Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life – Round 11 Review

True Believers,that was pretty awful.  Hard to know what to say, actually.

 

The Game?

 

Match Reports.  http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2016/11/coll-v-port and http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-match-report/afl-2016-port-adeliade-thrash-collingwood-magpies-by-67-points-20160605-gpc192.html.

 

Buck’s Review / Talking Points- Worth a read, but not as an excuse.  http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/ and http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2016-06-05/talking-points-collingwood-v-port-adelaide.

 

Experts. Port picked to win by 14 out of 24 experts.  Nobody got close to the 67 point margin.  Baum and Connolly picked us – ‘putting the mockers on us’, again.

 

Comment.  Where to start?  Four comments:

  • Conditions.  Yes, it was wet, but that didn’t seem to have the same effect on the Port players.  We didn’t seem to adapt our handling – given the conditions, where did the short handballs in tight traffic come from (particularly in the Backline) – a kick off the ground was frequently far more effective?
  • Control of the stoppages.  We didn’t control the stoppages, particularly the Centre bounce (well, actually Ball up) – we dominated the Hit Outs (39 to 11) but were unable to convert these to Clearances (Centre – even; Stoppages – lost 13 – 16).  The Clearance is a team statistic; the Hit Outs is of marginal significance;
  • Disposals.  Our disposals were nearly always under pressure and questionably effective (look at the numbers – Pendles had 30 disposals @ 63.3% effectiveness giving an equivalent of 19 effective touches; Greenwood had 21 @ 52.4% giving a figure of 11; for comparison, Steele had 20 @ 80% giving an effective figure of 16, and Reid had 25 @ 80% giving him 20.  I know that these numbers don’t take into account the circumstances of each disposal (Backs usually have more time to be accurate, Forwards have less opportunities and the Mids have the opportunities, but they are indicative of performance. We also don’t have the breakdown by Quarter that the coaches have; and
  • Manning-up.  Once again our Back 6 were awful.  Kicks over the HB Line frequently resulted in soft goals to the opposition. This is not new, but has been the hallmark of the way oppositions have played us all season.

 

In assessing our season, it is fair to be somewhat critical – we’ve produced in this season one Quarter only where we dominated the opposition (First Quarter against Geelong).  There have been a few other Quarters in which we’ve been competitive, but only one in which we’ve seriously dominated.  And there have been many when we have ‘rolled over’ and been soundly beaten (like for the rest of the game from the 15 minute mark of the First Quarter on Sunday).

 

Ground Report?  Thanks for the various Reports. I agree wholeheartedly with Elizabeth that there is an implied contract between players and supporters that is not being met, and there is a distinct difference between a team that is trying and being beaten and what we saw yesterday – no effort.  I don’t disagree with most of the other comments – I have a real concern relating to the lack of desperation shown.

 

Your views?

 

Other:

  • VFL. Bucks “has flagged changes” but he has said that before.  Some VFL assessment in wet conditions showing significant application (something missing in the AFL game): Tom Phillips put in a best-on-ground performance while Aish, Williams, Brown, Goldsack and Marsh all did well.  With a focus on the Back 6 we may see a number of them coming in.  Plus Witts, of course; and
  • Fan Survey. Go to http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-06-01/have-your-say-2016-afl-fans-survey.  A bit of fun.

 

Other. I watched the Geelong / GWS game (as a GWS Foundation Member – encouraging AFL into Canberra) on TV.   GWS did well; given the game was at Kardinia Park.  Hawkins, once again, was key in the Final Quarter.  He is big and strong and takes a good mark; and is a great kick.  He should also have been reported for his elbow to the back of the head of the GWS player (even ignoring the subsequent punch to the face) in the Final Quarter.

 

Next. Monday, 13 June (QB Holiday Monday), versus Melbourne at the G. Bounce at 3.20pm.  More on this later in the week.

 

Maintain the faith. Go Pies.

 

Cam

 

Comments

  1. Peter Fuller says

    Cam,
    I have an instinctive scepticism about disposal efficiency statistics. The difference between a player delivering with precision to a teammate in a packed forward fifty, and a simple cross-field switch to an unmarked defender is the difference between match day pressure and kick-to-kick in a training warm-up drill. I think it’s meaningless unless the degree of difficulty is factored in.

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