MELBOURNE 1.3.9 4.8.32 9.10.64 12.11.83
GOALS - Collingwood: Elliott 3, Phillips 2, Cox 2, Hoskin-Elliott 2, Daicos, Grundy, Sidebottom, Broomhead, Adams
BEST - Collingwood: Elliott, Adams, Hoskin-Elliott, Sidebottom, Treloar, Dunn
INJURIES - Collingwood: Sidebottom (hamstring)
REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil
OFFICIAL CROWD - 51,223 at the MCG
| 1. Demons look to the heavens in finals prayer Melbourne fans will be barracking hard for Adelaide on Sunday afternoon, after the Demons failed to shore up their spot in September. The equation was simple heading into the final round of the home and away season - a Dees win, and they would secure a place in the finals for the first time since 2006. The Magpies, of course, with their season already over, were out to spoil the party, and they did just that. The Demons were putrid in the opening term, laying a miserly eight tackles for the quarter and butchering the ball at every turn. The 16-point loss to Collingwood means Demons fans will need Adelaide to beat West Coast on Sunday afternoon, or at least only suffer a narrow loss. As of Saturday night, Melbourne was still in the top eight, but if the Eagles win by four goals or more and Essendon beats Fremantle, the Demons will once again find themselves out of action in September. 2. Hamstrung Hogan Melbourne's day went from bad to worse in the second term with star forward Jesse Hogan injuring his left hamstring at the 12-minute mark. In just his second game back following a broken collarbone, Hogan limped off the ground and went straight down into the Demons' rooms. After being assessed by medical staff, a shattered Hogan emerged several minutes later and took his place on the bench where he remained for the rest of the game. The unlucky Demon will require scans to determine the extent of the injury, but faces an uphill battle to be fit for finals, should Melbourne hold onto their place in the top eight. Has Nathan Buckley coached his last game for Collingwood? It's the question on everyone's lips, but not one that can be answered right now. According to the Magpies, a decision has not yet been made, but Buckley made it clear publicly last week that he wants nothing more than to coach the black and white in 2018. |
3. Last hurrah for Bucks? Has Nathan Buckley coached his last game for Collingwood? It's the question on everyone's lips, but not one that can be answered right now. According to the Magpies, a decision has not yet been made, but Buckley made it clear publicly last week that he wants nothing more than to coach the black and white in 2018. The Pies finished the season with nine wins and a draw for the year, the same win-loss ratio as 2016, but certainly have shown some positive signs in the last two months. It was a jubilant Buckley that ran into the rooms after the victory and if his post-match reaction was anything to go by, the Collingwood coach looks like he will survive to face another year. 4. Jack gets back to business After two weeks working away in the VFL, Jack Watts found himself back in Melbourne's senior side on Saturday. In an opening term which provided few highlights for the Demons, Watts took the game on, crashed a pack, brought the ball to ground and kicked a centering ball in the middle of the MCG. His classy kick hit a teammate who hit drove the ball forward, with Christian Petracca finishing with the Demons' first goal of the game. Then in the final term, with the game on the line, Watts kicked a risky ball out of defence straight down the guts and it paid off, the Demons streaming through the centre of the ground with Cam Pedersen finishing off Watt's hard work at the end with a goal to put the Demons within eight points of the Pies with 10 minutes remaining. It wasn't an outstanding return by the much-maligned Demon but it was a solid showing with 18 touches, nine marks and a goal. 5. High-flying Howe strikes again Collingwood defender Jeremy Howe has finished the season on a high, after taking yet another contender for mark of the year. The former Demon leapt onto Melbourne star Christian Petracca's shoulders in front of the MCC members early in the first term, plucking another remarkable grab. It's the second time this year Howe has taken a screamer against the Demons. Back in round 12, the 26-year-old flew high above Tom McDonald, taking a grab for the ages. |
| THE MEDIA | |
NATHAN Buckley remains fatalistic over his future, conceding change at Collingwood is inevitable.
Asked if he might have coached the club for the 136th and last time, Buckley said: “Whether that’s the case or not, we’re only ever in the chair for a period of time. “In 20 years time it will be very unlikely that any of us will be sitting in the same chairs and the players will have been turned over and will go. “What the club stands for and what it is, is a representation of the people that are in it at the time. “You get what you deserve and we’ll get better when we deserve better and we put the work in.” Speaking after Collingwood’s gritty 16-point victory over finals aspirant Melbourne, Buckley said he had confidence in the club’s review — regardless of personal consequence. Asked if he had a feeling if the blueprint would contain a recommendation for him to continue, he said: “I have a hope. I have a hope. “But as I’ve said consistently the right decisions will be made because I think the right information has been gathered and I think it’s far more in depth than the outside commentary would suggest. “We’ll clearly all be more aware of what the key decisions are in the near future. “There’s gonna be change around the place. “Inevitably even good people will come and go but the challenge of an organisation is to continue to build and develop the individuals within it. “And that’s our challenge if we want to get to where we want to. “There will be change because it’s inevitable and the club has gone and done a review and put a blueprint together. “There’ll be decisions over the next four to six weeks that impact on that but the majority of the people in that room (changeroom) will still be there and have a role to play.” Buckley privately addressed the playing and administrative group before emerging to savour his 70th victory as coach since succeeding Mick Malthouse in 2012. He said the focus over the past week had not been on his future — nor that of any particular player — but on the need to finish the season appropriately. “We said at the end of last week after going down to the Geelong that we wanted to sing the song one more time,” he said. “To show in that seven-day period the growth and maturity to be able to handle a side coming back at us was really encouraging and you’ve got to enjoy that.” He said the effort to hold off Melbourne a week after blowing a five-goal lead to Geelong was a sign of maturity. “Probably just learning the lessons. We were out on our feet after halftime,” he said. “We had six or seven blokes who were on one leg but I just thought the ticker of the group was enormous. “The ground was looking really big there for a while when they had the ball and were looking to work through us. “I thought we controlled and showed greater composure with our ball use for longer. “That’s clearly an important part of the result.” Buckley praised the effort of Brayden Maynard in the midfield and is confident Tyson Goldsack and Mason Cox will remain at the club..
While Nathan Buckley hopes to be coach next year, the Demons were also left hoping on Saturday night – that they can yet break an 11-year finals drought.
The seventh-placed Demons had the chance to do that against Collingwood on Saturday but a 16-point defeat means they must almost certainly rely on West Coast losing, or not winning by about four goals, to Adelaide at Domain Stadium on Sunday. The Eagles are four points behind the Demons on the ladder. Adding to a dirty afternoon for the Demons, key forward Jesse Hogan hurt his hamstring in the second term and will have scans on Monday. Coach Simon Goodwin was shattered with his team's opening term, when the Magpies booted six goals to one to take charge. The Pies would stretch their lead to 40 points in the third term and, while the Demons fought back, they are now in an "agonising" position. "That's the reality of the situation – you sit back and now have to wait. Unfortunately, we couldn't take our opportunity. We had our destiny in our own hands and with the result comes an agonising wait for our players, our supporters, everyone. We will wait and see," Goodwin said. "At the same time, we need to play better. We have some habits that we need to continue to improve. It just showed again today that we haven't quite got there yet in terms of consistency and the things that we really value. That's our challenge – and today just highlighted that we haven't quite got it right. We will keep working and striving hard. They are well on their way. They have been well on their way for a long time now but we still have some work to do." Goodwin lamented that his team was beaten around the ball and had been out-tackled 70-51, particularly in the first term, "and defensively we were pretty poor early on". Clayton Oliver (30 disposals), Nathan Jones (29), Bernie Vince (29) and Jordan Lewis (27) worked hard through the midfield but the terrible start would haunt the Demons. For the Magpies, Buckley was delighted with the "maturity" his team had developed in a week, having also enjoyed a strong start against Geelong a week earlier but lost. The players once again showed they were united behind Buckley, days after president Eddie McGuire said had that not been the case, then the coach would have to be sacked. Brayden Maynard, given a chance in the midfield, provided drive, Jamie Elliott was superb up forward, while Steele Sidebottom showed courage in returning to the field with a sore hamstring. The Pies have missed the finals for a fourth-straight season and had only nine wins, 12 losses and a draw this season. However, amid three internal reviews, Buckley spoke in a manner which suggested he will be given a contract extension within weeks. He had the players behind closed doors for an extended period, where departing assistant coach and Buckley's long-time friend and teammate Scott Burns was thanked for his efforts. Burns will join Hawthorn. "There is going to be change around the place. Burnsy is a great mate of mine, we have shared a lot of our footy journey together but, inevitably, even good people will come and go but the challenge of a good organisation is to continue to build and develop the individuals within it and that's our challenge if we want to get where we want to," Buckley said. "But there is going to be change and it's inevitable and the club have gone and done a review and are going to put a blueprint together and there will be decision over the next four to six weeks that will impact on that but the majority of the people in that [dressing] room will still be there and still have a role to play." On his own future, Buckley said: "I have a hope. I have a hope but as I have said consistently, I am really confident that the right decisions will be made because I think the right information has been gathered. It's far more in-depth than the external commentary would suggest and, clearly, we will be more aware of what the key decisions are in the near future." The Pies were hurt by injuries this year but their game plan was also criticised, with players regularly going wide or backwards with the ball. Buckley said the list overall was "more balanced" than last year with youth and experience. He said the development of Josh Daicos and Callum Brown, Brodie Grundy's elevation into being an elite ruckman, Jeremy Howe in defence and the growth of Taylor Adams and Sidebottom had been among the positives. Buckley said the Pies were confident of retaining American import Mason Cox, while veteran Tyson Goldsack was likely to be awarded a contract extension. |
COLLINGWOOD star Jamie Elliott says the Magpies were playing for under-fire coach Nathan Buckley in their dramatic win over Melbourne on Saturday.
The Magpies came out firing against the Demons and overcame a few nervous moments to enjoy a 16-point win. Elliott said while the players couldn’t help but notice the speculation around Buckley’s future, ultimately they played for their coach. “It’s there if you want to take notice of it,” Elliott told foxfooty.com.au. “Obviously it’s going to be in the back of people’s heads, you see it in newspapers, the talk around the club. “But at the end of the day, we play for him — like you’ve seen today with performances like that. “At the end it comes down to the playing group but we’ve shown when we play how he wants us to play, we’re a really good side and teams can’t beat us. “So it’s a lot of outside noise, we’re just not worrying about it.” The Demons were fancied to seal their place in their first finals series in 11 years ahead of the clash. Instead, the Pies came out firing, with a dominant first quarter paving the way for victory. “There was a little bit of conversation about whether they were going to come out first five minutes really hot and we just wanted to worry about ourselves, worry about the contest, Elliott said. “We knew that they get numbers to the contest so we had to look after that — and once we looked after that and got it out to the players on the outside, we’d break them open. “That showed in that first quarter when we were able to do that — they got a couple of numbers back and settled in that second quarter and came back and then it was a bit of an arm wrestle for the rest of the game but that first quarter really set it up for us.” Elliott was one of Collingwood’s best players — particularly in the first half, when he had 14 disposals, 10 score involvements and booted three goals. The star Magpie finished his day with 20 disposals, 10 marks and three goals, playing a crucial role in the win — and said it was important to finish the season on a high, even if it was a “hollow” victory. “It’s better than coming in here with a loss and then feeling miserable for ourselves,” Elliott said. “It’s a little bit of a hollow feeling but at the same time I’m proud of the boys for the efforts today. “I mean every game we can’t question the effort — it’s more the little things and the basics that we kind of stuff up and let teams in and then they run away with it. “So I’m super proud to get that win.” The Pies finish the home and away season with nine wins and one draw to their name and once again miss out on a finals campaign. That said, Buckley was able to test out several youngsters — including Kayle Kirby, Callum Brown and Josh Daicos — while the likes of Brodie Grundy and Jeremy Howe took their games to new levels. Elliott said while the year was ultimately disappointing, there were plenty of learnings to come from 2017. “It’s a tough one, there’s going to be a few changes but at the same time, there’s a lot to take out of this year,” Elliott said. “There’s those little things that we’ve got to fix up to be a really good team — we know we can be when we’ve pushed sides like Adelaide and GWS to the line. “So we’ll look at that next year, we’ll refresh, have a good break, come back and have a solid pre-season then get back into it.” WHILE Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley is unsure of his position in charge of the Magpies, he says he has hope after leading his side to a 16-point victory over Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday. "Do I have a feeling? I have a hope," Buckley said post-match. Buckley is one of the focal points of a review at the club, after a disappointing year yielded a fourth-straight season out of the finals. The under-pressure coach could not shed light on his future at Collingwood, but said he expected many changes to occur over the next four to six weeks. "Inevitably, even good people come and go, but the challenge of an organisation is to continue to build and develop the individuals within it," he said. "That's our challenge if we want to get where we want to get to, but there's going to be change, it's inevitable." Unsure whether or not he had coached the Magpies for the last time, Buckley highlighted that he would not be in charge forever. "Whether that's the case or not, we're only ever in the chair for a period of time," he said. "In 20 years' time it would be very unlikely that any of us will be sitting in the same chairs and the players will have been turned over and will go." Buckley said that while his side showed more consistency this year, it didn't deserve a finals berth. "You get what you deserve and we'll get better when we deserve better and put the work in," Buckley said. "It's bittersweet on a night like tonight where you've had a good result in the short term, but that's it, the music's stopped for this year." Despite the disappointing season, Buckley was pleased that the Magpies withstood a late charge from the Demons after falling short in similar circumstances to Geelong last week. "We said at the end of last week after going down to Geelong that we wanted to sing the song one more time," he said. "To be able to show in that seven-day period the growth and the maturity to be able to handle a side coming back at us was really encouraging and you've got to enjoy that." Buckley said his team was out on their feet after half-time, but showed good courage to fight out the narrow win. "We had six or seven blokes that were on one leg, but I just thought that the ticker of the group was enormous," Buckley said. Looking to the future, whether he is present or not, Buckley sang the praises of his younger players, particularly father-son selections Callum Brown and Josh Daicos. "The great thing about those two is they just love footy, and that might sound simplistic, but the more people you have that love footy, the better you're going to be." "There is going to be change around the place. Burnsy is a great mate of mine, we have shared a lot of our footy journey together but, inevitably, even good people will come and go but the challenge of a good organisation is to continue to build and develop the individuals within it and that's our challenge if we want to get where we want to. But there is going to be change and it's inevitable and the club have gone and done a review and are going to put a blueprint together and there will be decision over the next four to six weeks that will impact on that but the majority of the people in that [dressing] room will still be there and still have a role to play .... I am really confident that the right decisions will be made because I think the right information has been gathered. It's far more in-depth than the external commentary would suggest and, clearly, we will be more aware of what the key decisions are in the near future." |
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