Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life: AFL 2023 – a starter

Greetings to everyone. I hope you had a terrific off-season and got through the bad-times. Football is coming; soon.

 

Indeed the girls beat us to the punch with a fabulous season. Well done, Ladies. With the missing injured players it was a fabulous performance.

 

Back to the boys.

 

Last year’s GF? I thought (and said (see the email)) Geelong would win easily. And they did, very, very easily. Resulting changes? Well for starters, no need to tag Joel Selwood when you are playing the Cats; in my view he was always the most dangerous Geelong player.

 

A couple of thoughts to get the brain functioning:

 

• Darcy as Captain. Great. I would have said the same if any of the others had got up. Very pleased that Maynard joined Adams as VC. Wouldn’t have objected to Crisp’s inclusion; maybe even Billy – he’s matured hugely over the years. As an adjunct comment you should never blame a single player for a team’s loss, regardless of the missed final kick, or whatever. Having said that, I am prepared to acknowledge a single player as instrumental in a team’s win – Billy after the siren. A comment on Captains – you don’t have to be the best footballer in a team to be Captain. Remember Maxy; an outstanding Captain. I recall watching him when he was on the sidelines, out injured, berating his Backline. He didn’t shut up for a minute during the game – noting the extraordinary thing in that Backline was Heater, who never, ever shut up; ever. Good luck, Darcy. A fine choice.

 

• In retrospect the Grundy contract was silly. In my view his transfer was inevitable purely on cost grounds, continuing to some degree I understand. Cox and Cameron did well in his absence last year, though neither is a top-line ruck. My view – Cox was better in the ruck than Cameron; Cameron better as a Forward target. I had high hopes regarding Begg, though his three-game exposure wasn’t great. He was a positive influence in the Twos but that, of course, is a different game. Hope for better this year. And Steene – watch this space. Others in the Midfield? Mitchell will be terrific joining Adams, De Goey, Crisp and Daicos (the younger). Watch the statistics’ conversion of Hit-outs to Clearances to Inside 50s. We have to do better than last year.

 

• Forwards? A solid bunch, with smalls surrounding the talls – remember always to crumb around the packs, front and back. I would still like to see Weideman join us eventually – from Essendon now. My highlight from last year across the Forward line? They were smiling, clearly enjoying their footy, and they mostly (not always) were happy to pass the ball to a colleague rather than wasting a difficult opportunity. When something didn’t work, they were willing to laugh at themselves. Even more so when something worked. Let’s hope the Umps have worked out how to protect Jack.  I note the rule change to the faked pass leading to a 50m penalty, not on this year. I’m not sure where we stand regarding high tackles sliding up.

 

• Same in the Backline. Pendles into the Backline more frequently? The rest are pretty settled. Play the tall defenders on their keys allowing Darcy and Howey to pursue their intercepts. Drive off the Half Back line.

 

What else? A new President and a new CEO. Unfortunately Sal was unsuccessful in his nomination for a Board position. I was very supportive of him but when I saw one of his competitors had the surname Tuddenham, I was not too optimistic.

 

Krista is now a Member so I’m hoping we can get to a few games, starting with Round 1 – Friday, 17 March against Geelong at the G. Of course we did attend their last meeting – Finals Week 1 – 3 September 2022. Standing Room at the G – I didn’t know it still existed. And where might we meet for a pre-game drink – close to the G, regular Melbourne attendees?

 

Let me know if you know someone who would like to be added to our family or you have a better email address? Or of you would like to be removed? No problem.

 

Start thinking about our games; what you like, what are concerns? And let’s all get involved in the discussion, please? We are all family, there are no right or wrong answers and nobody (especially me) knows everything. Feel free to make your comment, argue your case, challenge an idea, just have fun.

 

Things to think about (especially if you are in Melbourne (or Gippsland or Tasmania)):

 

• 7/8 February – Community Camp, Traralgon. Go to www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/1267336/magpies-spread-their-community-wings– to see detail if you are in Gippsland;
• 17 February – Family Night – AIA Centre;
• 24 February – Match Simulation versus Carlton – Ikon Park (not on TV or Kayo); and
• 2 March – Practice Match versus Hawthorn in Tasmania (on Kayo). Do we have any Tasmanian members?

 

Believe, always. Go Pies

 

Cam

 

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