Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life: Round 15 – Review / Round 16 – Preview

 

 

G’day all.

 

Well, that was stressful. What a great game of footy – why we love the game. A big call – why do I think we’ll see this again in the Grand Final? I don’t rate either Melbourne or Brisbane, the teams that have beaten us this Season, as highly as I rate Adelaide. Have a think about what we might do differently next time, are there ways to nullify some of their strengths? I will pursue this question as we head into the Finals. Be prepared to answer? And, while it’s little consolation to the Loser, we, Pies’ supporters, have a significant history of Losses. And we continue supporting our Club; our team.

 

Firstly, my condolences to those partners in ‘mixed football relationships’ where one of them is a Pies’ supporter. My thoughts are with both partners, especially in the circumstances where the other is a Crows’ supporter. You know who I am talking about. A few years back I worked for a Federal Government Minister who was a strident Richmond fan. Fortunately, he’d been smart enough to marry a Pies’ supporter but on that occasion many years ago when Richmond beat Collingwood at the MCG, it was discovered that the sound system at the ground was broken and they couldn’t play the Richmond triumphant song. Of course, there are Pies’ supporters everywhere, even working at the G, maybe.

 

Now, back to important things – have you ever wondered how our coaches (and the Selection Board, of course) make their team selections. Well the truth is out there (and anyone with little kids will be totally familiar with the process). Go to www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/1363565/he-s-going-to-be-a-better-version-of-himself-mcrae?videoId=1363565&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=

 

Perhaps a tad more serious, go to www.afl.com.au/podcasts/gettable (open the 14 June interview), to listen to the Gettable interview with Derek Hine, our Recruiting Manager – a great explanation of how we got the current List and where the team might go in the future. Well worth the listen.

 

Round 15

Collingwood 12.10.82 defeated Adelaide 11.14.80.

Goals scored:

Q1       2 (us) / 1 (them);

Q2       5 / 1;

Q3       0 / 7;

Q4       5 / 2; and

Total   12 / 11. And we Won, by double the winning margin in Adelaide in Round 7.

Match Report: www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/4910#match-report.

 

Coach’s Report: www.afl.com.au/video/956912/full-post-match-r15-magpies?videoId=956912&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1687675335001&references=AFL_MATCH:4910. Worth watching. He very honestly acknowledges the Crows’ dominance in Q3 but identifies the team’s ‘will to win’ in Q4 to turn things around, and Win.

 

Numbers: I’m going to put the game numbers down but did not record them by Quarter (or any other specific period). Watching the game it is evident that the Crows started well in Q1, without too much accuracy benefitting from their opportunities. And they owned Q3. While the competition continued throughout, we dominated in other periods, especially Q2 and Q4.

 

Measure	Statistics	Remarks
Hit Outs	40 (us) / 35 (them)	Pretty good.
Clearances	42 / 36	I have difficulty believing this. We couldn’t buy a Clearance in Q3. Overall good, reflecting HO, but, I suspect, subject to circumstance especially Q3.
from Centre	10 / 13
from Stoppages	32 / 23
Inside 50s	49 / 57	Not reflecting the Clearance numbers. This, perhaps, reflected team dominance in spite of our Clearance dominance.
Goals scored	12 / 11	With 10 individual goal scorers.
Scoring Shots	22 / 25	Adelaide were highly inaccurate, wasting opportunities.
Disposal Efficiency	69.9% / 73.2%
DE Inside 50	49.0% / 45.6%	A significant advantage to us. So, they got the ball inside the 50 more frequently, but used it less effectively.
Marks Inside 50	10 / 16	Reduces their DE.
Tackles Inside 50	9 / 8	Increases our DE.
Players with DE > 80 %	9 / 8
Tackles	64 / 70	CP, 1%’ers and Tackles combined are a measure of the team’s application. Here, we see two teams, broadly speaking, working hard, very much aligned, close numbers. It was a pleasure to watch. Loved the multiple player tackles the week before – better then.
Contested Possessions	134 / 137
1 %’ers	43 / 43
Free Kicks	21 / 12	Without watching and counting, I find this hard to believe. That said, Crow players did seem to frequently collect players late. As always, the important aspect of a Free is where and when.

 

 

Best. The AFL website identifies the following as Best:

• Nick Daicos,
• Josh Daicos,
• Mitchell,
• Pendles,
• Quaynor, and
• Howe.

Don’t disagree but might have included Maynard (10 IP, 2 SI, 481 MG (3^rd), Disposals – 27 (equal 3^rd), offset a little by his DE of 59.3%.

 

Game / Deductions / Lessons.

A really enjoyable game highlighting what is great about our game, unless of course you are a Pies’ or Crows’ supporter.

I think Adelaide went a long way to destroying the myth that they can’t travel. They indicated that they have ‘true’ Finals potential. They also demonstrated great potential in how to beat Collingwood by playing the same way – pressure, pressure, pressure. In particular their Midfield dominated periods leading to easy goals. Our man on man defence was, at times, found wanting.

Nice crowd for a gamer with an inter-state team.

 

Injuries. Not known.

Your comments?

 

Round 16

Saturday, 1 July – Gold Coast versus Collingwood at the Heritage Bank Stadium (Gold Coast); bounce at 4.35pm. Current betting: $1.49 / $2.65. Actually, I can see why this is closer than the Ladder positions might warrant. See next bits.

This game is between 1^st (us with 12 Wins and 2 Losses) on 132.4% against 10^th (them with 7 Wins and 7 Losses) on 100.7%.

 

Them

Everyone started talking about the Suns entry into the Eight and their Finals’ prospects before the Season started. That went quiet pretty quickly with substantial Losses to Sydney, even at home, and Essendon in the first two Rounds. But then they kept surprising us – Wins over Geelong and Richmond and a 5-Point Loss to Melbourne. Bringing them up to date Carlton destroyed them by 59 Points, following two Wins against WB and Adelaide, both in Darwin, and their Bye. Yesterday they destroyed Hawthorn at home by 67 Points – Q4 – GC scored 5 goals to none. More below.

I’ve looked at three of their mor exceptional games in some detail – two Wins and one Loss, plus their game yesterday:

• Round 3. Win over Geelong by 19 Points at home. Winning Clearances 39 / 23, the lost Inside 50s 49 / 53 but, importantly, their Disposal Efficiency Inside 50 was 49.0% / 37.7% – a match-winning difference given the closeness of the Inside 50 numbers. As a measure of commitment and application – Contested Possessions were 145 / 121, another substantial difference. Geelong got an early start which the Suns pulled back progressively. Scoring shots – 23 / 19 seems to cast doubt on their accuracy. They scored 4 goals to 2 in the final Quarter;

 

• Round 8. Loss to Melbourne by 5 Points at home. This game was even at the last change from a 20 Point deficit mid-Q2. It finished with a missed goal which would have tied the game. GC CP – 149 / 122, again is indicative of application, particularly at home. Melbourne dominated the scoring off intercepts – 38 / 73 – throughout the game resulting in a scoring shots difference – 20 / 25. So, GC didn’t give up at any stage and were competitive throughout; maybe less polished than Melbourne regarding their rebound attack;

 

• Round 12. Win over Adelaide by 25 Points in Darwin. Adelaide, as we know, are another team beset by doubts when they travel. Here Adelaide established a reasonable lead early which the GC recovered between mid-Q2 to mid Q3 with 8 unanswered goals. Again application was clear – 174 / 136. Overall scoring shots are indicative at 32 / 22. As a demonstration of capability, Hit Outs were won by GC – 56 / 30. Watch Witts; and

 

• Round 15. Substantial (67 Points) Win over Hawthorn. After their drubbing by Carlton the week before, it was not known which GC team would front up. I thought Hawthorn were on the improve. After a slow start, GC recovered with tactics based on pressure and a suffocating defensive system (AFL website reporting – Whiting). Best incorporated into Players to Watch, below, including the impact of King & Lukosius up Forward.

 

 

Game Plan. They, like Adelaide, are often seen as a different team at home. Not sure why this is so, but might include the prevailing weather, hence their home and  Darwin results. Of course Adelaide’s job on us yesterday casts doubt on this assessment on them and we are at GC’s home this week. The GC can be expected to win the HO; it’s up to us to shark the Midfield and gain control of the Clearances and Inside 50 numbers and driving forward out of the Backline. As always gaining control of the game by winning CP is essential, and runs contrary to GC achievements at some of their previous games.

 

Significance. This game is critical to the GC. In many ways we stand in the way of their Finals’ aspirations. Be in no doubt they will come with that attitude; we should match it. Win the Midfield battle, maintain our rebound attack from deep and close down their Forwards. Expect them to keep fighting regardless of any lead that can be established.

 

Players to Watch?

• Witts – Ruck. Remember he was Collingwood’s preferred ruck ahead of Grundy until he damaged his hand in a warm-up game. Grundy took over, and never looked back. Witts is the shared-Captain and a former Best at the Club;
• Rowell – RR;
• Ainsworth – Wing;
• Fiorini – Wing;
• Anderson – Rover;
• Macpherson – BP;
• King & Lukosious – Forward; and
• Ballard – CHB.

 

Roles?

• Note emphasis on Midfield;
• Need to use corridor over the Midfield rather than through it;
• Need to compete for game control through CP / tackles / ; and
• Watch for attempts to tag our players / implement counter-tagging plan, accepting the logic that this, generally, removes an additional effective opponent from the opposition.

 

Us:

A few suggested changes:

• Team? Suggest a bit of a review including a few changes:

• Maintain Lipinski, Harrison and McCreery;
• Frampton in and use relieving in the ruck role. Maybe rest Cameron occasionally;
• Keep Pendles in the Backline providing additional stability to the Back 6;
• Markov in the Substitute role. He brings speed;
• Others in from the VFL side – Kreuger, Begg; and
• Rest – Johnson, Hoskin-Elliott, others? Your choices / ideas?

• Important. Heading towards the Finals (same comment as last week). There will be a need to establish and maintain the selection pool for Finals’ games. Working towards this requires the players, potentially to be called upon, to be appropriately ‘blooded’. The next few Rounds provide a good opportunity to do so without endangering a Top 4 finish. Who am I talking about? Begg, Kreuger and Kelly, for example. Views?

• Application? No change – Application for four full Quarters. Hold the tackles. Establish and maintain control of the game (Contested Possessions).

• Game Plan? No change to the current plan – Drive out of the Backline as well as the Midfield. Use varied entry to the 50 and be willing to move the ball to a better-placed goal scorer than delivering to packs. Crumb around packs.

 

My Picks: Win by 43 Points. BOG – Moore – 23 Disposals, 5 Clearances, 5 Tackles, 11 Intercept Possessions and 485 mG. Mihocek, Jack, Bobby & Billy each get three.

 

Ground Reports. Loved the Reports from attendees. Let’s see some reporting, please, from those who couldn’t attend but watched the game on TV – all views are welcome. Do we have any people going?Could you report please? And always Reply to All please?

 

Weather.  Likely clear and sunny. Plastic soled boots okay.

 

TV:     Kayo or FOXTEL – Best for every game.

 

No Free to Air TV coverage.

 

Future:

• Round 17 – Friday, 7 July – Collingwood versus Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium; bounce at 7.50pm. FTA TV coverage on 7mate. Anyone going?
• Round 18 – Saturday, 15 July – Collingwood versus Fremantle at the MCG; bounce at 1.45pm. No FTA TV coverage. Going?
• Round 19 – Saturday, 22 July – Port Adelaide versus Collingwood at Adelaide Oval; bounce at 7.40pm.FTA TV coverage on 7mate. Do we have anyone from over there?

and

• The Ladder. Keep an eye on the Ladder as we approach the midpoint of the Season (yes, still a couple of weeks off) leading to some big moves on the Ladder. Have a look at recent results and moves – Watch Richmond, Adelaide, Geelong and GWS? Your thoughts?

 

Other:

• VFL – The VFL side did well against Sydney at the AIA Centre this weekend winning by 23 Points. Next weekend, Round 15, versus Frankston at Kinetic Stadium. Look forward to another solid performance against a team well below us on the Ladder. Another opportunity to practice players returning after an injury. Anyone going?
• 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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