Collingwoodfc.com.au has compiled a list of players who could be considered for selection when the match committee submits its team on Thursday evening. From the coach: “Our VFL (team) had a win earlier this afternoon. Andrew Krakouer, Clinton Young and Lachlan Keeffe were a few boys that performed pretty well. We expect to get Beams and Goldsack back into match play next week so there’s four or five there that are up and about and ready to come in. It’s good to have competition for spots. We had obviously some players tonight that had their colours lowered and if that happens too consistently then clearly selection needs to come into play. Benny (Reid) was thereabouts. He’ll play next week,” – Nathan Buckley after Collingwood’s loss to Port Adelaide on Saturday. What’s next for the seniors? Friday night football against Mick Malthouse’s Carlton at the MCG. The eyes of the nation will be on the two clubs that currently hold eighth and ninth on the AFL ladder after 14 rounds. Where is the VFL team at? The VFL Magpies will take on the ladder leading Box Hill at Box Hill City Oval on Saturday at 2pm. 6. Tyson Goldsack Has taken more time to recover from a pesky hip injury than first anticipated but was touted as a possible returnee by Buckley in his post-match press conference. Considering the amount of football he has missed, Goldsack is probably more likely to return via the VFL. Last played: Round Six v St Kilda In 2013: 5 games, 5 goals. Averaging 11.20 possessions, 2.60 marks and 2.40 tackles 7. Andrew Krakouer In slashing form at VFL level in recent weeks. Won 25 possessions (17 contested) against Coburg and returned from the bye to win a team-high 24 touches in Saturday’s win over Port Melbourne. He was a key in Collingwood’s ability to hold out the more experienced Borough in the second half and inspired his teammates with several desperate acts. Last played: Round 10 v Brisbane In 2013: 5 games, 6 goals. Averaging 13.40 possessions, 3.20 marks and 3.00 tackles 14. Clinton Young Poor Young has endured his share of frustration since crossing from Hawthorn as a Free Agent last October. He looked the part on the wing in the NAB Cup but played only one game in the opening 11 rounds of the home and away season (and even that was only a 10 minute stint in the VFL before injury struck). Fortunately, it appears as if he is over those hurdles and he hasn’t taken much time to find his touch in the VFL. In his two games at that level he has won 13 and 21 possessions and his long left foot has set him apart from his opponents. Got four quality quarters under his belt against Port Melbourne on Saturday and it will surely be tempting for the match committee to call upon his services for Friday night’s clash with the old enemy. Last played: Grand Final v Sydney 2012 (for Hawthorn) In 2013: 0 games, 0 goals 15. Jarrod Witts Hasn’t been seen on the MCG since the loss to Sydney in round nine but his VFL form has been solid in recent weeks as he begins to form a reliable ruck partnership with Brodie Grundy that Pies fans hope will sustain the team for the next decade. Witts had 24 hitouts against Coburg and followed that up with another 19 against Port Melbourne. He also had an impact on the scoreboard in both games and has looked dangerous leading out of the goal square. Last played: Round Nine v Sydney In 2013: 3 games, 1 goal. Averaging 6.00 possessions, 2.67 marks, 1.33 tackles and 5.33 hitouts 17. Dayne Beams The man Collingwood supporters have been patiently waiting to see all season. The 2012 Copeland Trophy winner injured his quad at the final training session before the first game of the year and has struggled to shake it ever since. Nathan Buckley has provided hope of a recall in his recent post-match press conferences. First, he told reporters after the win over the Western Bulldogs: “Dayne Beams has had a bit of a breakthrough over the last couple of weeks and he was where ‘Goldy’ was probably a month ago. We’d be looking to have him back, if not the first game out of the bye, then the second.” He followed up almost a fortnight later with this after the loss to the Power: “We expect to get Beams and Goldsack back into match play next week.” On that basis, Beams is in the frame for a game this week. Whether it’s in the VFL or the AFL is up to the match committee. Last Played: Preliminary Final v Sydney 2012 In 2013: 0 games, 0 goals 18. Darren Jolly Sat out Saturday’s game due to a toe injury but is expected to be in the frame this week. “They’ll both be assessed again after the weekend rehab sessions,” Director of Football Geoff Walsh told collingwoodfc.com.au when it was announced that Jolly and Ben Reid would miss the trip to South Australia. “At this point it doesn’t look like they’re long term injuries.” Last Played: Round 12 v Western Bulldogs In 2013: 9 games, 4 goals. Averaging 11.78 possessions, 4.44 marks, 3.56 tackles and 23.22 hitouts 20. Ben Reid Like Jolly, Reid missed Saturday’s loss to the Power but is expected to come into the reckoning for a game this week. “Benny (Reid) was thereabouts,” Buckley said after the match. “He’ll play next week.” Reid was substituted out of the round 12 clash with the Western Bulldogs during the third quarter. Last Played: Round 12 v Western Bulldogs In 2013: 12 games, 3 goals. Averaging 16.17 possessions, 6.17 marks and 1.67 tackles 23. Lachlan Keeffe They say that good things come to those who wait, and Lachlan Keeffe has had to wait longer than most for a chance to restart his AFL career. He missed 12 months after undergoing a knee reconstruction and then had to sit out another fortnight as the result of a kidney injury sustained in his comeback game against Essendon’s VFL side. He has now strung two high quality games together and could be thrust back into the action against the Blues on Friday night. Although he has played most of his senior football as a centre half back, Buckley hinted that he could even be used in a Quinten Lynch/Leigh Brown role as a key position player that can give the senior ruckman a chopout late in the quarters. “’Keeffey’ played today and he’s going to be an important part of our second half of the year (in terms of) competition for spots,” Buckley told the press after the win against the Bulldogs. “It’s pretty hard to create that sort of competition for a player like Quinten Lynch who in the last couple of weeks has been really good for us but to have that second ruckman opportunity and also pressure on our key backs is important. Keeffey is a player who showed in the first half of last year what he was capable of. He’s only played nine games of footy and in the last 12 months he’s been getting over an ACL. Big fellas take a bit of time. We can’t expect a great deal from Keeffey.” Last Played: Round Nine v Adelaide 2012 In 2013: 0 games, 0 goals 29. Tim Broomhead Collingwood has already blooded seven new players this season, so what’s stopping it from introducing an eighth? If the match committee is looking for more new blood, Broomhead could be the man. He has been a solid contributor in all five of his VFL games since recovering from a pre-season bout of glandular fever and his form was acknowledged by the coaches when he was named as an emergency for the game against the Bulldogs. The South Australian onballers had 18 possessions on the weekend and kicked a classy goal in the second quarter. Last Played: Yet to debut In 2013: 0 games, 0 goals 33. Jackson Paine Twelve months ago, Paine was coming off a two goal game against Fremantle and kicked another two against Carlton before being demoted to the VFL. He has only appeared once in the 360 days since and not once this season. But that doesn’t tell the full story. Paine, who underwent surgery on his shoulder last summer, has been a key reason behind Collingwood’s bright start to the VFL season. He has kicked 27 goals in 11 games (already 10 goals ahead of last year’s haul), peaking with five against Geelong in round six. The 194cm full forward has made solid improvement as the year has worn on and is well placed to make an impact if called upon by the match committee this week. Last Played: Round 23 v Essendon 2012 In 2013: 0 games, 0 goals 43. Adam Oxley A revelation in the first half of the VFL season and was deservedly given opportunities in the seniors against Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs. He acquitted himself well after starting as the sub on both occasions but was squeezed out against Port Adelaide. Started Saturday’s game against Port Melbourne a little quietly by his usual standards but ended it as Collingwood’s second most prolific player (22 possessions, seven marks and a team-high five rebound 50s). Last Played: Round 12 v Western Bulldogs In 2013: 2 games, 0 goals. Averaging 5.00 possessions, 1.50 marks and 0.50 tackles |
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Carlton is two games outside the eight, having lost seven games, the greatest margin being by 22 points against Sydney on Friday night. Two weeks ago the Blues lost by 15 points to the Hawks and before that by five to the Bombers. They are thereabouts without being good enough. They have stars and foot soldiers and a couple in between, which makes them competitive without being a threat to the top teams. The Magpies beat Brisbane Lions, Melbourne and the Bulldogs leading up to Port Adelaide and were embarrassed by Ken Hinkley's boys. They sit in eighth spot and have more issues than Carlton. Arguably, they are flat-track bullies. The days of the maniacal Magpies are long gone. They play nice footy. Not so much cheats' footy, but footy in the nicest possible way. Against Port, they waited and stood off, hoping the ball came their way, whereas Port had waves of players attacking the contest and the man. When Collingwood won the ball and got it forward, it was too predictable. It's Travis Cloke or bust, and Port simply double-teamed the big man and, when the ball came to ground, scampered it out of defence. The Cloke situation, in fact Collingwood's forward-50m formation and productivity, is a shambles. The smalls are young and inconsistent, Quinten Lynch has disappeared, and for the first time it can be said the Pies might be missing Chris Dawes as a secondary target, regardless of whether he marks the ball or not. Clearly, their eyes are focused on Cloke. As a forward target this season, Cloke is the No.1 go-to man. The Magpies kick it to him a remarkable 42 per cent of the time. The next most in the competition is the Giants' Jeremy Cameron at 35 per cent, followed by Lance Franklin 32 per cent, Drew Petrie and Tom Hawkins on 30 per cent and Nick Riewoldt at 29 per cent. Last year Cloke was the target only 29 per cent of the time. Indeed, the Pies are as predictable as death, taxes and KB defending the umpires. The Magpies do have excuses. They were without Ben Reid, Darren Jolly, Dayne Beams, Dale Thomas, Clinton Young, Andrew Krakouer, Tyson Goldsack, Ben Johnson, Alan Toovey, Alex Fasolo, Alan Didak and Lachie Keeffe, and while most of them will play again this season, time is against them for match hardness and team chemistry. Still, "excuses" is not a word in Nathan Buckley's vocabulary. The Pies were overrun, as they were against Fremantle, Essendon and Hawthorn. As an experiment, this column went to Collingwood fans on Twitter for their thoughts. In no particular order, they argued:
All-over defence also is an issue. The Pies have conceded the most points of any team in the eight and, although just four points worse than second-placed Geelong, the Cats have kicked an extra 45 goals. The Blues have scored 51 points more than the Pies and have let through 47 fewer points. That doesn't mean the Blues are automatic selections this week, but right now their game seems have to more substance about it. Of course, both clubs could learn from Port Adelaide. It was a terrific performance from the most-improved team in the competition. Its pressure was extreme and cohesive, and if David Attenborough had been commentating at AAMI Stadium on Saturday, he would have likened the Port players to a pack of African wild dogs hunting a shell-shocked Thomson's gazelle. As Attenborough would say, even the youngest members of the African hunting pack have a role to play. |
That is a very hard question to answer, but looking at some of Collingwood’s lacklusture efforts in recent times – especially Staurday evening’s bad loss to Port Adelaide – the answer at times could be yes. There’s been talk of a simmering standoff between coach Nathan Buckley and the so-called Brat Pack group of players, Dane Swan, Heath Shaw, Alan Didak and Ben Johnson. All four are among the Magpies most experienced but appear to have had their differences in recent times with the coach, who was also a former teammate. Shaw, in particular, has been seen deep in conversation during matches with Buckley and the chats haven’t looked as friendly as they should if everything was really going swimmingly. The ‘Pies have a season defining game against their arch rivals Carlton this week, with both teams eying off a spot in the bottom part of the 8. As well as an apparent cold war between the coach and some players, Collingwood also has to deal with a long injury list, which means their depth is being exposed. The Magpies have established a reputation in recent seasons for having excellent player depth, but it doesn’t matter how solid or good or depth is. If the injury list continues to mount, teams will struggle on the field. As well as including mature age rookies from the VFL, like Kyle Martin and Sam Dwyer, who look the part, the ‘Pies have had to blood many of their teenagers, such as Josh Thomas, Adam Oxley and Ben Kennedy, all at once instead of gradually, which they have been able to do during the previous three seasons or so. All of these youngsters look the goods, but as the rebuilding clubs like the Bulldogs, St Kilda and Melbourne are finding out, if you have too many in together, you are going to have up and down performances. Saturday’s display against Port Adelaide was an example of that. Collingwood needed their experienced and established stars, such as Scott Pendelbury, Dane Swan, Steele Sidebottom and Luke Ball, to dominate and for Travis Cloke to mark everything up forward. Unfortunately for Nathan Buckley’s men, that didn’t happen, with all bar Pendelbury struggling to make an impact against Port’s manic pressure. Too much responsibility was placed on that group of young players and they were not able to deliver at the level required. This made players frustrated and no doubt helped contribute to Shaw’s ‘interesting’ discussions with Buckley. The Magpies have a golden opportunity to knock the Blues out of the finals race this weekend and that should be a big enough incentive for their stars to be on the same page, lead by example, and drag the younger ones with them to get the job done and ensure that their top four aspirations are still flickering away. They would need to improve dramatically for mine to make the top four and be a premiership contender. Getting some of their injured stars back, such as Dale Thomas and Dayne Beams, as well as ruckman Darren Jolly and a focused Andrew Krakouer, will help them become more competitive and consistent. After the Blues clash, the ‘Pies have a chance to set their season up and launch a legitimate crack at decent September action as they will start favourites against Adelaide, the Gold Coast and GWS. However, more performances like that dished up against Port and Collingwood won’t deserve to be in the finals. The AFL competition is the most brutal of team sports. It’s a cliche, but there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’. Does everyone know that at Collingwood? The next few weeks should reveal plenty.  |
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In the sobering 35-point loss to a spirited Power were just 11 members of the Magpies' 2010 premiership team, four of the missing having either retired or been traded, another half-dozen out injured, and one playing in the VFL. But that on its own is not sufficient explanation for why the Collingwood of 2013 has been such a shadow of the flag-winning model, nor just injuries, or even the alleged disconnect between a group of senior players and a still relatively new coach demanding higher standards beyond game day. The Magpies have arguably turned on just one performance - the six-point defeat of Geelong in round eight - in keeping with the standard they had set for the best part of three years. And their five losses have been far more instructive. The Magpies allowed Hawthorn 15 goals in a half and a dozen to Essendon on Anzac Day. They were jumped at the start and overrun at the finish against Fremantle, held to just four goals in three quarters against Sydney, and against Port could not manage more than two goals in any quarter. Their average losing margin of 42 points is surpassed only by that of Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney and Brisbane. And only the AFL ladder's bottom six have won fewer quarters than Collingwood's lowly tally of 24. The Pies sit a mediocre 11th for scoring and 10th for fewest points conceded. They are fairly damning bottom lines. And the more subtle tweaks Collingwood and Buckley have attempted to make have not gone according to plan, either. At the Magpies' pre-Christmas training camp in Utah, Buckley nominated contested ball and transition from defence to attack as key focuses of the pre-season campaign. ''I thought at times we were nutted [for contested possession],'' Buckley said then. ''We need to be able to put pressure on the ball constantly, and with a big pre-season and a better fitness base and with a focus on controlling the ball, we're going to be able to put more pressure on.'' But that hasn't transpired. Collingwood's ranking for contested ball has indeed slipped further, from fourth to 13th, and on the differentials, from third to 10th. Last year, its two best contested-ball winners, Scott Pendlebury and Dane Swan, both ranked in the AFL's top 10. In 2013, Pendlebury, while still having a fine season, is 12th, and Swan barely top 20. The focus on transition out of defence with quick ball movement and long kicking was evident in the trading of Quinten Lynch from West Coast, Jordan Russell from Carlton and Clinton Young from Hawthorn. ''Nearly every one of the players we've brought in has real penetration in their kicking,'' Buckley said at Christmas. ''I felt we had lost the ability to penetrate, we sort of relied so much on turning the ball over in the front half that we actually lost a lot of penetration rebounding out of our back half.'' And that still hasn't been restored. Young is finally set to debut for his new club this week after persistent hamstring problems, and the run lost in the departure of Sharrod Wellingham has been replaced only to an extent by the likes of Paul Seedsman, one of the 2013's brighter stories for the Pies. Getting on for two seasons since his retirement, Leon Davis' rebound from defence is still being missed, and too much pressure is placed on Heath Shaw and Russell, who is, as yet, failing to give the Pies what they are looking for. Meanwhile, Lynch, who Buckley hoped could not only adequately replace the departed Chris Dawes but also the mobile rucking role Leigh Brown provided in the 2010 flag, has disappointed. Only 13 per cent of his disposals have been won inside 50, the consequence a goals per game average of just 0.4, his lowest since 2004, which increases the burden on Travis Cloke. Far from using long kicking as a weapon, Collingwood has actually gone the other way, its ranking for effective long kicks down from third last season to 15th, its short kicks up from ninth to second. No side could fail to be affected by the absences of Dale Thomas and best-and-fairest winner Dayne Beams, and season-ending injuries to Alan Toovey and Alex Fasolo. But the concern is that the ''ups and downs'' and ''flat spot'' to which Pendlebury referred on Monday are becoming more the norm. The side Collingwood wants to be is an outfit it is no longer capable of being. |
Key defender Ben Reid, small forward Andrew Krakouer and Hawthorn recruit Clinton Young seem certain starters on Friday night for a match in which Collingwood has the chance to deal another blow to the finals aspirations of its biggest rival. Premier ruckman Darren Jolly also looms as a possible inclusion should a toe problem have healed sufficiently while, at reserves level, star midfielder Dayne Beams and the versatile Tyson Goldsack will take another step towards senior football. Scott Pendlebury yesterday said coach Nathan Buckley would find it hard not to select Young for what he termed the "biggest game of the year" after the former Hawk starred in the reserves last weekend by gathering 21 touches, including seven inside 50m entries. "I don't want to steal Bucks' thunder for later this week, but I think there would be a fair chance that Youngy will play," Pendlebury said. Not for the first time this season, Collingwood was criticised for its level of effort in the loss to Port Adelaide on Saturday. After the Magpies lost to Essendon on Anzac Day, Pendlebury said some of his teammates were cheating in their approach to football. He was more reserved yesterday, saying the Magpies had simply hit a flat spot. "I think every club has had a flat spot, here or there, and it does get frustrating," Pendlebury said. "We got three in a row but then just came out on the weekend and we just couldn't execute that well. "Obviously, we need to smooth things out in the run home." Pendlebury denied the fanatical approach to defensive acts that proved critical in Collingwood's 2010 premiership win under now Carlton coach Mick Malthouse was completely missing, saying rival sides were now better equipped to deal with the Magpies. "I think we've showed signs through the year that that manic Collingwood is still there, but other sides have improved and we've got to go up another level," he said. Pendlebury had no hesitation in labelling the clash between the eighth and ninth-placed sides the Magpies' most important this season. Sitting eighth, the Magpies are two wins clear of closest challengers Carlton, West Coast and Adelaide and can effectively end the finals aspirations of the Blues and Crows over the next fortnight. Victories in those two games would keep them within contention for a top four spot - they sit two wins behind third-placed Essendon - and Pendlebury said his teammates understood what was at stake. "I think most sides will talk about you've just got to control what you can control, the rest will fall into place," he said. "We're obviously in a position now where this game is our biggest game of our season. "We really need to win this game to create a buffer and stay close enough to the top four and if we lose it, it's probably hard to get top four." While Carlton fell to Sydney at the SCG on Friday in a match played in torrential rain, it again proved competitive against a flag contender. The Blues are also likely to receive a boost in experience after vice-captain Andrew Carrazzo was named in the best players at VFL level in his return from a calf injury. "Most of the boys know that they've been really competitive even when they've lost," Pendlebury said. "It's been a three-goal margin, and early this year we had a really good battle against them."  |
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Monday, July 01, 2013
CRUNCH TIME: Round 15 Collingwood v Carlton
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