COLLINGWOOD 4.2.26 11.4.70 13.6.84 15.9.99
FOOTSCRAY 0.2.2 2.5.17 4.9.33 9.11.65
SCORERS
Collingwood: Cloke (5.1), Elliott (2.1), Jolly (1.1), Pendlebury (1.1), Thomas (1.1), Blair (1.0), Dwyer (1.0), Kennedy (1.0), Martin (1.0), Seedsman (1.0), O'Brien (0.2), Swan (0.1)
BEST
Collingwood: Cloke, O'Brien, Pendlebury, Swan, Elliott, Shaw
INJURIES
Collingwood: Luke Ball (calf) replaced in selected side by Adam Oxley
SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Ben Reid replaced by Adam Oxley in the third quarter
REPORTS
Collingwood: Nil
OFFICIAL CROWD: 32,253 at Etihad Stadium
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COLLINGWOOD has moved back to sixth on the ladder with a 34-point dismantling of the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Key forward Travis Cloke booted five goals as the Magpies ran out 15.9 (99) to 9.11 (65) winners, their sixth victory in a row over the Bulldogs. Following two straight wins, the performance was a step back for Brendan McCartney's developing team, who went goalless in the opening term and had only two to half-time as Collingwood opened a 53-point buffer. By contrast, the Magpies looked dangerous every time they went into attack, with Cloke dominant in the air and their battery of small forwards swooping when the ball hit the ground. With 34 goals for the season, Cloke now sits equal second in the Coleman Medal, one behind leader Lindsay Thomas. Midfielders Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury ran rampant for Collingwood, controlling the stoppages – usually the Bulldogs' strength – and collecting a combined 73 disposals. The pair's enormous display offset the loss of in-and-under onballer Luke Ball with a calf injury before the match. Rebounding defender Heath Shaw had a field day across half-back, feasting on the Bulldogs' errant kicking with nine intercept marks. Substitute Daniel Giansiracusa and first-year player Jake Stringer both finished with two goals for the Dogs. Veterans Robert Murphy and Adam Cooney worked hard, while Ryan Griffen persisted in the face of a heavy tag from Brent Macaffer. Collingwood heads into the bye with a win-loss record of 8-4 while the Bulldogs are 3-8 and sit 14th, narrowly ahead of the Brisbane Lions on percentage. They'll return to Etihad Stadium next week to face Richmond, while the Magpies will enjoy a weekend off before travelling west to take on Port Adelaide in a fortnight. 1. One club regenerates, while the other rebuilds Collingwood had 10 players in the team who had played fewer than 50 games on Sunday afternoon compared to the Bulldogs' 12. It's not a massive difference in numbers but the difference in impact is huge. Players such as Jamie Elliott, Sam Dwyer, Ben Kennedy and Paul Seedsman are giving the Magpies a combination of skilful youngsters and hungry tacklers. An indication of where Collingwood is at is the fact it had four players wearing jumper numbers below 40 and have played six rookies already in 2013. 2. Key forwards are worth every cent Travis Cloke had six marks and four goals at half-time and was dominating Collingwood's forward line. The Magpies might be Cloke conscious but he either marks the ball or brings it to the ground for its band of runners to crumb. His presence also gives Collingwood the confidence to kick the ball deep inside 50. By contrast the Bulldogs were relying on a makeshift key forward in Lucas Markovic and youngster Liam Jones. When Jones did take a mark inside 50, he could not convert. 3. The Collingwood cultural question is a moot point First Alan Didak was demoted. Then he didn't play in the VFL. Suddenly the Twittersphere lit up thinking any Buckley decision in relation to the club's stars were discipline rather than performance based. Such conspiracy theories carry a convenient logic but the performances of Dane Swan and Heath Shaw show no signs of dipping under Buckley. Swan had 17 disposals in the first half and Shaw controlled the back half. Shaw's mark at the 18-minute mark of the third quarter was as good a defensive mark as one could hope to see. And Didak's replacement Jamie Elliott kicked a goal and had seven tackles by half-time. 4. Is Harry O'Brien's move to the wing the move of the year? O'Brien looked to be at the crossroads last season playing deep in defence. He was not winning one on ones and looked more vulnerable than he had at any time in his career. However after a big pre-season and the opportunity to be freed up as an attacking runner, O'Brien is relishing the opportunity. Against the Bulldogs he was explosive and took risks. He also cares enough about his ex-colleagues in the back six to push back as required. 5. Dog of a day for the Bulldogs once again After a more competitive month, the Bulldogs never looked likely against Collingwood. They had Nick Lower tailing Scott Pendlebury and Dylan Addison attempting to quell Heath Shaw as a negating forward. The Dogs offered Jordan Roughead the task to take on Cloke and hoped to get some run out of Adam Cooney, Matthew Boyd, Robert Murphy and the classy Ryan Griffen. They won plenty of the ball early but was poor by foot. The Dogs then went into their shell looking to chip it around and find the easy kick. Collingwood just sweated on them. The silver lining is that the next generation of Jackson Macrae, Tom Liberatore, Jason Johannisen and Jake Stringer look very capable and Griffen remains a star. The Bulldogs won the second half but the game was over at half-time. |
Collingwood's inconsistency remains a worry for coach Nathan Buckley, who hopes to bolster his team after the bye with the return of key players. The Magpies only managed four goals after half-time in the Sunday twilight game at Etihad Stadium as they dispatched the Western Bulldogs by 34 points, 15.9 (99) to 9.11 (65). They led the Bulldogs by 53 points at half-time and blew a golden chance to boost their percentage, which is easily the worst in the top eight. Buckley said last year's best-and-fairest winner Dayne Beams, who is yet to play this season, is on the verge of resuming after this week's break. "Dayne Beams had a bit of breakthrough over the last couple of weeks," Buckley said. "We'd be looking to have him back if not the first game out of the bye, (then) the second." Luke Ball, who missed Sunday's match with a calf muscle injury, and Alan Didak (soreness) also should be back after the bye. Andrew Krakouer starred in the VFL on Sunday and Hawthorn recruit Clinton Young, another yet to play in the seniors this year, resumed from injury in the same game. Buckley indicated that in the second half of the season those experienced players would push hard for selection, saying he believed there was a ceiling on what first-year players were capable of producing consistently throughout an AFL season. "Young players, if they earn the right, will remain in the side, but we will need to manage them no doubt," Buckley said. First-year players Ben Kennedy, Kyle Martin, Josh Thomas, Sam Dwyer and Adam Oxley performed well against the Dogs, but they will need to play well to earn the right to be in the senior team at the business end of the season. Buckley also said he was aware of the workload some players were carrying. Jarryd Blair, Nathan Brown, Lynch, Harry O'Brien, Ben Reid (who was subbed off on Sunday), Steele Sidebottom and Dane Swan have played every game this season. Buckley said O'Brien's training load was managed during the past week and it's likely he won't be the last. "We need to spread the load. We've had quite a few boys who have had a heavy load ... [We're] looking to manage our players while we are searching for our best footy and our best 22," he said. In the meantime, Buckley has mixed emotions about his side. "Our first half was really good and our second half was a little bit disappointing," he said of Sunday's win. "So you look at the glass half-full or half-empty - generally I'm a half-empty guy." Asked why they were struggling to play at their best all the time, Buckley noted that eight members of Sunday's team had played 25 games or less. "We'd like to get a little bit more stability in our 22 and we feel that's not far away - around the corner," he said. "We've had moments in games where our best has clearly been good enough to be more than competitive against the best. "But we have the second half of the year to sharpen up." Heath Shaw and Swan, members of Collingwood's "brat pack" starred in Sunday's win. During the week Buckley defended the group after media speculation they were not buying into cultural change at the club. "They looked pretty invested, didn't they?" Buckley said. Travis Cloke also impressed with five goals, four of them in the first half. Fellow key forward Quinten Lynch did not score, but Buckley said he remains an important part of their structure in attack.
- Heath Shaw turned in a virtuoso performance against the Bulldogs, and not for the first time. He had the wood over Brad Johnson in 2008 and 2009, earning five Brownlow votes across two matches (both were losses). On Sunday evening, Shaw again went to town on the Dogs. He ended the game with 22 possessions, 11 marks (eight of which were intercepts) and rebounded from defensive 50 on seven occasions. It was no surprise that he won his second Bob Rose-Charlie Sutton Medal (he received his first accolade in 2011).
- The handball happy Magpies continued to keep that particular statistical column ticking over. Kyle Martin (four more handballs than kicks), Josh Thomas (five more handballs than kicks) and Jarryd Blair (one more handball than kick) were among nine Collingwood players who preferred to go by hand rather than by foot. - Jamie Elliott and Jarryd Blair continue to set the standard for tackling and pressure acts. The pair recorded eight tackles for the night. Blair continues to streak ahead in the club's total tackle count (he has a total of 72 across 12 games). - After quelling some of the competition's biggest names in the past six weeks, Brent Macaffer finally had his tag broken. Ryan Griffen, who is one of the league's prime movers as a ruck-rover, tallied 32 possessions and seven tackles for the night, compared to Macaffer's 12 touches and three tackles. The Caff can take heart in the fact that 20 of Griffen's 32 disposals were handballs, indicating that Macaffer was right on his hammer every time he went to dispose of the ball. - Sunday evening's crowd of 32,253 was the smallest crowd between the two clubs since round 20, 2000, which was also played at the Docklands venue. Four years ago, they drew 51,382 to the same ground in round 15 on a Friday night. |
COLLINGWOOD'S second half last night summed up its season with coach Nathan Buckley calling for a sharper focus from his players. The Pies dominated the Western Bulldogs early but only kicked four goals to seven after half-time to register an uninspiring 34-point victory. Buckley spoke to his players after the game about having to lift their rating when they returned from next week's bye. "Our first half was really good and our second half was a little bit disappointing so you look at the glass half-full and glass half-empty," he said. "Generally, I'm a half-empty guy. "I was more philosophical (with the players). "We're going into the bye, we're 8-4 and we have played some really solid footy yet we've only really put four quarters together maybe three or four times. "We've had moments in games where our best has clearly been good enough to be more than competitive against the best. "We've got the second half of the year to sharpen up and see more of the first and less of the second." Buckley felt the unsettled nature of the team had played a part in the inconsistency and that he was looking forward to the return of some big names. "Having eight blokes having 25 games or less in this side like we did tonight has an impact," he said. "We'd like to get a little bit more stability in our 22 and we feel that that's not far away. "At the same time we have exposed a lot of players to the level that can only help us, definitely in the long term and hopefully in the second half of the year." The Pies lost Luke Ball (calf) before the game while his anointed replacement Alan Didak, who was dropped on Thursday night, also didn't come up because of soreness. Both will be right after the break while ex-Hawk Clinton Young made his return in the VFL yesterday where Andrew Krakouer was one of the Pies' best. Key midfielder Dayne Beams, who hasn't played a game this year because of a quad injury, has had a "breakthrough" according to Buckley and could be playing within three weeks. Tyson Goldsack continues to struggle with a hip injury and is still 2-4 weeks away while key defender Lachlan Keefe (knee) also played in the VFL. Collingwood will enter its midseason break placed comfortably inside the top eight, having endured a challenging run of injuries in the first half of the season and prepared for its week off with a stress-free win over the Western Bulldogs. The Magpies' 34-point win, which featured five Travis Cloke goals and a dominant performance by Dane Swan, saw the Magpies hold onto sixth spot on the ladder, a game clear of Richmond, having played one more match, and two wins clear of Carlton. Collingwood has struggled to piece together a consistent line up in its eight-win start, with Dayne Beams, Dale Thomas and Luke Ball among the first-choice players missing for much of the season. The Magpies have lost Alan Toovey and Alex Fasolo for the rest of the season with knee and foot injuries, but hope to regain Beams in the next month. Ball was a late withdrawal from the side that beat the Bulldogs, while recruit Clinton Young returned from a lengthy layoff due to a hamstring injury through the VFL on Saturday. Thomas, who had ankle surgery last month, has said he plans to play again this year, with defender Lachlan Keeffe another possible inclusion in the run home. Collingwood led the Bulldogs by 51 points at three quarter time before conceding five goals in the final quarter. Cloke was dominant early, taking six marks in the first half and kicking four of his five goals. Swan was hugely influential, compiling 38 possessions and playing a part in several of the Magpies' scoring chains, with Heath Shaw also among Collingwood's best after a week in which coach Nathan Buckley stuck up for his club's so-called "brat pack". The Magpies join Adelaide, Carlton, Essendon, Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast on the bye list this week, with games to come in their next month against Port Adelaide, the Blues, Crows and Suns. |
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