Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life : One to Go

UNOFFICIAL

True Believers, g’day to all; one to go.

The Weekend?

AFL:

A Loss to 3rd placed Geelong  10.10.70 to 9.5.59. The final score is not that indicative – it was a very close game to late in the Final Quarter. Both teams were missing serious players: us – Pendles, Grundy, Greenwood (for that critical tagging role); them – Selwood (the other one). I think, on balance, we were missing more talent.

Match Reports at http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2017/22/coll-v-geel and http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2017-08-19/magpies-stall-after-strong-start.

Buck’s comments at http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/2017-08-19/buckley-faces-the-media.

Again, a pretty solid performance for much of the game. The effort was great – Tackles 94 to 68 – fantastic. However we were killed in Inside 50s and Marks Inside 50: 36 to 50 and 7 to 14. It really reflected a pretty poor performance by the Forward Line. But we won the Frees 22 to 15 – but it is always where and when they are awarded.

Best? Adams, Howe, Cox, Moore, Scharenberg, Hoskin-Elliott. A pretty good team effort. Well done to all. Good to see both Brown and Daicos on the field.

VFL. A disappointing result for a team trying to lock in a Finals berth. Geelong 11.10.76 beat us 9.17.71 – check the scoring shot numbers. See http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2017-08-19/poor-conversion-costs-vfl-pies. Good performances include Keeffe and Kirby. Kirby got three and got off with a Reprimand; Keeffe got two (Goals, that is).

Next week?

AFL.

Next Week? Our last outing – let’s make it a good one. Round 23 – versus Melbourne at the G on Saturday, 26 August; bounce: 1.45pm. Note that you could catch the VFL game at the Holden Centre before the AFL game.

Them. Melbourne are in the Eight, just. Essendon and West Coast could go past them, if they Lose. St Kilda is very unlikely because of the percentage gap, even with a Win. Melbourne are sitting 7th with 12 Wins and a percentage of 106.4% compared to our 13th place, eight Wins and 98.1%. And we have a terrible record against Melbourne in recent years – Round 10, 2015 for our last Win. But they also only just beat Brisbane last week and have been up and down before that (three Losses in a row before the Brisbane result). Let’s start 2018 with a bang from here. The lessons from our game earlier in the Season are worth considering – watch Watts and Petracca up front, Gawn in the ruck and Viney if he plays (Do you remember our introduction of AFL footy to Watts in his first game?).

Implications. Let me acknowledge Cox did okay in the ruck last week – still needs to work on his kicking. I would bring Keeffe in to the ruck role with Grundy. This game will be won in the Midfield – Gawn and Jones, in particular, and Watts, Hogan and Petracca up Forwards; maybe tag Watts just for fun?.

Us. As above, we’ve nothing to lose – so go for it.

Ins / Outs / Maybe’s? Outs – possibly Adams and Wells both out. Ins – Grundy back. Others, as above – let’s try some different things – Keeffe, Schade, and Kirby in. Who else?

What do you think?

We should win this.

Weather? Melbourne – Cloudy; no rain forecast. But then again, it is Melbourne.

Game Previews:
· Agenda. Michael Christian’s Agenda with Jay Clark from the Herald-Sun at the Pies website. There now. Go to http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/2017-08-21/the-agendas-final-round-predictions.
· AFL Match Day Preview – http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2017/23/coll-v-melb. There now – their prediction Melbourne by 19.
Natoli’s ‘Ultimate Preview’ will be on the Pies Home Page at http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/ in the next few days.
The Age Preview – Should be at http://www.theage.com.au/afl also in a few days.
Expert Tips – will be at http://www.theage.com.au/afl/expert-tipsters. Watch and see.

My Picks. Pies by 19 points. BOG: Treloar – 34 touches @ 79.1% DE. Darcy – two Goals; Reid – three Goals; Kirby – four Goals. Crowd: 63,000. Best competition: Grundy vs Gawn.

TV? No Free to Air, again. Find a friend with Fox or see you at Eastlake (for Canberrans).

VFL:

This weekend Round 19 – versus Port Melbourne at the Holden Centre on Saturday, 26 August; bounce 10.45 am. An easy walk to the G to catch both games.

See http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2017-08-22/the-race-to-the-vfl-finals. Port are sitting 3rd on the Ladder, a few places ahead of us, but we’ve demonstrated we can beat Top Four teams in the last few weeks. Go Pies.

Who to watch for in our side? Well it depends who gets pulled into the AFL side. Not sure what shifting Kirby to the AFL side might do to our VFL hopes. And raised last week, we need to keep an eye on players in teams heading into the Finals.
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Other Things:

· ‘Eddie Watch’. See Eddie’s comments, below.

The Future?

· Bucks? http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-22/buckley-wont-know-his-fate-before-dees-clash, http://www.afl.com.au/video/2017-08-23/headlines-buckley-future-in-play and http://www.theage.com.au/video/video-sport/video-afl-real-footy/dday-looms-on-pies-coach-20170822-4xe29.html. My prediction: Bucks – another two years.

· CEO – Lethlean? Go to http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/simon-lethlean-in-the-mix-for-top-job-at-collingwood-magpies-20170822-gy1vqc.html.

Welcome your views?

Reporting. C’mon people – Reports pls?

Footy Almanac. The Footy Almanac site includes us and others. See: http://www.footyalmanac.com.au/. Floreat Pica Society view – always worth a look: http://www.footyalmanac.com.au/round-22-collingwood-v-geelong-a-lack-of-class-for-the-floreat-pica-society/

Go Pies.

Cam.

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