Post Match v Cats...all comments here thanks!

[The Boy Who Cried Wolf]

To be honest, I didn't think Brodie Grundy was that crash hot tonight. Ok he got 24 HO's and that's always a positive sign and I'll hand him that, but I thought around the ground he was fairly average and was very sloppy below the knees.

The thumble in the last few mins in the centre circle killed us as we had a bit of a run. Ball ended up with a Geelong goal.

Other than that, a young bloke who's doing everything himself will be much better for the run and it's 1 extra game under his belt.

You must of been Watching a Different Game to me Then. Grundy needs help he just gets to tired at the End

brenny is spot on with his assessment of grundy's game. last night i lamented to my mate that he is no good below his knees.

we all know you like the lad but get your head out from his ar$e.

I thought his was ok, without being great... yes ok he made a few fumbles at the ball on the ground (but it's a long way down for him so hey ), but he tries and will only get better - we all know that, and at least we know he's capable of improving his skills on the deck - this part of what makes him a standout.

Again, I would like to see our players be more inclined to just keep the ball rolling forward, instead of trying to pick it up under pressure (also the more time you take 'trying' to picking it up, the more bodies you attract, the more likely to be swamped, tied up or turned over).

Also we try to handball way too much, now this wouldn't be so bad if our skills were better, and we sorted our running formations out but yeah - need to kick more.

Something must be done about Cloke - I do not believe for 1 second there isn't something we can do to improve his opportunities for 1 on 1 situations
to occur - we're just not thinking enough about it, but obviously we need to play with an open forward line... much more open.

[John Wren]

ben reid. given cloke gets molestered every week by 2-3 oppo players we need to take advantage of the free players this creates. it'd be nice, for once, if cloke was given some protection.

he was gloveless this week. did he leave it at home?

[neil]

Not sold on Young too outside and is not punishing enough by foot
Cloke was awful but should of had a couple of frees
Swan is out of form or injured
Elliot was fantastic
Can only play one of Blair/Dwyer
Our back line did very well considering the lack of experience
Two weeks ago Brown was a liability now we need him how posters change
Can see why White was recruited
Grundy needs help
Maxy held the backline together and some posters wanted him gone

[John Wren]

^ we have enough in and unders. young doesn't need to be another one. we need someone to receive and then boot the ball forward. i thought he had a good game.

[Breadcrawl]

The biggest positive was Jesse White.

A genuine KP forward.

If you look at the performance last night in the light that it is a 'team under construction', it's a bit exciting.

We aren't rebuilding but there has been a bit of a reno and the paint is still drying, but yeah. Exciting times I reckon.

[think positive]

Not all doom and gloom the positives, didn't get the rub of the decisions, fragile back line did well, Elliott, H & Fasolo were fantastic, had more than enough chances to win. Still got some very, very handy players to return. I didn't throw a can at the TV, teeth flew out heaps of times but didn't break, wife and kids still talking to me.
Concerns: Our forward structure & Cloke - our forward can't get the pill, theirs kicks plenty. Swan, Pendles & Sidebottom concern me at the present time, need our experienced players to stand up and perform on the night. Was staggered at the amount of times the Geelong players had so much space without a Collingwood player close.
Finally - whilst not happy at losing, not unhappy at what I saw, lots of positives.
PS. If someone/anyone inform me of the current rules of the AFL, as it seems that somewhere between my understanding & the umpires interpretation there is some discrepancy.

Totally agree regarding lots of positives. For such a side with so many young players to get that close to Geelong was brilliant.

But regarding "umpiring interpretation". Yeah, about that.

There are a few unwritten rules:

1. All rules can be interpreted any way an umpire likes, especially in games involving Collingwood.

2. No free kicks paid to Collingwood in Collingwood's forward line, no matter how much the full forward is being infringed.

3. When Collingwood players are about to kick the ball after a mark or free kick, the whistle must be blown instantly and the player told to play on. Players of the opposing team are given as much time as they like.

4. If Collingwood supporters give any flack over the fence for any umpiring decisions, Collingwood players will be punished by receiving no free kicks for at least 30 minutes.

Ah now that explains a lot.

You forgot the grundy fingertip rule though, feel free to wrestle grundy to the ground, but grundy, cut those nails

[DT]

I had little expectation of success and was pleasantly surprised by the effort and intensity shown for the majority of the match last night. This is hopefully a sign of things to come as the first game against Freo started very well and ended without a whimper. We have a tendency not to fight out matches and this one could easily have blown out. Yes, we were a bit lucky Geelong missed some shots in the third quarter but despite being fatigued we had a chance to pinch it in the last few minutes. Good espirit de corps.

Interesting range of comments. I wonder how the game looked on tv - I sat near the fence on the wing and have a few observations:

Sidebottom - played his guts out running hear there and everywhere. Yes, his kicking at times is frustrating but effort could not be faulted.

Swan - don't bag the guy, he is really not right and is definitely trying his hardest. He directed traffic all night and was very involved. Hopefully will come good as he gets his body right.

Fasolo - brilliant effort for a first game since how long after a major injury. He has something most of our team lack - skill and polish. Beautiful kick. What he/coaching staff need to do is either to teach him that in the last line of defence is no time for tricks or not play him there. But that is because we were undermanned with so many defenders injured. He will be a beauty when the team is settled and he has some games under his belt. Ideal forward line/wing player.

Young - Sorry folks, if he plays like last night good bye and good luck. Soft as butter and if he can't punish the opposition with his kicking then have fun in the vfl. Not mentally switched on and continually out of position. Doesn't like going in for a contest. Terrible. Hopefully, it was just a bad night for him.

Backline

Maxwell - excellent
Langdon - super impressive and composed for a first year player
Lumumba - pretty good
Keeffe - pleasantly surprised. like him. good skills and nous. Will get better as the season progresses
Frost - 7/10 - good kid and will be a fine player if he keeps on improving. Massive task last night and stuck to it.
Tooves - love his work. Great goal. Going amazingly well coming back from an ACL. Heart and soul player and will get better across the season but may get tired now and then.

Mids
Pendles - captain courageous effort while not 100%
Ball - massive improvement on last two weeks - looked more like the old Lukey Ball. Should be ok this year.
Dwyer - couldn't find the ball or get involved. Not his usual polished self
Adams - has a crack but seems small and easily moved off the ball by bigger opponents. Looked miles off it last night. Not sure that he feels comfortable yet as part of the team.
Beams - was ok but I expect more from him. Can kick but gave Selwood far too much latitude and didn't tackle well. Bit disappointing for someone who is a Rolls Royce and should be a consistent A-grader
Macaffer - stuck to his task and played quite well. Solid

Forwards
Blair (part mid) - the usual Blair. Good pressure on the opposition but not really damaging when he has the ball. Some are a bit tough on him for last night. Had quite a good game by his standards.
Elliott - sensational
Cloke - did a few good things but is owned by Lonergan. Needs to think his way through this and should have got on his bike more ala Riewoldt and run Lonergan ragged upfield. Not helped by not getting any frees.
White - Good game. Showed promise and got us up and going in the last.

Rucks
Grundy - dominated first half. Needs to work on ground skills. Absolutely worn out in the fourth - that is why Keeffe started ruck early in the fourth quarter. Needs to be managed carefully.
White - Only a pinch hitter. We have a big problem with our ruck division.

Coach Buckley - Well, I am not sure that we have the skills to carry out what I think is the game plan. This year will be up and down. If he can get effort and intensity each week then good but that won't cut the mustard against the Hawks who would slice and dice us up with their beautiful kicking and spread. We really didn't spread so well and will get exposed against the Hawks and Port in particular.

[Collingwood Crackerjack]

A hard fought performance by a badly undermanned team. A few specifics :

- Elliott is turning into a matchwinner. An amazing 5-goal performance against this mob.
- We cannot leave Grundy so exposed all night in the ruck. the poor kid could hardly lift his legs at the end, and gave away several critical frees as a result (second in a week right in front of goal)
- I wonder whether we did the right thing re-signing Cloke at the price we paid. He's a great player, but the modern game is not kind to stay near home Full forwards.
- Swan is surely injured, or we have hit the age decline very suddenly
- Put Reid and Brown in that team and we win, which is a good performance against a contender side.
- Those who said that Maxy was finished and should be dropped shoudl themselves take a spell in the posting twos
- I see what Bucks is trying to do - and it could work - but only if we develop the composure and skills to execute it under pressure.
- I usually defend umpiring, but there were a few shockers tonight that favoured the cats.
- White showed his potential value for the first time tonight.

Overall, I'm happy and grateful that the boys put in so much, it was a creditable performance and only skill errors cost us in the end.

Definitely could see where the game plan is going, which is a plus.

Also thought Fas played alright, he got involved all night, which was a knock on him early in his career.

I coulda taken or left Youngs game; wasn't poor, wasn't great.

Keefe will be better for the run but struggled with the pace of the game

[Collingwood Crackerjack]

Just scrappy battlers without a gameplan, just awful to watch right now...

Spot on. But that is true of all the footy this season. Seriously if it wasn't for Hawthorn's first half effort last night I would say the standard of footy this season is the worst I have seen in at least 20 years. And I am serious! I thought tonight's was a terrible game skillwise for both sides.

It's time the fooball brains at clubs recaptured our game that has been hijacked by the fitness gurus.

And PLEASE, the kicking for goals by most sides this season is shameful. I mean really shameful! Are these professionals or not?

I don't know about that CD; Hawkins was kicking them alright!

[Cam]

Add Reid and possibly Williams and suddenly our team has a lot more class about it. Plus if Sharenberg and Freeman impact at all given their CVs there is a lot to look forward too.

There is also Seedsman, maybe Karnezis.. Sinclair and Brown.

[neil]

^ we have enough in and unders. young doesn't need to be another one. we need someone to receive and then boot the ball forward. i thought he had a good game.

Agree Young is never going to be and in and under but as an outside/receiver with a reputation for foot skills he is a bit underwhealming.
Few if any of his kicks hit a player on the chest or in front of them.

Maybe the injuries last season are still affecting him and he will improve.

[John Wren]

Just scrappy battlers without a gameplan, just awful to watch right now...

Spot on. But that is true of all the footy this season. Seriously if it wasn't for Hawthorn's first half effort last night I would say the standard of footy this season is the worst I have seen in at least 20 years. And I am serious! I thought tonight's was a terrible game skillwise for both sides.

It's time the fooball brains at clubs recaptured our game that has been hijacked by the fitness gurus.

And PLEASE, the kicking for goals by most sides this season is shameful. I mean really shameful! Are these professionals or not?

funny how when watching a grand final everyone screams for the regular season to be umpired in the same manner. be careful what you wish for.

as for kicking for goals, until the game slows down it won't improve much.

[Doc63]

When you look at how inexperienced our backline was last night, they did bloody well considering we were beaten in the midfield:
Frost, Keeffe, Langdon - all still very raw.
Toovey, 3rd game back after a season out
Fasolo, 1st game back after a season out - 1st game in the backline.
Young, 3rd game back after a season out.
Maxy was great.

I think we would have beaten many other decent sides last night. Its no good comparing us to Hawthorn, Freo or Port - we're not at that level - yet. But I believe we are building towards being a very good side, that is hard to beat.

Look out Ninthmond, here we come.

GO PIES!!!!!

[stoliboy]

I know everyone hates stats but Sidey's disposal efficiency was 72% tonight. Not elite but not bad either (FWIW Swan 56% (about normal), Cloke (37%), Blair 45%). Thought he had a good game.

Fighting loss I thought. Probably lucky not to lose it by 4-5 goals but to our credit I think our defense forced a lot of their shots out wide. No question we're handballing too much but once we get the balance right I think we're going to be very dangerous. I walked away from the G thinking it's going to be a rough ride for about the next 8 weeks but by round 11/12 I'm expecting the real youngins will have started to get some experience. Hopefully we'll have reasonable stability in personnel too.

Thought Grundy was sensational tonight. Yes he tired by he is 19 people.. yes 19. Played all of 9 games.

Our backline featured a 3 gamer, 5 gamer and a 22 gamer. Not many teams, if any, run around with that much inexperience in their backline.

Don't know about anyone else, I'm a bit worried about how much pace Tooves has lost since he did his knee. He used to be damn fast, now not so much.

Don't reckon Pendles was right tonight. Clearly carrying the knock he got last week, trying to lead the way. Seemed to be a metre slower. Having said that yet another captains game. For those whinging about him not bombing the ball inside 50, are you the same ones complaining about our general forward 50 bombing raids?? Such a shame because the atmosphere at that point was electric.... and his handball was probably only an inch away from being the right option.

Please give Taylor Adams a full game next week. Clokey's a worry but I'm not sure what can be done. Perhaps he has to push up the ground. No way he'll be dropped to the twos. Encouraging signs from White tonight.

Think there's a lot of positives. The missus said that the TV commentary had said it was rookie night with 9 Cats and 10 Pies having played less than 50 games or something along those lines.

Bring on the Tigers... what a week to get them... NOT. Oh well. Go Pies.

Where do you get the disposal efficiency stats from?

On the AFL site, go to the Match Centre, scroll down and find the tab Full Time Stats. Once it comes up click on Advanced Stats. I know stats don't always tell the story but they've regularly told me that Swanny doesn't actually get the ball to one of our players almost 1 out of every 2 disposals!!

Thanks for that: http://www.afl.com.au/match-centre/2014/3/coll-v-geel

Something stats I've picked out:

Jack Frost: 11 1%ers... next highest Collingwood player had 5. I knew I loved his game but really shows his efforts in those pressure situations.

Travis Cloke: 0 Marks Inside 50m... has to do better than this. He was outmuscled, dropped at least one mark when it was well clear of his man, and it wasn't till the last quarter when he crashed a pack with his muscle and took a mark. Needs to do that more.

Travis Cloke: 37.5% effective disposal... worst of any player for both teams on the night.

Joel Selwood: 11 tackles... next closest Pies player was 6 being Blair. As much as I hate the Duck that shows a tough game.

[Albert Parker]

^Agreed Dave, thought he dominated the hit outs early then faded. But doesn't have the tank to do much around the ground much of the time.
Free kick to McIntosh which cost us a goal in the third was a function of
- Fasolo messing up the kick out
- Grundy being fatigued and having to push deep to take the knock and getting caught out behind