HAWTHORN 6.4.40 12.5.77 15.9.99 18.11.119
SCORERS - Collingwood: Cloke (3.1), Beams (2.0), Blair (2.0), O'Brien (1.1), Swan (1.1), Elliott (1.0), Lynch (1.0), Thomas (1.0), Pendlebury (0.2), Reid (0.2), Williams (0.1)
BEST - Collingwood: Pendlebury, Macaffer, Swan, Beams, Grundy, Brown
INJURIES - Collingwood: Nil
SUBSTITUTES - Collingwood: Sam Dwyer replaced Ben Sinclair in the third quarter
REPORTS: Nil
OFFICIAL CROWD: 71,533 at the MCG
| - The scoreboard is the be-all and end-all when it comes to statistics, but the 35-point losing margin on Friday night didn’t tell the full story. For starters, Collingwood beat Hawthorn in the clearances 41-35, broke even in the hitouts 37-37 and recorded five more marks (77-72). It also ended the night with more bounces (33-29) and was only narrowly shaded in contested possession 137-140. It suggests that the Magpies weren’t as far off the pace as the result dictated. Where the Magpies were beaten was in uncontested possession, recording only 198 to 226. It highlights the way Hawthorn can cut teams to pieces in the blink of an eye. The Hawks managed to kick two goals in the space of three minutes on five occasions throughout the night, often undoing so much of Collingwood’s good work. When Cyril Rioli and friends win possession in space, things can get ugly. - Surely Brodie Grundy is in line to receive this week’s AFL Rising Star nomination? He won a game-high 28 hitouts against the vastly more experienced David Hale and Max Bailey and buttered up to win 20 possessions around the ground (13 of which were contested) as well as six clearances. It was a remarkable performance from a man who has only played four senior games and is still yet to turn 20. | - Lance Franklin’s love of playing Collingwood continued. Although he didn’t tear the game apart, he still kicked four straight goals – something he has done in his past three games against Collingwood. Lachlan Keeffe was charged with the task of keeping Buddy quiet and did a solid job for a man playing only his 19th game, but Buddy’s two goals late in the second quarter (both courtesy of free kicks) helped tip the game in Hawthorn’s favour. - Dane Swan just keeps on chugging. He helped keep Collingwood afloat with a 12 possession final quarter and his explosive pace off the mark and ability to turn opponents inside out regularly caught the Hawks’ midfielders off guard. It wouldn’t surprise to see him sneak in for a Brownlow vote off the back of this performance when the votes are counted later next month. - The Collingwood midfield managed to restrict Sam Mitchell to only 24 possessions. We say ‘only’ 24 because he has won 30 or more against the Magpies on nine occasions since 2005. The last time he was held to 24 disposals or less against the Black and White was back in round four, 2010 (23 possessions). Mitchell also managed to win ‘only’ three clearances, his lowest return since round 14. |
| 1. Score review under fire again The AFL's controversial score review system delivered another eyebrow-raising outcome during the second quarter on Friday night. Collingwood's Jarryd Blair soccered a goal from close range, but the ball appeared to have been touched by opponent Taylor Duryea – and was initially signaled as such by the goal umpire. However, the decision was sent for review, with the field umpire indicating the goal umpire's decision had been a goal. When the review proved inconclusive, the goal umpire's decision was taken, and a goal awarded – much to Duryea's dismay. Essendon's Brendon Goddard summed up many fans' feelings about the system with his tweet, referencing cricket's Decision Review System. "The goal review is a debacle," he wrote. "That was worse than any decision during The Ashes. The umpire went to signal touched and changed his mind." 2. Big guns back and firing Hawthorn's three inclusions for the clash – Luke Hodge, Grant Birchall and Lance Franklin – had a combined 562 games' experience and eight All Australian selections. And it showed. The trio all impacted the game significantly. Hodge, wearing a protective glove on his right hand after just one week out with a fractured thumb, dominated across half-back, gathering 28 disposals. Birchall made a seamless return after seven weeks out with a knee injury, collecting 26, and Franklin, who missed last week with a hamstring niggle, continued his fine record against Collingwood. He booted 4 goals, taking his tally against the Magpies to 54 from 13 games. | 3. Shaw's tough night Collingwood playmaker Heath Shaw had a difficult night in the face of a tag from Brendan Whitecross. In his role as a defensive forward, Whitecross not only negated Shaw's influence, but also did plenty of damage himself. The Magpie backman tried plenty to rid himself of Whitecross, at one stage even going to Franklin. But nothing worked, and the final numbers were 20 disposals and 4 goals to the Hawk, with only 9 disposals to Shaw. 4. Hawks extend winning streak over Pies It's not yet in the category of Geelong's extraordinary dominance of Hawthorn, but the Hawks' winning streak over Collingwood is starting to build. Friday night's victory made it five in a row, dating back to round one, 2012. Just as the Cats haven't lost to Hawthorn since the disappointment of the 2008 Grand Final, the Hawks haven't fallen to Collingwood since the heartbreaking three-point preliminary final loss of 2011. 5. Hawks' support for Blackwood family The three children of murdered mother Kylie Blackwood ran through the banner with the Hawthorn team before the bounce, and club president Andrew Newbold has pledged ongoing support for the family. Mrs Blackwood was found murdered inside her Pakenham home on August 1, leaving behind husband Peter, son Chase, age 13, and twin 11-year-old girls Mia and Holly. "It's an incredibly sad time for the family," Newbold said at the Hawks' pre-match function. "We've invited them to training next week, and we've told them that our door is continually open." |
| THE MEDIA | |
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley concedes it is now impossible for the Magpies to finish in the top four, but says Friday night's loss to Hawthorn has reinforced his team's recent improvement. After an impressive fortnight, the Magpies were outclassed by the Hawks at the MCG, losing their fifth consecutive match against the 2012 grand finalists. Despite the 35-point margin, Buckley said his team's performance underlined the ground made in recent wins against the Sydney Swans and Essendon. "We believe if we look after the elements in our control we can beat anyone," the coach said on Friday night. "We haven't been able to get over Hawthorn in the last 18 months, but I dare say that this one feels different to us than round three this year. "We expect to be in the mix against anyone [and] if we keep doing that we can do some damage." The Magpies fell 41 points behind early in the fourth quarter on Friday night, but they didn't give up and cut the margin to four goals with 12 minutes to play. Buckley said the difference between the teams was tackling efficiency, with the clearances (41-35) and contested possessions (137-140) relatively even. "There were a lot of clinches out there and I thought they were just that little bit better in tight," he said. "When we had a chance to tackle we just didn't lay the tackle as effectively. "That's an element of the game that was within our control and one that told at certain stages. "I thought the flow of the play was pretty even, [and] I thought we finished the game stronger to be honest. "We finished most quarters stronger." The Magpies face West Coast next Friday night before finishing the home and away season against North Melbourne at the MCG.Friday night's loss left the team six points adrift of fourth-placed Fremantle and the third-placed Sydney Swans, who both play on Saturday. "I said to the players in there, there's plenty of elements outside of our control that conspired to contribute to the loss," Buckley said. "Losers talk about the things they can't control and winners just improve the things they can. "We'll review very strongly and we'll set ourselves for West Coast next Friday night with the intent of being better than we were tonight in some of those areas." Hawthorn has asserted its authority over challenger Collingwood, overpowering the Magpies to win by 35 points at the MCG on Friday night. In a high-pressure clash that started like a final, the Hawks rediscovered their best football in the opening three quarters, winning 18.11 (119) to 12.12 (84). The Magpies rallied in the fourth quarter to kick three of the last five goals, but it was too little too late as the Hawks cruised to the finish line. The impressive win, Hawthorn's fifth in succession against Collingwood, all but ended the Magpies' top-four hopes after a strong fortnight had reignited their premiership chances. Key Hawks Lance Franklin, Luke Hodge and Grant Birchall all returned and were impressive, giving coach Alastair Clarkson a settled line-up with two matches to come before finals. Franklin, whose set shot kicking was faultless, booted 4.0, giving him a total of 54 goals from his last 13 games against the Magpies. Meanwhile, Hodge (28 possessions and eight marks) marshalled the team from half-back with Birchall (26) polished after seven weeks on the sidelines. "It was a really tough contest, and it's a nice reminder of what's coming in a few weeks' time," Clarkson said. "Both sides were really hard at it, and we were pleased that we were able to stand up under the pressure. "We need to play at that type of standard in finals footy, and we didn't do that in the last two games of last year, so that's a significant challenge for us. "We know our most important footy is going to be in the last five or six weeks of the season." The Magpies were scrappy going into attack on a windy night, giving key targets Ben Reid and Quinten Lynch, who combined for one goal, few opportunities. Travis Cloke was the Magpies' leading goalkicker with three. The Hawks sprung a selection surprise pre-match, replacing Brent Guerra (knee) with ruckman Max Bailey, despite the forecast of rain. And with Bailey carrying the ruck, David Hale was able to push forward alongside Franklin and Jarryd Roughead, stretching the Magpies' back six. At one point in the second quarter, half-back Heath Shaw, who had no offensive impact with nine possessions, was sent to Franklin. The Hawks got on a roll early in the second quarter, kicking four unanswered goals to open up a 34-point lead, with Cyril Rioli electric as the architect. Midfielder Brad Sewell was also influential in the first half, finishing with 27 possessions to cement his place in the team ahead of finals. Just as the game was slipping away for the Magpies, however, a controversial goal review changed the momentum of the contest. Jarryd Blair's goal off the ground appeared to be touched by opponent Taylor Duryea, but the vision was not deemed conclusive enough to overturn the goal umpire's decision. Essendon star Brendon Goddard labelled the decision a "debacle" on Twitter. From that point the Magpies lifted and cut the margin to 15 points at the main break, but their challenge was quickly snuffed out. "The third quarter was the one that really told on us," coach Nathan Buckley said. "The third quarter wasn't played in the manner we were looking to play the game. "We just allowed their defenders to drop off and have extra numbers in behind us. "For the most part we weren't far off." Midfielders Scott Pendlebury (31 possessions) and Dane Swan (35) won plenty of the ball, while run-with specialist Brent Macaffer kept opponent Sam Mitchell reasonably quiet. Young ruckman Brodie Grundy (20 possessions and 28 hit-outs) was impressive as he seeks to hold his spot with Darren Jolly pushing to return. FOOTBALL has always appealed as a refuge, an escape from the real world. But rarely has it needed a cracking contest as much as this week given, when an iconic club and a legend of the code were charged with bringing the game into disrepute. For a half at the MCG last night, Hawthorn and Collingwood provided an example of all that is good in the game. Cyril Rioli sizzled down wings, Lance Franklin bombed goals from long range, Travis Cloke hustled and bustled and Dane Swan gathered the ball at will. Even though Hawthorn held a slight edge, it was worthy of a Friday night stoush between two elite sides. Yet by the final siren, Hawthorn had effectively sealed the minor premiership, posting its fifth successive victory over Collingwood by 35 points. It was its ability to stifle Collingwood in the third term while managing to find a path to goal - more often than not through Franklin, who showed no signs of the hamstring problem that saw him miss a week ago - that allowed it to break away from the Magpies. In a way, it is a result that is somewhat dispiriting, for had the Magpies emerged successful, a case could have been made that this was the most wide open premiership race in recent years. Instead, it is now certain that Collingwood will miss the top four, which effectively condemns its premiership hopes. Still, the stars of the game showed enough to suggest it will be a September to look forward to. Franklin, in particular, was spectacular, as his record against Collingwood suggested he would be. From 12 previous games against the Magpies, Franklin has averaged four goals a match. And so it proved again, for while young defender Lachie Keeffe tried admirably, stopping Franklin is a difficult task when he is in the mood. While Hawthorn had the better of the opening half, the fluke of the ball and a keen defensive work rate enabled it to break free of Collingwood in the third term. The first 10 minutes were tight, with neither side conceding an inch of space. Somehow, though, a snapped kick from the boundary line fell into the arms of Paul Puopolo near goal, something that could have happened only through mistake. Then Tyson Goldsack made an error likely to cause sleepless nights this weekend. Tasked with kicking the ball back into play, Goldsack shanked the kick directly to Franklin. His radar on despite the contrary conditions, the Hawk kicked his fourth to extend his side's lead to 28 points. When Franklin was able to out-position Keeffe and find Brendan Whitecross running into goal just shy of three-quarter time, the Hawks had effectively sealed the match. Perversely, given the swirling gail-force winds early and slippery conditions from half-time, the often-errant Franklin held a rare clean sheet of four straight when kicking for goal. Rioli, too, set the game alight with two cameos in the second term that helped keep Collingwood at bay. Brad Sewell, too, answered concerns about his hold on a midfield spot. Under some pressure after a dip from his usual stellar form, Sewell withdrew from paid media commitments this week to concentrate on working his way back to his best. The approach clearly worked early with the former best and fairest winner gathering 13 possessions in the opening term before finishing with 27. Others to shine included Hawks captain Luke Hodge, who belied the fact he had surgery on his thumb only a week ago to gather a Hawthorn high 28 touches. Collingwood stars Scott Pendlebury and Swan were far from disgraced, both showing verve when sharing 66 possessions between them. Impressive again was rookie ruckman Brodie Grundy, who only worked his way into the team a month ago. On last night's effort - he notched 28 hitouts and gathered 20 touches against the Hawthorn tandem act of Max Bailey and David Hale - dual-premiership ruckman Darren Jolly may find it hard to win back a spot come September. | Hawthorn had been in so-so form. The Pies were hot enough to dismember the Swans in Sydney. Thus, there was a feeling that this game might be a close encounter - truly an alien concept for these sides. For the Hawks own Collingwood, in the same way that Geelong has owned Hawthorn. If the Pies had gained belief in the previous fortnight, Hawthorn gained something more ominous for this game: Luke Hodge, Lance Franklin and Grant Birchall. This trio made major contributions to the continued domination of Collingwood. Franklin banged through impressive goals, albeit he had some good fortune, while Hodge did his usual shotcalling from behind - and in front - of the ball and put on a kicking clinic. But Birchall's performance was actually the most remarkable, considering he had not played at any level since round 13. To three-quarter-time, the defender had touched the ball 21 times and been among the best afield. His performance was as much a credit to the Hawthorn conditioning staff and training regime as Birchall's own natural gifts. Hawthorn's victories over the Pies have been built on its offensive power - it has not failed to reach 18 goals or more since these teams played in the storied preliminary final of 2011. Collingwood simply can't stop the Hawks from scoring. This time, Jarryd Roughead was subdued and beaten (mainly by Nathan Brown), but this had barely any effect on the game, since Franklin was damaging, Cyril Rioli astonishing in spurts and Isaac Smith crept forward to boot three, with Luke Breust and Jack Gunston playing important parts in that Hawthorn front half that James Hird called ''frightening'' a fortnight earlier. The other difference lay in disposal skills. Collingwood's was some distance beneath the Hawks overall. The Pies were more or less even in contested balls and tackled well enough to be in the game, but they don't have either Hawthorn's foot skills or a defensive method to stop them. Hawthorn's edge was consistent, as each team took turns at surging. The Pies were actually a bit closer than the scores suggest. But they were always coming back from a margin of around five to six goals to close the gap. When they pushed hard but couldn't score a goal in the third quarter, the game was more or less done. Collingwood's best, as per usual, were in their elite midfielders, headed by Dane Swan, Scott Pendlebury and Dayne Beams. New ruckman Brodie Grundy was astonishing for a fourth gamer. Travis Cloke booted three in the first half on Brian Lake, but wasn't given the same opportunities thereafter. The Pies had an edge in the clearances and, in the first half, scored quite well from stoppages. The Hawks charged out to a lead of 34 points in the middle of the second quarter, on the back of some Rioli genius - to say that he ''created'' goals for Smith and Jack Gunston is an understatement. For Smith, he won a ground ball, evaded and ran about 60 metres and then handballed over the top for an open goal. For Gunston, he weaved through some hapless Pies and sent a visionary lateral pass that set up an easy shot from 25 metres. Franklin's consecutive goals - from a pair of marking-contest frees that had the Pies fans howling - put the Hawks out to a lead of nearly six goals. Collingwood, seemingly on the brink of another severe beating by the brown and golds, responded in the minutes before half-time, as Swan's pace set up a Beams' running goal, O'Brien drilled one and then Blair found Cloke for his third goal of the half just on the siren. Cloke's goal on half-time triggered a melee, in which about half of each side participated. The game seemed alive to this point, though one did not think the Pie challenge would translate into a victory. So it proved. Hawthorn led at quarter-time by 11 points following a fast-paced opening, in which the Hawks had more possessions but the Pies remained close by dint of efficiency in their forward line, where Cloke booted his team's two first goals. Brent Macaffer, fresh from his smothering of Sydney's Kieren Jack, was sent to Sam Mitchell, who has regularly dismantled Collingwood at the stoppages. Mitchell remained productive - on the outside of the contest mainly - but it was Brad Sewell and Jordan Lewis who did more harm overall. Collingwood clearly had an issue down back, with both Franklin and the Hawthorn smalls able to find space. Franklin was dangerous on the lead and too slick for Keeffe, while Rioli, Breust and Brendan Whitecross all scored. The Pies were out-possessed early by a significant margin, but they were able to score three times from congested situations in their front half, twice marking near the top of the goal square (Cloke and Jamie Elliott) from quick centred kicks from Swan and Luke Ball respectively. KING KONG GRUNDY While the Pies weren't up to Hawthorn's skill level, the performance of their young ruckman Brodie Grundy in his fourth game was remarkable. Grundy's ability to compete at ground level for a big man is elite, as he showed again, improving further on his output against the Swans and was competitive in ruck contests. ON A PLATTER The term ''assist'' is inadequate for describing how Cyril Rioli set up crucial second-term goals for Isaac Smith and Jack Gunston. Smith received a handball over the top after Rioli won a contest, evaded and ran about 60 metres with the ball, while Gunston received a wonderful low pass after Rioli won a ground ball, kept his feet and weaved around some Pies. SELL-OUT? The crowd of 71,533 was surprising, given that the game was being spoken of as near sell-out, with only 3000 general public tickets remaining on Thursday evening. Did members of various type stay away, or did the slightly wild weather scare the theatregoers? These heavily-sold but far from capacity crowds are becoming regular events. COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley conceded a top four-finish was now "impossible", but not the prospect of winning the premiership. "We believe if we look after the elements in our control we can beat anyone," Buckley said after the 35-point loss to Hawthorn "We haven't been able to get over Hawthorn in the last 18 months, but I dare say this one feels different to us than Round 3 earlier this year. We expect to be in the mix against anyone going forward and, if we can do that, we can do some damage. "No, we didn't get blown out of the water. We were beaten by a pretty good side tonight. Our effort was good and there wasn't a lot in the game." Buckley bemoaned the inability of his Magpies to take their chances, although he was heartened by the spirit to keep fighting in difficult conditions at the MCG. "Despite not getting the win, it has reinforced the last couple of weeks. I said to the players in there, there's plenty of elements outside our control that conspired to contribute to the loss. But there were elements inside our control. Losers talk about things they can't control and winners just improve the things they can," he said. "Probably in the end, it was the tackle efficiency. There were a lot of clinches out there and I thought they were probably just a little better in tight. "When we had the chance to tackle, we just didn't lay the tackle as effectively. So that's an element of the game that was in our control and one that told at certain stages. "35 points isn't a small margin, but it was closer than that. They kicked the last two goals which was really disappointing because we had the ball in our forward half for the majority of that last 10 to 12 minutes and just couldn't convert, couldn't take our chances. "There was a bit of theme in that regain. We created opportunities, whether it was off half-back or through the midfield and a couple of poor skill errors on our behalf. You've got to give Hawthorn credit for the pressure, but I thought there were elements in our control that we didn't take advantage of. "We scored effectively in the first half and less effectively in the second half and I thought the flow of play was pretty even. "We've had two consecutive six-day breaks with the travel in there, but we thought we finished the game stronger, to be honest. We finished most quarters stronger. "The third quarter was the one that really told on us. We lost a little bit of our structure and it wasn't played in the manner that we wanted to play the game. We just allowed their defenders to drop off and have extra numbers behind us. Hawthorn are too good side to allow that." Gun midfielder Scott Pendlebury was limping after the game from what Buckley described as a "headbutt on the knee" and the coach and his assistants will closely monitor the VFL team's performance at Sandringham today. "We understand and expect that it's not going to take 22 players from here until the end of the season, whenever that is, for us to perform our best," he said. "So, we're going to need the depth of player to come into the side and play roles when required. Paul Seedsman and Ben Hudson and Ben Kennedy were our emergencies tonight. And Andrew Krakouer, Alan Didak and Darren Jolly will play tomorrow. "We've got some players down there (VFL) who are encouraged to play the way we want to play and that game is very important because we would prefer our VFL to continue their season as long as they possibly can. So we want to see a good result and players put their hand up to come into the side next week." And Buckley was satisfied by the continuing development of young ruckman Brodie Grundy. "The fact that he hasn't had a pre-season, he just keeps giving. He has a fierce, competitive will that comes through, he's not overawed by any situation and he has now played games against some pretty good opposition, GWS, Essendon, Sydney and now Hawthorn and he has stood up in every one of those games when we've needed something," he said. "Funnily enough, we've got a young player standing up and proving all that he has. So he has been very positive for us. He was one of many players tonight who tried to give something a little extra when it was needed."  |
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