The game plan depends upon winning the contested ball out of the centre and locking it forward. The team was brilliantly successful at that tonight. They won the centre clearances 18 to 9 (that's a massive turn around from last year) and, more significantly, many were clean, dangerous, 2017-style Cotchin/Martin clearances of the kind Collingwood hasn't tried to create for most of the last decade - that's what enabled Collingwood to kick repeat - and quick repeat - goals. It's a massive change from the way they played last year. It will take some time for it to become second nature - and we saw in the middle of the third quarter how totally dependent it is upon Grundy's greatness. We plainly need a plan B for when he needs a breather - but when it worked tonight, it was extremely efficient. Equally importantly, it leads to exhilarating, attacking football that doesn't make you want to just switch channels and hope that Manly will lose.LaurieHolden wrote:Lipinski has great hands.
Henry needs a stablemate, like a goat with an old horse.
Noble & IQ gave us attacking drive through the lines.
IQ has safe hands.
I don't know what the game plan is but it was certainly different.
Great that we were tested and able to hold them off.
St Kilda aren't going to okay finals either.
A great deal to like.
I should say that I gave them no chance pre-game with such an inexperienced lineup and when they ran out of puff in the third quarter, I thought that might be the end of the line. They showed great character to press on and re-take the initiative.
I expect them to be up and down this year - I don't think we just watched round 1 of 1977, for example - but it was - for the first time in many seasons - genuinely exciting and entertaining to watch Collingwood play. Long may that continue.