Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life 2026: Round 11 Review/Round 12 Preview

 

Greetings to all. I hope you had a great weekend. What did you participate in?

 

We travelled from Harden (Google it) to be part of the largest single gathering of Pies’ supporters, I suspect in our Club history. Of the 90, 028 who attended there were miniscule numbers of Eagles’ supporters. If the game had been played against another Melbourne (or Geelong) Club the divide between the supporters would have been more equal. However, it wasn’t. Walking through the crowd, in or out, it was a sea of black & white. The noise made by the respective supporters was unbelievably different. And my first thank you goes to Sal for his birthday gift to me of a new Pies’ scarf before the game. He was pretty disgusted with my ‘old’ scarf because as it had faded to the point that the colours looked more Geelong. Thank you, Sal. A number of us got together for a pre-game lunch at Rocello’s and walked to the G together. Thank you Sal and Elizabeth and all the others there – great food, great conversation. The game? See below.

 

Can you see yourself in the photo? I think I’m the one holding up the SP433 sign? The important thing, now, is that every time Pendles plays, he sets a new record. Maybe not so much celebration in the future? [Apologies – due to copyright constraints The Footy Almanac is unable to publish the image mentioned]

 

Courtesy AFL website.

 

Introductions. And let me introduce a couple of new names – Phil and Brian. Gentlemen, welcome. We look forward to your comments and discussion. This would be a good game to start?

 

Critical Club issue. We are sorely in need of a couple of players to fill specific roles – Ruck and key Forward. We could do this tomorrow night by listing Elliott, McInnes and Steene as long-term injuries, creating the Mid-Season Draft vacancies.  Go to www.afl.com.au/news/1518671/ultimate-guide-to-the-2026-afl-mid-season-rookie-draft-broadcast-picks-how-to-watch-players-and-more for more detail. Lodgements are due by cob, today. I hope we are ahead of this.

 

Reporting? Would still like to see reports / views from others, either at the game (as I know some of you were) or watching from afar.

 

Go Pies

Round 11 Result:

 

Collingwood 13.14.92 defeated WCE 12.10.82

Scoring shots – 27 (us) / 22 (them). Fairly indicative, actually.

 

Goals scored:

 

• Q1????????2 (us) / 3 (them). Up and down, with wasted opportunities – we scored 2.6 against 3.2 (8 scoring shots to 5). Check the Timeline and scores at www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/8137#summary, to see the flow of the game. Margin deficit at Quarter time – 2 Points;
• Q2????????4 / 2. Also up and down a bit 4.3 / 2.3. Our momentum was demonstrated over the Half Time break scoring 6 goals to their 2 from mid Q2 to mid Q3. Margin expanded to +10 Points;
• Q3????????4 / 4. Started well, as detailed above, but let in their recovery in the second half of the Quarter. Margin expanded at the final break + 11 Points;
• Q4????????3 / 3. Collingwood’s lead with only minutes remaining was reduced to 3 Points, but that was as close as they got. Goals to McStay and NickD stabilised the Win. Final Winning margin reduced to 10 Points; and
• Total?????? 13.14 / 12.10. We Won.

 

Match Report – www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/8137#match-report

 

Coach’s Report – www.afl.com.au/video/1526439/full-post-match-r11-magpies?videoId=1526439&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1779533527001. Worth watching.

 

Game Statistics

 

Numbers sourced from the AFL website.

 

Statistic	Us / Them	Remarks
Disposals	357 / 388	Includes handball numbers – 170 / 166. Included just to highlight the difference in ball-possession in their favour. Note that the game was close to the very end.
Hit Outs	30 / 32	Not a factual statistic. Needs ‘HO to advantage’.
Clearances	38 / 42	Includes 9 / 13 Centre clearances and 29 / 29 stoppage clearances.  Clearance numbers are not recorded by Quarter. Using scoring shots as an indicator the nearness of the scores is indicative. But, as a first-order comparison it is telling. Not sure where we go now.
Inside 50s	50 / 57	Dominance by them; a key statistic. Should lead to increased scoring – more goals.
Goals scored	13 / 12	Does not reflect the Clearances or Inside 50s statistics, above, except to indicate the numbers are close. So what else influences things? See DE Inside 50, below.
Disposal Efficiency	72.3% / 77.3%	Not too different but not particularly important. Across the entire game.
Disposal Efficiency Inside 50	58.0% / 36.8%	The other Key statistic. Our substantial domination here of efficiency counters their domination of Inside 50s, resulting in the goals scored close equivalence.
Contested Possessions	138 / 131	UCP – 210 / 250. Reflects a marginal ownership of the UCP ball by them, even though we were marginally better in CP.
Possession	45% / 39%	A reasonably substantial difference which should have indicated our control of the game.
Marks	77 / 97	Includes Marks inside 50 – 10 / 9. Reflecting their ‘keep-ens off’ style of game.
Tackles	77 / 47	Includes Tackles inside 50 – 21 / 3. Reflects effort and application.
1%’ers	45 / 42	Also reflects effort, particularly by Backline. See later comment, below, regarding the strategy applied by the Defensive 6 (or frequently 7).
Individual DE > 80%	10 / 11	Individual numbers of players with DE less than or equal to 80%.
Individua DE < 50%	2 / 1	Same as above – Individual DE less than or equal to 50%.
Free Kicks	28 / 18	I thought the standard of umpiring, particularly in the First Half was poor. I simply don’t believe these numbers, but I am unwilling to watch and score them. That’s a serious difference in our favour but was not evident during the game. As previously stated, we seriously require clarity regarding the award for ‘caught with the ball’ and ‘incorrect disposal’. While I, and the bulk of the watchers around me, understand the Umpire’s decision rests very much on his / her view of ‘opportunity’, the umpiring decision-making was really awful and highly prejudiced against the Pies’ players. My usual criticism of the 50m penalty similarly applies (again).

 

 

The Game

 

Our performance in this game was disappointing. I think this has more to do with the Weagles’ team rather than reflecting on us. They played better than us, on occasions during the game. To be specific – I suspect we under-valued the Eagles’ potential. We were marginally defeated in the Centre in both Clearances and subsequent Inside 50 numbers. It appeared that our Midfield did not take advantage of their experience and wisdom. The statistics point to an equivalence between the opposing Midfields. We had substantial opportunities early that we did not take advantage of. My criticism regarding the Forwards desire to shoot for goals, even from a position I would declare to be an “impossible goal” was better the previous week; back to ignoring it this week. Other potential goal scorers were frequently free and open to receive passes – unfortunately our delivery into the 50 was “so slow” allowing the Defence to set up.

 

As the Coach reported (same as last week), the team has a few things to work on. Given the general performance across the ground, I’d suggest there is a need for restructuring focussing on replacements. Some suggested observations:

 

• The kick-in is still not working reliably – plan and execute;
• Close-defence tags are generally working but always need to cover all areas around packs;
• Avoid the ‘impossible’ kicks at goal. Be willing to pass to a better position; and
• My criticism in the past of Defenders spoiling each other in packs was evident again on occasion.

 

This was an enjoyable game to watch, even if the ending was a bit stressful. It was nice being amongst fellow True Believers, of all ages from the very young right through, all with the same attitude Go Pies. I had a young lady offer me a seat on the tram going to where I was staying – the grey hair helps.

 

Crowd. 90, 028.

 

Best: AFL website reporting identified the Best as:

 

• NickD;
• De Goey;
• Crisp
• Elliott; and
• Schultz.

 

Coaches’ Votes: Coaches’ votes not out yet. Go to www.afl.com.au/news/1517952/coaches-votes-r9-three-way-tie-for-lead-bizarre-split-for-giants-bombers for last week. Look on Monday / Tuesday.

 

I don’t really have any issues with the Best selections though might have included McCreery (18 Disposals @ 83.3%, 5 Tackles, 1 Clearance, 398 metres Gained, 2 Goal Assist, 3 Intercept Possessions and 8 Score Involvements). The Backline’s performance is notable – Sidebottom – 7 Intercept Possessions & 4 Score Involvement; Maynard – 5 / 1; Quaynor – 8 / 3; Howe – 5 / 4; Frampton – 5 / 1; Cameron – 5 / 4 and Moore given he was only on the ground for one third of the game. Good contributions each.

 

Injuries? The injuries to Moore and Elliott, on top of the season-ending damage to Steene, has set up some critical questions. Cameron is outstanding as a Forward target and / or as an additional Back. I don’t that he is a fair ruck. We need to find a replacement, quickly.

 

VFL Worth a quick look-see regarding the VFL performance www.afl.com.au/vfl/matches/8429, unfortunately another pretty substantial Loss. The Best identified are Buller scoring three and Swadling (HF) again.

 

Round 12:

 

Saturday, 30 May – Western Bulldogs versus Collingwood at the Marvel Stadium. Ball-up at 7.35 pm.

 

Betting: Pretty close, but the WB are favourites: $1.98 for a Pies’ Win; $1.86 for a Bulldogs Win. Brought up to date (not so close, now), it is now $2.25 for a Pies’ Win; $1.65 for a Bulldog’s Win.

 

Following the completion of R11 the WB were in 9^th position on the Ladder based on their 6 Wins and 5 Losses and 92.8% percentage. We have advanced slightly to 10^th place based on 5 Wins, 5 Losses and single Draw and 100.3% percentage.

 

Them

 

WB finished the H&A season last year in 9^th place on the Ladder based on 14 Wins, 9 Losses and a quite incredible 137% percentage – the third highest in the competition at the conclusion of the H&A season. They were excluded from the Finals as a consequence of their place. They are doing better this year, starting the season strongly dropping down the Ladder as the Rounds 5 – 8 results (see below) were applied.

 

Their season, so far, is:

 

Round	Win / Loss	Opponent	Margin	Location
			Points
OR	L	Brisbane	5	Gabba
1	W	GWS	81	Marvel
2	W	Adelaide	6	AO
3	Bye
4	W	Essendon	34	Marvel
5	L	Hawthorn	40	AO
6	L	Geelong	75	Kardinia Park
7	L	Sydney	66	Marvel
8	L	Fremantle	12	Marvel
9	W	PA	2	AO
10	L	Carlton	12	Marvel
11	W	Melbourne	3	Marvel

 

 

The range of the winning / losing margins is interesting, as is their preference to plat at Marvel. WB have not Won against higher placed teams on the Ladder with the exception of Adelaide in Round 2, some time ago.

 

Players to watch:

 

• Bontempelli     Centre;
• Richards             Rover;
• Naughton           FF;
• Dale                      HB;
• Treloar                 HF; and
• English                 Ruck.

 

Note the focus of their Best along the corridor, including their Midfield, therefore? Use the Wings. Have a busy Midfield – specifically targeting The Bont and Richards. Might also be amusing to tag Treloar for a while?

 

Us

 

Team. As always, we should always pick the team that best fits our defeat of our opposition. Suggested changes:

 

• Out: Moore, Elliott, plus others?

 

• In: Hill, Buller, Swaddling, De Mattia?

 

Game Plan. Same as always: No changes of substance from past. A couple of points:

 

• Application. Nothing is more important. Attitude is King. Pursuit needs to continue; not stopping when an opponent has passed. Loved Q1 and Q4 last week.

 

• 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 – watch and protect NickD.

 

• Midfield Management. Pendles’ place to provide continuing guidance / on-field coaching to the collective Midfield is essential?

 

• Passing. Accuracy of passes by foot and hand is critical. Remember a misdirected pass, resulting in a turnover of the ball, gives 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 still 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 was improved in recent games, just not the last one. 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 some 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. Fly reinforced during his post-game interview the place the Fans sit in the game – what the team does is for the fans.

 

Outcome? Collingwood will Win by 23 Points. BOG – Pendles with 37 Disposals @ 78.0% DE, 6 Clearances and 473 metres Gained; Regular Goalkicker – Hill – 4 goals; and welcome back; we missed you.

 

Weather? There’s a roof. Ignore. Plastic boots okay

 

TV? No FTA TV. As usual – Kayo, Fox Footy, et al.

 

Next. We’ve got a few serious challenges coming up:

 

• R13     Monday, 8 June versus Melbourne (King’s birthday) at the MCG.
• R14     Bye
• R15        Saturday, 20 June versus PA also at the MCG

 

Attendance. We are not going to this one. Next attendance likely R15 PA. Give me a call?

 

Reporting. Now I know some of you went to the last game. Look forward to your reporting Please? And Reports from TV-watchers are equally welcome? I find it useful to listen to the commentators (prefer Kayo to FTA) who (mostly) know more about the game than we, mortals. Reports?

 

Other.             Firstly, congratulations to the Carlton coach getting back to back Wins. Keep it up Josh. See you in Round 19.

Any feedback? Anything else?

 

Never Lose confidence. This is our year. Go Pies.

 

Cam

 

Other Round 11 Match Reports Here.

 

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