Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life: Round 4 Review, Round 5 Preview

Greetings to all.

 

Well that was another surprise; not that we lost, but because every expert, even the betting, had us a lay-down misère win. Just goes to show you – with a mainline corridor featuring Barass/McGovern/Nelson(or Redden)/Darling/Kennedy, supplied by Naitanui, we were going up against it. I still have nightmares about McGovern, Darling, Kennedy and Naitanui over our GF loss a few years ago.

 

The experts’ talk was that the Eagles’ midfield had been savaged and would be ‘missing’. Didn’t look that way to me. More on that later. Of course, few of them sought to note the potential impact of the loss of Adams and De Goey from our midfield.

 

Whatever, the future beckons. But a few lessons from the past for the future.

 

Round 4

 

Collingwood 10.14.74 were defeated by West Coast 14.3.87

 

 

The positives first.

 

Application was fantastic. In a measure based on contested possessions plus tackles we were 197/177; a healthy difference. Most impressive

Again the close-in passage of the ball, through traffic, was breathtaking. Keep it up. It’s why we go to the footy/watch it

For the second week, we were in a winning position close to the end, but lost. Not sure how to address this. It may be a function simply addressed through experience; that said our backline is hardly brand new. Remember ‘Winning is habit forming’.

 

Game Timeline: Have a look at the timeline at www.afl.com.au/matches/3839#timeline. What it shows is that we went into the fourth quarter with a goal and a half lead (promptly reduced by a Kennedy goal after 30 seconds) and that we recovered the lead halfway through (Mihocek’s second mark of the day). Then Rioli, Waterman and who else? (of course) Darling, blew us away. The game, goals scored by quarter:

 

Q1 1 (us)/2 (them)
Q2 5/5
Q3 3/2
Q4 1/5

Total 10/14. We lost, though the scoring shot differential was interesting – 24 (Us)/17 (Them). See below.

 

From the AFL website a couple of explanatory comments relating to the second half:

 

Collingwood was unable to take the opportunities they were offered in the second half. From 12 shots on goal, they could only manage 4.8 (32), despite leading inside 50s 27-18. In the fourth quarter alone, they could only manage 1.4 (10), and only went at 40% kicking efficiency in their forward 50.

West Coast’s against-the-odds win came from a powerful performance in the stoppages in the last quarter. The Eagles led clearances 11-5 and outscored Collingwood 3.0 (18) to 0.1 (1) from this source in the final term. In the end, West Coast outscored Collingwood in this source by one point overall, after trailing by 22 at half time.

 

Match Report: www.afl.com.au/matches/3839#match-report.

 

Coach’s Comments: www.afl.com.au/video/738703/full-post-match-r4-magpies?videoId=738703&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1649498411001&references=AFL_MATCH:3839

 

Statistics & Lessons:

 

Team statistics (identifying only those numbers where there was a significant difference):

 

Hit Outs 34 (us)/31 (them) (exact same numbers as last week, but with different opponents, of course).

 

Clearances 35/34. The next step. These number largely reflects the above HO.

 

Centre 10/13. We were sharked by the Eagles’ midfield at centre bounces.

 

Stoppages 25/21. Better than previous weeks. Grundy was all over the ground – seemed to have few breaks.

 

Inside 50s 61/42. OK, this is where things start to get a bit strange. It is always reasonable to expect inside 50s to reflect clearance numbers; in this case, it doesn’t. And inside 50s, generally, reflect scoring shots and the goals scored, which in this case it does, and doesn’t. We, as picked up by the coach, seemed to have many ‘long shots’ at goal, with predictable results. Last week we looked for a better placed player to kick for goal, actually passing the ball inside the 50. Something to be pursued.

 

Scoring Shots 24/17. Then the goals? Get it to a better placed player and try to avoid having to rely on marks like Mihocek’s two screamers.

Goals scored 10 / 14. And the game was lost.

 

Disposal Efficiency: The individual player numbers with DE of 80% or higher were close, but overall our DE was 74.1%/72.8% and inside 50 was even better – 44.3%/40.5%. These are significant differences. I’d love to see some of these numbers by quarter. Your thoughts?

 

Frees: I would be remiss not mentioning frees. I know some non-Pies supporters on our list do comment sometimes. We had 28 to the Eagles’ 21. Of course, it is always when and where the frees are awarded, isn’t it? And 50m penalties don’t appear to be recorded (or published).

 

Best: Listed bests were: J. Daicos, N. Daicos, Grundy, Pendles and Maynard. I’d add Crisp (676m gained – the top of our list, 29 disposals – second highest, six marks, four clearances and two goal assists; a reasonable day at the office in anyone’s language).

 

Ground Reporting: Thanks Sal. P for your ground-reporting. Very useful to get the crowd’s perception, view and feeling. I’d love hear how this one went down? I would love some more ‘ground reporting’ from others please?

 

 

Round 5

 

Brisbane v Collingwood

 

Thursday April 14, 2022 at the Gabba; bounce at 7:35pm. Fairly short interval?

 

Previous: Collingwood and Brisbane have met on three occasions in the last couple of years with their and our best still at the Clubs identified (seeing the repeats?):

 

August 14, 2021: At the Gabba. Win to them by 85 points.

Best: BL – Neale (Rover), Zorko (HF), McLuggage (Wing), Bailey (Centre), Daniher (FF) and Ah Chee (FP); and
Us – Crisp, Adams, De Goey and Sidebottom. A lot of serious names missing?

 

April 1, 2021: At Marvel. Win to them by one point.

Best: BL – McLuggage (R), Rich (HB), Robinson (W), Lyons (RR), Adams (Ruck) and Zorko (W); and
Us – Grundy, Quaynor, Pendles, Howe, Sidebottom and Adams

 

September 4, 2020: At the Gabba. Win by them by eight points.

Best: BL – Lyons (RR), Berry (off Interchange), McInerny (R), McLuggage (FP), Gardiner (FB) and Neale (R)
Us – Pendles, Noble, Maynard, Crisp, Adams and J. Daicos.

 

 

Brisbane:

 

Community Series: BL defeated WB by six points. Best – Neale (RR), Bailey (C), Cameron (FP), McStay (CHF), McLuggage (W) and Rich (HB)

Round 1: BL defeated Port by 11 points at the Gabba. Best – Neale (R), Adams (BP), Bailey (W), Daniher (FF), McCarthy (HF), Answorth (off I/C) and Berry (RR)

Round 2: BL defeated Essendon at Marvel by 22 points. Best – Neale (R), Rich (CHB), McLuggage (W), Bailey (HF), Lyons (off I/C) and Adams (BP)

Round 3: BL hammered North by 108 points at the Gabba. Best – Zorko (C), McCarthy (HF), Bailey (HF), Adams (BP), McLuggage (W), Lyons (RR) and Andrews (FB)

Round 4: BL beaten by Geelong at Kardinia Park by 10 points. Best – McStay (CHF), Neale (R), Adams (BP), Daniher (FF), Andrews (FB) and Rich (CHB).

 

Injuries: Go to www.lions.com.au/matches/injury-list; up to date today. Check later.

 

Deductions?

As is apparent above, the BL rely heavily on a relatively small number of individuals. If you win the midfield battle you are well on the way to winning the game as five or six of their regular best are their ruck, the ruck rover, the rover, the centre and one or two wings. Beat them and many of the others become irrelevant.

May be worth tagging Zorko (or Bailey if he ends up in the centre)

Not sure how the new Pies’ coaching panel will enjoy their trip home? I remember 2002 and 2003; and
playing at the Gabba is a major advantage to the home team.

 

Anything else, people?

 

Who to watch:

Zorko – Centre or elsewhere in midfield
McLuggage – Wing (mostly)
Daniher – FF
McInerny – Ruck. A key area of potential. Grundy, go get him
Lyons – RR
McStay – CHF – getting some very big wraps from ‘the experts’
Charlie Cameron – FP. Always a worry
Starcevich – HB / BP – a fairly impressive Collingwood link through his uncle. And www.lions.com.au/video/1098330/defenders-goal-from-starcevich?videoId=1098330&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1649419060001

 

Us

 

Injuries: A couple of positives – Adams and De Goey back plus, maybe Roughead (through the VFL last weekend) and one major negative – Elliott didn’t look at all well when he went off in the last and the reporting has not been good. Still not sure about Kreuger (see below Re: forward targets).

 

Team:

In: Adams, De Goey, Kreuger and Roughead. And/or maybe Cox. The logic here is to bring back two of our key midfield drivers and to establish an improved marking capacity in the forward line
Out: Elliott, Henry, Hoskin-Elliott and Madgen – based on perceived contribution to the team.

 

Things to do:

Focus on the ruck battle – very important for the next step – clearances, then the inside 50s
Continue to address the clearances in the centre bounces and at stoppages around the ground
Better establish forward targets – a variety would be good. Both Kreuger and Cox would add to this
Maintain the speed of movement; avoid stoppages or delays (particularly amongst the backline) – open the game up
Continue to enjoy your footy
Pursue the execution of the high-intensity game plan for the entire four quarters.

 

Your thoughts would be welcomed.

 

Result: The BL currently sit second on the ladder with a percentage of 148.2% compared with our eighth place and 109.9% percentage. But it is early in the season and these places depend very much on which teams each have faced. More, as we get into the season. My result: Collingwood to win by 19 points. BOG – De Goey with 27 disposals, six clearances, three tackles and one goal. Mihocek to get three goals and four goal assists; Ginnivan to get three. Your thoughts?

 

Go get em, boys.

 

TV: FTA on 7mate from 7:30pm.

 

Weather: Cloudy and dry. Moulded-sole boots okay.

 

 

Round 6

 

Monday April 25, 2022 (ANZAC Day); bounce at 3:20pm.

Essendon v Collingwood at the MCG.

 

Note that, if you are watching from home, there is another game preceding ours between Hawthorn and Sydney in Tasmania; bounce at 12:30pm.

 

Other

 

VFL: Go to www.afl.com.au/news/731026/vfl-streaming-now-watch-r2-matches-live-and-free and www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/1098117/vfl-pies-ready-to-take-on-the-bullants including Roughead. We won – www.afl.com.au/matches/4182. I keep an eye on their performances during the season, particularly in relation to consistently good performances.

 

Witts was BOG in the Suns’ 30-point win over the seriously heralded Carlton. Regrets about letting the boy go?

 

Go Pies

 

Cam

 

 

 

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