Round 2: The Team

Collingwood v Carlton Sunday, April 7 3.20pm MCG 7mate / Fox Sports Weather: Min 14 Max 27 Chance of rain 40%: 1-5mm Wind 18k S Betting: Collingwood $1.43 Carlton $2.85

B: Nathan Brown, Nick Maxwell, Ben Reid
HB: Alan Toovey, Heath Shaw, Harry O'Brien
C: Steele Sidebottom, Dane Swan, Paul Seedsman
HF: Jamie Elliott, Travis Cloke, Quinten Lynch
F: Ben Sinclair, Tyson Goldsack, Sam Dwyer
Foll: Darren Jolly, Scott Pendlebury, Jarryd Blair
Int: Marty Clarke, Ben Johnson, Brent Macaffer, Jordan Russell

EMG: Jack Frost, Josh Thomas, Ben Kennedy

IN: Paul Seedsman, Heath Shaw
OUT: Josh Thomas, Jack Frost

MILESTONE: Scott Pendlebury (150 senior games)

Collingwood News
Star defender Heath Shaw is poised to make a swift return to AFL action after he was named in Collingwood's extended 25-man squad to face Carlton at the MCG on Sunday. Shaw, a late withdrawal from the Magpie side which claimed a hard fought 16-point victory over North Melbourne last weekend, is joined by youngsters Paul Seedsman and Ben Kennedy as potential inclusions on match day, highlighting the depth at coach Nathan Buckley's disposal. Renowned for his capacity to counter from the half back line, Shaw's mooted return would provide substantial weight to Collingwood's attacking armoury against an outfit which has triumphed over the side in its last two encounters. 19-year old Kennedy meanwhile looms as the latest potential debutant to emerge from Collingwood's flock of fledgling talents, with the South Australian in line to become the fourth Magpie to make his AFL bow this season. Selected with pick 19 of the 2012 National Draft, Kennedy arrived in the AFL ranks with a reputation for breaking clear of the contest and sending the ball inside 50 with remarkable efficiency. With an impressive left boot, Kennedy adapted sufficiently enough to the rigours of senior football to feature in the third round of the NAB Cup, accumulating 19 disposals, laying two tackles and kicking a single major against eventual pre-season champions Brisbane Lions. Demonstrating his fitness on the training track throughout the last week, Seedsman has also been deemed ready to enter the fray, pressing his claims for a guernsey when Collingwood encounters its ultimate rival. Outstanding in Collingwood's NAB Cup triumph over West Coast at Patersons Stadium, Seedsman appeared poised to add to his 11 senior appearances from last season and secure his place in Magpies best 22 for the opening bounce of the season only for a hamstring injury to intervene. In additional selection news, early casualties of Collingwood's bruising clash with North Melbourne, Ben Reid and Ben Johnson, have been cleared and are fit to play, while Dayne Beams remains one to two weeks away with a quad injury. Having recovered well from their hit out with Collingwood's VFL side against the AIS-AFL Academy last Thursday, Dale Thomas and Andrew Krakouer are in contention to feature once again with Dale Tapping's side, which faces North Ballarat at Victoria Park on Saturday. Clinton Young (calf), Alex Fasolo (hamstring) and Alan Didak (hamstring) will be subjected to fitness tests before being considered for selection.
Media
It's Pies v Blues       Mr Buckley v Mick
REAL FOOTY Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert says that Mick Malthouse would have known what he was in for when he took on coaching its arch-rival Carlton. "He knew that (decision) would put him up against the entire Collingwood football club; it's not just Eddie (McGuire)," Pert told SEN radio Thursday. "At the same time, that's just part of the rivalry. "It doesn't matter who goes to Collingwood, in the same way if a Carlton person comes to Collingwood. "I'm sure that generates some emotion for the Carlton people as well." Pert played down the impact of Malthouse's new role on this Sunday's Collingwood versus Carlton blockbuster on players and coaches, but said the "historic" game had generated huge interest among Pie fans and members who had been looking forward to the game for three or four months. "We understand the decision Mick has made and the focus for us - really it's not a conversation where Mick comes into it." He said that in recent conversations about the game with coach Nathan Buckley, captain and assistant coach under Malthouse, there had been "no reference to Mick or any of the history". Malthouse alluded to family bitterness and broken friendships in media statements released by Carlton earlier in the week. Pert said he couldn't shed any light on Malthouse's grievances with Eddie McGuire and others at the club, despite having been "intimately involved" in negotiations when Malthouse accepted and then rejected a director of coaching role with the Magpies. "I think it's between those two people. "The media has some fun with it, continually stirring it up. "The football clubs and the football departments just keep ticking on doing their own thing. "If you were to talk to the players, they wouldn't even read or care about that sort of banter." Pert is expecting a crowd of more than 90,000 for the match, with less than 2000 public seats left to be sold. "We won't know until after the game what the make-up of the figures are. "But I suppose as a club it's more important to us the excitement that this generates, the rivalry. "In a lot of ways we think this is the ultimate rivalry in Australian sport. "The Carlton-Collingwood games, regardless of where the teams sit on the ladder, we know they're going to be huge. "I only know the feedback from the Collingwood supporters and members, but pretty well everyone wants to be there. "They want to be part of ... not only this big game, but this historic game as well, and they've been looking forward to it for the last three or four months."	The Australian THE handshake between Mick Malthouse and Nathan Buckley was cool and perfunctory, a necessity of their attendance at a social gathering yesterday. This week the Collingwood coaches past and present have dismissed supposed friction between each other as a media invention, with Malthouse telling those in attendance it was "more media and fan driven". Yet it is Malthouse who has spoken of the bitterness his family felt at his forced exit from Collingwood. It is Malthouse who bagged Buckley's coaching tactics a year ago and was then slammed publicly by president Eddie McGuire. It is the Carlton coach who this week said there would be no peace made between him and McGuire. The greeting at the breakfast fundraiser for the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute was professional, nothing more. Certainly there was more warmth when Buckley was captain to Malthouse at Collingwood. The pair, with their current on-field generals Nick Maxwell and Marc Murphy beside them, shared a panel at the breakfast held annually before the Carlton and Collingwood blockbuster, set to draw more than 90,000 people to the MCG on Sunday. At the end of the discussion, Malthouse, dressed in Carlton suit and tie, and Buckley were quick to exit the stage, with both sides training yesterday for the second-round match. As Buckley said, there was far more to Sunday's rivalry than it being Malthouse's first game as coach of the arch-rival. "The rivalry exists longer than any of us sitting here have been around and that's a great thing to be a part of," Buckley said. Malthouse, too, made the point that even in the short time since his departure Collingwood has changed significantly. Only 12 of the 25-man squad selected for Sunday's game played in the 2011 grand final against Geelong. "I do know some of the players who will be playing for Collingwood but it's amazing that 12 months out, what's happened is that there's a massive change in personnel at the football club," he said. "That goes for every football club. So it's not the same football club that I was at. "But if I focus on (my time there), it's the very thing that I coach against, which is individuality. It's all about and must be about the team. So I've got to make sure that any emotions I have are all directed towards our team playing as well as they can." As always, it will be an intriguing contest. Form tends to be thrown out the window whenever Collingwood and Carlton meet, such is the spur the antipathy between the two sides provides. Despite Collingwood being a vastly superior side since 2006, the Blues have managed to pinch five of the past 14 encounters, including both matches last year when the Magpies finished in the top four and Carlton missed the eight. That failure opened the door for the approach to Malthouse to replace Brett Ratten as coach and Maxwell is wary of Carlton under him. "I know everyone wants to build it up and make it sound like it's all about Mick and it's all about Bucks and about our coaches, but it's about who gets the four points," he said. Buckley, too, said that while Malthouse would coach Carlton in a different manner to Collingwood, the mentor would be well aware of how the Blues exploited Collingwood last year. "We all know what Mick Malthouse-coached sides look like. Carlton, as Mick has detailed, are a work in progress, and how much of the residual is still there and how much of the new stuff is still to come through, we'll see as the year progresses," he said. "My recent experience with Carlton last year, and this group of Carlton players, is that they knocked us over twice. So Brett Ratten had a fair understanding of us and had a way to get around our strengths, so we need to get get around Carlton's."	SUPERFOOTY THE body language was telling. Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley arrived early at yesterday's Peter Mac charity breakfast at the MCG, looking relaxed in a club polo top and slacks. He stood beside his table laughing as he mingled and chatted to guests. Carlton coach Mick Malthouse arrived later, dressed in a crisp suit and tie, seemingly stiff and on edge as he strode through the crowd in the Members' Dining Room looking for his seat - at one point getting to within a couple of metres of Buckley - and not making eye contact with anyone until he found Blues president Stephen Kernahan. The two coaches took their seats at tables 19 and 21, separated by about 10 metres, and listened intently while they ate fruit, muesli and juice followed by poached eggs. Both had rescheduled training sessions to accommodate the annual panel discussion at the charity breakfast. Yet insiders suggested Malthouse had inquired about coming early to start proceedings, and had even sounded out the possibility of not attending. He looked tense throughout and barely cracked a smile. Host Brian Taylor, the former Collingwood spearhead and a one-time Malthouse teammate at Richmond, was not dancing around the subject of Mick coaching against "his boys", the Collingwood players he took to a flag in 2010. Fully aware that Malthouse and Collingwood president Eddie McGuire - who was out of the country yesterday - had exchanged barbs over the past week, Taylor chuckled into the microphone: "Eddie's away, otherwise there might be another dynamic in the room." After the morning's formalities, the coaches and captains were individually called up to the stage to join the panel. When Malthouse was introduced, Buckley politely applauded. When it was Buckley's turn, Malthouse was facing the other direction, chatting. On stage, the two men exchanged a perfunctory handshake, Buckley making eye contact, Malthouse looking to the right at Maxwell. They sat at opposite ends of the table. For eight of Malthouse's 12 seasons at Collingwood, Buckley was his captain. Yet the two men did not talk before, during or after yesterday's breakfast. The only words they exchanged came when Buckley was asked what he expected from the opposition coaches' box on Sunday. "We don't have a lot to go on, Carlton under Mick. But obviously having played under him and coached with him, I've got a fair understanding of the way he sees the game of footy." Craning his neck to look down the panel, Buckley added: "I think after 29 years as a head coach ... Mick?" "Yep," Malthouse confirmed bluntly. "After 29 years we all know what Mick Malthouse-coached sides look like. Carlton, as Mick has detailed, are a work in progress, and how much of the residual is still there and how much of the new stuff is still to come through, we'll see as the year progresses." Buckley then landed a backhanded compliment, mentioning that Carlton had defeated Collingwood twice last year: "Brett Ratten had a fair understanding of us and had a way to get around our strengths, so we need to get around Carlton's." When asked his view on the subject, Malthouse reiterated his stance that it would be business as usual coaching against his former club, despite having revealed earlier in the week that his family was "disappointed with humanity" about his messy departure from Collingwood. Malthouse said the perception Sunday's game meant something special to him was "more media and supporter driven". "I do know some of the players who will be playing for Collingwood, but it's amazing that 12 months out what's happened is that there's a massive change in personnel at the football club - and that goes for every football club. So it's not the same football club that I was at," he said. "But if I focus on that, it's the very thing that I coach against, which is individuality. It's all about, and must be about, the team. So I've got to make sure that any emotions I have are all directed towards our team playing as well as they can." Buckley and Maxwell agreed their focus this week was on the old enemy, not the new 59-year-old enemy. "The (Collingwood-Carlton) rivalry exists longer than any of us sitting here have been around, and that's a great thing to be a part of," Buckley said. Maxwell suggested: "I know everyone wants to build it up and make it sound like it's all about Mick and it's all about Bucks and about our coaches, but it's about who gets the four points." When the panel discussion concluded, there was an awkward moment when Malthouse stood up and spun on his heel, turning his back when it seemed Buckley was intent on approaching him. Both men immediately left the room for their respective clubs. Buckley headed for the lift, while 20 metres behind him Malthouse took the escalator and marched off towards the city.