Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life: Round 2 Review – Round 3 Preview

 

G’day True Believers. There are times when it is great to be a Pies’ supporter – like now.

 

Thanks Matt for your succinct assessment and comments. Much appreciated, though I might debate your five genuine Premiership hopefuls, particularly noting what Port did to Brisbane in Round 1 and what we did to Port this week. Still it is only Round 2.

 

As it turned out, we were in the Members’ with a fabulous view of the game (and very different from being on the fence the previous week). Thank you, David. I touched base with Sal but ‘family connections’ really meant I stayed and ate the Members’ Half Time spread, rather than head out, especially in a crowd of over 60,000. Well done, Pies’ fans, that is a great achievement against an inter-State team. Sal, another time?

 

And to get into the spirit, I just watched that 1980 classic Australian drama, “The Club”. If you haven’t seen it, do so.

 

Round 2

 

Collingwood 21.9.135 defeated Port Adelaide 9.10.64.

 

Goals scored by Quarter:

 

• Q1          7 (us) / 3 (them);
• Q2          6 / 2;
• Q3          2 / 3. They outscored us 14 Points to 21 in Q3. I don’t have the Quarter by Quarter statistics, but at the end of Q3 I identified a need for a turnaround in Q4 (which they provided, resoundingly);
• Q4          6 / 1; and
• Total:     21 / 9.

• Match Report. Go to www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/4797#match-report. All the usual stuff, including Numbers. Being in Melbourne I bought a Sun-Herald so got other views.

• Coach’s Report. Go to www.afl.com.au/video/888762/full-post-match-r2-magpies?videoId=888762&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1679724781001&references=AFL_MATCH:4797. This is worth watching for two specific topics – the first, McRae on questioning, doesn’t want to be the Harlem Globetrotters, he wants the team to be “fun to watch”, to be exciting and enjoyable. I have consistently observed our boys smiling, seemingly enjoying their footy. The second topic was raised when asked his reaction to the booing of Port players, especially Horne-Francis. Simply put, he referred to his own family “we don’t boo; we respect the opposition”. I agree (though might make an exception of umpires that can’t bounce the ball). It is entertainment.

 

Statistics:

 

Some numbers. A selection of a few selected statistics and some comments:

 

• Hit Outs – 38 (us) / 25 (them). A very solid performance by Cox and Cameron. Still have some concerns about this position. Would like to see some alternatives. Is Witts a ‘free Agent, yet. Remember, he was Collingwood’s first preference, ahead of Grundy, when they first arrived, until that hand injury;
• Clearances – 39 / 27. I am a strong believer in the importance of the flow from Hit Outs, to Clearances, to Inside 50s to scores. Here, good, closely matching the HO numbers;

• • Centre clearances – 14 / 10. Good reflecting Midfield success; and
  • Stoppage clearances – 25 / 17. Good;

• Inside 50s – 57 / 47. Good. A match winning difference when combined with Disposal Efficiency Inside 50 (below);
• Goals scored – 21 / 9. Far greater than just reflecting the Inside 50 numbers. Reflects the above but more reflecting defensive pressure as well as the offence: Us: 21 goals scored from 57 entries compared with Them: 9 from 47 entries; and
• Scoring shots – 30 / 19. Another key differential. The kicking was very good by both sides. I usually expect the same number of Behinds as Goals, so this was outstanding by us.

• Disposal Efficiency – 71.9% / 74.8%. So they won this, but…. I also credit the slightly lower DE compared with our opponent throughout the game with the coach’s encouragement to “have a go” / “try something different” which, of course, doesn’t always work but it makes for exciting footy;
• Disposal Efficiency Inside 50 – 61.4% / 42.6%. This huge difference, combined with the advantage of Inside 50 numbers, established our match-winning result. It more than compensated their overall DE around the ground. Tackles Inside 50 were 9 / 6; Marks inside 50 were – 14 / 10; each reflecting the contribution there.

• Contested Possessions – 155 / 98. The CP differential of +57 reflected our winning domination of the game (except for Q3) reflecting the effort and pressure. Reportedly, this is the largest differential achieved since 2020  by a Pies’ team. Usually, people suggest Collingwood and Port play a similar style of game. Yes, it started that way, but the Pies’ effort and pressure dominated and won through, particularly in Q4.

• Other – pretty similar.

 

Best: The identified Best (adjusted to incorporate Sun / Herald experts as well as the AFL website) were:

 

• Sidebottom;
• N.Daicos;
• J. Daicos;
• Mitchell;
• Pendles;
• Cameron;

 

I’d have been tempted to add Noble and Elliott though it was a classic ‘team result’. Your views?

 

Like to see a couple of clips showing what can be done? Go to www.afl.com.au; click on ‘The 10: Round Two’s best moments’; numbers 3 and 5.

 

Deductions? We won in each section of the ground. Our drive out of the Backline was outstanding, as was the variety of goal-kicking opportunities (13 goal scorers) Forward. Our Midfield success, measured by Clearances and Inside 50s, was terrific.

 

Your comments?

 

Oh yes, Free kicks – 34 / 15.  I would suggest Port have a very close look at the number of ‘head high tackles’ that went against them.

 

A great follow-up to last week. Well done, all.

 

 

Round 2:

 

Collingwood plays Richmond on Friday, 31 March at the MCG. Bounce at 7.50pm.

 

4^th versus 6^th on the Ladder, whatever that means after two. Betting: Pies’ favourites $1.58 / $2.39. I don’t believe it (again).

 

Them:

 

As I said above, Port are better than the score indicates. Similarly, Richmond have the potential to do well this year. It’s not that long ago that their List achieved the Premiership. So far this season, a Draw against Carlton and a Win over Adelaide, particularly responding to a Q3 Loss of five goals to one with a Q4 Win of five goals to two.  They are a different side to last year having recruited well, particularly into their Midfield. But, for them, Broad is a likely exclusion.

 

People to watch are:

 

• Taranto – Ruck Rover. Recruited from GWS on a 7-year contract, he rates Elite in most categories. In Best for both games this season;
• Rioli – HF;
• Bolton – HF;
• Lynch – FP ;
• Graham – CHF;
• Prestia – C;
• Baker – CHB;
• Hopper – Rover. Recruited from GWS also on a 7-year contract, he rates Above-Average in most categories but was included in the All Australian squad last year; and
• Balta – BP.

 

And, Dusty – wherever he is playing, but frequently up Forward. He has the potential to change the game. Plus Riewoldt.

 

Also a look at the VFL competition is worthwhile. Mathieson, their final pick, is playing very well. And Bradke kicked five goals last game.

 

So, our defensive focus needs to be on the Midfield, particularly the new imports, and the Forward targets. “Win the Midfield battle, win the war”. The spread of Best amongst the HF / HB lines is, however, indicative of a reliance there, driving Forward or rebounding. They dominated Adelaide last week except for Q3 when Adelaide was hugely dominant. I haven’t watched the game so don’t understand why or how. However Richmond responded well in Q4 to take the Points. Watch & respond. A fair criticism of the previous coaching box was that they seemed reluctant to make decisions on changes on the field early and the decisions, when taken seemed late and ineffective. The same can’t be said about our current coaches – highly active – “If it doesn’t work, try something else”. I love it.

 

Us:

 

Changing a winning team? Maybe, but only to balance the requirements and make any essential changes due to injury:

 

• Line-up. Not sure whether Mihocek will be there, or Elliott (concussion after that tackle?). Also for positives, keep an eye on our VFL team’s performances – Macrae (30 Disposals, 9 Clearances and 1 goal) and Steene (29 HO, 4 Clearances) both worth monitoring. And Jack will bounce back through the Reserves this coming week. I would dearly love to see Jack and Bobby playing together, should drive their opposition spare.
• Game Plan. Same as last week: Focus on Midfield battle seeking to dominate the Clearances from the Centre, as well as the stoppages. Remainder, particularly playing for four Quarters, continue as it’s going, pay attention to holding tackles and close passing the ball.

 

My prediction. Collingwood to Win by 19 Points. BOG – De Goey  with 28 touches, 9 Clearances, 10 Tackles and two goals. Mihocek, McCreery and Elliott each get 2. Your view?

 

Ground Reports. We’ve had some fabulous Ground Reports from Members of our group able to be there over the last two 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. Now I know some of you are going next weekend, so Reports please?

 

Weather. Showers are forecast on Friday, 31 March. So get rid of the moulded-sole boots; pull out the boots with stops. Stop the slip/sliding and blaming the MCG surface.

 

TV:         Kayo or FOXTEL best for every game.

 

Free to Air TV: 7mate.

 

Future:

 

• Thursday, 6 April – Brisbane vs Pies at the Gabba in Brisbane. Do we have any Members who live up there? Ground Report please?
• Sunday, 16 April – St Kilda vs Pies in Adelaide. Samke question as above?

 

Other:

 

• The VFL side plays their 2nd game of the season on Saturday, 1 April at ETU Stadium against Port Melbourne. Should be a beauty. Bounce at 7.05am. Locals, can you get to it?
• 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.
• My thanks again to my brother, David, for the MCC Member experience for Krista and me. I had been once before – A Carltonian (and former AFL Umpire) invited me to attend a Carlton / Collingwood game in the Members’. This will test some memories,  it was Daisy’s first game as a Blue and his first kick was a shocker, and didn’t the crowd let him know. Collingwood Won well, so my host and his Carlton guests went back inside to keep drinking. I stayed outside to watch the game. This time, being a day-game with family, we paid attention to the lunch, the game and the Half Time spread. We need to pursue something similar for Round 22 – Collingwood versus Geelong (my siblings are all Geelong supporters – saw some of them the week before; not happy, Jan) once they’ve finalised the dates. But, thanks anyway.

 

Believe always. Go Pies.

 

Cam

 

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