points;

Q2                   4 / 2. More of the same. NickD had 21 Disposals in the 1H. Margin at HT – + 19 Points;

Q3                   4 / 1. A fantastic Quarter – truly a team effort. ?Final change margin -= + 42 Points;

Q4??????????4 / 2. A good finish. Final margin – + 52 Points; and

Total?????????16 / 7. A Win by a pretty massive margin, particularly when played against the reigning Premiers.

 

Category	us / them	Remarks
Hit Outs	37 / 18	Not a great number to compare – relates to which ruck touched the ball first. Better – HO to advantage. I didn’t see this advantage. Next – Clearances more significant.
Clearances	36 / 26	Centre clearances – 15 / 9;  and Stoppage clearances – 21 / 17. The differentials here should be reflected in the Clearances, unlike in this case. Our advantage, in HO is not reflected to that degree. These numbers match my perception of the game. My view was that we clearly Won the drive out of the Centre and clearance at stoppages was pretty equally shared.
Inside 50s	51 / 37	The next step in the heading to Goal, broadly reflecting the Clearances. The gap here is huge, reflecting the success of our Backline defence and the drive forward.
Disposal Efficiency (DE)	77.8% / 76.5%	Pretty much on par. We were better, but not by much.
DE Inside 50	52.9% / 56.8%	The distinction here is important, but needs to be considered with the Inside 50 numbers, not on its own. Their advantage here is more than offset by our Inside 50 number.
Player numbers with DE > 80%	8 / 8	Linked with DE throughout the game. The spread of efficient players contributed.
Free Kicks	24 / 22	This surprised me. While close to equal, I thought they had the advantage, except for the single 50m penalty. Generally the umpiring is improving though Inconsistencies still exist relating to incorrect disposal / caught with ball / etc.
Contested Possession (CP)	100 / 99	Combined, the difference in the two aspects reflects the team style of play. Each team, led by our minor domination of each category, sought to dominate the game, holding onto the ball. There were substantial periods when the ball was locked in our attacking half..
Uncontested Possession (UCP)	219 / 217
Turn-overs (TO)	45 / 45	No comment.
Marks	86 / 116	Marks inside 50 – 13 / 12. Impacts on scoring, not evident in their scoring.
Tackles	33 / 28	Tackles inside 50 – 4 / 5 Reflected the differences between the teams. Our  team were here to play. The multiple tacklers was impressive.
1%’ers	40 / 42	Spoils and defensive actions.

 

Crowd: 34,802. What percentage were Pies’ supporters?

 

Best:

 

The AFL website identifies Collingwood’s Best as:

• NickD;
• JoshD;
• McStay;
• Pendles;
• Sidey; and
• Elliott.

 

I don’t disagree with any of those identified or the order (well, not too much, anyway) but I would have added a couple of others – Long – 21 Disposals @ 66.7% DE, 6 Tackles, 5 Score Involvement, 5 Clearances and 203 mG, and,Hill – 8 D @ 62.5% DE, 172 mG, 2 goals and 1 GA and 4 SI. And who will ever forget his goal-saving run-down tackle of Zorko in Q3 with the ball transferred to NickD resulting in a Goal? Certainly, in my view, it terminated any BL come-back., Your thoughts?

 

A great result, a consequence of total commitment over four quarters. Other noticeable aspects:

 

• The team-performance, mentioned above. Everyone had some involvement;. Some commentators have used the expression “Collingwood bullied (our opponents) at stoppages” – most accurate recognition, in my view;

• Clearance and Inside 50 numbers dominated. As above the DE difference was small, the scoring reflected the numbers’ difference; and

• It has been recorded that that the team blunted the Brisbane ball movement through the corridor, forcing them to use the wings;

 

In summary, the Pies Won through advantages in commitment and efficiency. It was a great performance , well done. I hope Moore is okay for Friday.

 

 

Round 7

 

25 April – Anzac Day – Collingwood versus Essendon at the MCG; bounce at 3.20pm.

 

This game is between two teams, pretty substantially separated on the Ladder. That said, this has frequently been the case and the game has lived up to expectations, frequently described as the best game outside the Finals. As suich current estimates are frequently misguided.  Current betting – $1.21 (Pies’ Win) / $4.45 (Bombers’ Win). Keep a watch over the next few days on the AFL website on the betting.

 

Them:

 

Essendon were regarded as one of the ‘upandcomer’ teams heading into this season. This hasn’t been the case with two Losses (to Hawthorn and Adelaide, both at the MCG) and three Wins (against Port, Melbourne and WCE). Importantly, this last is worth considering. It included Essendon being in a deficit position of 28 Points early in Q2 and mid-way through Q3. In Q3 and Q4, they kicked 6 unanswered goals to near recover, before going on to Win by 2 Points. The lesson? They don’t give up.

 

Our last conflicts?

 

• 5 July 2024??????Loss by us by 12 Points;
• 25 April 2024???? Draw; and
• 25 August 2023??Win buy us by 70 Points.

.

It is difficult to clearly identify their game plan because of the differences identified above. Listen / watch their coach talking to the team following their Loss to Hawthorn – go towww.carltonfc.com.au/video/1736433/afl-r2-voss-raw-address?videoId=1736433&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1742538065001. Or more recently, following the Loss to WB, at www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-2025-michael-voss-press-conference-carlton-v-western-bulldogs-round-3-blues-fatal-flaw-explained-by-coach/news-story/f9fbab1269de2470a17cc64ca45e64a5. See the emphasis, below, on their Midfield and several key positions Back and Forward, so Win the Midfield battle, Win the War.

 

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

 

• Merrett – Rover;
• Durham – RR;
• Martin – Wing / HB;
• Caldwell – Centre;; and
• Draper – FF.

 

Us:

 

Changes? No change? Thought Cox’s inclusion last week was very useful.

 

Game Plan – adjusted from previous weeks. Let’s be honest, we were lucky to Win against Footscray. They didn’t deserve to Win, but we could have Lost with a single kick. I appreciate the effort but would prefer that we, humble supporters, have less pressure on us through more pronounced Wins, particularly against our highly valued opponents, like Carlton. They have been performing well for much of their recent games but have dropped-off at the end, as described above. As such, we will need to play to our strengths, establish and implement our Game Plan. A couple of points:

 

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

• Taggers. Tagging role on Cripps for Sidey; Frampton – hard lock-down role on Curnow?

• Midfield Management. Pendles guidance to the collective Midfield. C’mon De Goey, you need to perform. Note previous week’s comments regarding the value of Long in the midfield releasing NDaicos to be better used as a “ball-using Nick” rather than a ball-winning Nick”.

• Passing. Accuracy of passes by foot and hand. Critical – watch the individual DE figures.

• Drive. Drive out of the Backline is a key part of our gameplan. Be prepared to cross the field, even to kick backwards to change the direction. A minor point that has brought us undone on occasion, – “yes”, to ‘play on’, but know where your opponents are, particularly in front of goal. Kick-ins are an issue. Go to www.afl.com.au/news/1130107/mission-impossible-the-art-and-science-of-kick-ins. If you need help, get ‘Neon Leon Davis to help; in my view the best kicker-in we’ve had.

• Kicking for Goal. Ball delivery to the best goal-kicking position. Be prepared to acknowledge difficult shots on goal and willing to pass the ball inside the 50 to a better placed teammate. See below- I value GA (goal assists mor highly than actual goals scored). This needs 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. Want an example – watch Adelaide’s Forwards leading in their game last weekend.

• Tackles. A major success recently. Love the multiple tacklers. The perennial complaint: “Hold your tackles!” and be aware of who’s beside you before you ‘play-on’; and

• Umpires. Not sure what happened last week. 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. We should follow their lead and enjoy the game from our perspective, even when things don’t work.

 

Summary? This is our game to Win, if we decide that and implement our Game plan on the game.

 

Winning Selection. Collingwood to Win by 19 Points. BOG – De Goey with 31 Disposals, including 12 Clearances. Goal kickers include Mihocek, Hill, Elliott, Membrey and McStay each with two goals. Hill and McStay each had two GA, as well.

 

TV: FTA on 7mate and 7+ plus the usual.

 

Weather: Cloudy with chance of some light rain. Get rid of the plastic-soled boots.

 

Ground Reports? Now we’ve all had nearly two weeks off, so are feeling refreshed and highly motivated, so get into it and tell us how you are feeling about this game? Reports please (after or before)? I’d especially like to hear from the armchair warriors watching from afar?  More please.

 

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

 

Cam

 

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