GOLD COAST 0.2.2 1.6.12 4.8.32 6.11.47
GOALS - Collingwood: White 3, De Goey 3, Crisp 2, Greenwood 2, Treloar, Smith, Crocker, Sidebottom, Phillips, Pendlebury
BEST - Collingwood: Grundy, White, Treloar, Crisp, Howe, Pendlebury, Smith, De Goey
INJURIES - Collingwood: Goldsack (foot) replaced in selected side by Williams, Moore (hamstring), De Goey (right foot)
REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil
OFFICIAL CROWD - 17,644 at Etihad Stadium
| 1. The injury curse continues Nic Naitanui and Jonathon Ceglar require knee reconstructions after hurting themselves on Friday night, Paddy McCartin broke his collarbone on Saturday, North Melbourne's Scott Thompson's groin played up and Darcy Moore and Sean Lemmens joined the long list of casualties from this week's footy. The Sun was knocked out after a collision with Jesse White while Moore's right hamstring was injured as he slid for a mark. It could mean Travis Cloke has one last chance to prove his worth, after the premiership player kicked four goals earlier on Saturday in the VFL. 2. Fair to say the Melbourne experiment didn't work The Suns spent the week in Melbourne after they played Essendon last Sunday. The combination of a six-day break, and the club not being in finals contention, meant they were prepared to stay in Victoria to do some sponsor and media work, and to let the players experience the footy-mad environment. They responded by not kicking their second goal of the game until halfway through the third term in a listless display. It came on the back of a poor effort versus the Bombers, and Gold Coast looks to be running on fumes. It's hard to determine how much impact not returning home had on the Suns' display, but they're unlikely to try it again. 3. Jesse White – the ultimate tease The 28-year-old has long had a massive gap between his best and worst, and he was excellent against the Suns, although it came in a contest where both teams were out of finals contention. He finished with 17 disposals, 10 marks and registered 3.4. Some of his work in the air was brilliant, with his best effort coming at the end of the second term, when he took a grab between Rory Thompson and Steven May. It just happens too rarely for the liking of Magpies fans. This is the final season of a three-year deal for the former Sydney Swan, and it remains to be seen whether White will earn another contract. |
4. Fans in short supply There was nothing riding on the game, and the supporters weren't prepared to spend their Saturday night at the indoor arena. Just 17,644 people were in attendance, which was the lowest-ever number at Etihad Stadium for a Collingwood match. It's hard to blame anyone though – the Pies have had a disappointing season after being touted as potential finalists following the arrivals of Adam Treloar, Jeremy Howe and James Aish. Making the top-eight has been the minimum standard set by Nathan Buckley for 2017, or as he himself acknowledged on Friday, Buckley will be looking for a new job. 5. Howe flies, but Brodie's braids capture attention Footy fans have become accustomed to Howe taking a speccy a week, but against the Suns, he delivered two. In the second term, he flew over all two metres of Peter Wright to bring excitement to a lacklustre game. His effort over Steven May early in the third quarter was arguably even better. Brodie Grundy was the only person on the field who could match Howe in terms of being eye-catching, with the in-form ruckman sporting braids – a hairstyle not often seen in the AFL. Just 17,644 people were in attendance, which was the lowest-ever number at Etihad Stadium for a Collingwood match. It's hard to blame anyone though – the Pies have had a disappointing season after being touted as potential finalists following the arrivals of Adam Treloar, Jeremy Howe and James Aish. Making the top-eight has been the minimum standard set by Nathan Buckley for 2017, or as he himself acknowledged on Friday, Buckley will be looking for a new job. |
| THE MEDIA | |
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Darcy Moore's season is finished after he injured his right hamstring in the second quarter of Collingwood's Saturday night match against Gold Coast. Moore hurt himself while attempting a mark and was seen wearing ice on his hamstring in the rooms at half-time, and did not return to the interchange bench to start the second half. He eventually appeared in a tracksuit top on the sidelines in the final quarter. Pies coach Nathan Buckley said after the game that Moore had proven himself fit to face the Suns after he had hurt the same muscle in round 19, but that he wouldn't play against Hawthorn in round 23. "He's nicked his hammy again, so he won't play next week," Buckley said. "He was a little bit sore when he came off against West Coast and he missed the second half, and he missed the next game against Richmond. "He did everything right, ticked all the boxes, and we got him back up. There's a bit of strengthening to be done there and we wanted to win as many games as we could." The injury opens the door for Travis Cloke to return to the senior team, after the 29-year-old booted four goals in the VFL. That effort came on the back of his five goals in the state league last week. GOLD Coast spent all of last week in Melbourne in an unique plan to prepare the team for back-to-back games at Etihad Stadium. But on Saturday night's evidence against Collingwood, the Suns might as well have headed back to Queensland, skipped training and gone for a surf. Collingwood put the listless Suns outfit to the sword under the Docklands roof, setting up the commanding 71-point win with a dominant first term that saw them jump to a seven-goal lead. Gold Coast's different preparations in Melbourne might have been set up to give the young side a taste of the football bubble in Victoria, but it did not deliver a competitive effort from the Suns, who fell to the 16.22 (118) to 6.11 (47) defeat. The Pies' win was their first at Etihad Stadium since 2014, and followed their strong performance against the Western Bulldogs last week when they fell short by three points. But the victory was soured by another hamstring injury to young star Darcy Moore, which may open the door for a senior recall for Travis Cloke, who kicked four goals for the Pies' VFL side on Saturday. Pies forward Jesse White put in one of his best games with three goals, 10 marks and 17 disposals to be the most damaging inside-50 player, while Adam Treloar (38 disposals, six tackles and a goal), Scott Pendlebury (32 disposals) and Brodie Grundy (26 disposals, 36 hit-outs, five clearances) were also excellent. Jeremy Howe took on Suns goalkicking star Tom Lynch and won that battle, gathering 29 disposals and amassing 18 marks – two of which were trademark high grabs. Youngsters Josh Smith, Jordan De Goey and Tom Phillips also impressed, in what would have excited Pies' fans after a trying third straight year out of the final eight. "We rate Gold Coast's speed, and they clearly picked a more outside, quicker team. On the fast track (of Etihad Stadium), we didn't want it to turn into a running race. We controlled our ball use really well and we were able to keep the ball in our front half more often than not," coach Nathan Buckley said after the game. Touk Miller backed up his 39-disposal effort from last week's loss to Essendon with another 32 touches for the Suns, while Aaron hall provided some moments of zip with his 26 touches. There were few other winners for the Suns, who had 129 fewer disposals and 18 fewer inside 50 entries (61 to 43) than the Pies. The signs were ominous early. The Pies moved the ball with ease through their midfield, and sent it inside their forward-50 with next to no pressure. It saw them boot seven goals for the opening term to open up a 43-point lead at the first change, against a Gold Coast side that went goalless and was largely uncompetitive for the quarter. Pendlebury has made much better teams look slow and out of position than this injury-hit Suns line-up. But the poise he had to coolly turn onto his non-preferred right foot midway through the quarter and snap the Pies' fifth goal highlighted the lack of pressure by the Suns. The Suns got their first goal less than a minute into the second term when Ryan Davis made the most of a 50-metre penalty, but that was their only major of the half to record their lowest half-time score (1.6) of the season – second lowest in the club's short history. Collingwood continued to pick apart the Suns in the second term, piling on another five goals to open a 68-point margin at the main break. Pleasingly for the Pies, it wasn't just the usual faces making the running. First-year midfielder Smith collected 20 disposals in the first half, De Goey kicked two goals from 11 first-half disposals, and inconsistent forward White was having one of his best games of the season with three majors to the major change. The latter rounds of a long season often offers these types of contests, with two sides out of finals contention largely playing for time with the end of the year in reach. But Collingwood showed the way to take on the task, and Gold Coast presented the opposite approach. The Pies were methodical in their style and clinical in their execution across the game, with Treloar's third-term running goal exposing the gap between the sides. The former Greater Western Sydney midfielder, playing his 100th career game, burst out of the centre square, sped away from a group of chasing Suns, shot away a handball, won the ball back and snapped a classy goal. Treloar was too good, but it was all too easy. The Pies' 77-point advantage at the final change meant the game was already wrapped up in the last term, with the Suns' two goals the only majors of the last term. "We've been far more consistent [since the bye], Even though we've only won five of those nine, we've had a really tough draw. We lowered our colours against Richmond, but for the most part we've played more consistent footy. We've still had some personnel challenges - but every team has. We've probably handled them better in the back half of the year. It's encouraging, given we want to finish this season as well as we can. So next week against Hawthorn is pretty important." |
IN TERMS of 2016 finals’ permutations, it was irrelevant but there was nothing redundant about Collingwood’s thumping 71-point thumping of Gold Coast at Etihad Stadium. In the throes of completing a season pot-holed by injury, unfulfilled hope and now the apparently imminent retirement of Dane Swan, the Magpies could have wandered aimlessly into September. Not so. Narrowly denied by the Western Bulldogs last week and with vengeful Hawthorn lurking this week, the Pies were in no mood to spare a shamefully uncompetitive Gold Coast. Aware of the microscopic scrutiny of coach Nathan Buckley, the Magpies duly produced their second-biggest of win of their season. Arch Collingwood critics will point to the Suns’ cruelly depleted injury bulletin — notably Gary Ablett, Dion Prestia and Michael Rischitelli — but failure last night would have been calamitous for both Buckley and his players. It was never a possibility. The Pies came to play. By contrast, Gold Coast checked out early. The match was over at quarter-time as the Pies mercilessly savaged a limp Suns outfit devoid of intensity to lead by 43 points. Posting its best first-quarter score — 7.3 — against Gold Coast, Collingwood condemned the Suns to a long, miserable ordeal. By half-time, the gap had blown out to 68 points. And it should have been more. By three-quarter time, it was 77 points. But for poor finishing in the final term, the winning margin would have been even more gaping. Led by Adam Treloar, Josh Smith, Scott Pendlebury, Brodie Grundy and Jeremy Howe, Collingwood’s attitude and willingness to work embarrassed the Suns. Celebrating his 100th game milestone with another towering performance, Treloar gathered a game-high 34 possessions to be the most influential player on the ground. The perceived difference in class separating the club lists might be arguable but the gulf in intensity was instructive. Gold Coast was a rabble, disinterested and bereft of confidence. Pressured, there was no response. It was destroyed in every facet as Collingwood gorged on the type of victory that resonates throughout the off-season. Setting the tone from the start with superior skill and desire — evidenced by 43 contested possessions to 28 in the first quarter alone — Collingwood took control early and refused to relent. By the end, the statistical edge had become a landslide with 451 possessions to 321, 61 to 43 inside 50s and 143 contested possessions to 124. Collingwood’s backline, protected by an industrious midfield, was miserly and suffocated Tom Lynch and Sam Day. And its forward unit, even without Darcy Moore (hamstring), was impressively potent. While Moore’s hamstring injury might provide Travis Cloke with an opening against Hawthorn after four goals yesterday in the VFL, the Gold Coast’s problems run much deeper. As experiments go, Gold Coast’s decision to spend a week in Melbourne tapping into the AFL heartland must have seemed like a good idea at the time. With matches in quick succession against Essendon and the Magpies, the Suns set up a temporary base intent on bonding and the possibility of plucking a couple of late-season wins. When Rodney Eade returns to Queensland today, he will do so with even more injury concerns after Sean Lemmens suffered concussion in a heavy collision with Jesse White. White’s right shoulder connected the left side of Lemmens’ face in an incidental clash, leaving the Suns’ defender unconscious. Medical staff raced to the prone backman, fitting a neck brace before using the motorised cart to stretcher him off. More worrying is the cavalier mindset that allowed professional footballers to be mentally uncompetitive. Moore limped from the ground after diving low for a mark in the second quarter and didn’t return. Overlooked Collingwood veteran Travis Cloke is in line for another senior recall for the Magpies' last game of the season against Hawthorn after an injury to boom forward Darcy Moore. Cloke, who has been dropped to the VFL three times this season and has been widely tipped to seek a trade to Richmond at the end of the season, kicked four goals for Collingwood's reserves side on Saturday. And Magpie coach Nathan Buckley said after his side's massive win over Gold Coast that the 29-year-old shaped as the likely replacement for Moore, who he confirmed wouldn't play next week after straining a hamstring. "He's performed really well over the last couple of weeks," Buckley said of Cloke. "Trav's kicked five and four in the last two weeks, so he's been pretty good. Mason [Cox] played [in the VFL] today, I saw the first half and he took a few good marks, but we'll pick the best side to get the job done next week." Moore had missed Collingwood's round 20 loss to Richmond after straining a hamstring against West Coast and missing the second half of that win. Buckley said the club would need to look at more strengthening work for the young key forward, whose season was now over. "He's nicked his hammy again so he won't play next week. He did everything right, ticked all the boxes and we got him back right," Buckley said. "But clearly there's a bit of strengthening to be done there. As I said, we wanted to win as many games as we could. It's unfortunate that he's gone down, but that will see him out for 2016." Buckley said he was encouraged by Collingwood's form over the second half of the season, despite the fact the Magpies will finish with their lowest tally of wins since 2005, when Buckley was still captain of the club. "We've been far more consistent [since the bye]," he said. "Even though we've only won five of those nine, we've had a really tough draw. We lowered our colours against Richmond, but for the most part we've played more consistent footy. "We've still had some personnel challenges - but every team has. We've probably handled them better in the back half of the year. It's encouraging, given we want to finish this season as well as we can. So next week against Hawthorn is pretty important."
NOTES
MEDICAL ROOM Collingwood: Tyson Goldsack was a late withdrawal with a foot problem that arose on game day, with the Pies unsure on its severity. Exciting forward Darcy Moore strained his hamstring in the second term and played no further part in the game, in what will be a frustration for the Pies after some injury niggles this season. NEXT UP The Pies play Hawthorn at the MCG at 3:20pm, Sunday August 28. LAST GAME SEASON 2016 Hawthorn |
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