Round 1: The Washup

SUPERFOOTY - Jon Anderson COLLINGWOOD ACCOUNTABILITY: Was virtually non-existent after quarter-time as highlighted by Freo kicking 3.2 from kick-ins (opponents normally concede one scoring shot a game from kick-ins). DISPOSAL: The Pies found targets by foot only 56% of the time which was 12% less than the Dockers. Teams don’t win too many games with that level of kicking inefficiency. UNAVAILABILITY: Significant. Ben Reid and Jesse White will bring them some tall versatility but that wasn’t their main problem against Freo. Same goes for Lachy Keeffe who was an emergency. Losing Marley Williams run was significant and the return of Josh Thomas will add to midfield depth. Paul Seedsman can provide dash from half-back. OUTLOOK: Given they had more out than Carlton and Richmond, they are entitled to be judged when near fit. That doesn’t change the fact they stank against Freo. NEXT 3: Sydney (ANZ Stadium), Geelong (MCG), Richmond (MCG). Collingwood Magpies presser 9:07 LONG-TERM Will the Pies have another crack at a premiership before captain Scott Pendlebury finishes up? There might be some rough seas ahead while their five first-round draft picks they netted in the past two drafts get 50-odd games under their belt. But once Ben Kennedy and Tim Broomhead are running the ball with confidence, Nathan Freeman is bursting away from stoppages and injured defender Matthew Scharenberg is intercepting across the back line, things may look more rosy. Brodie Grundy, Ben Reid, Lachlan Keeffe, Jarrod Witts and this year’s father-son pick-up Darcy Moore should provide a more than capable spine. Josh Thomas and Taylor Adams are front-line on-ballers in the making.	SUPERFOOTY COLLINGWOOD INJURIES  Tim Broomhead (wrist) 2-3 weeks Nathan Freeman (hamstring) 2-3 weeks Corey Gault (groin) 1 week Patrick Karnezis (osteitis pubis 2-3 weeks) Adam Oxley (ankle) 1-2 weeks Matthew Scharenberg (feet) indefinite Paul Seedsman (hip) 2-3 weeks Josh Thomas (knee) 1-2 weeks ON THE BLOCK: Nathan Buckley said the heat would be on some of his senior players after the disappointing Round 1 result against Freo. Marty Clarke could be in the gun after a subdued outing in the season opener. Time will tell if other more-experienced names will pay. Tyson Goldsack and starting sub Ben Kennedy could make way as the Pies welcome back a couple. ON THE CUSP: Ben Reid and Jesse White will return against Sydney in two weeks. Alex Fasolo is certain to be banging down the door for a game, while Buckley may give Tony Armstrong a crack at his former team. Tall defender Lachy Keeffe, considered stiff by many not to play against Freo, could come in against the Swans if a match-up presents. FORECAST: It just got hotter down at the Westpac Centre. We’re only a week into the season but with a daunting early-season draw, the Pies are facing a big one in Round 2 when they travel north to face Buddy and the Swans. They’ll be buoyed by their strong record up there, but there’s plenty to work on between now and then. 'Heat on senior Pies.'
REAL FOOTY AFL legend Wayne Carey has accused Collingwood of playing ''bruise-free'' football, while there is a ''big watch'' on Nick Maxwell and Marty Clarke as the Magpies begin the task of regrouping after a shocking start to the season. After an even first term, the Magpies were mauled by 70 points by Fremantle in front of a disappointing crowd of 37,571 at Etihad Stadium on Friday night. Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert had expected a crowd of 45,000, while the AFL was confident of 42,000, on a day league boss Andrew Demetriou lamented the unavailability of the MCG to open the season. The Magpies were unable to deal with Fremantle's sustained pressure and a new, attacking game plan involving quicker ball movement and a desire to seek coast-to-coast goals, using what coach Ross Lyon later branded ''through balls'' rather than kicking sideways and holding up play. Advertisement Collingwood’s score (46 points) was its lowest under coach Nathan Buckley and lowest ever against the Dockers, while the losing margin of 70 points was its highest since Buckley took charge in 2012. That the Magpies were unable to physically worry the Dockers had Carey declaring they had played ‘‘bruise-free’’ football after quarter-time. ''They did not put a finger on Fremantle players for periods of the game,'' Carey said on Triple M. "For some goals, we know the one that went from one end of the ground to the other - when [Hayden] Ballantyne wheeled around and kicked that goal - but the one that shocked me was the one [Ryan] Crowley marked at the top of the square, uncontested ... an uncontested 15-metre chip, that for me was just unforgivable.'' Carey said the Magpies, with power forward Travis Cloke held goalless after being at times triple teamed, had played as bad as struggling Melbourne had last season. The stinging loss prompted Melbourne great and commentator Garry Lyon to question the futures of Maxwell, the former skipper, and Irishman Clarke, declaring there is a ''big watch'' on the pair in the coming weeks. The Magpies maintained through the pre-season that Maxwell was still in their best 22. It clearly wasn’t the start the Magpies, even without injured talls Jesse White and Ben Reid, had envisaged, particularly after Pert had said pre-match the Magpies expected to win a flag within the next three years - the life of Buckley’s new contract. Collingwood has next weekend off as part of the split round but then face a potentially harrowing six weeks, with Sydney and Geelong in its immediate sights. Magpies head of football Rodney Eade denied the loss was a reality check but said goalkicking, kicking efficiency and use of the ball was the ''most damning thing for us that we have to get right''. Buckley, whose anger boiled over at times in the coach's box, said the ''heat'' was now on the entire club. "When there’s such contrasts in the way that you perform from quarter to quarter, it puts heat on everyone,'' he said. "We will more than likely sit at the bottom of the ladder with our percentage at the end of round one, but we will be four points away from the top team. So it’s a loss, it’s a poor loss, but you don’t wrap the season up. "We’ve clearly got some players who performed really well, but we just didn’t have enough support, there weren’t enough troops, there wasn’t enough weight of numbers for long enough. "So the heat goes on if you don’t perform - players and coaches and administrators alike.'' Eade said Reid and White would be available to tackle the Swans. Lachlan Keeffe, Alex Fasolo, Jarryd Blair and Sam Dwyer are likely to be in contention for a recall.	REAL FOOTY It sounded like an intriguing, if unconventional, season opener. Collingwood, the box office champion, against Fremantle, the rising power. A perennial finalist and Victorian power against the 2013 grand finalist. There had been talk that Freo had ‘‘earned’’ the right to open the season against the heavily supported black and whites. In truth, it was leviathan Collingwood that wasn’t equal to the occasion. It was the proven attraction that flopped on opening night. When did a Pies team last seem so impotent in the face of vastly superior opposition? Hawthorn might have owned Collingwood for two years, but the Hawks never submitted them to a humiliation of the kind that Ross Lyon’s well-drilled troops inflicted upon them. After a spirited, if highly inefficient, first quarter, the Pies could not score another goal for more than an hour. The occasion underwhelmed on a number of levels. The crowd was down several thousand on what one might have predicted. Collingwood folk, perhaps, had a premonition of what was coming. The strangling was completed early – by the middle of the second quarter, Freo had rendered its prey lifeless, before swallowing it whole. And the Dockers showed a capacity to score that wasn’t always evident in 2013. They also showcased the talents of a fellow called Nathan Fyfe, whose majestic performance reminded us of his James Hird-like ability to waltz into contests and emerge with the ball. Aaron Sandilands reminded us of his stature as the game’s most imposing – and biggest – big man. Hayden Ballantyne reminded us that his wasteful grand final was an aberration. The Dockers belonged out there, under the brights lights of opening night. The Pies were embarrassing. Nathan Buckley might have been buoyed by a two-year contract extension, but he has some problems and should brace himself for some flak. While the defeat by Fremantle shouldn’t come as a surprise – the 22 that Collingwood sent into the season opener lacked class, in both defence and attack – it was the extent of destruction that was worrisome. A four or five-goal loss would have been palatable, considering Fremantle’s strength and Collingwood’s personnel issues. But a belting of this scale invites questions, and unfortunately for the Pies, the fixture does not afford them much respite – next up, they face the Swans in Sydney, another team fancied to figure in the box trifecta at season’s end. Buckley’s issues were everywhere, but were most pronounced at what he terms ‘‘the pointy ends’’. Travis Cloke has often found Luke McPharlin difficult – the Docker defender is elite in one-on-ones – but he did not have a chance, given the combination of terrible disposal and Fremantle’s systematic out-numbering. Jesse White and Ben Reid in particular were major omissions. Without a foil for Collingwood, or another aerial threat, the Pies sought to manufacture goals with mid-sized players – which is difficult against any quality team, and nigh impossible against the Lyon cage. They couldn’t hit targets anywhere. Reid is likely to play in attack when he overcomes his calf problem, but one can mount a case that he is equally needed in a defence that is without Heath Shaw and won’t have his prospective successor, Marley Williams, for an undetermined period. The Collingwood backline was replete with either unfamiliar and inexperienced names – Jack Frost, first-gamer Tom Langdon – or names that are familiar but not distinguished, such as Marty Clarke, who simply isn’t up to scratch. The Pies have a bye next week before the challenge of the Swans. The Dockers could be said to have had an unexpected bye a week earlier.
Herald Sun Sport - Mark Robinson FOOTBALL and expectations can be a killer combination. The bigger the expectation, the greater the criticism when it goes pear-shaped. At Collingwood the bar has been set high and, if we can make judgments after just one game, they are a little misguided too. Coach Nathan Buckley recently said his team would contend for the premiership this season. “Play our best, win every game that we play ... contend for the flag. That’s our expectations,” he said. Just 30 minutes before the bounce on Friday night, Magpies chief executive Gary Pert said: “I would suggest not only playing in finals for the next three years, but I would expect us to be top-four and winning a premiership during that time.” The Magpies were trounced by Fremantle and the reaction from Magpies fans has been extraordinary. The criticism of Buckley has been unreasonable. Pies fans bleed black and white and some still bleed for Mick Malthouse. It’s time they got over it. Malthouse is at Carlton. Buckley is coach. The 2010 premiership was a lifetime ago in the way football is played and the way with which teams have improved and gone backwards. We’ll never know whether Malthouse would have had Collingwood in better shape than Buckley. President Eddie McGuire backed in his decision with a contract extension for Buckley which was announced two weeks ago. The point is, Collingwood will not contend this year and Buckley’s pre-season prediction says more about his glass half-full confidence than the practicalities of his list. The Pies are slow, small, young, can butcher the ball and the midfield doesn’t work hard enough defensively. Last year, Scott Pendlebury called them cheats and Friday night wouldn’t have improved his thinking or changed his view. Dayne Beams and Dane Swans are elite players but wouldn’t know who their opponents are most of the time. Luke Ball is a warrior, but he’s slow. Nick Maxwell’s the same and the sand is falling through his hour glass. The size of Ben Kennedy (175cm), Taylor Adams (181cm), Jarryd Blair (174cm), Marty Clarke (181cm), Sam Dwyer (180cm), Jamie Elliott (178cm), Alex Fasolo (181cm), Kyle Martin (180cm), Steele Sidebottom (180cm) and Josh Thomas (178cm) is also a concern. Perhaps it’s not about the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Clarke’s career is at the crossroads, Elliott played well in a great team and needs to do the same in an average one, and the footy world is looking at Sidebottom. Star in the making or a pretty handy mid/forward? The defensive group is young, the rucks are younger, and if Buckley wants to contend he has to finish top four. The Pies are going backwards before they go forwards. '... criticism of Buckley unreasonable'	SUPERFOOTY FORMER Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd poured cold water on Collingwood’s bid to win a premiership in the next three years, saying the Pies are “nowhere near it”. Collingwood copped a 70-point hiding from Fremantle on Friday night only hours after chief executive Gary Pert said the club expected to win another flag before coach Nathan Buckley’s contract expired in 2016. Senior Pies have already been put on notice ahead of their Round 2 meeting against Sydney in a fortnight, with Buckley confirming the Round 1 thrashing would put players under immediate selection pressure. Key forwards Ben Reid and Jesse White are expected to return from calf injuries for the Swans clash. Despite a heavy player turnover in recent years, Pert said the club expected to maintain its run of eight-straight finals appearances under Buckley. But Lloyd was adamant the Magpies’ short-term premiership ambitions were unrealistic. “They are going to go down before they can come back up,” Lloyd said on The Sunday Footy Show yesterday. “He (Buckley) is playing kids. He’s made statements on older players who were his best players but I think there are some clubs leapfrogging Collingwood at the moment.” The Pies have the sixth-youngest list in the competition including the addition of five first-round draft picks in the past two years. Among the departures were key players Dale Thomas and Heath Shaw and a host of other veterans who weren’t in the club’s next premiership vision. But Pert said on 3AW the club was aiming high under Buckley and coaching director Rodney Eade after last week extending Buckley’s contract for two more seasons. “They have created a culture, they have created a list and team that we have very high expectations of,” Pert said. “I would suggest not only playing in finals for the next three years, but I would expect us to be top-four and winning a premiership during that period of time.” The Pies butchered the ball in the season-opener, with Buckley describing the team’s ball-handling as “woeful”. The coach said the Round 1 shocker “ puts heat on everyone ”. “We will more than likely sit at the bottom of the ladder with our percentage at the end of Round 1, but we will be four points away from the top,” Buckley said. “It’s a loss, a poor loss, but we don’t wrap the season up. “We’ve clearly got some players that performed really well … but we just didn’t have enough support. “So, yeah, the heat goes on if you don’t perform. Players and coaches and administers alike.” THE GOOD AND THE BAD TICK — Dayne Beams 31 possessions and seven clearances TICK — Brodie Grundy 13 hit-outs and 14 possessions TICK — Jarrod Witts 11 hit-outs and eight possessions TICK — Tom Langdon 24 possessions six marks CROSS — Luke Ball 27 per cent kicking efficiency and seven clearances CROSS — Steele Sidebottom 40 per cent kicking efficiency and three behinds CROSS — Dane Swan 35 per cent kicking efficiency and two tackles CROSS — Martin Clarke 13 possessions and 0 tackles COLLINGWOOD’S NEXT FOUR Rd 2 v Sydney Swans (ANZ) (N) Rd 3 v Geelong Cats (MCG) (N) Rd 4 v Richmond (MCG) (N) Rd 5 v North Melbourne (MCG)
The Australian IT was a three-quarter thrashing that prompted accusations that Collingwood had played “bruise-free” football, yet it is one facet of Friday’s debacle the Magpies might challenge. As much as it seemed Fremantle was able to move the ball without pressure and brush bodies away at will in a rout that prompted the above accusation from AFL legend Wayne Carey, statistics suggest Collingwood’s physical approach is not what let it down. The Magpies compiled only one contested possession less than the hard-nosed Dockers and actually laid 14 more tackles, though that in part is due to Fremantle’s dominance. It was Collingwood’s kicking, both in general play and for goal, that proved the biggest issue as the confidence eroded against a rival that Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley yesterday described as scary. The likely inclusion of Ben Reid, who missed against Fremantle with a calf problem, will provide another marking option for Collingwood to kick to in its second round clash against the Swans in 12 days. Jesse White, too, looks a likely inclusion given Collingwood’s director of football Rodney Eade said Reid and the former Swan would have been able to play had the Magpies played in the second half of the split round. 'Collingwood’s kicking the biggest issue.'	SUPERFOOTY Collingwood studs: Many Super Coaches were tossing up between Dayne Beams (136) and Scott Pendlebury (127). Not a bad idea to have both based on Friday night’s form. Meanwhile, draftee Tom Langdon (111) could be a steal in defence. Collingwood duds: He’s promised more accuracy in front of the sticks this year, but right now Travis Cloke just needs to get more of the pill. The forward only collected 35 points although it was a tough night as the Freo backline dominated. The returning Alan Toovey only scored 30. Beams: Super Coach pick