True Believers, so Richmond defeated us by 43 points. This is not the end of the world.
And that score didn’t really represent ‘the game’ – their 8 Goal to 3 Last Quarter, particularly the multiple ‘easy’ Goals late in that Quarter, skewed that. Even up to 3Q time, we were well in the game. As such, the game was really in two parts – Q1-Q3, inclusive, and Q4. There was a lot to like in a game against one of the Premiership favourites. Thanks, Matt for your comments.
And it’s a long way from Round 6 to Round 23.
AFL
What did I like? Well I loved the first three Quarters; the last was a bit disappointing. The effort throughout was fantastic, as was the support play. The Back 6 were very impressive again (apart from little things like inappropriate bumps, etc), the Midfield were impressive with their close-in work and Cox was impressive early on – nice marks, poor kicks.
What did others think? Go to http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-04-29/five-talking-points-collingwood-v-richmond – a ‘Litmus test for the Pies’ – pretty positive, given the final siren result.
Match Reports: http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2018/6/coll-v-rich , http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2018-04-29/report-pies-beaten-but-not-broken and https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/tigers-break-late-as-pies-run-out-of-puff-20180429-p4zcc2.html.
Buck’s comments: http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/2018-04-29/raw-buckley-reflects-post-match
Numbers:
– Hit outs 44 (us) / 17 (them). Well done, Brodie. Did anyone else think Grundy looked a bit ‘proppy’ in the 2nd Half?
– Clearances 25 / 37. A reversion reflecting poorly on our mids. It’s probably not fair because they had a pretty clear domination in the Final Quarter. As always, I’d love to see the Quarter by Quarter numbers.
– Inside 50s 51 / 67. The conversion of the Clearances we got into Inside 50s, however, is pretty good; better and better.
– Marks inside 50s 12 / 11. Similar. We didn’t use our low, hard passes to Mark inside the 50 as we did against Adelaide. Using Cox as a sole delivery point, as we seemed to, worked for a while. Check Reid’s numbers – 11 disposals at just over 50% Disposal Efficiency. Yes, he got two Goals, but…
– Scoring shots 20 / 31. Their transition was better than ours into a scoring position.
– Goals 10 / 16. Hugely expanded by their Last Quarter and an apparent lack of pressure going into ‘Open Goals’ towards the end.
Best: Concur. Great effort across the paddock. Maybe in the future I’d like to see Varcoe given someone like Martin – he’s strong and mobile.
– Disposal Efficiency? We had 9 players with DE under 70%; them – 13. Grundy, Pendles and Treloar all did well. Solid improvement. And don’t our (relative) newbies in the Forward Line kick beautifully?
Lessons:
– When we got the Clearance from the stoppage we dominated. Work on inner-Midfield structure and workings.
– Both Appleby and Mayne were positive inclusions.
– Using Cox for the high ‘up and under’ entry to the 50 worked early on. It didn’t work for the whole game. The lesson from the Adelaide game, not applied this week, was that low, hard passes to leading Forwards is the best avenue.
– Injury replacements. We’ve got a pretty good list at the moment, presuming Moore is available. Is Grundy fit? If not, who would you replace him with? No, not Cox; not Moore full-time. Maybe someone from the Twos?
Your thoughts?
Next
Round 7. Versus Brisbane, at the Gabba on Sunday, 8 May; bounce: 4.40pm.
Match Preview (when there) http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2018/7/bl-v-coll. The betting, there already, seems to indicate our favouritism ($1.38 to $3.05).
Them. Apologies to Linda (remember 2002 / 03). Brisbane are sitting 17th on the Ladder on a percentage of 66.8%, with no Wins from the opening 6 Rounds, but are better than that indicates – note that “they had chances to win in four of the opening five rounds, without getting over the line” from http://www.lions.com.au/news/2018-04-27/small-steps-but-necessary-ones. Players to watch are Dayne Beams (of course), Martin (Ruck) and Zorko (Centre) in the midfield, Rich (if back from injury), Gardiner and Hodge in the backline and Rayner amongst the forwards.
Us. We are sitting 10th on a percentage of 105.7% and are also better than that indicates. A good Win here should propel us back in the Eight because four teams in the Eight are playing each other and Geelong and Freo (also on 12 points) might expect reasonable defeats. Who knows with Melbourne / St Kilda – I suppose one of them has to Win. Our depth should allow us to replace the injuries. I’d suggest, regardless of the comments above, that we are sufficiently strong to ‘rest’ some players if they are not 100% fit (Grundy?). I’d also ‘rest’ Cox, maybe replace him with Moore – let’s have a look. The game against Brisbane will not be as big a challenge as Adelaide or Richmond, though remember it’s still worth four points. Fas back? Regarding countering them, I’d suggest the onus is on them to counter our players, not the reverse.
Picks? Pies to Win by 57 points; BOG – Steele with 40 disposals at 91% DE. Moore bags eight; Fas gets 4.
TV? No Free-to-Air. Find a friend – Are you home, Neil? Or maybe, see you at Eastlake?
VFL
Bye this past weekend.
Next: Round 5 – Sunday, 6 May versus Werribee at Avalon Airport Oval; bounce 3.00pm.
Magpies Netball
Suncorp Super Netball Season started with the closest Loss to the Melbourne Vixens, 59 to 58.
Match Report: https://supernetball.com.au/2018/04/28/vixens-hold-off-magpies-in-one-goal-thriller/.
Next: 5 May; 7.00pm (local) West Coast Fever at Perth Arena.
VFLW
Start this weekend. Versus Williamstown at Warrawee Park, Oakleigh on Saturday, 5 May; bounce 2.30pm. Good luck, girls.
VWFL
Also starts this weekend on Sunday, 6 May at Boroondara Sports Complex. Go to http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/more-news/new-afl-wheelchair-league-to-launch-in-2018-featuring-collingwood-essendon-hawthorn-richmond-and-st-kilda/news-story/38724cf69fa31d90aa91c00c9b7ffa15 for details. Good luck.
Other
· Eddie Watch. Quiet again.
· The future of our great game and our place in it? Go to https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/afl-divide-renovator-rebuilder-clarkson-draft-20180421-p4zaxv.html. Worth a read.
· And, of course, 2018 prognosis at https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/why-collingwood-will-make-finals-in-2018-20180426-p4zbsu.html.
· Other Sports – Canberra:
– GWS – Not until 11 August;
– Raiders – Home versus Titans on Saturday, 5 May; kick-off at 3.00pm; and
– Brumbies – Gasp. Next: Home vs Rebels – Saturday, 12 May; kick-off 7.45pm.
Go Pies.
Cam
Putting my Wayne Bennett hat on, I’m not happy Jan. Not for losing, but silly mistakes like the Dunne one causing unnecessary goals to the opposition. notice how these dubious frees in front of goal tend to go to the big boys, the professionals. this is because the umpires are another resource to be exploited, like the boundary line. Don’t get sucked in. As old Doug Bigelow said, Collingwood, if you want to win things, you’ve got to beat somebody.
As well, pessimists have pointed out that the game was lost at the selection table when the two albatrosses, Mayne and Blair were selected. No matter how well they play, there is always that doubt about them coming forward.
Let’s hope this is a learning year, like 2001 and 2006.