Post Match. Pies trump Tigers. All comments.

[swoop42]

If we concede we are going to lose the ruck battle then adding an extra midfielder in place of Cameron might make the most sense.

Of course using a combination of McStay / Johnson takes one tall out of our forward line and might reduce their effectiveness in a forward role also due to shouldering the ruck burden.

Whether the coaches decide to demote WHE on the back of his 2nd average performance in 3 weeks is still to be known and will likely dictate whether there is only the one or two changes.

Before the VFL game tonight I was leaning towards a combination of McInnes and Ginnivan replacing Cameron/WHE but I now think we'd need to go one forward with one mid and to 3/4 time at least Ginnivan outside a nice 1st quarter goal hasn't done a whole lot and would be earning a recall on the back of what he produced in 2022 and not tonight IMO.

McInnes hasn't had much of the ball either and he's not an aerial threat as a tall forward at this stage but he's reinforced what his strength is and that's winning the ground ball and converting his opportunities in to goals.

He gets the nod just ahead of Ginnivan and Wilson for mine.

As for the midfielder who could possibly replace WHE (or Cameron) then it's been another solid performance from Macrae up until 3/4 time though I admit it's hard to ignore Allan and his eye catching traits. He's looked far more advanced than I was expecting these past 2 weeks but whether it's still to early for him in the eyes of McRae is an unknown.

[watt price tully]

^Maybe. But if this runs for a few weeks plus, it could also be a recipe for more injuries given the ruck is so brutal. God help us if Moore cops a knock.

Meanwhile, McStay needs to focus on building his forward craft or there's a risk he won't get good enough in any position, and Checkers needs McStay's physical cover.

Not a simple decision.

McStay is fine. Yes he can convert better and learn to partner with the others & the other way round but he’s adding a fwd presence that is contributing to Collingwood’s effort. He wasn’t the only one who missed shots. His body work and strength in tight situations has enabled our other fwds to do well.

However, he’s gunna Ruck a lot more than round one and two suggested.

[JC Hartley]

Under Friday night lights, Collingwood were able to overcome wasted opportunities at goal to overwhelm Richmond by 14 points, courtesy of the inpenetrable and stingy defence from the Magpies which were able to deny the Tigers any meaningful threats on the scoreboard throughout the majority of the evening. The opening term saw the Woods come out like a bull out of a gate, only for missed goals to deny complete domination on the scoreboard. The second quarter was eerily similar to the first quarter, with numerous opportunities again gone begging to wrap the contest up before half time, which the Pies had acheived against Port Adelaide in the previous game. The opening ten minutes of the second half in the third term belonged to Richmond who were destined to make Collingwood pay for their inaccurate conversion on the scoreboard. Then came a tremendous response and a withering burst of four goals in a row from Collingwood to restore their lead heading into three quarter time. The final term saw the Tigers hit back hard with the first two goals of the quarter to have the contest in the balance. With approximately 5 minutes remaining, the Magpies were able to produce the knockout blow with their final goal of the game to deny and stop Richmond in their tracks to remain unbeaten at the final siren after three matches.

Collingwood won the vast majority of statistical categories from Friday night's victory, with disposals won by +44 (400 - 356), +10 for kicks (229 - 219), handballs were won by +34 (171 - 137), while contested possessions had a margin of +22 (161 - 139), uncontested possessions were claimed by +22 (220 - 198), and intercept possessions had an advantage of +10 (81 - 71). Centre clearances had a gap of +4 (11 - 7), Tackles Inside 50 were won narrowly by +2 (9 - 7), contested marks were up by +2 (9 - 7), Marks Inside 50 had a reading of +1 (10 - 9), and Inside 50s had a significant buffer of +19 (59 - 40). Richmond's victories on the stats sheet came from hit-outs by +17 (48 - 31), clearances had a differential of +5 (42 - 37), with a margin of +9 coming from stoppage clearances (35 - 26). Tackles had a reading of +1 (62 - 61), while marks were won by +11 (76 - 65), and uncontested marks were up by +13 (69 - 56).

Jordan De Goey (35 disposals @ 57%, 597 metres gained, 15 contested possessions, 20 uncontested possessions, 4 intercept possessions, 23 kicks, 12 handballs, 6 marks, 2 tackles, 2 goal assists, 8 score involvements, 9 clearances, 4 centre clearances, 5 stoppage clearances & 8 Inside 50s) was highly influential on the contest and created numerous scoring opportunities. However, his inability to kick goals and some poor ball use denied him from having a complete blinder.

Tom Mitchell (30 disposals @ 67%, 372 metres gained, 13 contested possessions, 17 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 12 kicks, 18 handballs, 3 marks, 5 tackles, 7 score involvements, 5 clearances, 2 centre clearances, 3 stoppage clearances & 4 Inside 50s) got to work in the trenches by winning the contested ball and clearances, while linking up in scoring chains when he had time and space to use the ball effectively.

Josh Daicos (28 disposals @ 64%, 507 metres gained, 14 contested possessions, 14 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 19 kicks, 9 handballs, 3 marks, 6 score involvements, 7 clearances, 2 centre clearances, 5 stoppage clearances, 4 Inside 50s, 5 Rebound 50s & 1 goal) accumulated possessions, linked up superbly on the wing, had a stint in the centre square where he was winning clearances as a midfield rotation, while Josh was able to ignite the fire with a crucial goal goal in the third term to commence Collingwood's onslaught during that quarter to ensure all the hard work wasn't wasted.

Jack Crisp (25 disposals @ 60%, 428 metres gained, 10 contested possessions, 15 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 14 kicks, 11 handballs, 3 marks, 2 tackles, 1 goal assist, 5 score involvements & 4 Inside 50s) performed admirably by winning the ball through the midfield or transition play and looked to move the ball forward at all costs.

Steele Sidebottom (24 disposals @ 75%, 437 metres gained, 12 contested possessions, 12 uncontested possessions, 8 intercept possessions, 15 kicks, 9 handballs, 3 marks, 2 tackles, 7 score involvements, 4 clearances, 4 stoppage clearances, 4 Inside 50s & 2 Rebound 50s) had a very fine game on the wing by winning the ball consistently over four quarters, while using the ball in a direct and effective manner to attack or maintain possession.

Scott Pendlebury (24 disposals @ 71%, 362 metres gained, 8 contested possessions, 16 uncontested possessions, 5 intercept possessions, 9 kicks, 15 handballs, 3 tackles, 2 goal assists, 9 score involvements, 4 clearances, 3 centre clearances, 6 Inside 50s & 1 goal) continued with his creativity resulting in goals in scoring shots. Speaking of goals, Pendlebury's manoeuvre to outsmart Richmond's defenders and snap a goal from the goalsquare brought every Collingwood fan to their feet.

Darcy Cameron (10 disposals @ 70%, 24 hit-outs, 5 contested possessions, 5 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 5 kicks, 5 handballs, 2 tackles, 4 score involvements, 2 clearances & 2 stoppage clearances) gave a great amount of supply to his midfielders in the middle for three quarters, before sustaining a significant injury to his knee, which has put him on the sidelines towards the second half of May at the earliest, or the first week of June.

Nick Daicos (33 disposals @ 88%, 365 metres gained, 8 contested possessions, 25 uncontested possessions, 7 intercept possessions, 16 kicks, 17 handballs, 5 marks, 4 score involvements, 2 clearances, 2 stoppage clearances, 2 Inside 50s & 4 Inside 50s) put on another clinic with his exemplary ball use behind the ball enabling great protection from conceding goals, while offering effective ball movement to the team's advantage.

Brayden Maynard (21 disposals @ 67%, 467 metres gained, 8 contested possessions, 13 uncontested possessions, 7 intercept possessions, 14 kicks, 7 handballs, 5 tackles, 4 score involvements, 2 Inside 50s & 5 Rebound 50s) defended with grit and was prepared to kick the ball long to a contest or short to a teammate who could mark the footy to maintain possession.

John Noble (16 disposals @ 56%, 190 metres gained, 6 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, 6 intercept possessions, 10 kicks, 6 handballs, 3 marks, 2 score involvements & 2 Rebound 50s) found it hard to dispose of the ball effectively, but was still prepared to run and take the game on, even though there were errors made in doing so.

Isaac Quaynor (16 disposals @ 81%, 220 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 11 uncontested possessions, 8 intercept possessions, 7 kicks, 9 handballs, 5 marks, 4 score involvements, 3 Inside 50s & 2 Rebound 50s) was composed with ball in hand, and made smart decisions whilst the team were in transition from defence into attack, where Quaynor rolled up few times.

Billy Frampton (13 disposals @ 77%, 353 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 8 uncontested possessions, 6 intercept possessions, 8 kicks, 5 handballs, 6 marks, 2 contested marks, 2 tackles, 2 score involvements, 2 Inside 50s & 5 Rebound 50s) played his best game for the club so far by quelling Tom Lynch in marking contests with vital marks taken and spoils made to ensure Lynch did not dine out in front of goal.

Taylor Adams (20 disposals @ 55%, 263 metres gained, 3 contested possessions, 17 uncontested possessions, 10 kicks, 10 handballs, 3 marks, 7 score involvements & 5 Inside 50s) spent time up forward and occasionally in the midfield. Adams linked up in scoring chains and generated forward entries that were not necessarily effective on a challenging night for him.

Jamie Elliott (17 disposals @ 71%, 263 metres gained, 7 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, 9 kicks, 8 handballs, 3 marks, 2 Marks Inside 50, 4 tackles, 3 Tackles Inside 50, 9 score involvements & 2 goals) played his role in the win by scoring two vital goals in the third term, and won enough of the ball up forward in general play to be a significant threat.

Daniel McStay (16 disposals @ 50%, 266 metres gained, 4 hit-outs, 8 contested possessions, 8 uncontested possessions, 11 kicks, 5 handballs, 5 marks, 3 tackles, 6 score involvements, 2 Inside 50s & 1 goal) provided a target for much of the night, before being thrusted into the ruck for all of the last quarter, as Darcy Cameron was subbed out with a knee injury that has him out of action for two months. McStay was able to produce the knockout blow to Richmond's hopes of victory by taking a decisive mark in an otherwise small forward line and converted his shot at goal to kill off the contest.

Ash Johnson (15 disposals @ 67%, 187 metres gained, 3 hit-outs, 8 contested possessions, 7 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 9 kicks, 8 handballs, 3 marks, 2 Marks Inside 50, 2 tackles, 2 goal assists, 10 score involvements & 1 goal) was involved in everything up forward, but he did not finish his work. Johnson got to play because Mason Cox sustained a hematoma in his ribs. Therefore, Johnson needed to compete in ruck contests and held his own while he was there.

Beau McCreery (13 disposals @ 54%, 315 metres gained, 4 contested possessions, 9 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 8 kicks, 5 handballs, 2 marks, 7 tackles, 4 score involvements & 4 Inside 50s) put on another masterclass of manic pressure, where his tackling levels were very high, while McCreery looked to move the ball forward at all costs.

Brody Mihocek (11 disposals @ 73%, 208 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 6 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 9 kicks, 2 handballs, 4 marks, 2 contested marks, 7 tackles, 2 Tackles Inside 50, 4 score involvements, 2 Inside 50s & 1 goal) complemented Beau McCreery nicely with an equally high level of tackles himself, while working hard for his marks. Mihocek was able to allow his team breathing space in the first quarter with an important goal in the shadows of quarter time.

Collingwood's next game will be against Brisbane at the Gabba on April 6. With Darcy Cameron and Mason Cox both unavailable for the clash against the Lions, the Magpies will definitely consider whether they will be better off playing with a small forward line with Mihocek and Johnson as the key forwards when McStay is in the ruck against his former club for the first time. Oscar Steene could make his AFL debut to alleviate those concerns, but there are doubts of that materialising. The Pies will need to continually change the angles of the footy to make it extremely hard for the Lions to defend. The next part of the equation for the Woods is to convert their work if success is to be had in Brisbane to continue the club's golden start to the season.

[piedys]

Under Friday night lights, Collingwood were able to overcome wasted opportunities at goal to overwhelm Richmond by 14 points, courtesy of the impenetrable and stingy defence from the Magpies ... to remain unbeaten at the final siren after three matches.

Winning ugly, but a desperate four quarter buy-in from the side saw us secure and bank the points. F%ck you Tiggers; ES&Die.

Collingwood won the vast majority of statistical categories from Friday night's victory, ... contested possessions had a margin of +22 (161 - 139), uncontested possessions were claimed by +22 (220 - 198), ... and Inside 50s had a significant buffer of +19 (59 - 40).

When Cam Mooney craps on in the post match analysis about our dominance of contested possessions, then don't discount the effort or difficulty of this win.

We ground out the final term minus a regonised ruckman, despite slaughtering the ball going inside F50 on many occasions.

The effort that Bitchmond displayed was EXACTLY the type of contest this side needed to hose down any hubris entertained by the media and gambling houses, in relation to premiership favouritism.
Hopefully that result brought down much unwanted hype, without us crashing to earth with a loss in greasy conditions.

However, this losing a player each week to serious injury shit is starting to grind on my f#cking nerves again... that's 4 in 4 games, counting the Lipinski shoulder reco in the final practice match....

[mudlark]

I got the Trifecta yesterday.

Mets Opening Day
Panthers Round 5
Collingwood Round 3

I hate McStay, wish we still had Grundy.

I think it's fair to say a lot of people hate you as well, at least I do and more importantly, no one gives a rats ring hole. what you think of the very fine young man. Daniel McStay is one of the nicer human beings you're ever likely to meet and you have to be a pretty sad sort of being to dislike him.

[mudlark]

We definitely are unlucky with injuries to the big fellas. Howe, Begg, Cox, Cameron, Kreuger and Dean.

I agree that Oscar Steene will need more time to develop but maybe come in as the Sub?

Will Kelly should be next in line too, I believe he has been playing well on the wing in VFL.

Reefe should come in to play as a tall forward option.

Might also be time for Wilson to come back in.

It will probably be easier to cover down back with a Wilson or Markov and put Frampton in the ruck.

I liked the look of Frampton, actually might go well in ruck. Interesting times.

I watched Steene play in the VFL last night against Naismith?? and he went OK , He certainly didn't win but he wasn't made to look second rate.He has a crack and although it won't be in any way easy, at least give him a go. Rotate him around with McStay and Ash .I think Frampton needs to stay down back on Daniher or the other big slug.

[mudlark]

Of course using a combination of McStay / Johnson takes one tall out of our forward line and might reduce their effectiveness in a forward role also due to shouldering the ruck burden.

Whether the coaches decide to demote WHE on the back of his 2nd average performance in 3 weeks is still to be known and will likely dictate whether there is only the one or two changes.

Before the VFL game tonight I was leaning towards a combination of McInnes and Ginnivan replacing Cameron/WHE but I now think we'd need to go one forward with one mid and to 3/4 time at least Ginnivan outside a nice 1st quarter goal hasn't done a whole lot and would be earning a recall on the back of what he produced in 2022 and not tonight IMO.

McInnes hasn't had much of the ball either and he's not an aerial threat as a tall forward at this stage but he's reinforced what his strength is and that's winning the ground ball and converting his opportunities in to goals.

He gets the nod just ahead of Ginnivan and Wilson for mine.

As for the midfielder who could possibly replace WHE (or Cameron) then it's been another solid performance from Macrae up until 3/4 time though I admit it's hard to ignore Allan and his eye catching traits. He's looked far more advanced than I was expecting these past 2 weeks but whether it's still to early for him in the eyes of McRae is an unknown

.[/quote][quote="swoop42"]If we concede we are going to lose the ruck battle then adding an extra midfielder in place of Cameron might make the most sense.
This makes sense and I see Reef being that man.Going back a few years to a time when we played Hawthorn and Grundy was dominating in the ruck, yet we got flogged ,again, by Hawthorn and they had this bloke,Mitchell ,I think?? who got over 50 possies by roving to Grundy. We have that same bloke and there should be no reason he can't and won't do it again.

[mudlark]

[quote="JC Hartley"] I left the whole quote out as it really isn't needed. Magnificent summation there JCH. Loved your bit about Daniel McStay. A real workhorse who will be much need against Brisbane next week and I'm quite shocked to see that Steele ONLY had 24 possessions .It seemed like he had that many before 1/2 time.He dominated and is getting better with age. Tom Mitchell will only get better and better with each game and it looks like he's loving being a Magpie. Looking forward to this read every week.

[Big T]

Can't bring Steene in. He's not afl standard yet.

[BazBoy]

[PyreneesPie]

Going back a few years to a time when we played Hawthorn and Grundy was dominating in the ruck, yet we got flogged ,again, by Hawthorn and they had this bloke,Mitchell ,I think?? who got over 50 possies by roving to Grundy. We have that same bloke and there should be no reason he can't and won't do it again.

Great point mudlark

In terms of ruck hit outs, as long as their rucks don't tap it directly to their smaller brigade, I have faith in ours to get possession one way or another, more often than not. So whoever is in the ruck for us needs to be vaguely capable of putting defensive pressure on their ruck and concentrating on preventing direct hit outs to advantage. So, either a big bustling body or an athletic one who can leap over the top (like Ash Johnson) might help (or both at different times). Whatever, we don't need to win the ruck battle to win.

Where we will really miss Cameron especially and Coxy is taking marks around the ground.

It's going to be interesting to see what the coaching panel will come up with

[PyreneesPie]

If we concede we are going to lose the ruck battle then adding an extra midfielder in place of Cameron might make the most sense.

Of course using a combination of McStay / Johnson takes one tall out of our forward line and might reduce their effectiveness in a forward role also due to shouldering the ruck burden.

Before the VFL game tonight I was leaning towards a combination of McInnes and Ginnivan replacing Cameron/WHE but I now think we'd need to go one forward with one mid

McInnes hasn't had much of the ball either and he's not an aerial threat as a tall forward at this stage but he's reinforced what his strength is and that's winning the ground ball and converting his opportunities in to goals.

He gets the nod just ahead of Ginnivan and Wilson for mine.

As for the midfielder who could possibly replace WHE (or Cameron) then it's been another solid performance from Macrae up until 3/4 time though I admit it's hard to ignore Allan and his eye catching traits. He's looked far more advanced than I was expecting these past 2 weeks but whether it's still to early for him in the eyes of McRae is an unknown.

This makes a lot of sense to me! It would help to maintain team balance better I reckon, if we were able to use McStay and Ash only sparingly in the ruck. We might end up with a bevy of rotating rucks depending on what part of the ground the play is. Something different to say the least!

[Pies2016]

^Maybe. But if this runs for a few weeks plus, it could also be a recipe for more injuries given the ruck is so brutal. God help us if Moore cops a knock.

Meanwhile, McStay needs to focus on building his forward craft or there's a risk he won't get good enough in any position, and Checkers needs McStay's physical cover.

Not a simple decision.

McStay is fine. Yes he can convert better and learn to partner with the others & the other way round but he’s adding a fwd presence that is contributing to Collingwood’s effort. He wasn’t the only one who missed shots. His body work and strength in tight situations has enabled our other fwds to do well.

However, he’s gunna Ruck a lot more than round one and two suggested.

Agree and let’s not forget, the last time McStay was arguably B O G was in the qualifying final against Richmond when he played in the ruck against Nankervis. McStay Hardly won a tap out but he had about 25 touches around the ground. There is always the potential for a mobile tall to play ruck and still do plenty of damage around the ground even if you’re not winning the ruck. The “ best “ thing about our ruck issue is that we can plan a week in advance for the dilemma we face. Plan for losing the ruck contests and plan for McStay to beat his opponent up and down the ground.

[BazBoy]

Collingwood Website Player of the Week was Nathan Murphy

Goes in fearlessly and I say gr8 to get the nod

[gurugeoff]

I assume we would be looking closely at all recently retired / delisted afl ruckmen for the mid season draft. e.g paddy ryder. Can’t afford to be in a grand final without a ruckman