| 2018 AFL Round 7 COLLINGWOOD v BRISBANE Time & Place: Sunday May 6, 4:40pm EST Gabba TV: Fox Footy 4:30pm EST Weather: Min 16 Max 25 Betting: Collingwood $1.38 Brisbane $3.00 |
COLLINGWOOD 2.2.14 5.7.37 7.9.51 10.10.70
GOALS - Collingwood: Reid 2, Hoskin-Elliott 2, Cox 2, Pendlebury, De Goey, Treloar, Stephenson
BEST - Collingwood: Phillips, Grundy, Crisp, Pendlebury, Treloar, Sidebottom
INJURIES - Collingwood: Aish (left knee), Reid (Achilles)
REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil
OFFICIAL CROWD - 72,157 at the MCG
| 1. Dumb Dunn lets Higgins snag a couple quickly The football didn't need to go back to the middle for charismatic Tiger Jack Higgins to boot a couple of first quarter goals. With minutes left, Higgins immediately answered a Mason Cox goal with one of his own, hauling the ball in and snapping it through. As he celebrated, Lynden Dunn knocked the draftee to the ground with a big bump and conceded a free kick. Higgins duly converted to give his side an eight-point lead. 2. Richmond at the MCG is the litmus test and Collingwood passed The Tigers dominate at the home of football. Coming into this match the Tigers had won 11 straight games at the venue. This was an opportunity for the Pies to see where they sit in the competition's pecking order. It was a brutal first half in a game that had the intensity of September football and if the players weren't sore enough after a short turnaround, some of them will be in serious pain on Monday. Collingwood matched Richmond for the first three quarters before the relentless Tigers broke the Magpies. Nathan Buckley's side had its three-game winning streak broken but considering it was overrun by a side that had an extra day's break, there will be plenty to take out of this one for Collingwood as it looks to make finals for the first time since 2013. 3. More score review controversy There was plenty of debate about whether Josh Caddy's shot from deep in a pocket with just over a couple of minutes left in the second term went through before Dunn's left hand swatted the ball through. On replay, it seemed the entire football had not crossed the goalline when the Pies defender made contact, although plenty seemed to think otherwise. It was judged a behind but the incident again showed up the inadequacies of the current system. |
4. Quiet return to the Mayne stage It's been more than a year since Chris Mayne has represented Collingwood, when he played the first three games of 2017. In the second season of a deal that lasts until the end of 2020, the former Fremantle forward had another chance with the short turnaround from Anzac Day as the Magpies nursed a few sore bodies. He had been in impressive VFL form, averaging 24 disposals and a goal while playing on a wing but was relatively quiet against the Tigers, lining up in attack and collecting 10 disposals, going statless in the second and fourth quarters and finishing without a goal. His day begun inauspiciously by giving up a 50m penalty in the first quarter for encroaching the protected zone and didn't improve much after that. 5. Nank is a tank So much discussion has centred around Brodie Grundy this season and how his exploits in the ruck have helped the Magpies immensely. He starred early but it was his counterpart, Toby Nankervis, who dominated the game in the last quarter and showed he perhaps shouldn't be as unheralded as he is. Damien Hardwick was effusive in his praise after the game, declaring Nankervis among the competition's elite big men, and his intercept marking in defence demonstrated the impact he has around the ground. The premiership Tiger finished with 29 disposals, a number Hardwick joked almost gave him a heart attack. Nathan Buckley's side had its three-game winning streak broken but considering it was overrun by a side that had an extra day's break, there will be plenty to take out of this one for Collingwood as it looks to make finals for the first time since 2013. |
| THE MEDIA | |
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RICHMOND has consolidated its spot on top of the ladder with a 43-point win over Collingwood, an eight-goal final term inflating the final margin from what was a hard-fought clash. Both teams entered the game off shortened breaks but each attacked the contest with a ferocity that belied any signs of weariness, while the Magpies' fighting performance against the reigning premier underlined their genuine finals claims. Collingwood led at stages in each of the first three quarters, and as late as the 22-minute mark of the third term. But the Tigers' unrelenting pressure eventually broke yet another opponent as they piled on the next five goals – the first three from Josh Caddy on his return from a hamstring injury – and the last four goals of the game to seal an impressive 16.17 (113) to 10.10 (70) victory. Richmond's win was its third in a row against Collingwood and its fifth from the teams' last six clashes. Trent Cotchin (29 possessions and five inside 50s) led the way for his team with his class and tireless work rate through the midfield, while Dustin Martin (29 possessions and 10 clearances) rode shotgun with his captain and put the final nail through the Magpies' coffin with a classy goal on the run late in the final term. Dion Prestia (25 possessions) and Kane Lambert (24) were also important contributors, while Bachar Houli (21) and Jayden Short (eight rebound 50s) were Richmond's principal rebounders, and Caddy (four goals), Jack Riewoldt (three) and Dan Butler (three) were lively in attack. Toby Nankervis and Brodie Grundy fought an enthralling battle in the ruck. Although Grundy (24 possessions and 33 hit-outs) dominated the ruck contests and claimed the points around the ground, Nankervis (29 possessions and 10 marks) provided stiff resistance and thwarted three Collingwood attacks in a row at the start of the final term with intercept marks. Coming off a four-day break after their Anzac Day win over Essendon – the Tigers entered the game off a five-day break – the Magpies lost no friends with their endeavour over the first three quarters. Although they faded in the final term, allowing Richmond time and space they had denied them previously, Magpies fans have genuine reason to believe the club can return to the finals this year for the first time since 2013. Tom Phillips (38 possessions) and Adam Treloar (42) were prolific ball-winners for the Magpies, while Steele Sidebottom (25) and Scott Pendlebury (29) were valuable contributors as usual. Jeremy Howe (30 possessions and 12 marks) proved an aerial stumbling block for the Tigers time and time again across half-back and provided his team with plenty of counter-attack. The first half was high on pressure and short on open space as both teams attacked the contest with manic intent. Richmond opened the game with four consecutive behinds before finally kicking the match's first goal at the 13-minute mark via a booming Jayden Short set shot from 55m. Collingwood hit back with the next two goals, through Scott Pendlebury and Mason Cox, to take a four-point lead late in the quarter. However, Jack Higgins ensured Richmond went into the first break with an eight-point advantage with a two-goal play that came after he snapped a goal from close range and then added another immediately when Lynden Dunn gave away a free kick for bumping him as he celebrated his first goal. The Tigers stretched their lead to 14 points when Jack Riewoldt kicked a goal inside the opening minute of the second term. But the Magpies hit back with the next three goals via Cox, who was troubling the Tigers' defence with his height, and Will Hoskin-Elliott, who kicked the final two majors of the quarter, including one after the half-time siren that put his team four points ahead. It set the scene for a gripping second half. Until the Tigers killed the suspense with their powerhouse final term. MEDICAL ROOM Collingwood: Tom Langdon was a late withdrawal from Sunday's game, with the Magpies saying the defender had been "managed" in the wake of the four-day break following their Anzac Day win over Essendon. James Aish came from the ground early in the third term with a left knee injury after being crunched in a marking contest. The midfielder took no further part in the game. Brayden Maynard went into the rooms after appearing to suffer a right ankle injury but returned to the field. Ben Reid limped from the ground in the dying minutes with a sore leg. NEXT UP The Magpies travel to Brisbane to take on the Lions at the Gabba in next Sunday's twilight timeslot. Collingwood has won its past four games at the Gabba. |
On a day when the overwhelming majority of players were backing up off unusually and arguably unreasonably short breaks, it might have been foreseeable that the difference would be made by a man fresher than most. A minor hamstring concern had kept Josh Caddy from taking to the MCG against Melbourne on Tuesday night, but back at match fitness he kicked three goals either side of three-quarter time on Sunday to turn what had been a nip and tuck for the best part of 90 minutes of football. Caddy had been rather unobtrusive for most of the first three quarters, but with his side trailing with little over five minutes to go until the final change he shrugged a Callum Brown tackle and to swing onto his right boot and goal from 25 metres. He kicked another before the break, and then the opening major of the final term. A fourth would come very late, one of eight from Richmond in the last quarter. Collingwood had been plucky, but off a four day break and down to three on the bench, overhauling the reigning premiers was going to be a bridge too far. Dustin Martin and Jack Riewoldt would both also contribute substantially in the final term as the Pies ran out of puff, Richmond recording a 12th straight MCG win. After three straight wins this was meant to be Collingwood’s big test, and while they didn’t pass, it cannot be said that they failed conclusively. Nathan Buckley’s side played the better football for extended periods and it took a lift from Martin for the game to break open as it did in the back half of the final quarter. Adam Treloar - who famously spurned Richmond in 2015 - was widely booed but played a tireless game for the Pies, with Tom Phillips similarly prolific. Riewoldt was mighty for Richmond, while Jayden Short’s run and long kicking was impressive. The set shot kicking malaise felt across several states and venues this weekend reared its head in the early stages. Richmond were particularly wasteful, with Toby Nankervis and Dan Butler both badly tugging regulation shots. Cox sprayed one down the other end, and it took a beautiful long effort from Short to get the majors column ticking over. Scott Pendlebury responded for the Pies before Cox put through his first, taken to the top of the square after Alex Rance cheekily dislodged the ball from the American’s hands after the big man had clunked it inside 50. It wouldn’t be the last goal in the first quart that followed an umpire’s whistle. Fresh-faced Jack Higgins popped one through from close range before being dumped by Lynden Dunn, with the ensuing second shot duly converted by the teenager. In terms he would use, it was two snags for the price of one. Collingwood were well ahead in the disposal count at quarter-time but precious few of those touches had come in dangerous positions. That changed in the second term. Riewoldt extended Richmond’s lead with the opening goal of the quarter but it was the last one the Tigers would get before the long break. Collingwood began to get more drive off half-back as the tempo increased. Matt Scharenberg and Jeremy Howe were intercepting well, with Sam Murray taking the game on. Brodie Grundy was creative, getting involved in handball chains. Cox looked as imposing any forward on the ground, kicking his second major, while Jack Crisp delivered a beautiful pass to Will Hoskin-Elliott for the first of two straight goals from the former Giant. The second, kicked after the half-time siren, put Collingwood in front, and there was little doubt Richmond had a game on their hands. They hadn’t been getting the rub of the green either, with a contentious goal review decision denying Caddy what would have been a steadying major. The third quarter was one of plot twists. The Tigers kicked two in a row to suggest that order had been restored, but the emboldened Pies kept coming, with Jordan De Goey and Ben Reid both nailing challenging shots to put Collingwood back in front. By this point though the Pies were down a man though after James Aish came off the ground with a suspected knee injury. Enter Caddy. Coming off a four-day break after their Anzac Day win over Essendon – the Tigers entered the game off a five-day break – the Magpies lost no friends with their endeavour over the first three quarters. Although they faded in the final term, allowing Richmond time and space they had denied them previously, Magpies fans have genuine reason to believe the club can return to the finals this year for the first time since 2013. |
