COLLINGWOOD 1.1.7 1.4.10 5.6.36 7.11.53
GOALS - Collingwood: Greenwood, Crisp, De Goey, Moore, Fasolo, Treloar, Maynard
BEST - Collingwood: Treloar, Adams, Sidebottom, Blair, Greenwood
INJURIES - Collingwood: Dane Swan (ankle)
REPORTS - Collingwood: Steele Sidebottom for rough conduct on Dan Hannebery in the third quarter
OFFICIAL CROWD: 33, 857 at the SCG
| 1. Buddy bursts back into the spotlight The superstar kicked a goal 39 seconds into the game to have the crowd on their feet, and his second took him to number 20 on the list of greatest goalkickers in VFL/AFL history. Buddy ended the first half the way he started with another major and had four at the main break. Not even a shoulder knock could slow the champ down as he reminded us all why he's the best big forward in the game. 2. Did Travis Cloke miss the plane to Sydney? While Franklin dominated his forward 50, Cloke's influence on the game was non-existent, and he finished the first half with Easter eggs on the stats sheet after being blanketed by Heath Grundy. Coach Nathan Buckley was so desperate to get his power forward into the game that Cloke started the second-half in the ruck. He's a much-maligned player – sometimes unfairly - but he's hardly got a case to complain after a woeful start to 2016. 3. Swans first-gamers on fire The Swans haven't started three debutants in 26 years, but Callum Mills, George Hewett and rookie upgrade Tom Papley well and truly repaid the faith shown in them by coach John Longmire. Mills had 18 possessions and was cool across half-back, Hewett slotted straight into the midfield and looked right at home, while Papley played his crumbing forward role to perfection. The Swans' depth has been questioned but they still have co-captain Jarrad McVeigh, Sam Reid, Ted Richards, Ben McGlynn and Gary Rohan to return. |
4. Where does Collingwood get best value for money from their skipper? Scott Pendlebury is a star of the competition but he struggled to give the Pies any drive on a dark night in Sydney. He spent time in the midfield, at half-back and playing as a loose man in defence, but never got going against the Swans. Collingwood looked lost coming out of the back 50 so Pendlebury's skills could definitely help that area, but his ball-winning ability through the middle of the ground has been his greatest strength. It could be a week-to-week decision for Nathan Buckley. 5. Do the Swans need leg speed? The question marks over the Swans' pace have been there for a couple of seasons and the departure of Lewis Jetta and injuries to Gary Rohan and Ben McGlynn haven't helped them go away. Speed didn't look to be an issue against the Pies however, with the way the home side moved the ball often making the opposition look slow. The addition of Papley has added bite, and with Harry Cunningham and Zak Jones also complementing inside players like Luke Parker, Josh Kennedy and Tom Mitchell, the Swans looked the quicker team. ... Cloke's influence on the game was non-existent, and he finished the first half with Easter eggs on the stats sheet ... |
| THE MEDIA | |
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LANCE Franklin has made a triumphant return as Sydney monstered Collingwood by 80 points in a horror start to the Pies' season. Franklin finished with four goals and the Swans piled on 10 straight between the first and third quarters, on their way to a 18.25 (133) to 7.11 (53) win on Saturday night at the SCG. Compounding the Pies' woes was an ankle injury to champion midfielder Dane Swan in the first five minutes, which could sideline him for several weeks. And their misery might last beyond Saturday after another of their prime movers after Steele Sidebottom was reported for a bump on Dan Hannebery. Franklin, who missed Sydney's 2015 finals campaign because of a mental health issue, kicked a goal inside the first 40 seconds and nailed three long-distance shots in the second quarter. One of the senior figures in a youthful Swans side, 29-year-old Franklin had a fifth major goal scrubbed for an off-the-ball incident involving a teammate. But he moved into 20th on the leading goal-kickers list with his second for the night and finished the evening on 710, which is the most by any current player. He had plenty of support with Luke Parker, Tom Mitchell, Jake Lloyd and Kieren Jack running riot, and their three AFL debutants contributing, with lively small forward Tom Papley kicking three goals. The Swans led by as much as 90 points in the final quarter and would surely have won by a three-figure margin had they kicked more accurately. Collingwood were so inept in the first half that Franklin had outscored them 25-10 by half-time, and two other Swans, Mitchell and Papley, had also contributed more than the entire Collingwood outfit. The Pies' service to their forwards was so poor that spearhead Travis Cloke didn't record a disposal in the first half. One of the few bright spots for Collingwood was from former Giants midfielder Adam Treloar. Pies coach Nathan Buckley said Swan had a cracked fibula and foot fractures and would require surgery. "I assume once that's done we'll have a better idea of what it means for him for the rest of the year," Buckley said. He rated Collingwood on Saturday as a shadow of the side that performed so impressively through the NAB Challenge. "It was poor, there wasn't anything that was redeeming in that performance at all," said Buckley, who added Cloke was given a spell in the ruck to try and spark him up. He reported Marley Williams came off late with a knee issue and Nathan Brown was taken off as a precautionary measure after feeling hamstring tightness. Sydney Swans coach John Longmire described Franklin's effort as terrific and praised him for his work with the younger Swans forwards. "His shoulder was a bit sore, I think he got a knock in a contest just after he kicked a goal in the first quarter," Longmire said. "But he's come back on and played pretty well after that." Longmire praised his bevy of youngsters and said he had told them to play to their strengths. "Under that real pressure early in that game, round one when it's right on the whips are cracking, the kids were pretty good," Longmire said. Collingwood will be sweating on the scans from Swan's ankle injury, but the way he hobbled from the ground in pain, he looks set for some time on the sidelines. Franklin's shoulder looked to bother him at various stages after quarter-time but he should be fine to play next week. . The Swans' blueprint to remain a competition power in the post-Adam Goodes era has been devastatingly laid out in an extraordinary 80-point defeat of a shell-shocked Collingwood. Sporting 11 players with under 50 games' experience, including three debutants, and missing injured regular starters Jarrad McVeigh, Sam Reid and Ted Richards, Sydney began with a stirring goal inside the first 40 seconds to Lance Franklin and never looked back. The champion forward headed the Swans' charge in an unforgettable celebration of his return after mental health issues forced him to stand down from the team late last season. In a match scheduled to have been played at ANZ Stadium until the club's deal with the ground was ended a year early, Sydney returned 'home' for their 350th match at the SCG and put the cleaners through one of the form teams of the pre-season challenge in front of 33,857 fans Certainly, questions will be asked as to whether Collingwood's inept display was at least partly due to an emotional toll from the leaking of information about a number of their players testing positive to illicit drugs in the off-season. The Magpies' woeful night was compounded by what appeared to be a serious injury to Dane Swan, who hyper-extended his ankle in a challenge with Zak Jones in the first quarter and did not return. And even though former GWS Giants star Adam Treloar topped Collingwood's list of possession gatherers, the boom midfielder will not look back on his first game in the famous black and white fondly. In contrast to the Magpies' troubles, Sydney for most of the game ran like a well-oiled machine, controlling all areas of the ground for long periods. Their dominance was reflected statistically, particularly in contested possessions, which they won by nearly 50. Had they been a bit more accurate in front of goal they would have inflicted considerably more damage. A fit and determined Franklin kicked four goals and appeared to love every minute. Tom Mitchell kicked three and Harry Cunningham two. Luke Parker gathered a career-high 40 touches, teaming with Jake Lloyd, Kieren Jack (35 each) and Dan Hannebery to strangle Collingwood's much celebrated midfield, while Heath Grundy kept Travis Cloke scoreless. Additionally - and encouragingly after the departures of Goodes, Rhyce Shaw, Mike Pyke, Lewis Jetta and Craig Bird - first-gamers Callum Mills, Tom Papley and George Hewett looked right at home. Small forward Papley scored three goals and laid five tackles, No.3 draft pick Mills was in the action with 18 disposals and Hewett had 15 touches and made seven tackles. New signings ruckman Callum Sinclair and defender Michael Talia also seemed to be singing from the right sheet, tuning in well to coach John Longmire's game plan. The Swans led by 20 at the first break and opened up a gap of 10.12.72 to 1.4.10 at halftime, keeping Collingwood to just three points in the second quarter. The Magpies' best showing came in the third term when they managed 4.2 to Sydney's 4.9, leaving the score at 105 to 36. Sydney scored a further 28 to 15 in the last quarter to seal a huge win. "It was poor, there wasn't anything that was redeeming in that performance at all. We were a shadow of what we've seen in the NAB Challenge and a long way away from where we see ourselves." |
A NIGHTMARE week has turned into a horror show for Collingwood. After enormous question marks were raised about their off-field behaviour with revelations of alleged illicit drug use their on-field looked even worse. The 80-point flogging at the hands of the Sydney Swans was just the start of the woes for the Pies who looks to have lost star midfielder Dane Swan for possibly 8-10 weeks with a fractured fibula/foot and have Steele Sidebottom on report for a bump to Dan Hannebery's head. Swan was taken to hospital after an awkward fall in a first quarter marking contest and Sidebottom is in danger of a suspension after Hannebery was examined for concussion. While it was a night to forget for the Magpies it was one to remember for the Swans who registered their biggest win over the black and whites since 1987. Lance Franklin kicked four goals in his return to football after taking a leave of absence from the game in September and missing the finals to deal with mental health issues. He set the Swans underway in the opening seconds of the match with a mark and goal and had three more before the main break. His fourth was a signature bomb from close to the boundary line from outside 50. The only concern for him and the Swans was a knock to his right shoulder which looked to have him in serious discomfort in the second quarter. "It's all good," Franklin said after the game. "It's just a little stinger and I'll be right next week." Swans coach John Longmire couldn't be happier with the star forward's first up performance. "He's fit and he's covering the ground really well," Longmire said. "He was helping the younger kids in the forward line. Whether it was him hitting the scoreboard or giving goals off or chasing or just steering the kids around I thought he was terrific." While Franklin was back to his powerful best it was another absentee from last year's finals campaign Luke Parker who provided the biggest reminder of what they missed in September. The midfield gun finished with 40 disposals, eight marks and a goal in a best on ground display. He has plenty of mates as the Swans engine room dominated from the outset winning contested possession 174-141. Tom Mitchell (30), Kieren Jack (35) and Jake Lloyd (35) all made big contributions. Sydney's well known stars were at their best but it was the performance of Sydney's three first gamers which will stay in the memory. It was the first time in 26 years that the Swans had three first game players in one team. Tom Papley, Callum Mills and George Hewett made impressive starts to what could be long careers for all of them. Rookie list elevation Papley was the pick with three goals. Both his grandfathers Max Papley and the late Jeff Bray played for South Melbourne in the 1960s. "We wouldn't have thought when we recruited Tom he would come out and kick three goals in round one," Longmire said. "But he's had a good pre-season and the coaches have worked hard with him and he's worked on the areas he needed to. He's that small pressure forward who can also hit the scoreboard." For Nathan Buckley Adam Treloar's outstanding debut was the only thing to salvage out of the wreckage. Treloar picked up 34 possessions (14 contested), won six centre clearances and kicked a goal. Scott Pendlebury, Taylor Adams and Sidebottom all battled on. Swan Scott Pendlebury concedes Dane Swan's loss was sorely felt in Collingwood's 80-point loss to Sydney after the star midfielder suffered a fractured fibula and fractured foot. Swan – who was felled with the injury after just eight minutes – failed to notch a disposal for the first time in his career and will require surgery, but coach Nathan Buckley was unable to put a time frame on any potential return. "I don't know what it's going to mean as far as time out. I'm told he'll need surgery and I presume once that's done we'll have a better idea of what it means for him for the rest of the year," Buckley said. Pendlebury said Swan's absence in the midfield "definitely hurt us". "It's not great to see a champion player go down so early and break his foot." Adding to the Magpies' misery was Steele Sidebottom's report for a head-high bump on Sydney midfielder Dan Hannebery. Hannebery sat out the last quarter as a precaution and Sidebottom's fate could rest with the Swans' medical report. Alex Fasolo sent shockwaves through the Collingwood camp when he fell on his head in a marking contest in the first quarter, with Buckley saying the shock of how close he came to serious injury would have been a lot to overcome. "The fact that he finished the game was a plus for us and I thought he kept plugging away given the shock he would have felt after believing he was in a lot of trouble there for a period," he said. Nathan Brown had minor hamstring tightness and was rested for the last quarter, and Marley Williams copped a knock to the knee. COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley says his players have been 'betrayed' by reports claiming up to 11 Magpies had tested positive to illicit substances after being hair-tested in the off-season. News Corp stunned the footy world on Thursday night when it named the Magpies – but no other club in the league – as failing the tests. The results of the program – which was signed off by the AFLPA - are supposed to remain confidential, and Buckley was disappointed that his club has been the only one dragged into the controversy. "I don't know what the facts are and I don't know if many people know what the facts are," Buckley said after his side's disappointing 80-point loss to the Sydney Swans on Saturday night. "The AFL do; in regards to the off-season testing. "One thing I do know is that our players, along with the rest of the players in the competition, were prepared to put their hand up to be tested under the guise of anonymity, and our players are the only ones that seem to no longer enjoy that cloak of anonymity. "They've been betrayed in some sense and it wouldn't surprise me if they felt that a little bit." Buckley refused to give the players an out for their ordinary performance against the Swans, but admitted that it was impossible to tell just how the events of the past few days have affected his men. "I've got no idea, but we were a very different group," he said. "We didn't harp on it, we didn't dwell on it, we spoke about it briefly but to mine, we're human, our boys are human. "I hate making excuses, but in some shape or form we were different tonight, and we don't want to be there in six days time. "There's plenty that we're not in control of but the things that we were in control of, we didn't look after, and that's the things that we'll keep going back too." The Pies now have a six-day break before facing archrivals Richmond at the MCG next Friday night, and Buckley said it's going to be a challenge to turn his side's form around. "It was poor, there wasn't anything that was redeeming in that performance at all," he said. "We were a shadow of what we've seen in the NAB Challenge and a long way away from where we see ourselves." |
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