First off, we should mention that this is the first time that myself and Garry (my grandfather) are doing a report while watching together live. We had three concerns going into the game:
1-No one should be suspended or injured that could have been managed.
2-We hadn’t heard of Harvey Harrison particularly lighting it up in the VFL.
3-We hoped that we would get no ugly surprises from the game.
Q1:
Not only did the sun make viewing on the TV difficult, but it was clearly bothering several players as they tried to transition the ball forward. Well into the quarter Collingwood looked flat and not sharp enough, whether that was fatigue or complacency we weren’t sure. But Collingwood came alive in the last ten minutes, scoring four goals and showed you don’t need a long period of momentum to damage them. We also noticed that as we moved from half back West Coast made a deliberate attempt to park all of their players behind the ball. Our highlight of the quarter was Mihocek’s tap on for Bobby to run down the wing and kick a beautiful snap. Bobby Hill’s positioning and anticipation seems to create so much for him when he plays that attacking wing role. Also, Harvey Harrison was terribly unlucky for his snap – but that’s why we play with an oval ball. We’re worried about De Goey’s bump, it was late and high. Standout in the first quarter were Murphy who swept up seemingly everything West Coast put inside 50, Josh Daicos who was everywhere, and as always Mitchell from the clearance.
QT Collingwood 4.3.27 to West Coast 0.3.3
Q2:
Collingwood started in a flurry with three goals in a very short period to lead 46 to 3. With three injuries – one being subbed, West Coast came alive with great spirit to claw back in a game that looked like becoming ugly, kicking 4 of the next 5 goals. They were brave, tackling well and importantly did not go directly to Moore and Murphy. Congratulations to Harvey Harrison for a well taken goal which was delivered beautifully to him by De Goey. Our standouts for Q2 were Adams, Mitchell, and Cameron, with Billy Frampton being found out in his matchup with Oscar Allen.
HT Collingwood 8.5.53 to West Coast 4.3.27
Q3:
A quarter dominated throughout by West Coast. Their old guard (Yeo, Kelly, Sheed, Gaff and Waterman) all came to life in the premiership quarter, overwhelming us in the contest. If it weren’t for their inaccurate kicking and momentary lapses in concentration, there may have been more of a game going into the last quarter. Despite being under pressure throughout, Murphy and Quaynor were consistent in intercepting West Coast’s attacks. Bobby Hill continued to shine with his high impact disposals. De Goey was ever present, however his efficiency with the ball was sloppy, possibly due to the crowd and his bump weighing on his mind. However, by the end of the quarter the margin was unchanged, with West Coast’s dominance failing to impact the scoreboard, due to their profligacy and our moments of quality.
3QT Collingwood 12.9.81 to West Coast 8.7.55
Q4:
Last quarter was all Collingwood. Their fatigue from having two subs for a large part of the game showed as we moved forward into abundances of space. We were concerned as we saw injury scares from Johnson, Hill and the Hyphen especially after McCreery was subbed, but it was good to see the Hyphen on the exercise bike and both Johnson and Hill come back on – hopefully they will all be fit for the King’s Birthday. Cameron and Nick Daicos stood out in the last quarter, as well as Quaynor who was reliable all day.
Summary:
We certainly were not as dominant as the end scores suggested, and with three injuries occurring early in the game, we were impressed by West Coast’s effort. To answer the questions we posed at the start of the game:
1-Before the game we questioned McRae’s preference not to manage players, and although we had a few injury scares, West Coast’s ability to create a game in the third quarter proved our coach right. Hopefully, McCreery and the hyphen are not too badly injured – and the MRO are generous on De Goey.
2-Harvey Harrison’s debut was reasonable, laying a few tackles and capped it off with a goal. The decision to debut him against West Coast was the right one.
3-It was worrying when the experienced Eagles got going in the third quarter, but the result was never really in doubt.
VOTES
3 votes: Quaynor who stood up all day, especially when West Coast were on, cutting off their attacks and initiating counters.
1 vote: Cameron who was excellent in his ruck work and marking on the wing.
1 vote: Mitchell who battled strongly against West Coast’s old guard at the stoppages.
1 vote: Nick Daicos who was incredibly effective and silenced the doubters by winning plenty of “hard balls” and kicking three goals.
Honourable mentions: Josh Daicos, Moore, Noble, Johnson, Mihocek, Hill and Pendlebury.
Ziggy and Garry.
==
WEST COAST 0.3 4.3 8.7 8.9 (57)
COLLINGWOOD 4.3 8.5 12.9 18.12 (120)
GOALS
West Coast: Allen 3, Clark, Kelly, Long, O’Neill, Sheed
Collingwood: Daicos 3, Hill 3, Johnson 3, Mihocek 3, Cox 2, Adams, Crisp, Harrison, Mitchell
INJURIES
West Coast: Hewett (head knock), Hurn (hamstring), West (knee)
Collingwood: McCreery (foot), Hoskin-Elliott (ankle), Johnson (corked leg)
LATE CHANGES
West Coast: Tom Barrass (hip) replaced by Elijah Hewett
Collingwood: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
West Coast: Greg Clark (replaced Connor West in the first quarter)
Collingwood: Oleg Markov (replaced Beau McCreery in the third quarter)
Crowd: 41,713 at Optus Stadium
==
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