Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life 2026: Round 8 Review / Round 9 Preview

Hi all.

 

There are good days and not so good days to be a Pies’ supporter. Even though I would never pursue such aspects, I find the betting odds revealing. The Round 8 odds were heavily weighted in favour of Hawthorn with a Win by them potentially earning $1.21 but a Win by the Pies could net you $4.30. So, to the last 30 seconds of the game, there might have been some serious ‘winners’ watching. Of course, our Draw, placing us level with Hawthorn, says something completely different.

 

Our coach reinforced to the players immediately following the game “we didn’t Lose”. Importantly, the Draw places us as highly competitive amongst the top teams. Next? Geelong at the G (interestingly, I watched the Geelong v North second half from when North led by 6 Points at the 22.48 mark of Q3) followed by Sydney at the SCG. Both will be a challenge. Betting for the Geelong game? Geelong are favourites with a return of $1.58 for as Win by them, whereas a Win by us could earn you $2.39. After yesterday’s performance the betting has changed to $1.49 / $2.63 (Logic? I have no idea.)and may change further as Round 8 continues.

 

Go Pies

 

Game:

Collingwood 15.3.93 drew with Hawthorn 13.15.93.

 

Scoring shots: 18 (us) / 28 (them). There were a lot of statistics that made little sense; this was the first of them. More on these below.

 

Goals scored:

• Q1????????5 (us) / 1 (them). The start doesn’t get any better than this with 4 unanswered goals in the second half of the Quarter – 5 goals scored from 7 Inside 50 entries, compared with Hawthorn’s 1.7 (one Goal & 7 Behinds) score. Check the Timeline and scores at                          www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/8104#summary. Margin + 17 Points;
• Q2????????2 / 4. Hawthorn scored 3 unanswered goals in the second half of this Quarter totalling 4.3 for the Quarter. Margin reduced to + 5 Points;
• Q3????????5 / 6. Our efficiency was on display with a score of 5.0 for the Quarter against their 6.1. Margin at the final break gave them the lead. Margin – 2 Points;
• Q4????????3 / 2. Efficiency continued – 3.0 against their 2.4. Final margin 0 Points; and
• Total??????15.3 / 13.15. We Drew.

 

Match Report – www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/8104#match-report.

 

Coach’s Report – www.afl.com.au/video/1508930/full-post-match-r8-magpies?videoId=1508930&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1777556673001&references=AFL_MATCH:8104.  He reinforced that he saw Hawthorn as currently the best team in the competition. In that context he emphasised to the team that they were not beaten. He also highlighted the difference between ‘process’ and ‘outcome’, noting that he thought the Collingwood processes were okay.  Worth watching.

 

Game Statistics

 

Numbers sourced from the AFL website.

 

Statistic	Us / Them	Remarks
Disposals	345 / 421	Includes handball numbers – 145 / 185. Included just to highlight the substantial difference in ball-possession in their favour. Note that the game was broadly even to Half Time.
Hit Outs	22 / 41	Remember – Not a factual statistic. Needs HO to advantage, but Steene was impressive post Half Time; Cameron impressive as a forward target and intercepting defender at different times (of course).
Clearances	23 / 39	Includes 5 / 19 Centre clearances and 18 / 20 stoppage clearances. Worth looking at the stoppage clearances, but many of our goals in Q4 seemed to be direct from the Centre and avoided stoppages. Way to go.
Inside 50s	34 / 62	Key statistic.
Goals scored	15 / 13	Does not reflects the Clearances or Inside 50s statistics, above. So what else influences things? See DE Inside 50, below.
Disposal Efficiency	77.4% / 77.0%	Not too different but not particularly important. Across the entire game.
Disposal Efficiency Inside 50	55.9% / 48.4%	The other Key statistic. Our substantial domination here of efficiency – counter to their domination of Clearances and Inside 50s. See later comments.
Contested Possessions	105 / 134	UCP – 218 / 279. Reflects their ownership of the ball, and hence, the game.
Possession	40% / 45%	Their game, especially noting the broad equivalence to Half Time.
Marks	100 / 109	Includes Marks inside 50 – 11 / 12.
Tackles	53 / 45	Includes Tackles inside 50 – 3 / 8.
1%’ers	44 / 32	Ok, reflects effort particularly by Backline.
Individual DE > 80%	10 / 11	Also individual player numbers with DE less than or equal to 60% – 3 / 4. Not too different.
Free Kicks	23 / 26	There were periods where Frees were granted sequentially. Still lacks clarity regarding the award for ‘caught with the ball’ and ‘incorrect disposal’. No category for 50m penalties which are significant, frequently a certain goal.

 

The Game

 

We started poorly but came good with a vengeance. We took 7 minutes to get the ball into our Inside 50 for the first time. Their domination of the Midfield and their ongoing attack was unbelievable. But, in 7 entries to the Inside 50 for the Quarter, we scored 5 Goals (and no Behinds). Hawthorn with a record of 0 / 7 Clearance dominance in the Quarter recorded 1.7. Our efficiency for the Quarter, in fact flowing on for the rest of the game, was also unbelievable. We scored 3 Behinds in Q2, the sum total of our Behinds for the game. They scored a total of 15 Behinds for the game with their only respectable scoring in Q2 and Q3, when they scored a total of 10.4. Their other scores totalled 3.11.

 

Hawthorn scored 3 unanswered goals late in Q2. In their favour, Collingwood lost Perryman, broadly successful in negating Watson, injured late in Q2. Watson, “the Wizard”, produced some quite extraordinary contributions to Hawthorn in the 2^nd Half.

 

Q3 saw a tightening of the game including several lead changes, none by any great amount.

 

The final Quarter leading to the “epic draw” was again a conflict between efficiency and opportunity. Our 3.0 with many fewer Clearances and Inside 50s, compared with their 2.4 and many more. See the final numbers tabulated above.

 

You could write volumes about the final minute and those involved. Of course, we True Believers know that Moore should have held the mark and the other Moore ducked, and the fair result would have been a ball up. Of course, incidents like that do NOT result in the Win or the Loss. That result should be attributed to the whole game. A further discussion point would be the resting of Pendles for this game. I would suggest that his presence on the field would have produced a different result, such is his influence. A couple of observations:

 

• Defenders seemed frequently to spoil each other is trying to mark a ball coming into the 50, rather than putting the ball on the ground for the ‘smalls’ to pursue;
• The kick-in is still not working reliably – plan and execute; and
• Close-defence tags are working a treat – well done Back 6 /7. I note this has been recognised amongst the Best, Keep it up.

 

It was an enjoyable game to watch, particularly Q3 and Q4, right up to the infuriating end, and beyond the final siren.

 

What the game showed was that, even with a number of key players missing – Pendles, Perryman, Hill – our team is good enough to compete for the Premiership. Fly referred to Hawthorn on a number of occasions as the Best in the competition. I agree with the possible additional qualification of Sydney in Sydney. I the next couple of weeks we should have a pretty good idea of where we stand.

 

Crowd. 76, 632. Pretty poor attendance actually.

 

Best: AFL website reporting identified the Best as:

• Houston;
• NickD;
• Maynard;
• Crisp;
• De Goey; and
• JoshD.

 

Coaches’ Votes: Coaches’ votes not out yet. Go to www.afl.com.au/news/1507863/coaches-votes-r7-two-stars-nick-daicos-and-zak-butters-level-at-the-top-six-perfect-10s on Monday / Tuesday.

 

I don’t really have any issues with the Best selections though might have included Schultz (20 Disposals @ 90.0% DE, 349 Metres Gained, 1 Goal Assist, 4 Intercept Possessions, 7 Score Involvement and 9 Contested Possessions), Long (22 D, admittedly @ 63.6% DE, 5 Clearances, 362 mG, 2 GA, 12 CP, 3 IP and 2 Inside 50s) and Elliott (3 Goals, 8 D @ 100% DE, 4 SI, 1 GA and 1 CP). Each had pretty fair days at the office.

 

Injuries? There are a few injuries, not necessarily acknowledged:

• Perryman – Hamstring;
• Sidebottom – hand, Not sure of limits;
• Cameron – ankle. Nor sure of limits; and
• NickD – not sure. Not sure of limits.

 

VFL Worth a quick look-see regarding the VFL performances at www.afl.com.au/vfl/matches/8404 with the Best being Allan in the Midfield, Hill and West up Forward and Ryan and Howes down Back. Each of these, except Hill, have a number of solid performances behind them and would be valid selections as needed. Hill is special. While he’s only completed two games at this level, he is a gifted footballer and could be brought into the AFL side when needed.  Additionally, De Mattia is on the come-back following his injury recovery, but expect a few weeks in the Twos before being considered for a step up.

 

Round 9:

 

Saturday, 9 May – Geelong versus Collingwood at the MCG. Ball-up at 7.35pm.

 

Betting: As above, Geelong are clear Favourites, though their performance for nearly three Quarters last night against North casts some doubts. If I was a ‘betting man’ I’d probably find somewhere more reliable – like a roulette wheel or poker machine.

 

Following the completion of R8, both Geelong and Collingwood have moved up the Ladder, noting that prior to R8, we were sitting ahead of Geelong on the Ladder:

 

• Geelong. With Win over North, moved from 9^th to 6^th – 5 Wins / 3 Losses – 114.6% percentage; and
• Collingwood. With Draw with Hawthorn, moved 8^th to 7^th – 4 Wins / 3 Losses / 1 Draw – 108.6%.

 

GC as the last game in R8 might leapfrog us on the Ladder but the only change will be our place. The rest stays the same.

 

Them

 

Geelong finished last year’s H&A season in 2^nd place on the Ladder. They progressed through the Finals with Wins over Brisbane (FW1) and Hawthorn (PF) before Losing to Brisbane in the Grannie. Game results this year are shown below:

• OR      Loss by 56 Points      Opponent GC               Location GC
• R1       Win by 10 Points        Freo                             Kardinia Park
• R3       Win by 8 Points           Adelaide                      Kardinia Park
• R4       Loss by 1 Point           Hawthorn                    MCG
• R5       Win by 46 Points         WCE                           Adelaide
• R6       Win by 75 Points         WB                              Kardinia Park
• R7       Loss by 30 Points       Port Adelaide               AO
• R8       Win by 49 Points         NM                              Kardinia Park

 

So Geelong have produced a number of close results, but also a number of Wins / Losses by substantial amounts. But they are beatable. I’d welcome any comments from my Geelong-supporter brothers, apart from abuse, that may contribute to the discussion.

 

Players to watch:

 

• Holmes – Rover – maybe tag?
• Smith – Centre;
• Cameron – FP / FF / CHF – close defence;
• Bruhn – Wing;
• Mannagh – CHF; and
• Dangerfield – Forward somewhere.

 

Us

 

Team. As always, we should always pick the team that best fits our defeat of our opposition. We should seek to run the game we want to from the start, like last week, so minimal change driven by injuries:

 

• Out: Perryman (injured), Cameron (TBC), Sidey (TBC) and NickD (TBC), plus other?

 

• In: Pendles (wherever he wants to go, but probably management from Midfield would be useful), Howe (Defence), McCreery (Midfield / Forward, if required), Hill (Forward, if required) and Allan ( Midfield, if required).

 

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’ continuing guidance / on-field coaching to the collective Midfield is critical.

 

• 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 has been hugely improved in recent games. 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 17 Points. BOG – Pendles with 34 Disposals @ 93.6% DE, 5 Clearances and 513 metres Gained and 1 Goal; Regular Goalkicker – Hill – 4 goals; and welcome back; we missed you.

 

Weather? Slight chance of light rain is forecast on match day and days leading to it. Expect a slippery ball and surface. Get the old boots with stops out.

 

TV? No free to air TV coverage. As usual on Kayo, Fox Footy, et al.

 

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

• Friday, 15 May versus Sydney at the SCG; and
• Saturday, 23 May versus WCE.

 

Attendance. We are going to the Geelong game and each of these other games listed. Seated for the Geelong game M-38 HH 17 18. 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. Any feedback? Anything else?

 

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

 

Cam

 

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