Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life: Review Round 3 – Preview Round 4

 

True Believers, a little context from before (and after) last night’s Win:

 

Last year Collingwood was ranked 13th for clearances (35.2 per game), 16th for clearance differential (-4.3 per game) ahead of only West Coast and Hawthorn, and 17th for contested possessions (-10) ahead of only West Coast in 2022. Now, after the first two games, even with the small sample size, the Magpies are ranked No.1 for contested possession differential (+31) and No.2 for clearance differential (+10) in 2023. We have seen the Magpies defeat reigning premier, Geelong, then demolish Port Adelaide by 71 points on Saturday on the back of a whopping +57 contested ball win and now we’ve beaten Richmond, many on their List from the threepeat Premiership period not that long ago.

 

It is a great time to be a Pies’ supporter. My thanks to those who went, particularly those who sat amongst a crowd of Richmond supporters on the fourth level in the rain, and reported so promptly.  Thanks, Elizabeth. And thanks Bob For your contribution.

 

How do you define success? How about in the last two decades Collingwood has reached a Preliminary Final on 10 occasions. Go to ‘Gettable’ at www.afl.com.au/video/892074/gettable-free-agent-could-be-cherry-on-top-for-pies-2017-re-draft?videoId=892074&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1680064324001. A solid performance. The other interesting comment in this site is the adage: “Trade for need; recruit for talent”; something that is pretty evident in our signings.

 

Anyway…

 

Round 3

 

Collingwood 8.15.63 defeated Richmond 7.7.49

 

Goals scored by Quarter:

 

• Q1       2 (us) / 1 (them);
• Q2       1 / 0. The outcome of the 1^st Half? We held a side to a score of a single goal for that Half of the game – quite an achievement;
• Q3       4 / 3. They scored three early goals in the first 10 minutes of the Quarter bringing them within a kick, countered by our seriously winning the second half of the Quarter, scoring four unanswered goals;
• Q4       1  / 3. Yes, they won the Quarter, however after their early two goals Collingwood settled, scored the sealer goal and were never under any real threat; and
• Total:  8 / 7. And we Won, even without the massive number of minors.

 

Match Report: www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/4804.

 

Coach’s Report: www.afl.com.au/video/893187/full-post-match-r3-magpies?videoId=893187&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1680266088001&references=AFL_MATCH:4804. Worth watching, particularly his dislike of the term ‘perfection’ which he sees as an end point. He considers the team is nowhere near finished; there is much still to do.

 

Numbers

 

Some selected statistics with some comments:

 

Hit Outs: 31 / 48. A reversal of what we’ve been used to, but look at what’s next.

 

Clearances:   Total – 37 / 42. The Clearance numbers show the Midfield sharking the Richmond HO lead. Well done. The performance by De Goey, Mitchell, Pendles and the others was just superb.

 

                        Centre – 11 / 7; and

                        Stoppage – 26 / 35. This last statistic is a bit disappointing.

 

Inside 50: 59 / 40. The key, match-winning statistic, particularly when you link it with the Disposal Efficiency inside the 50, below.

 

Disposal Efficiency: Total – 67.0% / 69.9%. Not significantly different; and

 

                                    Inside 50 – 39.0% / 40.0%. Hardly any difference, validating the Inside 50 number advantage (above) as the match-winning statistic.

 

Contested Possessions: 161 / 139. This the other part of winning – Possession wins matches. Add the +22 to the numbers in my opening paragraph at the top of the email. Great work. This total (+53) represents the pressure the team is bringing to the games. Awesome.

 

1%: 75 / 53. Individual 1% numbers are not recorded on the AFL website (or I couldn’t find them) but the team numbers were: 75 / 53, which is an extraordinary difference. These numbers include the spoiling punches by defenders. Moore and Murphy were everywhere. And Quaynor, Noble, Moore and Murphy had a total of 22 Intercept Possessions. This was a great defensive performance; well done.

 

Frees: 20 / 27. This number surprised me, though the award of Frees to Richmond in a scoring position annoyed me. So, doubly annoyed.

 

Best: The AFL website identifies De Goey, J.Daicos, N.Daicos, Sidebottom, Fr, Mitchell and Crisp. Difficult to identify the order – I’d probably place Sidebottom first (he was everywhere throughout the game – sure and steady) with the current first three equal second. It would also be fair to include Maynard – 467m gained, 21 Disposals, 5 Tackles and 7 Intercept Possessions, plus probably the whole Back 6, for doing their job. An interesting statistic – how many Backline players have scored Brownlow points compared with the Midfield and Forwards?

 

Injuries – Cameron (knee – weeks) and Mihocek (face – don’t know).

 

Deductions?

 

We won in each section of the ground, technically except for Q4 though even then it was pretty clear we were in control – their scoring was usually against the flow of the game. Our drive out of the Backline was outstanding, as was the variety of goal-kicking opportunities Forward (7 goal scorers). Our Midfield success, measured by Clearances and Inside 50s, was outstanding, particularly given the ruck situation.

 

 Your comments?

 

Round 4

 

Brisbane plays Collingwood at the Gabba on Thursday, 6^th April; bounce at 7.35 pm (no more daylight saving to confuse us).

 

Interestingly, for what it’s worth after 3 games, this is a battle between 1^st place on the Ladder (with a percentage of 149.5%) versus 12^th place (with a percentage of 79.3%). But the3n betting makes Brisbane favourites with $1.90 against our Win at $1.94. Go figure? What garbage!

 

Them:

 

Brisbane have had an ordinary season, so far with two Losses to the Western Bulldogs and Port (by 54 Points), and a Win over Melbourne. Pretty difficult to see anything useful from their games this season, so far, but they are still a widely praised team that the ‘experts’ consider will (tense, my addition) be competitive.

 

Their Best, who you should watch, include:

 

• Dunkley – RR;
• McKenna – HB;
• Ashcroft – Wing;
• Neale – Rover; and Andrews – CHB.

 

Also worth keeping an eye on:

 

• Daniher – FF;
• McInerny – Ruck; and
• Charlie Cameron – HF.

 

And, because of the name and link to our Club, Starcevich (nephew of our former player) – BP.

 

Us:

 

I have nothing but praise and admiration for the way the Pies are continuing to play this season. It is a direct flow-on from their performance last year. Criticism from last year, particularly relating to the need for Clearance to reflect the Ruck domination has been fixed. There are a myriad of Forward opportunities and the Backline are doing their job superbly.

 

Cameron will need replacement; not sure McStay and / or Johnson are the solution. See how Steene handles the Reserves game? Maybe consider the Moore option? The point I’ve sometimes needed to recognise is that I do not have visibility of training performance, nor of Reserves game performance reporting (and only occasionally watching the TV coverage), so up to you, coaches.

 

My Picks: Collingwood to Win by 29 Points. BOG – N. Daicos with 31 Disposals, 11 Clearances, 7 Tackles and 3 Goals. Elliott and Mihocek both get three.

 

Ground Reports. We’ve had some fabulous Ground Reports from Members of our group able to be there over the last few weeks. Just because you are not at the game doesn’t limit your ability to comment; the TV coverage is pretty good. Let’s hear from you, people? Regular commentators, keep it up, please. Do we have any Members from up there?

 

Weather. Weather forecast is cloudy, with the low chance of rain, however this is the same on the days leading to it. Pull out the boots with stops. Stop the slip/sliding.

 

TV:     Kayo or FOXTEL best for every game.

Free to Air TV: 7mate.

 

Future:

 

• Round 5 – Sunday, 16 April – St Kilda vs Pies in Adelaide.

 

Other:

 

• The VFL side plays their 2nd game of the season today at ETU Stadium against Port Melbourne. Should be a beauty. Bounce at 7.05pm (incorrect last week). Locals, can you get to it today?
• Remember you can see our past Reports (for a few years) on Footy Almanac at www.footyalmanac.com.au/?s=Hooke. The group emails started a few years before the FA records. Does anyone’s records show when we started?
• Anything that you would like to inform our members of, just Reply to all or send it to me.

 

Believe always. Go Pies.

 

Cam

 

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