Post match. Pies down Giants - All comments please.

[jackcass]

This is not rocket science guys. You need more than 1 ruck unless you can guarantee that your main ruck will never get injured and that simply is not reality

If Grundy and Witts continue to develop they will both be in the top 22 long term if they both stay fit. Witts will be the main ruck and Grundy who is a lot better at ground level and is much more versatile will play relief ruck and will spend significant time in the forward line.

As I have said many time, if they both continue to develop and stay fit as a ruck duo we will be the envy of the AFL. The potential outcome is worth the investment and gamble.

Absolutely, and this is almost certainly what will happen. The alternative though is not so ridiculous as to be unworthy of discussion.

it's only unworthy to those who don't get what you are saying.

I think the discussion is valid but way too premature. Give it a couple of seasons so we can at least see how they develop and who knows 1 of Witts or Grundy may even request a trade if they aren't getting senior opportunity.

[watt price tully]

Now that I've had time to unwind, eat dinner (thank you to Mrs WPT) & reflect, some thoughts on the game:

Terrific win.

Great pressure - especially for periods of the first half & sustained through most of the second half. Hat's of the the backline where there were a number of standouts.

Nathan Brown take a bow. Smashed Cameron who's first goal should never have been paid as he was out of bounds & who's second shot resulted from a free kick that should never have been paid as the ball hit the ground first (bump ball).

Alan Toovey great timing today with respect to intercepts, dash & reading of the play. He also played an instrumental role in marshalling the backline - excellent leadership qualities.

Marley Williams Ab Fab, one of his best games. Looks confident & has lost that lack of assuredness that characterised much of last year & bits of this year.

Langdon played well & above his years. It's hard to remember that this is only his second year. Good kick, good mark & excellent timing / reading of the play which makes up for his lack of raw pace.

Adam Oxley great follow up game. Excellent mark, elite kick, seemingly cool under pressure showing a maturity for only 12 or 13 games. Need to pinch myself because he's been such a good fit. His marking, judgment & timing are sublime and make up for his lack of raw pace.

Further up the field:

Broomhead: I thought this was his best game for us. Relentless & classy - a great mix. Another who has only played a handful of games. Well done son.

Grundy crap game, hardly sighted. Didn't trouble the stats sheet.

Varcoe Another great game today. He has been a great addition to our team this year. Polish, evasiveness, great kick.

Crisp I love Crisp!

White Well as the good Dr Pie was saying today, can he please play 100 games every week

Adams Has he become important to us. Hard at it but his kicking at times lets him down & can be very frustrating. Very good game for such young a man.

Witts One of his very good qualities is his handball - he is a very good handballer. His tap outs were very good but still needs to do more around the ground IMO like hold marks.

While not covering all the players these were the players that impressed me.

I'm taking Swan & Pendels for granted these days.

Additional: loved Eddies post game joy:

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/2 ... -something

[Bob Sugar]

Did Kennedy hit the stats board in the last? I don't remember hearing his name in the call.

He was directly involved in two of the last quarter goals. One he started with a brilliant clearance, the other he kicked beautifully to Cloke's advantage. He didn't play on the ball much, though, so he didn't get to show them up by getting all the clearances like he did last week.

Cheers mate.

[simon tonna]

someone has to be the sub and unfortunately Kennedy is the best at it. its gut wrenching if your it but you have to do your bit for the team as a youngster and bens time will come sure enough.
i really like seeing bucks go off in the coaches box, he seems no different than a fan in the outer, losing it when a player (mates with) up and causes a clanger or drops an easy one.
great game today buy white. i thought he played to his strengths well as a crumbing big man running into space with the ball kicked in front of him, losing his man and snapping around his body from everywhere. it must take a well structured team defence to nullify our forwards and the young developing clubs we've played so far this year have a fare bit of work to do as it stands right now.
again cloke was superb, he is irreplaceable. i can't sing he's praises enough. there were good players everywhere today but we could have also dropped this game for we didn't have a solid defensive game. loose players in our back half will normally be the difference all day in a afl game but some how we dodged a bullet a few times because they either missed a target, or made poor decisions and also kicked terribly for goal.
great tackle and goal for jdg hope he's hand/finger is not so serious.

[uncanny]

An arm wrestle for nearly three quarters then the pies blew it out. Helped by injuries to their boys but that's a result of sustained pressure as much as their bad luck. A very good team effort.
Gotta love being 8 3 at this stage of the year.
Go pies after a well earned holiday

[Golden Gordon]

Wow, pretty average post game thread for what was an excellent display of contested footy by both sides.

I agree. Obviously the Buckley haters have either been banned out of existence or they've taken a holiday.

I thought it was a cracking game by our young boys who seemed to take the lead today. Crisp was a little quieter than usual, but he was still all class. Taylor Adams had a career best game and Witts completely negated the Mummy.

[Golden Gordon]

someone has to be the sub

I agree with Paul Roos the sub is the worst rule in footy. We should get Eddie to start a campaign to get rid of the sub and go back to four interchange players. It is a total waste of a good player. And it doesn't help sides with injuries either. They've limited rotations now so it is time for the sub to go.

Start a campaign!

[Johnno75]

I said it the pre game thread. Key was our pressure and we delivered. It was great to see their handball game fall to pieces under our pressure. Same will happen in finals GWS. They need a new game plan.

[HAL]

Is that so.

[Boot]

Today was a really pleasing day to witness some terrific young Collingwood players and some champion senior players put the young guns from GWS to the sword.
GWS were gutted by injuries and missed some easy shots at goal to our benefit but the real positives for Collingwood were;
1. Nathan Brown - Strength against supposedly the best young forward in the game. His confidence was great to see as he chose to outbody young Cameron in almost all the competitive situations they had together. Not one blunder all day and was a rock for the defensive team.
2. Marley Williams - Have always loved this kids one vs one skill. He just does not get beaten when one on one and is still providing good offensive drive when drifting forward. Very dependable.

3. Adam Oxley - his kicking was a miss in the first quarter but didn't hurt us and he seems to be gaining more and more confidence with each game. His intercept marking is great to see and despite a couple of poor efforts when kicking he is usually an elite kick and is proving to be a real find for us this year. Great get Mr Hine!

4. Travis Cloke - What a champion. Now has his kicking under control and is again the most powerful forward in the game. Remains the most important player in Collingwoods team.

5. Travis Varcoe - I was critical of his recruitment at the start of this year but I have to give credit where it is due. Travis has been very good in a young team in providing some cool skill in tight situations and whilst he is never going to be the hardest player going around he does have sublime skills in ball handling (rarely fumbles) has speed and disposal is usually pretty good.

6. Tom Langdon - Faster than a lot of people realise, stronger than a lot of people realise, more skillful than a lot of people realise and as brave as they come. Another great get by Mr Hine!

7. Jarrod Witts - Stood up to the might of Mumford with great effect and I thought broken even in the ruck contests and assisted our midfield with his strength and footy nous. Any thoughts of trading him are insane. Considering he is still only 22 it must be scary for opposition to consider how he will be when ruckmen traditionally reach their peak at 26 - 30 years old. As he matures his marking around the ground and up forward should improve and then he will be a massive weapon for many years.

8. Jessie White - Best game for a while. His two goals when the game was in the balance were gems. I now think he is worthwhile persisting with after being a critic for most of this year. He adds the structure we need and is taking the 2nd defender away from Cloke.

9. Swan and Pendlebury - Both doing what they do best. Swan's return to the ball magnet he has always has been is a bonus that I was fearing we had seen the last of. Pendlebury is proving to be a very good captain.

10 Taylor Adams - Great to see him play a 4 quarter game to gather so many disposals and remain hard at it in the middle against class opposition. Kicking skills still work in progress but did well today and every indication is that he will continue to improve.

Now the bad;
1. Seedsman - Out of form. Has the ability to be very good ( ANZAC day was no fluke)I wonder if he is still carrying an injury that is holding him back? No doubt will be lucky to hold his spot for next game.

2. Jordan DeGoey - Strong and skillful but very inexperienced (understandable for an 18 year old in his first year) his hurt hand may cause his omission which is unfortunate but hopefully Levi Greenwood will be a positive readymade replacement for him.

3. Sidebottom - Just going since his return but still doing enough. His class is crucial for Collingwood to compete with the best. Hopefully will benefit with the break.

4. Goldsack - Didn't think he was all that bad today but was not his best effort. I think he will appreciate the break to get back to full fitness and overcome some soreness. His kicking in was good today.

5. Fasolo- did a couple of good things but hopefully will do more in the coming weeks. Playing as that small forward is a tough role and like Elliot relies on his marking more than his ground level, roving skills. Still has a bit of the X-factor that the team is crying out for but not producing enough for my liking at the moment. May be forced out if the full list is available?

6. Adam Trelaor - I saw nothing today to indicate why we would want to offer him a reported $700K for 5 years to move at the end of this year. Dylan Shiel or Lachie Whitfield maybe but Trelaor??

Looking forward to the next game vs Fremantle in Perth, and wondering how to fit in Brody Grundy (hopefully none the worse for his training mishap), Jarrad Blair who's hardness and contesting is a force for the team, Ben Read - too good not to be in the team once fit and Levi Greenwood into the team? Great Problem to have.

Overall very pleasing day. Good old Collingwood forever!!

[Piesnchess]

Interesting mob the MCC Melbourne supporters are. I turned up just before the game and gathered my seat when the guy next to me emerged from the paper his head was buried in and commented on my Collingwood cap and scarf.
"You supporters only turn up when your side is winning" he said.
I reminded him his side was playing at Etihad stadium the other end of the CBD. I said, given Melbourne have lost their last 20 games there he was probably doing the right thing going to the MCG instead.
Anyway, during the first half he kept reading the paper and mildly looked up whenever GWS kicked a goal to politely clap them.
After half time he disappeared, so I assumed he made it to Eiihad Stadium. Hope he enjoyed the two point loss to StKilda.

WTF we only turn up when we are winning, typical lordly Deeeees fan, we had a string of losses last year, fans still turned up in droves, did he have his cucumber sandwiches with him.

[Piesnchess]

So, do we bring in both Reid and Greenwood in post bye ?? Seeds has to be on thin ice, i like him,but hes been out of sorts lately, poor game today.

[holdencaulfield]

^ I doubt that bloke was a Demons supporter. They are all up on the ski slopes

[mosig]

Really enjoyable game... contested, end to end - great to watch.

Lots of players to talk about... but if you are watching the tape again, check out the contest between Elliot and Shaw on the boundary. Elliot flys for the mark then comes to ground, hurdles Shaw then taps the ball along through his legs trying to get away. Nothing comes of it, but if you want a little highlight package of how quick his brain is ticking.. check it out. Also, his delivery to Cloke (and other forwards) is elite.... not since Didak at his best have our forwards enjoyed silver platter service.

Also, a lot of people mentioning Adams average kicking... I didn't notice it (in the context of the game) thought he just played very well.

[Duff Soviet Union]

I thought Seedsman and De Goey were our worst. Paul did not make the most of his repreieve.

I thought De Goey was ok. He always looks likely when he's around the ball and he works hard defensively, but he doesn't actually seem to be around the ball that much at the moment. Still, ok.

Seedsman has played one good game this year and needs to go back to the reserves. He's fumbly and he doesn't use the ball well enough to get away with being a pure outside player. I'd rather see Young in the team if he's healthy.

The other issue will be who Blair comes in for. Kennedy would be the obvious answer given Broomhead's game today, but I'd like to see him given a decent run at it, not wearing the bloody vest.