Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life: Round 15 – Preview

June 21, 2022 by Almanac Admin Leave a Comment

Hello True Believers.

Ready to head into the second half of the season? Need a break? Maybe Bali. It’s been getting some attention as a fun place. Which neatly segues into De Goey’s reported behaviour. Can someone tell me, has he done anything illegal? Haven’t we all been a bit silly, on occasion, under the influence? C’mon world, get off his case.

I’m really pleased to note the AFL recognising the Pies’ supporters doing what they do best – coming out and supporting their team. Good numbers, so far, this year; keep it up. Well done.

So, how are we progressing? Are the last four games of significance? Go to www.codesports.com.au/afl/collingwood/champion-data-collingwood-should-be-feared-after-craig-mcraes-dramatic-richmondlike-changes/news-story/4eb5e2ac0f78f46e73e4513c456fd921. I read this by Shannon Gill in the Weekend Australian. It starts “Be afraid AFL, Collingwood are coming.” It is really worth reading. Remember we still have some things in our game to fix but there are serious improvements. More on this below.

Onward and upward. Go Pies.

Now the second half of my previous email, following our Bye. Back to a dual approach until the end of the H&A season, then into the Finals with, maybe, a week off.

Round 15

Sunday, 26 June; bounce at 3.20pm.

Collingwood versus GWS.

Importantly, at the G. More on this later.

Preliminary comment, first:

Remember – one game at a time. Be sensible, but be prepared to dream.

GWS are sitting in 13^th place on the Ladder with four Wins and nine Losses and a percentage of 91.1%. We compare favourable from 9^thposition with eight Wins and five Losses and a percentage of 105.4%. Current betting has us as favourites to Win $1.38 c/f $3.05. But each team has had their history of absences or changes – GWS missing Greene until Round 6; a new GWS coach from Round 10. GWS should not be taken lightly.

Them

The GWS team have achieved Wins against the Gold Coast, Adelaide, WCE and North, no surprises there at all, but have pushed Brisbane and, most recently, the Bulldogs; but mostly they haven’t – the average margin of their Losses is greater than 32 Points. Their Bye was Round 12.

So, GWS’ season, so far:

Round 1 – Loss to Sydney by 20 Points;
Round 2 – Loss to Richmond by 36;
Round 3 – Win over the GC by 26;
Round 4 – Loss to Freo by 34;
Round 5 – Loss to Melbourne by 67;
Round 6 – Loss to St Kilda by 17;
Round 7 – Win over Adelaide by 59;
Round 8 – Loss to Geelong by 53;
Round 9 – Loss to Carlton by 30;
Round 10 – Win over WCE by 52;
Round 11 – Loss to Brisbane by 14;
Round 12 – Bye;
Round 13 – Win over North by 49 Points; and
Round 14 – Loss to the WB by 20 Points.

So, a poor season, so far. They are highly beatable with the potential to serious augment our percentage.

Their most recent game is illustrative of their ongoing game performance. GWS rely heavily on their Midfield, usually have a number of goalkickers (though Green got 7 on this occasion) and frequently achieve early (particularly Q1s; they were very close at HT, even took the lead early in Q3). Indeed, while they Lost to the WB, they still scored in excess of 100 Points. While GWS’ Disposal Efficiency was better than the WB (78.9% / 73.8%), when this really mattered (Inside 50) they lost hugely (42.9% / 55.7%). So, with an Inside 50 deficit (56 / 61) and the DE difference, it highlights where they lost the game. In fairness to the WB, it should have been by a much greater margin.

Injuries: Go to www.gwsgiants.com.au/news/1153874/rehab-report-round-15. Check later in week.

They also have some critical injuries from this most recent game – Preuss (Ruck – was he hurt or suspended, or both); Peatling (W) and Flynn (also Ruck). Who will be their ruck is not known – Keeffe?

Deductions?

With Flynn’s replacement before last week’s game, Keeffe (well known to us), Preuss and even Himmelberg shared the ruck responsibilities. Himmelberg is important because recently he’s shifted from CHF into the defence, with great success. Expect this to continue. Tagging? Certainly, Coniglio, they rely on hugely. And what to do about Greene? In broad terms, seek to keep the ball away from their Forward Line to avoid Greene. Interestingly, there appears to be little reliance on their use of the boundary. And they play better in Sydney than they do down south. Expect a big, Pies-supporting crowd.

The Best from each game (plus the Coaches’ reporting of each game) gives me the Deductions and the list of players to watch.

Who to watch?

Ruck – whomever? An opportunity for our current ruck duo to dominate;
Coniglio (Midfield/HF). Worth a tag?
Green (Centre);
Himmelberg (Back/CHF);
Kelly (RR);
Taranto (HF);
Cumming (BP); and
Greene. Also worth tagging; not sure by who – Noble, Adams? Suggestions?

And keep an eye on Keeffe, for old time’s sake, even if he’s not in the ruck.

OK, we’ve had the long break and are coming in refreshed (perhaps except for Jordy, who might still be recovering a bit). And, of course, it’s always with reluctance that you change a winning side.

Injuries: No changes of note that we don’t already know about. I don’t think any of the players who’ve been out for a while will come straight back; more likely to spend some time in the VFL team. Check www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/1153730/injury-report-dean-ready-to-play-vfl. Of course there are a number of players playing well in the VFL side looking for a place, but who might you leave out? Suggestions?

Team: Very hard to change a winning team after a number of Wins. No change?

Things to do – mostly the same as previous weeks:

As referred to above, in spite of some great improvements over last year there is still work to be done. Our team ranks 4^th in the competition for Pressure and 4^th in Time spent in our Forward Half. The surprise to me is that we don’t rank higher in the Pressure. This is a fantastic acknowledgement of the players’ efforts. Well done. However we rank 15^th amongst the competition in Scoring from Inside 50s. We know that is not good enough. We are wasting effort.

Other things to do:

Focus on the ruck battle – very important for the next step – Clearances, then the Inside 50s;
Seek to dominate the Clearances in both the Centre bounces and at stoppages around the ground;
Better establish Forward targets – a variety is essential. Please do not take Moore out of the Back 6;
Maintain the speed of movement; avoid stoppages or delays (particularly amongst the Backline) – open the game up;
Continue to enjoy your footy; and
Pursue the execution of the high-intensity Game Plan for the entire four Quarters.

Anything else, people? Your views? Your thoughts would be welcomed.

Result

My Result. Collingwood to Win by 37 Points. BOG – Lipinski with 28 Disposals, 7 Clearances and 4 Tackles; Ginnivan and Mihocek each get 5. Greene reported for striking Howe. Your thoughts?

Go get em, boys.

TV? The AFL website seems to indicate FTA TV coverage on 7mate from 3.00pm. If not, head to the pub.

Weather? Rain is forecast. Get rid of the moulded-sole boots.

Round 16

Saturday 2 July; bounce at 7.25.

Gold Coast versus Collingwood

GC stadium.

Other

Footy Almanac. Go to www.footyalmanac.com.au. More specifically go to www.footyalmanac.com.au/?s=Hooke for the history. Readers can make comments at the end – interesting reading. Highly recommended.

Go Pies

Cam

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