Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life – Round 12 Review

Greetings to all.

 

Well, that was more fun. An enjoyable game without too much stress (well almost – We seemed to sit on a margin of 19 points for much of Q2 and Q3?).

 

But some interesting lessons.

All well and good for the commentators to be comparing Geelong and Collingwood as the two outstanding teams in the competition but I would have severe doubts about our capacity to beat them right now.

 

Round 12

 

Collingwood 15.8.98 defeated Melbourne 7.15.57

 

Match Report – https://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2019/12/coll-v-melb

 

Ground Reports – None seen. People?

 

Buck’s comments – https://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/2019-06-10/post-match-nathan-buckley

 

The Game

 

Bucks reinforced that he (and the team) hadn’t been happy with their performance over the past month – no disagreement from me. And, with some short exception periods, he said that the Pies played the game the way they wanted to. And given the extraordinary Clearance deficit in favour of Melbourne, the transition from the Backline into the Forward line reflected the Pies control. He reinforced that the Pies played their brand of footy. I would add that they did so for very nearly four full quarters.

 

Description of the game as a “comfortable win” for the Pies is inaccurate, failing to acknowledge Melbourne’s intensity and Collingwood’s consistent control of the game within this context. Much has been made of Melbourne’s inaccuracy, both in the field and at goal. My personal view is that Collingwood’s pressure contributed hugely to this. The number of intercept marks resulting in changed possession was fantastic; as was the ‘effective’ tackling (check Sidebottom’s numerous tackles – arm first, then body, then Free). The team’s Tackle score is quite extraordinary – Sier – 9; Brown – 7; Sidebottom – 6; Treloar – 6; Maynard – 4 and Greenwood – 4.

 

Game Statistics

 

Looking at the numbers (as usual):

  • Hit Outs – 37 (us) / 34 (them). Gawn won the ruck battle though around the ground I rated Grundy’s performance (see more below). Given his conditions (see Buck’s comments) he did well.
  • Clearances – 29 / 46 (Centre – 6 / 16; stoppages – 23 / 30). This would, in most circumstances, be a match-winning distinction (for them). This reflects my frequent concern regarding the ‘Midfield Battle’ that we appear to be losing regularly.
  • Inside 50s – 56 / 58. A useful reversal in our favour probably as a consequence of our Backline. Well done.
  • Marks Inside 50 – 13 / 11. The speed of our transition forward was just amazing and caught Melbourne standing still, frequently. Special note to the newly christened (by Brian Taylor who some of the older Pies supporters will remember) ‘Spaceman’ Stephenson, his leaps, his pre-kick ‘rolling of the ball’ but not always his accuracy.
  • Scoring Shots – 23 / 22.

And having a look at the sides’ intensity:

  • Contested Possessions – 143 / 170. Again the numbers reflect a significant deficit of ours, though I don’t recall this being obvious during the game.
  • Tackles – 70 / 54.

Frees – 18 / 15. What an extraordinary decision regarding Howe’s reversed mark.

 

Best?

 

And an assessment of Best:

  • Sidebottom – 27 Disposals @ 74.1% (Disposal Efficiency); four Clearances; one Inside 50 and one Goal (interestingly, his goals always seem to be ‘through traffic’).
  • Treloar – 34 @ 58.8%; five Clearances; five Inside 50s and one Goal. Treloar was awarded Best on Ground at the game’s conclusion. Efficiency, driving out of congestion in the Centre or at stoppages, needs to improve though is understandable. See next.
  • Stephenson (‘Spaceman’) – 19 @ 47.4%; three Inside 50s; two Goal Assists and three Goals. Efficiency within the Forwards line is not good enough.
  • Hoskin-Elliott – 19 @ 78.9%; two Inside 50s and three Goals.
  • De Goey – 13 @ 76.9%; one Clearance; six Inside 50s and three Goals. Loved his Goal off the ground.
  • Sier – 23 @ 65.2%; four Clearances; seven Inside 50s. A solid day at the office. Welcome back.

 

Plus, maybe:

  • Phillips – 27 @ 66.7%; five Clearances and four Inside 50s. Not sure why the Goal Kickers are nearly automatically included in Best. Check the Disposal Efficiency of their contribution.
  • Mihocek – 20 @ 65.0%; one Clearance; six Inside 50s; one Goal plus two Goal Assists. Mihocek, for his size, is very fast and manoeuvrable. His Goal Assists and other work provide the basis for a solid Forward 6.
  • Moore – 13 @ 92.3%; two Inside 50s. Terrific reading of the game leading to fantastic intercept marks turning ‘possession’. For this game I consider the Back 67 underrepresented. The Backs were rock solid against a prolific Melbourne attack. Well done to all.
  • Grundy – 14 @ 71.4%; four Clearances; one Inside 50; one Goal plus 30 Hit Outs. As above.

 

Compared with (a couple):

  • Gawn (Ruck)- 34 @ 52.9%; 10 Clearances; five Inside 50s plus 33 Hit Outs.
  • Petracca (FP) – 23 @ 69.6%; four Clearances; five Inside 50s; one Goal.
  • Viney (Centre) – 17 @ 82.4%; six Clearances; four Inside 50s.

 

Lessons?

  • Clearances / Midfield Dominance. This is critical. The link between Grundy and our inside Midfield needs to be strengthened.
  • Tall Forwards. Cox was not hugely influential – maybe first game back but better than Reid in the ruck role. I’d still like to see both of them on the paddock at the same time. I do not consider Mihocek a removable option.
  • Scoring / Possession. We had nine individual goal kickers; Melbourne had six. The varied approach to goal should continue to be pursued. Critical is the pursuit of the six-pointers rather than giving away possession for one-point or OOBOTF. Also kicking accuracy – better to give the ball to someone better placed.
  • Intensity / Application. Fantastic for the whole game. Well done to all.
  • Future. Just a taste for the future – Adams return? Elliott’s return? Daicos’ consistent performance in the Twos? Quaynor’s consistent performance in the twos? The younger Brown’s return via the Twos? Watch this space.

 

Next:

  • Round 13 – Bye. Enjoy a stress-free weekend.
  • Round 14 – Western Bulldogs – Sunday, 23 June; bounce 3.20pm at Marvel Stadium. More on this next week.

 

Go Pies

 

Cam

 

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Comments

  1. It is difficult to compare to Geelong at the moment because they essentially have been fortunate in playing with their best 22 on the field. Many other clubs have several key players missing. I thought Sidebottom was more influential than Treloar on Monday and we struggle when he quiet.

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