Cam Hooke’s Collingwood Life: Preview – Collingwood v Carlton

May 5, 2017 by Leave a Comment

 

UNOFFICIAL

 

True Believers (noting our List includes (potentially of some vague relevance in this email) three Cats’ supporters), what a turnaround?  Another fantastic Win by the girls; a closer Loss by the VFL side; but an astonishing, against-the-odds, four-quarter effort, solid Win by the AFL team against the equal ‘Ladder -Leader’ Geelong.

 

Last Weekend?

 

Magpies Netball:  Round 10 – Magpies versus Firebirds at the Launceston Silverdome.  A great, but very close, win against the team following us on the Ladder, 61 – 59.  The Win consolidates the Pies place in the Top Four establishing a gap between the Four and the fifth placed team.  Well done, Ladies; outstanding.  Match Report at https://supernetball.com.au/2017/04/30/magpies-outshine-firebirds-close-contest/.

 

AFL

 

What a performance?  I attended this match last year when we kicked 7 goals to none in the First Quarter, but then seemed to just ‘hold on’ for the rest of the match.  This year’s was a solid ‘four-Quarter’ effort.  It shows what we can do.

 

Match Review.  Go to http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2017/6/geel-v-coll; Buck’s comments: http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2017-04-30/buckley-players-showed-great-resilience.

 

Our Best: A fantastic team effort.  Notable were performances by Greenwood on Selwood, Dunn on Hawkins and the Mids, in general and specifically whoever was on Dangerfield.  Remember these three had cut other teams to pieces; none made the Cats’ Best list.  And we had had three players identified in the Team of the Week – Pendles, Adams and Dunn.  Well done to each.  And kicking?  I usually look for 1 Goal for each Behind scored; here 15.17 is okay given the intensity of the game.

 

Check the other statistics: Pretty even across the team statistics with the exception that we won Inside 50s (59 to 49) and Marks Inside 50 (just) – we should still be doing more with this advantage.  Oh yeah, Geelong had more Frees than us (20 to 15) and it seemed they were in more significant places / timings (eg. Schade in front of their Goal).

 

What stood out? The effort by Collingwood across the ground; well done to all.  And the poor crowd – 47,000.

 

Your thoughts?

 

VFL.  Round 3 – a Loss to Essendon 17.11.113 to 12.21.93 (28 scoring shots to 33); Match Report – http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2017-04-29/mccartin-sinks-vfl-magpies.  People to watch for? To pick a few who haven’t represented at the AFL level for a while (or ever): Wills, Aish, Thomas, Crocker and Brown.  Keep watching Keeffe, De Goey (finished his sentence – anticipate his return (maybe)) and Scharenberg.

 

Next week?

 

Magpies Netball

 

Round 11 – vs Sunshine Coast Lightning; Saturday, 6 May at Hisense Arena, Melbourne; tip off – 8.45pm.  We are still sitting Fourth with 6 Wins from 10 games – Lightning is one place ahead of us on the Ladder; a Win and a Draw ahead of us, so the challenge will be there – they beat us 51 to 50 in Round 5. Game coverage on 9Gem. Go girls.

 

To know more about the team and the game go to: http://magpiesnetball.com.au/ and https://supernetball.com.au/teams/magpies-netball/.

 

AFL

 

Our Game?  Round 7 – Collingwood versus Carlton at the MCG on Saturday, 6 May; bounce: 2.10pm.  Every game is now critical to us, starting last week; continuing this week and every week thereafter.

 

Collingwood and Carlton are sitting at 12th and 14th positions on the Ladder, respectively, on percentages of 93.3% (it’s been a while since we were in a position to get our percentage over 10%) and 74.8%.  Both teams have two Wins from five; including their last games – Carlton against Sydney and ours against Geelong.  Leaving aside Carlton’s Win over Essendon in the appalling wet weather conditions, Carlton results have been poor with a number of serious defeats; until last week.  Their performance against Sydney was pretty good. In comparison, we have not been ‘thumped’ in any of our Losses; criticism focussed very much on lapses over specific periods, rather than application across four Quarters – certainly we have shown periods when we totally dominated our opponents in each of the Losses.  Time, and other games, will decide whether that performance by Carlton was the exception or they are “on the mend”; starting last week.

 

Teams. Selections on Thursday evening (tomorrow night).  Go to http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/.

 

Them

 

Carlton, again, were impressive against Sydney last weekend with a very methodical approach to the movement of the ball and scoring.  While the team statistics were pretty evenly matched (even scoring shots), Carlton’s 15.7.97 (good kicking / lack of pressure?) gave them a reasonable Win over Sydney’s 11.12.78.  Interestingly, Carlton seemed to run away from Sydney at the start of each of the 2nd, 3rd and Last Quarters but dropped off against Sydney in the second half of each.

 

Things & People to watch for?  Carlton’s Midfield has performed with Docherty (Wing), Murphy (rover) and Cripps (Centre) consistently amongst their Best.  Casboult (FF) and Wright (CHF) have also made occasional appearances among the Best and with multiple goals.  Simpson at CHB is also worth watching. Their ruck, Kreuzer, has occasionally performed.

 

Implications?  Against our Mids, theirs look out of their depth. Similarly, if our Forward Line is ever going to ‘click’ it will be against Carlton’s Backline. Individuals like Casboult deserves attention to limit his influence on the scoreboard – not necessarily tagged; but maybe ‘double-teamed’ again subject to how the game evolves. We need to recognise Carlton’s pattern of play following immediately after each break and try to nullify this – Midfield pressure / extra Back?  We should use this game as an opportunity to seek to win well; to try alternatives and take chances that we may not otherwise take. Your thoughts?

 

Us

 

A reasonable turnaround for us – 6 days (compared with their 7).  Normally you would argue against changes to a team that Won well (against Geelong).  This game is really an opportunity before we run into GWS, next Round.  We should be prepared to experiment a bit, and I would expect Reid and De Goey to return.  I’d be surprised if Varcoe is not out for a week or two – he did not look well.

 

Mids.  Very difficult to be critical of the Mids performance against Geelong; and accordingly very difficult to see the need for any change.  Carlton should be easier than last week.  I’d still like to see Pendles out of the Midfield, though his performance against Geelong was ‘stellar’.  Ruck relief – I’d also still like to see Keeffe on the ground – Cox is not a ruck; not sure what he is, actually.  Glad that mistake of his in front of our Goal wasn’t significant.  We may still need tagging roles – this is where Coaching flexibility is essential, as the game goes on.

 

Backs? Again, very hard to fault the Backline last week.  Extra – Scharenberg?  Can expect Reid back (I mean returned) and he and Howe could move between FF and FB positions, though shifting Dunn from FB could take some effort.  That still means you need to find a place to bring back Reid against (maybe Varcoe’s?); and possibly Scharenberg and Keeffe, from somewhere.

 

Forwards?   Darcy did okay last week, and seemed to have a bit of a roving commission. I think he, supported by Elliott and Fas were terrific.  Opening up the HF line would mean the extra could be used in the ‘third-man up’ position in the Backline.  Rotate Reid and Howe between FF and FB (as above) positions still requires a position.

 

Game Plan.  A couple of suggestions:

  1. Flexibility.  I’d like to see changes out of the Coach’s box in response to the evolving game, particularly noting Carlton’s Game Plan after each break.  See last week’s comments about flexible ‘run with’ appointments – “be prepared to …”.
  2. Kick-ins.  This is the start of our drive forward – we need to have very clear options understood by everyone to make sure we do not lose the advantage that possession of the ball at that point (no pun intended) gives us.  Much better last week, but still needs work.

 

Other ideas or changes?  What do you think?

 

We should win this handsomely.

 

Weather?  Late rain is forecast – avoid the moulded sole boots; consider long sleeves.  How many times do we see players slip sliding around?

 

Game Previews:

 

  • Agenda. Michael Christian’s Agenda at the Pies website in the next few days.  Go to: http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/.  This is very short but is always worth watching. And I love his enthusiasm.
  • AFL Match Day Preview – http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2017/7/coll-v-carl.  Next few days; their prediction – I suspect will be the Pies, but close.
  • Natoli’s ‘Ultimate Preview’ will be on the Pies Home Page at http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/ in the next few days.
  • The Age Preview – Should be at http://www.theage.com.au/afl also in a few days.
  • Expert Tips – will be at http://www.theage.com.au/afl/expert-tipsters.  I always enjoy ‘our experts’ predictions, particularly when they are totally wrong.  Well done, Mr Shorten, the solitary ‘expert’ who picked correctly last week.  Carlton?  Based on their performance last week, likely to be a mix of picks.  Check the picks and their margins later in the week.          .

 

My Picks.  Pies by 37 points. BOG: Treloar – 37 touches.  Darcy – three Goals and four Goal Assists; Reid – three goals and four Goal Assists.  Crowd: 93,000 (125th Anniversary)?  Best competition: I would have liked to include Daisy and whoever was on him, but having been dropped last week, there is no certainty Daisy’ll get a run. Maybe Schade vs Casboult.

 

TV?  No Free to Air TV coverage for the AFL game (I continue to be astonished by the decisions relating to the selected coverage). Find a friend.  Are you home for the game, Neil?  Maybe head to Eastlake?

 

VFL.  Round 4 – Northern Blues at Victoria Park; Sunday, 7 May; bounce – 1.00pm.  Who to watch in our side – Keeffe, Scharenberg, Crocker, Mayne, Brown, Daicos, Crocker; others?

 

Other Things:

 

 

The Future? 

 

Coach & President?  One game at a time; imagine if we start winning, regularly?

 

Reporting.  C’mon – your Reports? 

 

Footy Almanac.  Remember our little brief gets lodged on-line at the Footy Almanac site at http://www.footyalmanac.com.au/.  As an example, have a look at the comments to and fro at http://www.footyalmanac.com.au/cam-hookes-collingwood-life-a-week-to-forget/.  Worth a quick look-see.  Get involved in the discussion.  I have been assured by Footy Almanac editorial staff that they are “reasonably civilised, in public” (thanks, John). Have a look.

 

Go Pies.

 

Cam.

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