| 2017 AFL Round 13 BYE 2017 AFL Round 14 COLLINGWOOD v PORT ADELAIDE Time & Place: Saturday June 24, 1:45pm EST MCG TV: Fox Footy 1:30pm EST Weather: Min 10 Max 15 |
COLLINGWOOD 3.2.20 10.5.65 12.8.80 15.10.100
GOALS - Collingwood: Greenwood 2, Sidebottom 2, Moore 2, Phillips 2, De Goey 2, Fasolo 2, Aish, Crocker, Treloar
BEST - Collingwood: Sidebottom, Grundy, Treloar, Howe, Maynard, Broomhead
INJURIES - Collingwood: Nil
REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil
OFFICIAL CROWD - 70,926 at MCG
| 1. Gawn but not forgotten, bring on Max's return Without the services of star ruckman Max Gawn and back-up big man Jake Spencer due to injury, the Demons have been forced to get creative in the ruck. Cameron Pedersen, Tom McDonald and Jack Watts have all fought manfully and the clearance numbers have not been too adversely affected. But Melbourne's disadvantage in the ruck was exposed by Collingwood and Brodie Grundy. The Magpies smashed the Demons in the hit-outs (65-14) and that translated into a clear advantage in clearances in the first half. The Demons managed to close the gap in the second half, breaking even in clearances (35-35), but it was worrying sign. Spencer returned via the VFL after seven weeks on the sidelines with a shoulder injury. But it is Gawn's impending return against the Western Bulldogs next Sunday that is paramount to Melbourne's finals hopes. 2. Melbourne moves into the top eight There was plenty on the line for both sides at the MCG on Monday. Locked on five wins apiece, a spot in the top eight awaited the victor, and after the Brisbane Lions upset Fremantle, sixth position on the ladder was up for grabs. Collingwood had all the early running and led by 28 points at the 19-minute mark of the second term as Melbourne's habit of producing a bad quarter (it allowed the Magpies to kick 45 points, including five goals in a row, in the second term) threatened to take the game away from the Demons. But playing with a newfound freedom after half-time, the Demons booted nine goals to the Magpies' five to seize a gripping win. Melbourne held firm in the dying stages as Jack Watts' final goal proved to be the sealer. 3. Petracca is a star in the making, if not already Young Melbourne midfielder Clayton Oliver has received many plaudits for an outstanding first half of the season. The praise is well deserved, but fellow youngster Christian Petracca is also putting together a fine season. The powerful forward was best afield against the Pies, booting three goals from 18 disposals. Petracca also took seven marks (five of those inside 50) and lifted when his team required him to do so. At 21, Petracca has all the skillset and belief to become one of the best players in the AFL. |
4. Fasolo's return, Brown's debut Despite the devastating result, Collingwood had plenty to celebrate on Monday. The return of Alex Fasolo after a week's break was a welcome sight for Magpies fans. The forward announced late last week he was taking a short break from the game to manage his health after a battle with depression. Fasolo booted two goals and was important for the Magpies, as his teammates were quick to run to congratulate him for his efforts. Father-son draftee Callum Brown made his debut for Collingwood and was far from overawed. Brown, the son of former captain Gavin, had 11 disposals but displayed poise, quick hands and an appetite for the contest in his first game at AFL level, suggesting there will be more to come. 5. Howe will it be beaten? Jeremy Howe has developed a penchant for taking spectacular marks over the years, but the high-flying specialist may have taken his best yet against the Magpies on Queen's Birthday Monday. Howe soared over former teammate, and close friend, Tom McDonald, lifting off his back and getting some serious hang time as he clutched the ball close in to his chest. The former Demon won the mark of the year award in 2012 for his huge screamer sitting on Swan Heath Grundy's shoulders. Since 2011, Howe has been nominated for the weekly award 28 times, winning the nomination on 12 occasions. Howe's effort against the Magpies will be tough to beat and it's hard to think of another player who is as good an aerialist than the in-form Magpie. The return of Alex Fasolo after a week's break was a welcome sight for Magpies fans. The forward announced late last week he was taking a short break from the game to manage his health after a battle with depression. Fasolo booted two goals and was important for the Magpies, as his teammates were quick to run to congratulate him for his efforts. |
| THE MEDIA | |
|
Jack Watts became a hero on Queen's Birthday eight years after his poorly-timed debut, kicking a pressure-packed goal with less than two minutes to go to give the Demons victory in a thriller at the MCG and put them into the top eight. Melbourne had fought back after being 28 points down midway through the second quarter, but some brilliance from 21-year-old Christian Petracca just before half-time kept the Demons in the hunt and gave them the chance to come back in the third quarter. Melbourne did just that, kicking six goals to two in the third term as it regained some ascendancy at the fall of the ball and began to feed off dominant Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy. In a pulsating last quarter Melbourne was never headed, but it never opened up a lead greater than 11 points as Collingwood kept battling. Watts' goal, coming after a brilliant spoil from recruit Michael Hibberd, sealed what eventually became a four-point victory after Collingwood kicked a goal on the siren, settling the final score at 15.14 (104) to 15.10 (100). The Magpies looked to have done enough in the second quarter when they outmuscled the Demons around the ball and kicked six unanswered goals to establish a handy 23-point lead at half-time. Their lead was built on enormous tackling pressure that forced Melbourne into handball turnovers and to overuse the ball in tight. The quarter's dominance also included a leap just before half-time from Collingwood high flier Jeremy Howe that was arguably the former Demons defender's best spectacular mark, and when Darcy Moore kicked a goal just before half-time the Magpies were on top. However, Simon Goodwin threw Tom McDonald into the ruck, pushed Cam Pedersen forward and called on his midfielders to lift their intensity and the Demons responded. Petracca was brilliant inside 50 lurking the area like a caged Tiger, marking well and creating contests for Jeff Garlett, James Harmes and Tomas Bugg to kick goals. Melbourne kicked six goals to two in the third quarter to have a one-point lead at three-quarter time. They kicked five behinds in the last quarter but goals to Mitch Hannan, Petracca and Watts proved the difference, despite Collingwood having 20 inside 50s to Melbourne's nine. In the end it was a thriller befitting of the occasion. MEDICAL ROOM Collingwood: Lynden Dunn had to leave the ground early after taking a knock to the nose and then he was winded when hit hard in a marking contest with Mitch Hannan in the last quarter. NEXT UP Collingwood heads into the bye at 5-7 but it is at least back in the hunt. COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley says finals remain a realistic possibility despite the Magpies losing what many perceived to be an eight-point game against Melbourne at the MCG. Collingwood led the Queen's Birthday clash by as much as 28 points at the 19-minute-mark of the second quarter but threw away the game in the third term. Buckley conceded his side lost composure and "lowered our colours" during the costly third quarter but argued that Collingwood had been one of the most consistent performers in the competition over the first half of the season. "The last two games we've lost, we've lost by less than a goal," Buckley said. "I think we are one of the most consistent sides in the competition. We're getting pretty close to our best. "We've used 29, 30 players over the last seven weeks and it doesn't matter who's in, who's out, we've been as consistent as any. Our fans should expect that they're going to get a consistent effort from our boys. "There's no doubt we lowered our colours in that third quarter in particular. We didn't quite come up when the opposition came at us." The Magpies had a chance to secure a top-eight spot with a win but instead sit 11th on the ladder with a 5-7 record after Round 12, one game outside the eight heading into a bye next weekend. "We've played pretty good football through the whole first half. We've only won five games in that but we're definitely playing more consistently over the four quarters and if we do that over the last 10 rounds we'll worry a few and we'll give ourselves a chance. That's our challenge." The coach was also buoyed by the performance of debutant Callum Brown, who finished with 16 disposals playing as a high half-forward. "He gave us what we thought we were going to get and that was contests around his area (and he) created a few opportunities," Buckley said. "I thought it was a pretty bright debut."  Jeremy Howe is renowned for his superhuman-like efforts in the air but his performance at the MCG on Monday needed to be seen to be believed. Taking on his old side, Howe produced what is almost certain to be the mark of the year, sitting on Tom McDonald’s head in front of nearly 80,000 people. Howe leapt what felt like miles in the air before clunking the mark and managing to hold on as he came crashing back down to earth. He was so high we aren’t sure if he has even landed yet. |
From the moment Andrew Gaze was first down the slide into the giant ice bath, Australian flag in hand, and emerged from it shaking, a theme was established: there would be no comfort zones at the MCG this Queen's Birthday. The footy was of a kind with the Big Freeze promotion, bracing. Collingwood's pressure was the ruling dynamic in the first half, Melbourne's in the second. Players and fans alike sometimes were left as was Alisa Camplin after her slide, flapping their arms in shock. All was perspiration, though there were moments of inspiration: an intercept by Christian Petracca for one goal, a thumper from outside 50 for another for Petracca, both against the tide. Poise was an elusive virtue, but Petracca displayed it as surely as did Sharelle McMahon, who after taking the plunge in a netball skirt stood up and shot truly through an impromptu hoop. Petracca's calm would prove decisive in the last quarter. Then there were two Jeremy Howe screamers within seconds, levitating for one, merely elevating for the other. If he had flown any higher, he would have needed a Big Freeze beanie (thanks for the memories, Lou). Both were in front of the the haunt of Melbourne's members', who could in all ways could see them coming. So could Tom McDonald, the fall guy. None knew whether to laugh or cry. But Howe would finish the day with one win from nine Melbourne-Collingwood games. There was system - Melbourne's positioning of two midfielders at the back off the square was one - but it was stressed. An oval shaped ground does that. You can be a pretty as you like in the wide open spaces, but sooner or later you had to come back to the maw of the goal-mouth. There, as good a plan as any was Stephen Bradbury's, another slider this day: put your self in position and hope for the best. Every now and then in the middle of this maelstrom appeared the son of Gavin Brown, whose only way was honest. Callum was no star this day, but he is plainly enough a chip off the old block. And when the match stood on a knife's edge in the last quarter, Lynden Dunn braved a pack from front on and took such a knock that he might not have known whether he was playing for Collingwood, Melbourne or the Diamonds. Collingwood tired and slowed. At times, they looked as rubbery as Steve Hooker's fake and floppy pole on the ice slide. Perhaps the toll of last week's trek to Perth told; certainly they missed at different times the three players injured on that mission. But Melbourne were numbers down, too. In a contest like this, no matter what the analysts tell you, intangibles tell. Collingwood looked out on their feet, but like Lleyton Hewitt somehow stayed up in the contest. "C'mon," Hewitt had roared after his dip, "c'mon" now screamed 70,000 fans. But three free kicks in a row against Collingwood brought a different imprecation to many lips, also familiar to Hewitt. About at least one free, you could say that you have to admire the strength of the umpire's conviction. There looked to be no room for a fairy tale, and then suddenly there was one. The ball was tumbled free to Jack Watts on a wing. This day eight years ago, he made his debut, and it was a baptism of fire. The then mighty Magpies mugged him. Now he drove legs that must have been as heavy as Steve Moneghetti's once were into the forward pocket, and from a testing angle slotted the winner. The blonde did it on the MCG. No, Shane Warne didn't slide this day, but Adam Gilchrist, impersonating Warne, did, complete with flipper. All could afford to laugh then. So at the end of an epic Queen's Birthday, Melbourne fans went home with a song in their hearts, Collingwood's frost in theirs. There were two bigger pictures. One was what this meant for the shape of the season: breathing space for the Demons, zero margin for error for the Pies. The other was the Big Freeze, and in the way it enlisted all of the football world onto the one team for a moment, it was heart-warming. Meantime, the day ended as it began, with stars in ice-baths. DESPITE falling just short of its aim of heading into the bye with six wins and six losses next to its name, Collingwood is playing a brand of football good enough to worry opponents in the final 10 rounds. Disappointed coach Nathan Buckley said supporters could take heart from the Magpies' consistency, losing their seven games by an average margin of 14 points. However, Buckley acknowledged a big challenge lay ahead of the team in the final 10 rounds. "We are definitely playing more consistently across the four quarters, and if we do that in the last 10 rounds we will worry a few and give ourselves a chance," Buckley said. "That is our challenge." Buckley said the Magpies needed to sustain for longer the brand of football they had showed they were capable of to turn close losing margins into wins. "We are one of the most consistent sides in the competition. We have used 29 or 30 players over the last seven weeks and it doesn't matter who is in or who is out we have been as consistent as any," Buckley said. Buckley blamed the four-point loss to Melbourne on an inability to use the ball with composure in the second half, after the Demons lifted their intensity after being 23-points down at half-time. He said the Magpies didn't move the ball in the manner they normally did when that pressure rose, but he paid credit to the Demons for being able to lift their work rate in response to the Magpies' energy. Buckley was pleased with the first game of father-son Callum Brown who was involved from start to finish, showing his quick hands and willingness to work in his 16-disposal game. "He just keeps hunting the ball," Buckley said. "He gave us what we thought we were going to get, which were contests around his area, created a few opportunities and I thought it was a pretty bright debut." Buckley said key defender Ben Reid should be available after missing the past four games with a quad injury while Travis Varcoe was a chance to return from a hamstring strain, although it would be touch and go. Jamie Elliott will come out of a moon boot this week and the Magpies will assess how long he may be out for after that happens. Buckley said he remained uncertain how long the damaging forward, who was sorely missed on Monday, would be out. "We've been relatively consistent no matter who has been in or out, and that is what a team should be doing," Buckley said. |
No comments :
Post a Comment