COLLINGWOOD 4.4.28 5.4.34 6.6.42 8.10.58
GOALS - Collingwood: Cox 2, Maynard, White, Sidebottom, Varcoe, Greenwood, Grundy
BEST - Collingwood: Treloar, Pendlebury, Howe, De Goey, Varcoe
INJURIES - Collingwood: J Frost (shoulder), Reid (left knee), Pendlebury (left ankle)
REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil
OFFICIAL CROWD - 60,158 at the MCG
| 1. Melbourne exorcises its Demons Collingwood's hold over Melbourne on Queen's Birthday extends back to 2007. Despite regarding the marquee game as their 'Grand Final', the Demons have perennially struggled on the big stage. But not this season. Melbourne shook off a slow start to make a statement on Monday, kicking seven goals to one in the second quarter to seize control of the match. Nathan Jones (31 touches and five clearances) and Bernie Vince (42 disposals and 11 rebound 50s) had blinders, Max Gawn dominated after quarter-time (27 disposals, 31 hit-outs and three goals) and Jesse Hogan (three goals) was a beacon in attack. The Demons also received significant contributions from Christian Petracca (20 disposals and one goal) and Clayton Oliver (16 touches and eight tackles). 2. Bucks' big selection blunder It was a big call by Nathan Buckley to play Mason Cox (211cm), Jarrod Witts (209cm) and Brodie Grundy (203cm) in the same side. The move backfired spectacularly as Collingwood was unable to apply the pressure needed to trap the ball in its forward half. By overlooking Travis Cloke, the Pies had Jesse White, Witts and Cox inside 50 as their forward options. If the trio could not mark it, Melbourne could simply rush the ball out of defence and create forward forays from Collingwood's turnovers. Tom McDonald had a picnic in defence. White, Witts and Cox kicked just three goals between them on a day where the Magpies kicked just eight goals (four after quarter-time) for the afternoon. 3. Viney gives the Dees a hand Melbourne shocked many when it named Jack Viney in its team for Monday's game, just two weeks after breaking the knucklebone in his hand against Port Adelaide. Viney passed a rigorous fitness test on Saturday to prove he was ready to play. The tough midfielder played the game with a glove on his left hand. Viney was thrust straight into the thick of the action by starting in the middle and booted the Demons' opening goal with a clever soccer kick. The midfielder did not have the impact that he has generated for much of 2016 but he still played a valuable role, finishing with 30 disposals and six clearances. |
4. A win-win trade Former Demon Jeremy Howe and ex-Magpie Ben Kennedy both performed strongly against their former teams on Monday. The duo were part of a four-way trade deal that also involved Paul Seedsman moving to Adelaide and Jimmy Toumpas to Port Adelaide. Howe has been a welcome addition to a struggling Collingwood backline and held up well under immense pressure to be one of the Magpies' best. After coming back into the team following a best afield performance in the VFL last week, Kennedy hit his straps and was particularly influential in the second term. The zippy forward had 29 touches, 10 marks and a goal to cap off a very satisfying day against his old side. 5. Bugg a pain in the Sidebottom Melbourne has not generally played a run-with player in 2016, even after the success Bernie Vince and Jack Viney (to a certain extent) enjoyed last season. But after Steele Sidebottom had seven disposals and a goal in the first quarter, Paul Roos decided to revert back to the tactic. He sent the niggling Tomas Bugg to the Pies' prime mover with great success. Bugg kept Sidebottom to just 10 more disposals for the match as he applied the defensive clamps. Bugg won 21 disposals and had eight tackles to be one of Melbourne's most important players on the day. It was a big call by Nathan Buckley to play Mason Cox (211cm), Jarrod Witts (209cm) and Brodie Grundy (203cm) in the same side. The move backfired spectacularly as Collingwood was unable to apply the pressure needed to trap the ball in its forward half. By overlooking Travis Cloke, the Pies had Jesse White, Witts and Cox inside 50 as their forward options. If the trio could not mark it, Melbourne could simply rush the ball out of defence and create forward forays from Collingwood's turnovers. |
| THE MEDIA | |
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POOR ball use, a lack of forward pressure, an inability to support tagged teammates and a failed plan to work Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn over led to Collingwood's 46-point loss, Magpies coach Nathan Buckley says. Having slumped to 14th on the ladder with just four wins in the first 12 games, Buckley said the Magpies had to recommit to the way it wants to play after being too easy to play against in the past fortnight. "We have got a vision of where we want to go and we have to embody that more often," Buckley said. The coach said poor ball use after quarter-time ensured the Magpies weren't able to take advantage of matching the Demons in the inside 50 count (46-45 in Collingwood's favour). "Their contested method versus ours was the difference in the game," Buckley said. "Their forwards got the benefit of that and our forwards weren't able to take advantage of the haphazard ball that was coming the other way." The lack of flow helped the Demons dominate when the ball hit the ground inside Collingwood's forward 50 with Tom McDonald, Bernie Vince and Josh Wagner exiting the back half of the ground too easily. "Their ability to get back on groundball in our forward line was pretty effective," Buckley said. "[They were] able to find that first kick out of our forward 50 too easily." Buckley conceded selecting Jarrod Witts as a second ruckman in an effort to beat Gawn into submission had failed, with the presence of three ineffective talls in Witts, Brodie Grundy and Mason Cox giving the Demons an advantage. "The intent was to try to work Gawn over," Buckley said. "I think it happened the other way ... he schooled a few of our boys in that process." He was also disappointed that Steele Sidebottom's teammates didn't make life difficult for Demons tagger Tomas Bugg, who took the silky midfielder's effectiveness away. Buckley said that battle was a snapshot for how Collingwood played. "The question asked post-match was 'How many of Steele's teammates got across to help him? How many of Steele's teammates made life more uncomfortable for Tom Bugg?'" Buckley said. "When we were up and about we had the opposition having to throw ice-packs on left, right and centre because we are hard to play against." Buckley said the Magpies had a chance to regroup over the bye and said the little things were hurting the team in big ways. He said the line St Kilda coach Alan Richardson had used to describe the Saints also applied to Collingwood's plight. "You're either learners or losers and in many ways we're in that position." RUCKMAN Max Gawn has laid claim to being the game's best ruckman after leading Melbourne to its first win on Queen's Birthday since 2007, with the Demons destroying Collingwood by 46 points. As the Demons kicked seven goals in the second quarter, Gawn had 10 disposals and kicked two goals. Such was his presence and influence, he made the Magpies' decision to add Jarrod Witts to the line-up to support Brodie Grundy and Mason Cox a failure. Melbourne dominated uncontested possession and had 125 more disposals than Collingwood to win 16.8 (104) to 8.10 (58). After wasting opportunities early, Jack Trengove started the ball rolling for Melbourne in the second quarter with his first goal since round 19, 2013. The Demons kicked seven of the next eight goals until Levi Greenwood broke the run and kicked one for the Magpies five minutes into the third quarter. Demons skipper Nathan Jones - the only remaining Demon from that Queen's Birthday win in 2007 - inspired the turnaround, breaking Greenwood's tag and using his muscle around the stoppages to win vital contests. He then watched on as Gawn and midfielder Bernie Vince exposed Collingwood's weaknesses to be the best two players on the ground. Gawn finished with a career-high 27 disposals and three goals, ensuring he cashed in on the exposure gained by being on the front cover of the AFL Record. Vince was relentless with an amazing 42 disposals and he had good support from Tomas Bugg, who restricted Steele Sidebottom to just 17 disposals, while Dom Tyson (29 disposals) was excellent from start to finish. Tom McDonald was brilliant, erasing the memory of last Queen's Birthday when the absent Travis Cloke kicked seven goals against the defender. He took nine marks and restricted the Magpies' attack to just 13 marks inside 50. His brother Oscar was also very good in defence, playing his best game for Melbourne, outpointing the Magpies' tall forwards when the football hit the ground. Melbourne's forward line looked potent with key forward Jesse Hogan good in the air, taking six marks and kicking three goals. He enjoyed good support from Chris Dawes who ran hard to create space, Jack Watts kicked two goals and Dean Kent had three majors. Collingwood had few winners with Travis Varcoe battling hard as Scott Pendlebury and Adam Treloar put in their normal serviceable performances, but they could not compete with Melbourne after quarter-time. Melbourne now has six wins and six losses after 12 rounds while Collingwood's finals hopes are gone with just four wins as it heads into the bye in 14th position. MEDICAL ROOM Collingwood: Scott Pendlebury had his foot iced after the game but Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley was vague after the game on whether the captain had suffered an injury. He played out the game and did not appear in discomfort during the match. Ben Reid had ice on his left knee too but should be fine, while Jack Frost returned to the ground after having his shoulder assessed. The Magpies don't have any players of note returning from injury and the bye will help teammates recover from niggles. |
COLLINGWOOD stacked its side with big men and Melbourne's ruckman Max Gawn went through them like a wrecking ball. The All-Australian contender was best-afield in the Demons' 46-point win at the MCG, leaving Collingwood's coach Nathan Buckley to lament a strategy that went horribly wrong. "It was probably the lack of impact in the ruck that hurt us more than anything else," Buckley said. The Magpies mentor said Jarrod Witts' form in the VFL meant it was "hard to deny him any further". However the Magpies were blown away by Gawn's 27-possession, three-goal performance as Witts and Brodie Grundy failed to limit the bearded big man's impact. "The intent was to try to work Gawn over. I think it happened the other way," Buckley said. "He had more than 30 hit-outs, 27 touches and kicked three goals." Collingwood's key forwards also failed to dominate although Buckley said "haphazard" delivery into the inside-50 zone didn't help. "We had one more inside-50. We didn't dominate aerially the way we might have," he said. "Mainly our ball use was really poor. We're capable of better than what we dished up today." Collingwood faces a fortnight of soul-searching, sitting 14th with a 4-8 win-loss record and a bye to come this weekend. Buckley rated Collingwood's effort as "OK". "We were just that one or two per cent off and Melbourne took full toll," he said. Buckley said Collingwood couldn't match Melbourne's tackling pressure which was "through the roof". "We weren't able to put enough pressure on that ball carrier," Buckley said. Buckley said Tomas Bugg's shutdown role on Steele Sidebottom, who had 17 touches and didn't have a major impact, was a snapshot of what happened in the game. "We've got two senior leaders out there, Steele Sidebottom and Pendles (skipper Scott Pendlebury), and one of them gets sat on from the opposition," Buckley said. "How many of Steele's teammates made life more uncomfortable for Tom Bugg? "When we're up and about, we have the opposition having to throw ice packs on left, right and centre because we're hard to play against. "The last two weeks in particular, I don't think we've been that. It was too easy for the opposition to do a job on one of our senior leaders. "We can't be just expecting that he's going to get himself out of it. "It's a team game and we've got help each other out a bit more." Collingwood's tactical ploy to use two rucks to tag team Melbourne big man Max Gawn failed utterly at the MCG on Sunday with the ruckman turning the tables on Collingwood with a best-on-ground performance that prompted Magpies coach Nathan Buckley to admit his side had not been hard to play against for two weeks. Collingwood were solidly beaten for a second successive week by a team out of the top eight - losing by 46 points at the MCG - and enter the bye with just four wins and eight losses, a long injury list that will not shorten in the short term and a season on the cusp. "We are capable of better than what we dished up today," Buckley said. The Magpies dropped Travis Cloke and brought in second ruck Jarrod Witts to alternate forward and in the ruck with Brodie Grundy. Buckley admitted the pair were worked over by Gawn who was best on ground, winning the Neale Daniher Trophy. "The intent was to try to work Gawn over and it happened the other way. We have had a ruckman opposing us who has had more than 30 hitouts, 27 touches and kicked three goals so I think he has scored a few of our boys in that process," Buckley said. "We didn't dominate aerially the way we might have with those (tall forwards and rucks: Witts, Grundy, Mason Cox and Jesse White). "It was the lack of impact in the ruck that hurt us more than anything else." While Collingwood has a long injury list that leaves little scope for changing the list, Buckley said the first concern was not changing players but getting players in the team to perform better. "We have got to improve our output first," he said. Buckley said a microcosm of the game was that Collingwood had done nothing to help Steele Sidebottom when he was being heavily tagged out of the match by Tom Bugg. "When we are up and about, we have the opposition throwing ice packs on left, right and centre because we are hard to play against and the last two weeks, in particular, I don't think we have been that. Ultimately, that comes home to roost with all of us," he said. "When we have come to play, we have looked all right and when we haven't and been a little bit off you can see how tough this game is. The weight of numbers has hurt us at times." The senior players brought back into the team prematurely illustrated the gulf in the senior and reserve grade. "We find out the difference between AFL and VFL when Marsh and Williams come in and Wittsy for that matter and there is still a big gap, a big jump-up. It is the capacity of enough of us to be able to play at AFL standard for four quarters and we are just too inconsistent at the moment." Buckley pointed to an uncontested mark by Jack Trengove at the start of the second quarter when Brayden Maynard was unable to effect the contest, a missed spoil from Jack Frost that led to a goal as among the rookie errors that undid Collingwood. NEXT UP Collingwood has a bye this week before it meets Fremantle in a danger game at the MCG in round 14. NEXT FIVE BYE, Fremantle, Carlton, GWS Giants, Adelaide Crows, North Melbourne |
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