Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley bemoaned key forward Travis Cloke's inaccuracy in front of goal after the Magpies' seven-point loss to the Suns.
Cloke kicked three behinds in the first quarter and finished the game with 2.4 and one miskick when within range. It followed up from his 2.5 a week earlier.
His inability to make the most of early chances meant the Magpies could not apply scoreboard pressure on the Suns.
"It has come back to bite us on the arse eventually, hasn't it?" Buckley said.
Noted for his inconsistency in front of goal, Cloke had kicked 12.2 in the three games before round 16 when he suddenly lost his radar.
Scott Pendlebury was frustrated too by the team's inability to convert with Tyson Goldsack also hitting the post from within range early in the game.
"[In the] first quarter we moved the ball really well. We had some easy shots in front of goal – like 30 metres out," Pendlebury said. "You have got to kick it."
However the coach did say Cloke was just one of a number of Magpies who did not take their chances against the Suns, making reference to a particularly costly turnover from Dane Swan that let the Suns' Seb Tape in for his first AFL goal as an example of the malaise that took over the Magpies.
"[We] butchered plenty of opportunities," Buckley said "I could rattle them off for you. There were six, seven, eight opportunities that we really should have converted especially early and then the game changes."
What causes games to change is one of sport's mysteries but Buckley boiled it down in this case to belief.
He called belief the key ingredient; football's economic lever that sends turns all ordinary players – to stretch the business jargon further – momentarily into good ones.
"You either take it [belief] away from the opposition and feed your own or the equation goes the other way," Buckley said. "And we didn't do enough early in the game to take Gold Coast's belief away and it challenged ours."
He said losing the clearances by nine in the second quarter compounded the problem of not taking its chances in the first.
"When you give a run on to a side like that it breeds hope [and] it breeds opportunity," Buckley said.
The inevitable questions came in relation to what could have been done from the coach's box to stop Gary Ablett.
Apart from a lasso, the predictable choice of pundits was Brent Macaffer to run with him. After all, he had done tagging jobs on Nick Dal Santo and Pearce Hanley earlier in the season.
Macaffer was however occupied with the busy long kicking defender Trent McKenzie.
So Buckley backed Swan and Dayne Beams to hurt the Suns as much the other way as Ablett was able to hurt Collingwood.
Ablett had 49 touches and kicked the match-winning goal when he escaped from a stoppage with Beams in his wake.
Buckley described the loss as disappointing and acknowledged that, like any loss, it would have ramifications for its season.
"What it does show is you need to be closer to your best to beat anyone and that is not being discriminatory to what Gold Coast is capable of and able to produce, but at our best we think we play pretty well," Buckley said. "We didn't play at our best tonight."
1. Gary Ablett the matchwinner – again
The Suns champion managed 53 disposals in the previous encounter between the two teams (in round 10, 2012 at the MCG). At half-time on Saturday, he had 26 disposals, a goal and a goal assist. His influence grew in the second quarter as he began to win clearances and space. Luke Ball was sent to him at the stoppages and then Dayne Beams, but Ablett just kept getting free. His last-quarter goal was the sealer and when he took a mark on the wing to bring up his 49th disposal his game was complete.
2. Trent McKenzie commanded a tag, Ablett didn't
Collingwood's Brent Macaffer has had many jobs this season running with players but the Magpies decided it was more critical for him to cover Trent McKenzie's long left foot kick out of defence rather than the Suns' champion Gary Ablett. McKenzie still had 18 kicks and gave plenty of drive to still sit among the club's best.
3. Jaeger O'Meara is the heir apparent and Tom Nicholls has stood up
In the third quarter, O'Meara shifted the game's flow. He kicked the first goal of the half from the pocket and two for the quarter. He signed a contract to stay with the club until 2016 during the week and seemed to propel him to greater heights. The 19-year-old was all class and ended the game with 23 disposals. The 21-year-old Nicholls has played just seven games but he can leap, has courage and was well deserving of his NAB Rising Star nomination last week. He has taken the chance the injury to Zac Smith has provided.
4. Is Travis Cloke's inaccuracy the difference?
In the first quarter he kicked three behinds from set shots to make it 2.8 in his past five quarters and just two goals from his previous 15 shots. It has been a perennial problem for Cloke and one that might bedevil him for the rest of his career. To date, he has kicked 326.279 behinds and this year he sits on 43.39. With the Magpies' goalkicking accuracy hovering at 217.208 - slightly better than 50 per cent - his inaccuracy is an issue. He kicked his first goal four minutes into the third quarter and then a second from the goalsquare late in the quarter but he did not have the scoreboard impact he should.
5. Gold Coast beats a top eight team for the first time
The Suns have broken through to beat a top eight team in their 60th game and they chose powerhouse Collingwood to make a statement. Close observers have noted that the Magpies have been playing patchy football in recent weeks and the Suns have not dipped below being competitive. But they knew they needed a big scalp and with the Magpies being perennial finals performers in recent seasons, the Suns have shown they are on the way as quickly as many Victorians feared.
GOLD Coast has landed the biggest scalp of its short existence with a seven-point win over Collingwood at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.
The 13.7 (85) to 11.12 (78) victory is the first time the Suns have beaten a top-eight team in their three years.
In the process it dents the Magpies' slim top-four aspirations and leaves them battling with Richmond for sixth.
The Suns led at every change and deserved their victory in front of 19,721 fans.
Collingwood moved within three points early in the last quarter, but the Suns steadied through goals to Jared Brennan and captain Gary Ablett to win their sixth game of the season.
Ablett was at his prolific and inspirational best, finishing with an amazing 49 disposals and two goals.
Despite having 27 touches in the first half, the Magpies decided to not tag the Brownlow medallist and he took full advantage.
He had 10 clearances and was damaging forward of centre being involved in a number of goals, as well as kicking two.
Magpies tagger Brent Macaffer ran with Trent McKenzie and was soundly beaten as the Suns half-back grabbed 24 touches.
For Collingwood it was a case of missed opportunities.
They jumped from the blocks and dominated large chunks of the first quarter, but could not capitalise on the scoreboard.
Travis Cloke was particularly wasteful, kicking four behinds and missing everything with another shot during the first half.
Dane Swan had 32 disposals and was one of his team's best, but cost Collingwood a first quarter goal when an errant left foot kick went straight to Seb Tape who kicked his first career goal.
"We weren't real clean with the ball and we butchered a lot of opportunities, especially early and when the scoreboard pressure comes on it gives the opposition a bit of a sniff," Magpies coach Nathan Buckley said.
"Clearly tonight they had that sniff and they were able to execute for longer than we were and it was too much to chase down in the end."
Cloke finished with two goals as Suns defender Rory Thompson was hobbled with a third quarter ankle injury. |
For years, Collingwood boasted of not having a tagger. Why bother when you have a midfield featuring Dane Swan, Scott Pendlebury, Dayne Beams and Luke Ball? That was until this year, when coach Nathan Buckley decided to groom utility Brent Macaffer, coming back from a knee reconstruction, for the role.
So the expectation was, going into the match against the Gold Coast Suns, that Macaffer would go to Gary Ablett. But Buckley instead decided to roll the dice, playing Macaffer as a defensive forward against the Suns' other weapon, Trent McKenzie, and letting his best midfielders worry about Ablett.
Well, whether Macaffer might have made a difference or not - and he was beaten badly by McKenzie - it backfired. You can chalk up another three votes for Ablett. He had 27 possessions to half-time alone, finished with 49, and kicked two goals in one of his greatest performances.
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The second goal was a gem, kicked on the burst out of traffic from 50 metres, and giving the Suns a 21-point lead in the last quarter. That was enough, and it was a deserved result, too: the Suns led for most of the contest, had most of the best performers, and did it all without several of their best players, especially up forward.
The Suns had to withstand a late charge, with goals to Paul Seedsman and Beams bringing the margin back to seven points. But the longer this game went, the less likely Collingwood looked. The Magpies have come back from worse positions in their past two games, but this would have been a real steal.
Jaeger O'Meara had another outstanding game, kicking three goals from 23 possessions, including a set shot threaded from beyond the boundary line in the third quarter, a dagger to Collingwood's heart.
McKenzie, Jarrod Harbrow and Harley Bennell, who returned to his creative best, were all exceptional.
Collingwood's best players all won a truckload of the ball: Beams had 34 possessions and nine clearances in just his second game for the year, Swan had 32, Pendlebury had 28, and outstanding rookie Sam Dwyer had 31. Yet still, they couldn't find a way to goal.
Again, questions were raised about the Magpies' accountability. Suns coach Guy McKenna had told his team that Collingwood will give you a chance if you're prepared to work both ways. His boys worked harder for longer and reaped the rewards.
It wasn't just Swan, either. Pendlebury, who famously roasted his peers for "cheating" by running forward of the ball earlier in the year, was 20 metres from his opponent, O'Meara, when the prodigy was allowed to mark and kick that goal from the boundary.
It didn't help that Travis Cloke has another serious case of the yips, kicking four behinds and another that didn't make the distance before half-time They were chances that, it turned out, couldn't afford to be gifted. Likewise two 50-metre penalties that resulted in goals to Sam Day.
Regular centre half-back Ben Reid wasn't sent forward until the last quarter, despite the presence of Lachlan Keeffe, in his first game back from a knee reconstruction. Again, Reid had an immediate impact, marking and goaling early in the last quarter, but it was too late. He hit the post - the Magpies' fourth for the game - after that.
It's getting tiresome - and will very soon be redundant - to say this was the Suns' best win in the AFL, though Collingwood is probably its biggest scalp to date. They've already beaten some very good sides, pushed many others, and probably should have won a couple more games already this season.
But there's no argument that this was a major breakthrough: a win against a top eight side, whose season was finally appearing to gel. This loss will hurt the Pies, and perhaps Buckley the most, but perhaps it also proves the immaturity of this Collingwood line-up.
Their patchy performance was symptomatic of a team with so many young players. Doubtless, a few of them thought this win would just happen.
AERIAL CONTENDER
Jamie Elliott put his hands up for another mark of the year contender, with a soaring grab in the first quarter that knocked the wind out of his sails. It was one of the few highlights for the Pies.
KEEFE COMEBACK
Defender Nathan Brown was a late withdrawal for Collingwood with groin soreness, allowing the 204-centimetre Lachlan Keeffe to make his return from a knee reconstruction.
SUN ON THE RISE
Matt Shaw became the second non-imported Sun to notch 50 games. In 2½ years, the blond has blossomed, a consistent ball winner and tremendous runner who has significantly improved his disposal and decision making.
ABLETT OWNS THE BALL
Gary Ablett once again stole the show with a scintillating game-high 49 disposals - four short of equalling his previous best effort which was also against the Magpies in 2012. He recorded 20 contested possessions, 10 clearances, six inside 50s and two goals.
CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE
The Suns had the better of the Magpies at the centre bounces, generating 15 clearances to their eight, with Jaeger O'Meara and Dion Prestia recording three apiece. Gary Ablett led the way with four of his own.
CLOKE OFF TARGET
Travis Cloke's poor conversion rate once again let him down, returning 2.4 for the match.
GOLD Coast posed serious questions about Collingwood’s finals aspirations while breathing new life into their own with a stunning seven point victory at Metricon Stadium.
It was a Gary Ablett masterclass sure to win the Suns' skipper another three votes towards his quest for a second Brownlow medal.
Ablett collected 49 possession, won ten clearances and booted two goals in the 13.7 (85) to 11.12 (78) victory, perhaps his best performance for the Suns.
In front of 19721 fans, a lot of them in black and white, the Suns lead at every change, the greatest margin being the 15 point three quarter time buffer they held over the Pies.
The Suns won the contested possession and clearances but more significantly worked harder than their highly fancied rivals.
Collingwood face Essendon, Sydney and Hawthorn in the run to a September campaign that is looking far from promising.
Suns coach Guy McKenna said in the lead-up to the match the way to defeat the Pies was to test their star-studded midfield's willingness to run both ways.
It seemed the Pies had the same idea early in the game when Dane Swan found himself alone in his own goal square to kick his side's first goal –unchallenged.
But the Suns tightened-up and exposed a flaw in the Pies workrate the rest of the competition will take notice of.
Seven of their goals came from midfielders and one from defender Seb Tape.
Young gun Jaeger O'Meara produced the best performance of his brief but already impressive career.
Concerns there may be a let down days after re-committing to the club until the end of 2016 quickly evaporated.
The 19-year-old followed his coaches instructions to the letter. His accountability would put more experienced players to shame.
He was outmuscled by Swan for a second quarter goal but the point was he was there for the contest. He had pushed hard in defence.
But he booted three of his own, all the result of hard running.
Travis Cloke kicked four behinds and one complete miss before he got his first goal.
He gave the Pies an injury scare when he left the field in the third quarter in the hands of trainers but returned soon after.
Luke Ball and Andrew Krakouer also required treatment throughout the match for knee injuries.
Ball completed the game with a heavy bandage while Krakouer was subbed off for Irishman Caolan Mooney.
This was one of the more entertaining games at Metricon Stadium this season, despite players from both sides experiencing some ball handling problems due to the greasy conditions caused by an afternoon of heavy rain on the Gold Coast.
Livewire Pie Jamie Elliott pulled-down a first quarter screamer that might challenge his effort against Port Adelaide in Round 14 as a mark of the year contender.
He also snapped a clever final quarter goal after winning a ground ball and then breaking a tackle to drag the Pies back to within eight points. |
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