Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life: Round 21 Review / Round 22 Preview
G’day True Believers.
Have you noticed, everyone doesn’t seem to hate us anymore? Well, for a little while anyway? The general perspective is what a miracle (actually, a bunch of miracles) is allowing us to beat the odds and progress towards the end of this season. The fact that our Wins are by the smallest of margins against nearly every opponent is considered highly admirable. Things will get back to normal, eventually. Maybe our game, two weeks hence against the ‘olde enemy’ will be the turning point? Not sure how they’ll feel when we make it to the Grannie.
Did you note Crisp’s shot after the siren was a behind? Why? Might this have been deliberate action by him so that our Winning margin didn’t go over the 10 Point limit we’ve set ourselves (11th straight Win; 6th straight Win by less than 10 Points)?
My thanks to Dr James for his advice on how to ameliorate the stress of our position, week after week after week. His advice? Drink heavily.
Onward and upward. Next game – Sydney at the SCG. See below. Go Pies.
Round 21
Collingwood 15.6.96 defeated Melbourne 13.11.89.
A comment or two:
- AFL website: Another narrow victory for the Magpies who make it 11 wins in a row. Collingwood applied terrific pressure (tackles 71-59 including forward 50 tackles 18-8). Despite losing the inside 50 count 41-65 the Magpies were more efficient and accurate (10.1 from set shots).
- Competition. I’m pleased to see the commentators acknowledging the Pies as a ‘bona-fide’ Premiership contender. We can all start “being happy” with our boys’ performance in 2022.
- Things I liked from this game (not in any order) :
- Maynard’s tackle on Neal-Bullen in Q4;
- Maynard’s (and others’) tackle on Langdon in Q1;
- The Coach’s acknowledgement that he’d written Langdon’s comments on the white board in the meeting room;
- Mihocek’s mark (and goal) in Q3;
- Ginnivan’s Free – didn’t the fans like it? and
- Various contributions by Elliott, De Goey, Johnson, both Daicoses and everyone else.
- Cal Twomey’s AFL website comments: IF COLLINGWOOD only has one trick, it’s a good one. On Friday night the Pies did it again, winning another thriller. But this time, it was the most significant, most stirring and most important of the lot. Love it.
- One game at a time. Start to dream.
Go Pies.
Game Timeline. Have a look at the Timeline at www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/3982#timeline. I think it shows just how strange the goal scoring was across the game; how close and, importantly, how we managed to stay in touch. The Goals scored in each Quarter were:
- Q1 5 (us) / 6 (them). Stressful Q1;
- Q2 3 / 4. Getting worse, but only by a bit;
- Q3 3 / 1. Come back started;
- Q4 4 / 2. High-stress finish. and
- Total 15 / 13. And we Won, again. The most appropriate expression was ‘Goodness, gracious”. Note the Scoring Shots – 21 (Us) / 24 (Them).
Match Report: www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/3982#match-report.
Coach’s Comments: www.afl.com.au/video/813778/full-post-match-r21-magpies?videoId=813778&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1659705814001. Worth watching. Hard to keep the smile off his face.
Statistics & Lessons:
I didn’t write down the numbers by Quarter (unfortunately; it would have been interesting to look (and compare) the HT and FT numbers). Considering the game it was very clear that Melbourne dominated the 1stHalf. The extraordinary thing was that we, mostly, stayed in touch, which of course provided the base for our Q3 and Q4 launch back. I have recorded the progressive numbers of some categories with some comments:
Statistic category | FT | Comments |
Hit Outs | 43 / 38 | The question is what are the ‘HO to Advantage’. See Clearances, next. |
Clearances | 32 / 52
|
These numbers are absolutely critical.
Better at stoppages around the ground than at Centre bounces.
We were soundly beaten and we failed to make any use of our HO dominance. Our Midfield, therefore, was substantially beaten. |
Clearances – Centre bounce | 7 / 21 | |
Clearances – Stoppages | 25 / 31 | |
Inside 50s | 41 / 65
|
Inside 50 numbers broadly reflect the Clearances numbers. The challenge is in the transition from HO to Clearance; reflecting us being soundly beaten. |
Goals scored | 15 / 13
|
By Quarter, above. Melbourne dominated the game in the 1st Half; we did better in the 2nd. |
Contested possessions | 138 / 162 | Tackles linked with contested possessions gives a measure of application – 209 / 221; a substantial win for Melbourne.
Importantly, and usually ignored by me, the total UCP plus Marks gives 256 / 300, demonstrating the Demon’s huge domination of Disposals (316 / 409) – ‘playing with the ball’ – “keep’ens off’ style. We do not play that way.
1%’ers broadly similar across the teams. |
Tackles
|
71 / 59 | |
Marks
|
82 / 63 | |
1%’ers
|
49 / 46 | |
Disposal effectiveness | 69.9% / 70.2% | No substantial difference. |
Player numbers with DE over 80% | 7 / 5 | Interesting looking at individual DE: Oliver – 69.0%, Petracca – 69.4%, Gawn – 48.4% compared with N.Daicos – 80.6%, Crisp – 75.0% and Cox – 37.5%. |
Inside 50 – DE | 56.1% / 44.6% | Critical numbers on how we use the entry to the 50 and its link to Goals Scored. The DE Inside 50s are a match winning difference. |
Inside 50 – Marks | 9 / 11 | |
Inside 50 – Tackles | 18 / 8 | |
Frees | 16 / 13 | The Final numbers are misleading. The umpiring was pretty ordinary, particularly the gifting of goals from 50m penalties. |
So, what is going on?
- Good?
- Application throughout was fantastic.
- Continued great variety of entry into the 50 and varied goal-kickers.
- Pack management in Defence and crumbing much improved but still could be affected by too many ‘talls’ in packs.
- The players enjoying themselves. Love the smiles and the support to teammates.
- Bad?
- We need to control the whole game.
- Still some attempts to mark rather than punch in defensive packs, particularly by too many ‘talls’.
- Our failure to exploit our HO dominance into Clearances, particularly, is concerning.
- Umpires protection of the players.
Umpiring. Still not happy with Ginnivan’s protection, nor, more generally, with the 50 metre penalty. In low-scoring games the gifting of a goal through the allocation of this penalty is huge.
Best. Listed Best were: Elliott, De Goey, Johnson, N. Daicos, Crisp and Maynard. A real team effort by everyone.
Ground Reporting. Who was there? Ground Reports please? Or I’d love to hear from those of us who simply watched it on TV; please?
Round 22
Sydney versus Collingwood at the SCG.
Sunday, 14 August 2022; bounce at 3.20pm.
Sydney’s season has had its ups and downs. Their Losses are spread throughout the year; their Losses most recently were against Port and Essendon in Rounds 14 and 16, but neither was huge. Sydney come into this game off 5 straight Wins, the most recent, critically, a 38 Point Win over North, at Marvel. But a look at that game is revealing. The game was close well into Q3. It was very close through most of Q2. And a look at the Best from that game reinforces my list, below, but might lead you to add Rowbottom – Wing and Hickey – Ruck. Those five Wins, however, have been against teams well outside the Eight, except for Freo. An assessment of the North game from the AFL website: The Swans record a wire-to-wire victory, winning all key metrics. They beat the Kangaroos to the ball, winning 12 more contested possessions (149-137), used it better by foot, recording 12 more effective kicks (140-128), and disrupted the Kangaroos’ offence, applying 21 more tackles (81-60).
A look at the ‘Watch’ list, below, would indicate that Sydney are heavily reliant on their Midfield and Buddy up front, plus whoever is playing in the FPs. Win the Midfield battle and attend to Buddy closely.
Currently, This game is between 2nd (us) and 4th (them) on the Ladder, us with 15 Wins and 5 Losses, them with 14 and 6. There is, however, a major difference in percentages – 106.3% / 127.5%. Current betting – Sydney are favourites $2.76 / $1.45. I have no idea why – I suspect the betting public are still unconvinced that the Pies are a real contender..
Anyone going? Should fill the little ground.
Injuries: A very short list. Go to www.afl.com.au/matches/injury-list. Check later in week.
Deductions?
The Best from each game (and their place on the AFLCA Player of the Year) gives me the list of players to watch.
Who to watch?
- Mills – Centre / Wing / RR – maybe tagging place?
- Warner – Rover / RR / HF / FP;
- Franklin – FF. May be distracted, thinking about his next Club – very tight defence;
- Gulden – Wing;
- Parker – RR / Centre;
- Heeney HF / FP / Rover / FP; and
- Papley – HF / FP.
Maybe keep an eye on Reid for ‘old-time’ sake.
Anything else, people? Your views?
Us
Injuries: Go to www.afl.com.au/matches/injury-list. Also check later in the week.
- Out? Hoskin–Elliott, probably. I thought I read somewhere one of the Daicos boys came off for treatment. Can’t find the reference now, but keep an eye out. Others to make room – Madgen, C. Brown and Macrae have been tearing up the VFL games. Madgen, interestingly for a ‘key defender’ at AFL level, had 25 Disposals, 3 Tackles and kicked five goals last weekend. Brown had 24 touches, 4 Clearances and 8 Tackles.
- In? Brown to replace Hoskin-Elliott; Madgen to replace McCreery or Ginnivan (Give the kid a break).
Your thoughts?
Team: Very hard to change a winning team. As above.
Things to do – mostly (not entirely), the same as previous weeks:
- Focus on the Ruck battle. Critical for the next steps – Clearances, then the Inside 50s, then score;
- Seek to shark the Clearances in the Centre bounces and at stoppages around the ground;
- Continue to better establish Forward targets – a variety is essential;
- Maintain the speed of movement; avoid stoppages or delays (particularly amongst the Backline) – open the game up;
- Use the centre corridor;
- Continue to enjoy your footy;
- Remember the SCG is an itty bitty little ground – use the corridor in preference to the Wings; and
- Pursue the execution of the high-intensity Game Plan for the entire four Quarters.
Your thoughts would be welcomed.
Result
- My Result. Collingwood to Win by 23 Points. BOG – Crisp with 29 Disposals, 10 Clearances, 6 Tackles and 450mG; Mihocek kicks 5. Your thoughts?
Go get em, boys.
- TV. FTA coverage on 7mate. Shouldn’t let this stop you heading to the pub to watch. I do prefer the FOXTEL commentators (through Foxtel or Kayo) – Lyon, and, particularly, Bucks.
Weather. Showers and thunderstorms are forecast on the day with potentially heavy rain. Moulded sole boots should be replaced with boots with stops.
Round 23 (the last H&A game)
Carlton versus Collingwood at the MCG
Sunday, 21 August 2022; bounce 3.20pm
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.
Get excited. Believe. Go Pies
Cam
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