MELBOURNE 3.1.19 9.1.55 13.4.82 13.7.85
SCORERS - Collingwood: Cloke (7.0), Blair (3.0), Elliott (3.0), Fasolo (1.2), Broomhead (1.1), Swan (1.1), Seedsman (1.0), Kennedy (0.1), White (0.1)
BEST - Collingwood: Cloke, Oxley, Pendlebury, Grundy, Williams, Langdon
INJURIES - Collingwood: Nil
SUBSTITUTES - Collingwood: Ben Kennedy replaced Paul Seedsman in the third quarter
REPORTS: Nil
OFFICIAL CROWD: 66,120 at the MCG
| 1. What goalkicking problems? Travis Cloke put the debate about his inaccurate goalkicking to rest with an outstanding performance against Melbourne on Monday. Cloke nailed seven goals straight – yep, that's right, without a blemish – as he rediscovered the form that earned him All Australian honours in 2011 and 2013. Cloke dominated the first quarter, booting four goals for the term to go with seven marks (four contested) and three tackles as he thoroughly outplayed in-form Demon Tom McDonald. His ascendancy forced Demons coach Paul Roos to change the match up in the latter stages of the first term as he put the undersized, but stockier, Lynden Dunn onto the Pies forward. It didn't matter though as Cloke spearheaded the Magpies to a big victory, earning the inaugural Neale Daniher Trophy for his efforts. 2. Lumumba lifts for the occasion Heritier Lumumba may have played 199 games and won a premiership in 2010 for Collingwood but there was no love lost when he took the field in Demons colours on Monday. Lumumba started a little shakily, but quickly settled in and helped to free the Demons from a number of jams in their defensive half. The Demons have consistently praised Lumumba for helping to set elite training standards. But Monday's game against Collingwood yielded perhaps his best game in new colours. Lumumba looked like he had a point to prove against his old side and despite jeers from the Magpie faithful, performed strongly for his 22 touches. 3. Coaching by committee An interesting sub-plot to the Queen's Birthday clash was Collingwood's coaching setup. Despite tearing his hamstring from the bone while playing touch rugby on Tuesday night, Nathan Buckley took the reins against the Demons, albeit in a slightly compromised role. Given his mobility issues, the Pies planned for Buckley to remain in the coach's box for the quarter-time and three-quarter time breaks, and allow senior assistant Robert Harvey to address the troops. Buckley would then speak to the players at the major break. However, Buckley couldn't help himself and was spotted at ground level at the final change. The Magpies coach was also extremely animated in the box throughout the day. |
4. As strong as an Oxley Collingwood's youngsters have been a revelation during the club's strong start to 2015, and rebounding defender Adam Oxley might be the best of the lot. Oxley was the designated mop-up artist in defence against the Demons, collecting 30 disposals in an outstanding performance for the Magpies. An ankle injury kept him sidelined for the majority of 2014, but the 22-year-old is making up for lost time and looks a real player with his intercept marking and poise in the back half. 5. Viney adds to Melbourne's midfield depth Melbourne's lack of midfield depth was exposed in its 61-point loss to Port Adelaide last week. Jack Viney assisted those woes immensely against Collingwood, as the Demons won the clearances 40-36. Viney, who was the substitute against the Power after coming back from a broken fibula, demonstrated his importance to Melbourne's side with an instrumental performance against the Pies. Viney finished with 26 disposals and four clearances, but it was his toughness in the contest – most notably in a big collision with Tim Broomhead – that stood out the most. Viney copped a corked calf in the hit, but fought on to be one of Melbourne's best players.
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SEVEN straight goals from key forward Travis Cloke led Collingwood to a tough 25-point win over a determined Melbourne on their Queen's Birthday clash at the MCG on Monday. With both teams holding momentum at various times, it was the composure of the Magpies at critical moments that allowed them to hold sway in the end. Collingwood kicked 17.8 (110) to Melbourne's 13.7 (85) to win by 25 points and Cloke won the Neale Daniher Trophy as best on ground. Ten of the Magpies’ first 13 goals came from Melbourne turnovers, while a huge mistake from Melbourne defender Jack Fitzpatrick – where he tunnelled the ball through his legs to rush a behind only to concede a free kick for a throw and gifted Jarryd Blair a goal – only added to the misery. The Magpies won the tactical battle with Adam Oxley playing a key role as a spare man in defence taking 14 marks (eight were intercept marks) and turning the tide whenever Melbourne had a run on. Oxley's role was crucial as he forced the Demons to second-guess when attacking and restricted their ability to take marks inside 50. It was surprising the Demons did not try to quell his influence. The game was set up for the Magpies in the first quarter with Cloke's early dominance over Tom McDonald allowing Collingwood to take a five-goal lead into the first break. By quarter-time Cloke had kicked four goals, taken six marks and the Magpies looked in control. They were winning contested possession and forcing the Demons to turn it over with only a couple of goals from Jeremy Howe keeping their score respectable. However the first half of the second quarter was Melbourne's chance to shine. Inspired by its skipper Nathan Jones, who kicked two goals (one from a fortunate free kick) and young Angus Brayshaw (who was brilliant throughout the second and third quarter) the Demons banged on six goals in just under 11 minutes to take the lead. In that time Brayshaw broke a tackle to kick an excellent goal but managed to create two for speedster Jeff Garlett. Daniel Cross was doing an excellent job on Steele Sidebottom, restricting the playmaker to just eight disposals in the first half, with most of those touches coming late in the half. It was a good response from the Demons who had fallen away when challenged against good opposition more than once in 2015. The Magpies were on the back foot but they managed to turn the situation around, slowing the game down and eventually scoring a goal to break the unanswered run of goals from the Demons. That goal came from Tim Broomhead, who snapped from the boundary after being the lucky recipient of an out-on-the-full decision when the ball appeared to bounce off McDonald's knee. Injured coach Nathan Buckley – who managed to go about his business as usual despite having surgery on his hamstring a week earlier – pushed Oxley back into defence as a spare and it proved a game-changing move. Collingwood went out again to a 19-point lead, but Melbourne hit back to kick four consecutive goals and level the scores. Once again Oxley went back as a spare and the Magpies steadied to kick the final four goals of the game to win. It was a mature effort from the Magpies and sets them up for a top-four clash against Greater Western Sydney next week. The Magpies have now won seven games but six of their wins have come against bottom six teams. The Demons' effort was good but their ball use and poise was the difference in the end. It seemed to happen so quickly. Every single time. One minute, Melbourne was finding room to move, kicking into an open forward line, evening up the scores early in the first quarter after Collingwood's quicker start. Then the Magpies started kicking goals. One, then two and then six in a row. Travis Cloke took four marks and kicked four goals. The defenders started plays that the forwards finished with goals. Whichever way a Melbourne player turned, one or two Magpies were there, waiting. By quarter time, Collingwood was four goals up and very much in control. Then, it was as if the game was reset. Again, Melbourne began playing like the more urgent side. This time, though, it lasted longer. The Demons cleared out their forward line again, creating even more space than they had in the first term. It worked. Twice, Angus Brayshaw popped the ball into the path of Jeff Garlett, placing his kick perfectly. Once, Garlett ran straight onto it and zoomed into the goal square. The second time he trapped the ball, jumped back up and snapped his second goal. Brayshaw was desperate, and smart. Jack Viney was tough. Nathan Jones was tough too, and Jimmy Toumpas was able to keep Steele Sidebottom quiet while keeping on the move. The Demons played confidently, with dare and dash. One by one they ticked off the goals between them and the Magpies, hitting the front after Garlett's second goal and getting the lead back after Bernie Vince's quick snap made the most of Max Gawn's ruckwork at a throw in. The Demons had conceded their run accidentally, the ball flying over the boundary line off the inside of Tom McDonald's knee in the back pocket, Tim Broomhead converting the free kick. The game was back on. But then things changed again. Collingwood's response to Melbourne's momentum included sending Adam Oxley back into defence and the Demons left him there, loose. He was smart enough to get into the right spots and know where the ball was going; he had 10 possessions for the quarter, many of them coming during the second half of it. Did his presence spook the Melbourne players? Or was it Collingwood's surge in intensity higher up the ground mean they had less room in which to run and too many other things to worry about ? Either way, their confidence seemed to evaporate very quickly. They stopped attacking, they weren't able to keep kicking as long and they began to look the more reactive, error-prone side. For all their hard work, they went in at half time with two-and-a-half goals still to make up. They weren't done trying. In fact, the Demons appeared to play with more aggression and adventure when they were behind. For their next trick they kicked four goals in a row at the start of the quarter. Jeremy Howe held onto the ball in good spots and made his kicks count. Hogan was always there if a contest was required. Like they had earlier, they scored quick goals. And like the second quarter, their momentum ended in calamitous fashion, Jack Fitzpatrick throwing the ball between his legs on the goal like as if back at school playing tunnel-ball, and called for the throw. That said, Collingwood was able to find ways to hold Melbourne up before the Demons could move too far in front. They never lost their head, they never panicked and they kept finding ways to slow the game down, put questions into their opposition's head and create a little more breathing room. They did it all day long. Cloke couldn't miss, adding two more goals as Collingwood wrested control back late in the third term, and another one in the last. He was generally there when needed. Jarryd Blair, Jamie Elliott and Alex Fasolo all worked hard to create opportunities that they made the most of, Fasolo scoring one of Collingwood's 17 goals, and Blair and Elliott three each. Oxley played his role to perfection, finishing with 30 possessions, taking 14 marks, running for 11 handball receives and playing as part of a backline able to control the ball, share it around until able to put it into places that helped their teammates out. When Melbourne attacked, they attacked hard and fast. When the Demons looked good they looked very good, and the better side in patches, but when they were slowed up they became unsure, slower and prone to over using the ball and making mistakes with it. Against a more assured and steadier side, the gap between their best and worst was still a little bit too big. Travis Cloke had a day to remember, booting seven goals without a miss as Collingwood extended their unbeaten streak against Melbourne to 11 matches with a 25-point victory in a Queens's Birthday AFL classic at the MCG. The Demons challenged repeatedly throughout the second and third quarters on Monday but could not find a way past Collingwood in the final term as the Magpies won 17.8 (110) to 13.7 (85). Cloke's personal haul of seven goals equalled his career-best tally set two years ago against Richmond. He was a clear winner of the inaugural Neale Daniher Trophy for the player judged best afield in the annual marquee clash between the two clubs. Former Demons coach Daniher, who is fighting a much-publicised battle against motor neurone disease, was on hand to present the trophy. The victory saw the Magpies move back into the top four with a 7-3 win-loss record, while the Demons slipped to 3-7. Cloke put on a masterclass in an opening quarter dominated by Collingwood. Matched against Melbourne's best defender Tom McDonald, Cloke had accumulated six marks - four of them contested - six kicks, two tackles and four goals without a miss by quarter-time. The Magpies led by 30 points in time-on in the opening term, only for the Demons to turn the match on its head, with six straight goals, including two in a row to speedster Jeff Garlett. The match ebbed and flowed from then on. One of the biggest moments came midway through the third term when the much-maligned Jack Watts - who made his oft-recalled debut in the corresponding fixture six years ago - goaled after winning a free kick for holding the ball against Travis Varcoe. But once again,Collingwood steadied with the last two goals of the term - including Cloke's sixth of the day seconds before the three-quarter time siren. After three high-scoring and free-flowing quarters, the last was more of a slog, with Collingwood booting the only two goals through Jamie Elliott and Cloke. |
COLLINGWOOD will be hit by the sense of déjà vu. The Magpies knocked off a brave Melbourne outfit on Monday to approach the midpoint of the season and the fast-rising GWS Giants on Sunday at 7-3. Inaugural Neale Daniher Medallist Travis Cloke roared back to life with an equal-best seven-goal haul that spearheaded the 25-point Queen’s Birthday win over the Demons. But the bigger picture is even more intoxicating for Collingwood fans, with captain Scott Pendlebury in Brownlow Medal contention and a lively forward line pouring on boiling-hot pressure, setting up the refreshed Magpies to book a September berth no one saw coming. In the exact same position last year, the Magpies butchered the same opportunity, as a horror injury run saw the Pies lose eight of their last 11 games in 2014. This season, however, the availability tide will turn. On-baller Levi Greenwood, luckless defender Ben Reid, No. 6 draft pick Matthew Scharenberg and Clinton Young will all get set to return amid a tougher run against Fremantle, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and West Coast in the next month. For the most part, Melbourne put up some fierce resistance, led admirably by captain Nathan Jones, Angus Brayshaw and Daniel Cross, who helped tie down Steele Sidebottom. The Demons fought back from 30-points down in the first term to help honour the occasion and restore faith in the club’s progress in a stop-start second season under Paul Roos. We thought Cloke’s goalkicking radar has been broken for years but he caught fire bagging four in the first term. The red-hot full-forward then nailed one from the boundary line in the last term to ice the victory and remind everyone of his immense capabilities at full flight. Like an awaking giant, Cloke produced one of his most dominant quarters since 2010-11, igniting the Pies with a powerhouse marking display in the opening term. His starts have been crucial for his wildly fluctuating confidence but it was sky-high after reeling in two one-handed grabs and nailing point blank set shots. His man, Tom McDonald had barely had a goal kicked on him all season but Roos had to make the swap with Lynden Dunn as the Pies shot out to the five-goal lead. At that point, it was a nervous start for Heritier Lumumba as Pies’ small forwards Jamie Elliott and Jarryd Blair and captain Pendlebury cast a wide net around their forward-50m. But the surrender which we have seen so many times from Melbourne on big occasions never came. Captain Jones was the first to intervene in the Cloke show and his toughness and cleanness around the stoppages and class forward in the second term was matched by No. 2 draft pick Brayshaw. Jones bagged two goals from 40m to kick-start the revival, but he needed others and first-year tough nut Brayshaw showed the same fearless attack as his skipper, busting through a Travis Varcoe tackle to snap one from 30m. Brayshaw then lobbed two metre-perfect passes into the path of speedster Jeff Garlett to pinch back the lead and help showcase the new-found flair and offensive punch Melbourne had worked at painstakingly over summer. But Collingwood’s Adam Oxley helped put the brakes on the Demon charge with a 10-possession, five-mark second term, playing loose in the back line. He finished with 30 possessions and 13 uncontested marks to frustrate the Melbourne coaching box. But the game again turned on the back of Jack Watts tackle and clutch set shot that kept the Demons within 12 points at the last change. Watts has been the public face of the Dees’ woes since he was monstered by three Collingwood tacklers with his first touch in that ill-fated debut on Queen’s Birthday six years ago. But he was a key part in a Melbourne side that produced an admirable effort after a 10-goal shellacking from Port Adelaide last week. But it was Collingwood’s finals charge that continued. COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley says Travis Cloke’s teammates stand taller when the power forward is on song on days like Monday. A personal record-equal haul of seven goals from the 28-year-old powered Collingwood to a 25-point Queen’s Birthday win over Melbourne in front of 66,120 fans at the MCG. Cloke’s efforts earned him the inaugural Neale Daniher Trophy for best afield and prompted Buckley to say post-match that the full forward is one of the most important elements of his side’s structure. “He is, even when he’s not kicking seven,” Buckley said. “His role in the way we want to play is crucial. If we’re moving the ball fluently from the back half well then clearly we want to get him inside 50 or use him as a conduit between our defence and offence. “But the one bit of play that epitomised his play today was about 20 minutes in to the first quarter when he chased down a Melbourne small ... it was like something you see in the Sahara, a big beast pulling down a wildebeest. “He’s a powerful unit and when he brings that we’re better for it and he has others standing tall around him. “It was good to see the way he attacked the game from the get go.” From the moment Cloke plucked a one-handed mark close to goal after winning a battle of strength with Demons defender Tom McDonald, Magpies midfielder Jack Crisp said he knew the team’s focal point was “on”. He went back and slotted the game’s opening goal before adding another three majors before quarter time. “He started on fire didn’t he? Four first quarter goals,” Crisp said. “We spoke about it as a midfield group. We saw that our forwards were on top in that first quarter so we just tried to get it in there as fast as we could to put their defenders under the pump. “It was noticeable in that first quarter, a couple of the boys kicked a couple of early goals. “That’s the way we want to play more, too, really catch opposition defenders off guard.” Often maligned for his wayward kicking, Cloke kicked seven straight - including one in the third term from outside the boundary. Buckley said Cloke had not changed anything in his kicking technique, but Cloke himself said it was just good to get a confidence boost early on. “It obviously helps kicking a few early ones, but the boys set it up nicely,” Cloke said. “It was a quality game and competitive until the last minute.” Small forward Jamie Elliott chimed in with three goals in another busy performance. He said Collingwood, in the past couple of years, may have “relied too much on Trav”, making it easier for opposition defenders to nullify his team’s forward line. But he said offensive improvement from the Pies’ midfield in particular had helped to take the pressure off Cloke and co down forward. “And I think in the past couple of years, the synergy of the forwards, we weren’t working as well together,” Elliott said. “But when you watch today, I’m sure you would have seen how well we were working for each other like with blocks and stuff as well. “Trav’s been fantastic in the last few weeks and it hasn’t quite paid off for him, but we knew that it was going to come sooner or later. “Hopefully this can continue now and he can keep kicking bags for us.” Buckley refused to be drawn on Collingwood’s finals chances after it withstood a spirited Melbourne challenge. The Magpies jumped to fourth on the ladder with a 7-3 record, but face a stern test in the form of an up-and-coming Greater Western Sydney side at the same ground next Sunday. “Every week gives you an indication of where you’re at,” Buckley said. “We’re looking forward to that challenge out here against a side who have scored pretty heavily and got a really damaging midfield in our own right. “They’ve had a really solid start to the year, as have we, so any time you come up against a team who are playing good footy you’re keen to test yourself. “We don’t walk in to any game thinking ‘this isn’t going to test us’ or ‘we aren’t going to grow here’ or ‘we’re not going to find out a little bit about ourselves’, but this week we will, as we do every week.” Buckley lauded the role played by Adam Oxley, who was immense in his role across half-back. The 22-year-old finished the game with 14 marks - eight of which were from Melbourne kicks - and 30 possessions in a performance that Buckley described as “imperative” to his side’s victory. “We weren’t scored against heavily from turnover, but we were scored heavily against from stoppages,” he said. “So it was just important for us to have that extra body behind the contest, behind the ball at stoppages, and I think we showed enough composure to be able to use it from that point.” "
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