Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life 2026: Opening Round – St Kilda v Collingwood
Greetings True Believers.
The Season is about to start. Should we be concerned at our ‘practice match’ results? Perhaps only insofar as individual performances in the games (including both our players in the State of Origin) and training, which I have very little visibility of. So, more as we go.
The Game:
Match details? North Melbourne 12.18.90 defeated us 14.05.89, recovering from a 31 Point deficit early in the 2nd Half to Win by a solitary Point. Go to www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/8257
Coach’s comments? The Backs’ Coach, Roughead was in charge. He gives a very balanced view,
Statistics?
I’m not going to list them all. If you are interested go to the Match site, link listed above and look at the Team and Player Stats. A couple of notable differences worthy of comment:
Goals scored – Q1 – 3 (us) / 2 (them), Q2 – 6 / 3, Q3 – 3 / 5, Q4 – 2 / 2 and Game – 14 / 12. www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/8257#summary says it all. The Coach makes an interesting point, link above, on the value of practice matches in the tight competition of the final few minutes;
Clearances – 33 (us) / 50 (them). Made up of 10 / 15 Centre Clearances and 23 / 35 Stoppage Clearances. This statistic follows on from a Hit Out dominance by us of 38 / 32. This does not make sense or reflect well on our Midfield;
Inside 50s – 46 / 64. Flow on from Clearances.
Disposal Efficiency (DE) – game: 67.3% / 76.7% and DE inside 50 : 39.1% / 51.6%. Those numbers are a very poor comparison, particularly when you look at the 1st Half when we scored 9 goals to their 5 with extraordinarily high effectiveness;
Scoring Shots – 19 / 30. Lucky they were so inaccurate, especially in Q1. The numbers, pretty much, say it all.
I always believe that Winning / Losing is habit-forming, so my preference would have been to Win, but there is real value in looking at how we played in the last minutes of Q1 and most of Q2, and compare that with Q3. Lessons abound.
Best? As we lead into the team selection for the Season, I want to make a couple of comments regarding players’ performances, and what they might mean? The Best identified on the AFL website were, in order, McStay, Daicos, Lippinski, Schultz and Cochrane. I don’t necessarily agree with them all and there are a few missing that I would suggest are worth noting. Daicos was everywhere; as was Lippinski. I value Schultz because he seeks the ball rather than just waiting for it to be delivered. I support the coach’s view regarding Cochrane, noting his comments about Parker, Swadling and Prindable (in spite of his being on the ground for only about 20% of the game). I would add add Long and DeMattia, and Quaynor and Houston. Go and check the Player Stats, notably Disposals, Metres Gained and Disposal Efficiency. A few of our team had off-days, including Cameron, Maynard, Frampton, McCreery and, in my view, McStay. Also check their stats. What does this mean for the future? Good depth in the Midfield? How was the delivery from the Backline into our Forward line? How do the goal-kickers set themselves up as targets? Cochrane fitted into the Backline well and kicked a goal. Consider the Backline with Moore and Howe? Welcome your thoughts?
Next:
OR. Sunday, 8th March St Kilda versus Collingwood at the MCG; bounce (ball-up) 7.20pm. Not sure why a St Kilda home-game is being played at the MCG. Maybe we should see the MCG crowd as in our favour. Thoughts?
Them?
St Kilda’s last Premiership was in 1966, a game well known to many of us. The umpiring at the death still rankles. Their most recent success was stymied by us in the Drawn Grannie a couple of years back.
Team. I think they’ve decided to buy a team (like some others in the Past). They have recruited extensively in the off-season, supposedly well, though only time will confirm that. A few names, without the pay – you can look that up if you want – De Konig – ruck, currently is recovering from a calf injury, King – key Forward – also recovering from a calf injury, Wanganeen-Milera – CHB, Flanders – RR, Silvagni – Back and Ryan – Forward / Midfield. Ryan is also identified as the “shining star” at the Club during the ‘practice matches’ due to his ‘ground-work’ as well as his more usual marking. Other key team members include Hill – Wing and Sinclair – HB, both selected in the State of Origin teams. As such, their team is star-studded, but not sure how well, they’ll play together.
Game Plan. Their approach to Game Planning is interesting. www.saints.com.au/video/1962143/behind-the-team-building-a-game-plan?videoId=1962143&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1772153801001. No comment re tags, though some close-defence tasks appear inevitable.
Us?
Team. I understand that we’ve got a full List with the only possible exceptions of Moore and Howe though I understand they are each working towards their availability. I also understand that a number of players are in good form, though we’ll only be able to confirm that after this game. Notably, DeGoey is being strongly regarded as ‘ready’. Houston has lifted in the ‘practice matches’, as has Cochrane and Parker. While Allan hasn’t shone in these matches, we recognise the benefits of him playing next to NickD. Regardless of my comments above, Frampton does his close-defence tasks well and will be required. Look forward to seeing a Midfield that wins that competition – measured by Clearances and Inside 50s, managed by Pendles from Centre or CHB.
Game Plan. Same as always: No changes of substance from past. A couple of points:
? Application. Nothing is more important. Positives and negatives totally demonstrated in the ‘practice matches’. 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 is critical. Remember a misdirected pass resulting in a turnover of the ball passes possession to our opponent, immediately shifting control of the game to them.
? Drive. Drive out of the Backline is a key part of our game plan.
? Kick-ins are a continuing issue – we need to have a plan that everyone knows and is able to implement. It is critical because it is the means of maintaining control of the ball, and the game.
? Kicking for Goal. This has been pretty good but players need to consider and apply the willingness to pass the ball inside the 50. The key players with the ability to kick the hard goal is laudable, but not always successful. 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.
? Tackles. Still a failing with opponents spinning out of tackles or brushing off the tackler. This has been one of our strengths and we need to get it back. Love the multiple tacklers.
Our Aim? Be happy. Worth reinforcing – our team, yes, we are part of it, everyone, players and supporters, need to get the smile back.
Thoughts?
Result? Collingwood to Win by 19 Points. BOG – De Goey with 36 Disposals and 5 Goal Assists. Honourable mention – Maynard with 8 Tackles and 11 Intercept Possessions (Look under Advanced Stats under Player Stats). Goalkickers – McStay and Elliott, each with 4 goals.
TV? Broadcast everywhere – 7mate, 7+, Kayo, Binge and Fox Footy.
Weather? Dry and clear; no rain forecast; but it is Melbourne. Plastic souled boots okay.
Reporting? Please report, even if you are watching from home? And let us know if you are going. Krista and I are attending the R1 game. Hope to see some of you there?
Events?
Friday, 27 February – ‘Final Siren – Inside the AFL’ – a 4-part series on Prime Video.
Season 2026:
R1 Saturday, 14 March; 7.35pm. Collingwood versus Adelaide at the MCG; and
R2 Bye
Other?
Still working out the Rule Changes. More as we go.
My apologies for my typo last week incorrectly identifying SA as the State of Origin opponent. Nicely ignored by all. I actually went to the last Victoria / SA match in 1989.
I’m very proud to report that our daughter is playing AFL in Wagga, close to her posting, and one of our sons and his fianc?e have attended training at a football Club in London. Well done to all.
This is our year; still believe! Always believe; never, ever give up! Go Pies.
Cam
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