Round 11 – Collingwood v Carlton: Floreat Pica Society Report
Collingwood vs Carlton
Round 11, 29th May, 2022
Preamble
Well, the Blues are up and about and so are their supporters, much to the horror, disgust and chagrin of supporters of every other club, particularly ours. Going into this game placed 3rd on the ladder and expecting to buck a history of 20 plus years of underperformance, mediocrity and self-destruction, we are expecting a full house.
Indeed, standing in the (long) entry queue, there was a bit of banter between the Blues supporters around me and myself, with 1970 and ‘79 mentioned more than once. They were plainly cocky, and expecting to win. I left them at the turnstiles with the comment that I hope that we beat you by 5 points. (Almost prescient as it turned out.)
As for myself, I was a mixture of quietly confident (or was it hopeful?) that we would win somehow.
Last week against Freo, I tipped The Pies. Freo had only beaten the Blues early in the season, and had their traditional win at Cat Park in Geelong – the rest of their wins were over lower sides. We play well in Perth, somehow it suits us. Also, our team is beginning to come together.
And it did.
We beat them comfortably.
The Cheats would be harder. Disappointingly, they beat us last year, lifting as a team following the sad passing of Serg Silvagni.
This year, after 10 rounds and 3rd on the ladder, their form has made them, possibly and deservedly the favourites going into the game with that big ‘C’ word – confidence – really getting them going. With a 50:50 home crowd, this sets it up for a tough, hard-fought encounter, both on the ground and in the stands.
Gee, it was great to be at the footy with a packed house again. Only the 3rd match for me since 2019.
First Quarter:
BIG game, Carlton get the 1st break. (Noticed on the Scoreboard that Queensland is advertising for tradesmen…) Very scrappy opening with a lot of errors by both sides. There’s “a bit of feeling” in this game with Taylor Adams scrapping on with one of their players. After six minutes there has been 4 out on full already. At the 7 minute mark, after what is probably the 1st clean break and passage of play Jamie Elliot gets on the end of it and kicks a nice goal, 45 degrees, 35 – 40 metres out for the 1st score of the match.
10 -15 seconds game time later after a nice clean centre clearance, Curnow has a shot on goal and kicks their 1st. One all at the 9 minute mark. Next goal to the Blues at the 12 minute mark after a comedy of errors leaves the goal square free and one bounces through from 60 – 65m’s. Jeez. They get the next clean centre clearance, and (luckily) get a point after it goes to the replay. Collingwood cannot get a ruck clearance at the moment and the Cheats are dominating at ground level. Mason Cox takes an absolute screamer!!! He gets it to Sidebottom who plays on and slots it. Wonderful. Carlton gets the next centre clearance again however IQ gets in the way – onto Moore then to Henry who converts. 3.0 to 2.1, fabulous stuff. Next is a minor score after an ugly rush forward, 3.1 to 2.1. Jack Ginnegan runs the whole length of the ground and gets on the end of a lovely bit of play but shanks it and kicks a point. A let-off for Carlton there. Umpiring very ordinary with Pendles taking a hospital pass and being tackled by two players one of whom had him in a head lock with his legs! A fifty metre penalty and they have shot on goal but miss. Two quick points, the 2nd after Elliot kicks from the same spot that he kick his 1st, but slices it. 3.4 (starting to rack up the points….) to 2.2 ¼ time. Scoreboard reflects the state of play we are better around the ground and they are killing us in the centre clearances, we need a real no1 ruckman.
Second quarter:
10 seconds in and De Goey goals – beautiful. 2 minutes in and Mr Silky is having a shot on goal from 50m’s which is rushed through for a point. 4.5 to 2.2. After taking a screamer Billy Elliot has a poor shot on goal, out to the right. Having a “day of points” so far, 4.6 to 2.2. Reef McInnes – lovely intercept mark. A good bit of pressure play and Jack Ginnivan is having a shot, 20 – 25m’s out directly in front. Great play by IQ and Oliver Henry who is very cool under pressure. Jack kicks a point which is unforgivable really….. Collingwood are not taking their chances after having all of the play. Carlton have a rare foray forward which amounts to nothing then Oliver henry is having a shot after ignoring a lead from Billy who was front and centre. Bangs it out to the right for another point. Terrible. We have kicked 5 points in a row – we’ll kick ourselves out of the game if we’re not careful! The Poos kick a lovely goal and it is 4.8 to 3.2. 12 shots to 5 and it is only 12 points in it. Nowhere near enough. Well, it had to happen they get another one with our backline all at sea. Mason Cox in the centre is rucking a la Grundy and the opposition are roving off him. 4.8 to 4.2, 6 points in it.16 minutes in and Adam Cerra has been given a dodgy free and he goals. 4.8 to 5.2. Even stevens. We can only blame ourselves for that – should be at least 8.4…. Next goal by the Blues – long bomb by Curnow to an unguarded goal 60+m’s kick and they are in front………. 8 shots to our 12 and they are taking their chances Carlton unlike ourselves. Being completely cleaned up around the stoppages and we are relying on backline tackle pressure and turnovers. They get ANOTHER centre clearance and luckily they stuff it up and kick it out on the full. Half time at the 28 minute mark, thank God. The last ten scoring shot consisted of 6 straight points to us followed by 4 straight goals to them. Hopefully we can press re-set in the second half and get back into this game.
Third quarter:
Carlton start the scoring in the second half with a behind to Curnow, however Lipinski marks and goals just over a minute later. Two more points to the Blues and one from Mason and Lipinski goals again. We hit the front. 4 more points – two from Carlton (their starting to lose accuracy like us thank goodness) and one each from Checkers and Steele. 4.6 from set shots so far today.
21 min mark and we are playing in the forward half for the moment, Sidebottom is playing all over the place – best game I’ve seen from him for a long time – taken another mark and having a shot on goal which he nails. 7.11 to 6.7, 10 points up. Jack Crisp kicks a point and we go into ¾ time 11 points up, 7.12 to 6.7.
Last quarter:
Two mins in and Carlton goals, 5 points up. 5 minutes in and Mason slots it after a good mark. Go Coxy you are playing a great game today. A minute and a half later Tyler Brown (!!!) bangs one out of a pack in front of goal. Two more behinds, one each then Oliver Henry nails one. He looks the goods this boy. They get one back and henry gets another. We are 23 up at the 18 minute mark. Owies gets another for the Blues and it’s 17 points. 24 minute mark and Curnow goals. 29 minute mark it’s 79 to 68, 11 points in it. Curnow kicks another goal and it’s 5 points the difference! 30 min mark there is 45 seconds on the clock and here we go. This is critical – Carlton are on fire at the moment, kicked the last 3 so here we go. Forward pocket throw in and everything is on the line. Silvagni kicks a point and there is about 20 seconds left. Siren sounds!
We hang on Thank God.
Final scores: Collingwood 11.13 defeated Carlton 11.9
It wasn’t 5 points, it was 4. (So stick it Caaaarlton supporters. It’s not the Granny sure, however it will do for me today.)
Short observation:
We were KILLED around the stoppages generally. Taylor Adams and De Goey (and to a lesser extent, Elliot) are not Luke Ball or Jarrod Blair.
Best players:
A tough call I gotta say. I’ll begin by mentioning a few. De Goey played in patches but when he was good, he was very good. Moore was a stand-out I the 1st half and Jeremy Howe was a stand-out in the 2nd. Maynard was his usual imposing self, Nick Daicos was good at times. Lipinski and Isaac Quaynor were good and Adams was a bull at times. Elliot was game changer in the last when he moved into the centre for a while. John Noble is like Elliot – he will die for Collingwood. Nick Daicos was good in patches.
Still I must make a call with the Horsborough votes and believe me it is a very, very, VERY hard call indeed. (I expect a LOT of feedback here)
Three players who missed out – Darcy Cameron, rucked, and played his guts out around the ground and Josh Daicos who is starting to really hit his straps. Josh is beginning to play a little like Pendlebury, he finds space and time, a great game. The third is Mr Silky of course, he is just so, soooo good you don’t notice him.
I’ve split the 6 votes up and awarded 4 players:
2 votes Steele Sidebottom. Best game that I’ve seen him play for a couple of years. Was everywhere when needed and kicked 2 (critical) goals to boot.
2 votes Oliver Henry. Best forward on the day with 3.1 and was cool, calm and collected. Reminded me of Nick Maxwell how he reads the ball. Is slick and has great timing. Gunna be huge.
1 vote Jack Crisp. Unsung hero, just does not stop. Never gives up.
1 vote Mason Cox. Now, I’ll admit that I’m a Mason Cox fan however he took some GREAT contested marks – 6 from memory – three of which were last line. Competed hard all day and although his tap work could be improved we would’ve lost without him.
Lastly, I would like to mention this week’s retirement of Jordan Roughead. He has been a great servant to The Club after coming over from The Doggies in 2018. I will miss him.
COLLINGWOOD 3.4 4.8 7.12 11.13 (79)
CARLTON 2.2 6.2 6.7 11.9 (75)
GOALS
Collingwood: Henry 3, Lipinski 2, Sidebottom 2, De Goey, Elliott, Cox, Brown
Carlton: Curnow 4, Owies 2, Cerra, Cripps, Durdin, Walsh, Motlop
BEST
Collingwood: J.Daicos, Crisp, De Goey, Lipinski, Cox, Henry, Noble, Howe
Carlton: Walsh, Saad, Docherty, Cripps, Curnow, Hewett, Cerra
INJURIES
Collingwood: Nil
Carlton: Weitering (shoulder)
SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Beau McCreery (unused)
Carlton: Jack Carroll (replaced Jacob Weitering in the second quarter)
Crowd: 80,627
Go Pies!
Floreat Pica
Frank Taylor
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Frank,
Thanks for your good summary of the match and congratulations on the Magpies’ deserved victory. I had drafted a report, but it would largely repeat your post. I think the loss of Jacob Weitering was a significant turning point, as from that time, the Blues lost their way. Apart from the brief periods late in the 2nd quarter and in the last ten minutes, we were outplayed. Your defence seemed impregnable and the fact that Cripps, Walsh and Cerra were neutralised suggests that your midfielders did enough. It was unfortunate for Carlton that Henry used the Fremantle game to recover from his goal-kicking yips. His three goals were decisive. I share your delight in the big crowd and a really meaningful and competitive match.
A report on the match ignoring the significance of the injury to Weitering is unfathomable. It completely changed the game and allowed tall blokes, even Cox, to take marks from kicks which Weiters would have punched from here to next week. Different game once he was gone and Carlton had no ready-made replacement. Still Carlton could have pinched it.
Yes Peter and Merv, I agree it was a serious omission.
Note that this report is for the Floreat Pica Society and when I posted it to the fraternity I had a included a rider:
“Had a software app meltdown and “lost” all of my notes for nearly the entire second half. So I’ve had to remember/read a lot and I have lost a lot of detail for a lot of the players and play.”
I was a bit under the pump to get it out and regretfully I did not include Weitering’s injury which, I should have picked up in the draft and noted before I posted it.
You were right to pull me up here. My apologies,
Frank