Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life: Round 9 Review, Round 10 Preview

 

 

G’day True Believers.

 

Well that was a lot of fun. Given the forced absences from the team list before the game, with a couple more added early in the game, the ‘experts’ were hesitant about too much expectation of Collingwood’s dominance. I don’t think the Eagles played badly, and they certainly never gave up. They were, however, soundly beaten in every facet of the game.

 

A joy to watch. Did anyone not my estimated winning margin of 74 Points for the game in the previous email? Close? As also was the acknowledgement that it would still be a challenging game; as it was.

 

Round 9

 

Collingwood 15.13.103 defeated West Coast 5.7.37.

 

Go Pies.

 

Match Report. www.afl.com.au/afl/matches/5974#match-report. Covers everything. Have a look at the Match Timeline under the Summary here.

 

Coach’s interview.   www.afl.com.au/video/1129376/full-post-match-r9-magpies?videoId=1129376&modal=true&type=video&publishFrom=1715495355001&references=AFL_MATCH:5974. Worth a look. See also, under Best below, further comments regarding the new players. He highlighted the critical role the VFL team plays in preparing players to play in the AFL. He commented that when players come into the side they are there to “do a job” noting, on this occasion, “you get a little bit more”.

 

Goals:

 

Q1      4 (us) / 1 (them) leading to a 21 Point first change lead;

Q2      7 / 2 increasing the lead to 55 Points at Half Time;

Q3      3 / 0 resulting in a final change lead of 72 Points; and

Q4      1 / 2 leading to…

 

Total:   15 / 5. A pretty comprehensive 66 Point Win.

 

Numbers (some statistics, with comments). The numbers should be treated with some caution because they are a record across the whole game. However, with some comments, they are interesting:

 

 

Statistic	Numbers Us / Them	Comments
Disposals	388 / 326	Includes handball numbers – 158 / 126 highlighting the close passing between Collingwood players. The occasions were simply outstanding frequently connecting the Defence into scoring.
Hit Outs (HO)	30 / 19	This was a bit of a surprise to me though not too significant. Next was what was more important.
Clearances	36 / 27	Includes 16 / 6 Centre and 20 / 21 Stoppage clearances. It reflects the success of our Midfield, particularly at the Centre bounces.
Inside 50s	59 / 34	Critical. We got the ball into a goal-scoring position far more frequently than them. Combined with our DE inside 50, below, this constitutes our match-winning numbers.
Disposal Efficiency (DE)	74.5% / 77.0%	Not hugely different.
DE inside 50	52.5% / 41.2%	As above.
Players with DE of 80%	10 / 8
1%’ers	49 / 47	My thanks to Pat for the advice on the 1%’er numbers’ source. The team figure here included Moore – 5, Maynard – 11, Frampton – 7, Quaynor – 2, Sidebottom – 5, Markov – 2 and Noble – 1 making up 33 of the teams’ total; the rest being spread amongst the rest of the team.
Contested Possessions	139 / 110	With Tackles a measure of effort. We worked harder.

 

Uncontested Possessions (UCP)	245 / 209	Combined, possessions win matches. The total quantity difference is substantial.
Marks (M)	104 / 99
M inside 50	15 / 8	Adds to the DE inside 50 differential.
Tackles (T)	44 / 48
T inside 50	10 / 1	Also contributing to the DE inside 50 differential.

And the umpiring?  Frees – 19 / 15. Seemed okay to me.

 

Best. The AFL website identifies our Best as Crisp, Nick D, Pendles, Maynard, Josh D, Cameron and Noble. I don’t disagree with any of those but, as usual, I’d add a couple – Sidebottom, best game I’ve seen him play for a while. 21 Disposals @ 76.2% DE, 4 Tackles including 1 inside 50, 6 Inside 50s, 9 Contested Possessions, 8 Intercept Possessions and 4 Score Involvements; and the other? Give me a second. Interesting isn’t it, usually a Forward who kicked three goals would have made the Best list. Not here. How about 1 Goal, 3 Goal Assists, 8 Score Involvements, 4 Tackles inside 50, 5 Contested Possessions and 18 Disposals @ 55.6%? Joe Richards. Played well – was a ‘rock’ in the Forward Line.  And for a further comment by the coach on McInnes, Macrae and Richards, go to www.msn.com/en-au/sport/afl/macrae-lauds-pies-depth-as-fresh-faces-make-a-splash/ar-BB1meNBx?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=LCTS&cvid=c67c30b789c1430f88cd2f5af816dd37&ei=1.

 

Game

 

Unlike the previous game this was not really a game of parts – not unless you identify the first four minutes and maybe the last 10 of any significance. The rest was dominated by the Pies with the attack coming from the Centre bounce and from the Backline. Varied entry to the 50 provided for the many goal kickers. In Q2 ands Q3 the Pies kicked 10 consecutive, unanswered, goals. The sum for Q2 an 3 was 10 / 2.

 

Statistically, our DE inside 50 was way ahead of theirs as were our inside 50 numbers. As such, we Won.

 

The result: The Pies are now sitting 8th on the Ladder, perhaps more importantly, half a game (maybe even another Draw) outside the Top 4.

 

Conclusions

 

Crowd – 37,433. Marvel’s capacity is slightly over 53,000. Not a great turnout.

 

Round 10

 

Saturday, 18th May 2024. Collingwood versus Adelaide at the MCG; bounce at 1.00pm.

 

Adelaide are sitting 12th on the Ladder based on 3 Wins, 5 Losses and a Draw compared with us sitting 8th with five Wins, one Draw and three Losses for a 108.00% percentage.

 

Them

 

Adelaide have been the serial-underachievers for the last several years, able to produce their best when they are at home, less capable and more likely to lose when on the road.

 

This season, they started poorly losing their first four matches to the GC, Geelong, Freo and Melbourne. Of these they Lost to the GC by only 6 Points at the GC. Subsequent to that period they’ve Won against Carlton by 2 Points, North by 57 and Port by 30 and last week drew with an improving Brisbane. Leaving Geelong, Freo and Melbourne out of the picture, their Loss to Essendon by 3 Points could also have gone the other way. As such, Adelaide might have been sitting on five Wins and a Draw, giving a significantly different perception of their capability. Looking at their Drawn match with Brisbane in more detail, Adelaide recovered from a three-goal deficit mid-Q4 to actually go one-goal up shortly before the siren. Unfortunately for them, Brisbane bounced back. The lessons from that game are the influence of Dawson (Captain; Centre / Wing) and the others in their Midfield (see below) and the contribution of their Forwards, particularly Soloigo (CHF), Walker and Himmelberg. In essence, Dawson needs to be tagged, close attention needs to be given to their Forwards and it needs to be noted that Adelaide do not give up.

 

Players to watch (based on their Best listing this season):

• Dawson – Centre. Needs to be tagged;
• Rankine – CHF;
• Soligo – C / CHF / HF;
• Crouch – Rover; and
• Laird – RR.

Although not frequently making their Best listing, two others are worth watching, both Forwards:

• Walker; and
• Himmelberg.

 

Us

 

Nothing needs to change from last week except further changes to account for losses:

 

• Team? The addition of Allan, De Mattia to replace Howe, Harrison and Bytel. A couple of taskings, below? Your thoughts?
• Application? Possession of the ball lets you win the match – lose possession and you are fighting backwards. No change.
• Game Plan? No change to the current plan.
• Be happy? Much better.

 

Necessary Actions?

 

• Close attention to their Midfield – tag Dawson;
• Close attention to selected Forwards – Walker & Himmelberg;
• Win the Midfield battle – use the measures of Clearances and Inside 50s to assess; and
• Enjoy the Win.

 

1. TV.      No Free to air coverage.

Other on Kayo.

 

Weather. Dry and sunny, but light rain forecast the day before. Get the boots with stops out.

 

My prediction.           Collingwood to Win by 31 Points.

BOG – Hill with 6 goals and 4 GA.

 

Other

• VFL. A last gasp Loss to the Northern Bullants didn’t help our pursuit of a Finals Ladder place – now 15th; need to be Top 10 but that is perhaps understandable given how many of their better players were pinched to play AFL.
  • Next: Saturday, 18th May back at Victoria Park Collingwood versus Werribee Tigers; bounce at 11.05am. Go get em, boys. Anyone considering catching all three games? Reports please?

 

• VFLW. A comprehensive Win over Geelong last week – 43 Points to 1. They are currently sitting 8th needing to be Top 6 to play Finals.
  • Next: Saturday, 18th May also at Victoria Park Collingwood versus Western Bulldogs; bounce at 3.00pm following the VFL game.

 

• Games. Remember for those who can’t get to the VFL / VFLW games, you can watch them live at www.afl.com.au/stream-your-team?utm_source=aflcomau&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=state_league_streaming.

 

Ground Reports? Now I know that at least two of our Members are attending this game (including us). Reports please? I’d like to hear from the armchair warriors watching from afar?  More please.

 

Always believe. Go Pies.

Cam

 

 

Read more Collingwood stuff from Cam Hooke HERE.

 

To return to our Footy Almanac home page click HERE.

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?

And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help things keep ticking over please consider making your own contribution.

Become an Almanac (annual) member – click HERE.