COLLINGWOOD 2.1.13 7.2.44 8.4.52 10.6.66
WEST COAST 6.5.41 9.7.61 15.10.100 19.12.126
SCORERS - Collingwood: Kennedy (2.0), Beams (1.1), Broomhead (1.1), Cloke (1.1), Dwyer (1.0), Elliott (1.0), Reid (1.0), Sidebottom (1.0), White (1.0), Witts (0.1)
BEST - Collingwood: Nil
INJURIES - Collingwood: Dwyer (hamstring)
SUBSTITUTES - Collingwood: Clinton Young replaced Sam Dwyer during the third quarter
REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil
OFFICIAL CROWD: 36,458 at the Patersons Stadium
| 1. The finals At this stage of the season, finals are always the biggest talking point after any game. Going into the match, ninth-placed Collingwood and 12th-placed West Coast would have fancied their chances of nabbing one of the positions in the eight by season's end. Now, West Coast would be far more confident. The Eagles sit just one win outside the top eight and have a superior percentage to most of their competitors in Essendon, Gold Coast, Collingwood and Richmond. They also play both the Bombers and Suns, along with Melbourne, in the run home. Meanwhile, the Pies are only outside the eight by virtue of their percentage and take on Brisbane, GWS and Hawthorn in the coming weeks. It's going to be close, for both clubs. 2. Which ruckmen play if West Coast makes the finals? Nic Naitanui clearly has a mortgage on the first ruck spot. But, with Dean Cox retiring and Scott Lycett yet to sign for next season, it seems West Coast will face a tough choice. While the home side might have been able to play three rucks on a perfect day at Patersons Stadium against Collingwood, it's unlikely they will want the same mixture away from home against a side like Port Adelaide or North Melbourne. And, given it's going to be tough to convince Lycett to stay in Perth, can they really afford to drop him for a final? Add to that equation Lycett's form line – he kicked four against the Pies – and it starts to become a very tough choice. Cox did himself no harm either, picking up 19 possessions, recording 31 hit-outs and kicking a goal. Collingwood gave West Coast the corridor and the Eagles made them pay. It's hard to see what coach Nathan Buckley can do to turn his side around for a tilt at the finals. Certainly, the return of Dane Swan will help. But one player cannot possibly account for the way in which they were smashed in, especially, the first and third quarters against West Coast. |
3. What was wrong with the Pies this week? Collingwood had been unpredictable in recent weeks, but it hadn't been terrible. It was against West Coast. Going into the match, the Pies' recent domination of the Eagles would have given most tipsters some level of confidence that Collingwood would prevail. The two sides had met on 11 occasions dating back to the 2007 Semi-Final in which the Pies upset West Coast at home. Collingwood had won 10 of them. But this match was a procession. Collingwood gave West Coast the corridor and the Eagles made them pay. It's hard to see what coach Nathan Buckley can do to turn his side around for a tilt at the finals. Certainly, the return of Dane Swan will help. But one player cannot possibly account for the way in which they were smashed in, especially, the first and third quarters against West Coast. 4. Will the Big Easy make the All-Australian team? After being named in last year's extended All-Australian squad, Eric Mackenzie must be a big chance to take the next step this season. Lining up against the opposition's best key forward each week, Mackenzie has rarely been beaten in 2014 and had Travis Cloke well covered on Sunday. Though taller than retired captain Darren Glass, he has won himself a similar reputation for being able to nullify almost any contest. And, like Glass, his disposal, or rather his choice of disposal options, has improved significantly as he has developed. The likes of Scott Thompson and Harry Taylor will obviously be hard to beat for a spot, but Mackenzie could become an All Australian this year. 5. Cloke struggled to have an impact As good as Mackenzie was against Collingwood, Travis Cloke struggled. After kicking three goals each against Adelaide and Port Adelaide in consecutive weeks, the big forward didn't even look like hitting the scoreboard until he nabbed a late one while Mackenzie was off the ground. Perhaps he can blame the delivery from midfield or perhaps the performance of his fellow forwards made it too easy for West Coast's defenders to gang up on him. Whatever the case, Buckley will need to find a quick fix. |
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A glum Nathan Buckley revealed not one of his players thought their own attitude or effort was up to scratch in the 10-goal thrashing they received from West Coast. With a top-eight spot on the line, Collingwood capitulated against the Eagles to drop down to ninth place and leave its finals hopes in the balance. The visitors were only competitive during the second quarter, in which Dayne Beams, Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom racked up big numbers. "We didn't bring enough intent at the contest, we didn't bring enough work rate, we weren't prepared to roll the sleeves up," Buckley said. "And when I say, 'we', (I mean) every player. (I did) a quick straw poll of our playing group then against our trademark - attitude and effort – who's going to give themselves a tick? No hands. Zero hands. First time all year. "To a man, all of them felt that they let the team down and you get a result like that." Buckley said his team's effort had been reasonable in the past two weeks against Adelaide and Port Adelaide, but was left disappointed by Sunday's showing at Patersons Stadium. "Clearly, we are in that final-eight mix, like West Coast, like a couple of other sides," he said. "So with the knowledge of that as a carrot, same for West Coast as it is for us, the effort is especially disappointing. " Buckley said he saw West Coast's inclusion of three ruckmen in the side as "an opportunity". An injury to Xavier Ellis, which prevented the Eagles from subbing one of their talls out of the game, was another opportunity, he said. But his team were "smashed" at the contested ball. "We had some high possession getters, but they were directly opposed to high possession getters from the opposition," he said. "It's not all about offence. We have actually focused a lot on our contests and on our ability to defend. We got sieved. (We) couldn't slow the opposition ball movement down. (We were) either too far back or too far up. And we paid the price." While critical of the efforts of his midfielders, Buckley was particularly savage on his talls. Travis Cloke and Jesse White managed just one goal each, while Jarrod Witts was soundly beaten. "Our talls were poor today. Both down back and up forward," he said. "(They were) largely uncompetitive. (Jeremy) McGovern took 12 marks, (Eric) Mackenzie had Clokey covered. Just not enough work rate from our big units. (Witts) was overshadowed and overcome by their ruckmen, Jesse's efforts were a bit inconsistent. So our big fellas had a bad day." He said some players would clearly have to be dropped to the VFL and both Brodie Grundy and Luke Ball would be in the mix for a recall to the senior team. Nathan Buckley has challenged his players to "represent" the Collingwood colours for the remaining three home and away games to avoid missing the finals for the first time since 2005. The Magpies’ 60-point loss to West Coast at Patersons Stadium on Sunday has them ninth on the ladder, with games against Brisbane, Greater Western Sydney and Hawthorn to come. They have lost six of their past eight games, including three to sides currently outside the top eight. It was only in round 12 that the Pies were on the rise, having won seven of eight games and sitting fourth on the ladder. Buckley, clearly disappointed by his side’s showing against the Eagles on Sunday considering there was so much on the line, said he would now look to the reserves for players in form and who wanted to have a go. ‘‘For there to be a competition there needs to be two combatants,’’ he said. ‘‘Clearly we’re in that final-eight mix, like West Coast, like a couple of other sides. Knowing, with the knowledge of that as a carrot, same with West Coast as it is for us, the effort is especially disappointing. We got smashed at [the] contested ball.’’ Buckley said Luke Ball and Brodie Grundy would be strongly considered for a recall, and Dane Swan will also be in the mix after being considered for the trip west. But turning around a performance like they delivered on Sunday is going to be no mean feat. Buckley conceded the loss was much worse than the ones against the Gold Coast and Essendon, when his side was showing fatigue in the lead-up to the bye. ‘‘This one tops any of that,’’ he said. ‘‘You go back to what you value, you break it down to the base elements and that means having a go, be prepared to represent the guernsey, represent themselves and represent their teammates the best they possibly can. ‘‘We need to improve our midfield depth and improve the periphery around that and the young players need to develop and the leaders need to stand up, and neither really happened today. ‘‘We weren’t prepared to roll the sleeves up – when I say we — every player. A quick straw poll of our playing group then against our trademark – attitude and effort, who is going to give themselves a tick – no hands ... zero hands, first time all year, so to a man all of them felt they let the team down and you get a result like that.’’ What disappointed Buckley the most was that some of West Coast’s ball-movers got plenty of the ball. Matt Priddis had 42 touches, Andrew Gaff 34, Chris Masten 32, Luke Shuey 32 and Mark Hutchings 31. The inability to make the most of their running ability against such a tall opponent also had Buckley lost for words. ‘‘We thought it was an opportunity [the Eagles playing such a tall forward line] and then they ended up kicking 14 of 19 goals, their tall fellas. We didn’t bring enough intent to the contest, we didn’t bring enough work rate. There is another three weeks to go and if we are there we deserve it and if we’re not, we don’t.’’ |
NONE of the 22 players who represented Collingwood in the 10-goal loss to West Coast were prepared to tell coach Nathan Buckley they had brought the right attitude and effort, in a soul-searching post-match meeting behind closed doors at Patersons Stadium last night. Buckley revealed that for the first time this season, not a single player was prepared to put his hand up amid his regular pointed questioning. “A quick straw poll of our playing group then against our trademark - attitude and effort - (I asked) who is going to give themselves a tick?,’’ Buckley said. “No hands. Zero hands. First time all year. To a man, all of them felt that they had let the team down and you get a result like that. “We didn’t bring enough intent at the contest. We didn’t bring enough work rate. We weren’t prepared to roll our sleeves up, and when I saw we - every player.’’ Ruckman Brodie Grundy and midfielders Dane Swan and Luke Ball are all in line for returns to the team for Saturday night’s clash with Brisbane at the MCG after Buckley vowed to wield the axe at selection. “Yeah, whoever’s performed in the twos,’’ Buckley said. The criticism of Collingwood’s big-name midfield as too attacking is back on the agenda again after Buckley took a swipe at their lack of defensive intent. Dayne Beams (35 possessions), Steele Sidebottom (33) and Scott Pendlebury (31) all registered impressive numbers in an on-ball unit that was well beaten. “We got smashed at contested ball. We had some high possession getters, but they were directly opposed to high possession getters from the opposition,’’ Buckley said. “It’s not all about offence. We’ve actually focused a lot on our contests and our abilty to defend and we got sieved. “We were slow out of the blocks. The second quarter, I thought we at least got involved in the wrestle, but for there to be a competition there needs to be two combatants. “Our first 15 minutes was poor, the next 40 minutes was okay and we started looking like we were going to fight our way back into it, but coming out after half-time our first two minutes was especially poor and the second half continued in that vain.’’ Buckley urged his men to get back to basics as they chased a finals berth, saying Collingwood would deserve to play in September if it qualified. “There’s another three weeks to go and if we’re there we’ll deserve it, if we’re not, we won’t,’’ he said. “You go back to what you value. You really break it down to the base elements and that is having a go. “Be prepared to represent the guernsey, represent themselves and represent their teammates as best they possibly can.’’ COLLINGWOOD’S finals hopes hang in the balance after they stuttered to a 60-point loss to West Coast in yesterday’s clash at Patersons Stadium. Eagles ruckman Scott Lycett and forward Jack Darling booted four goals apiece, while midfielder Matt Priddis starred with 42 possessions and a goal to lift West Coast to a handsome victory. The Magpies were sitting pretty in fourth spot on the table with an 8-3 record after round 12. But six losses from their past eight games have seen them tumble to ninth with just three rounds remaining. For the Eagles, victories over Adelaide and Collingwood have lifted them to within a win of the top eight ahead of Saturday’s showdown against the eighth-placed Bombers at Etihad. “Maybe the pressure valve got released a bit a few weeks ago thinking that the season was over, and that released the shackles a bit,” coach Adam Simpson said. Collingwood were off the boil from the outset, but a purple patch during the second term reduced the margin to 17 points at halftime. However, the game was as good as over after the Eagles unleashed a brutal third quarter that netted them six unanswered goals during a golden 22-minute period. Lycett kicked two goals in the space of three minutes, while retiring Eagle Dean Cox was mobbed by his teammates after nailing a difficult left-foot snap. Darling put the icing on the cake with three goals in the last term, with the final margin delivering Collingwood’s percentage a painful blow. While Collingwood struggled to penetrate the Eagles’ defence, a ground invader managed to make it into the Magpies’ forward 50m before his surging run was brought to a halt by ground security. Collingwood midfielders Steele Sidebottom, Dayne Beams and Scott Pendlebury battled valiantly, but the Eagles’ prime movers were given too much space to inflict damage through the middle. Ellis’s season could be over after he was accidentally clotheslined by Collingwood’s Ben Reid. Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley promised to swing the axe, saying his team simply got “sieved” at the key contests. “We didn’t bring enough intent to the contest. We didn’t bring enough work rate,” Buckley said. “We weren’t prepared to roll the sleeves up.” Collingwood will start as hot favourites to beat Brisbane (home) and GWS (away) over the next fortnight. But if they are to reach the finals, they will probably need to beat defending premiers Hawthorn in a final-round blockbuster. “We didn’t bring enough intent at the contest. We didn’t bring enough work rate. We weren’t prepared to roll our sleeves up, and when I saw we - every player.’’
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