Collingwood: In Praise of Apprentices

SportsFan
 

Sam Dwyer

While the footy world continues to debate the current AFL rules and how they are interpreted, Collingwood did the unthinkable on the weekend by upsetting competition pace-setters Geelong.
I for one didn't see this coming, especially after the announcement of their inexperienced lineup on Thursday night.
With stars Dale Thomas, Heath Shaw and Dane Beams sitting in the grandstand, Saturday night's effort from the Pies was simply superb.
They now sit one win clear in eighth spot with a mouth-watering match this Friday night against Sydney. The Pies will start warm favourites.
Led by established playmakers Scott Pendlebury, Dane Swan and Harry O'Brien, the Pies' work ethic to a man was to be admired.
For the lions' share of the game, Collingwood continuously outnumbered their opponents at the contest, then, with destruction on their minds, immediately spread from the congestion to create forward options.
It was the Collingwood of 2010 but with younger faces.
The guys I'll be watching most closely this season are Paul Seedsman and Sam Dwyer, because barring injury I think these two will transcend the club's exciting new talent pool and become consistent seasoned contributors.
Dwyer's solo effort of accumulating 27 disposals and notching three goals deserved the hero status he received from the Magpie army when he left the ground on Saturday night, while Seedsman's poise, composure and running ability across half-back will make opposition coaches very wary.
Apart from Seedsman and Dwyer, coach Nathan Buckley has unearthed numerous others like Ben Kennedy, Ben Sinclair and Jamie Elliott over the last two years.
Saturday night's winning team included seven players with 23 senior appearances or less, against the most powerful side the AFL has seen in 10 years.
In that time Geelong has won three premierships (and should have won four), but for two hours on Saturday it fell short of a very committed and young Collingwood outfit.