| 2018 AFL Round 3 COLLINGWOOD v CARLTON Time & Place: Friday April 6, 7:50pm MCG TV: 7mate / Fox Footy 7:30pm Weather: Min 13 Max 20 Chance of rain 30%: <1mm Wind: SSW 10kph Betting: Collingwood $1.49 Carlton $2.63 |
COLLINGWOOD 3.2.20 5.3.33 9.7.61 12.7.79
GOALS - Collingwood: Grundy 2, Treloar 2, Aish, Varcoe, Phillips, Thomas, Crisp, Moore, Hoskin-Elliott, Crocker
BEST - Collingwood: Grundy, Phillips, Howe, Pendlebury, Sidebottom
INJURIES - Collingwood: Broomhead (broken leg), Moore (hamstring), Reid (hip) replaced in selection side by Broomhead
REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil
OFFICIAL CROWD - 30,941 at the MCG
| 1. Ambulance traffic jam With two sickening injuries in the first term, to Pie Tim Broomhead and Giant Tom Scully, Melbourne's ambulances were forced into overdrive. Broomhead broke his leg as it was wrapped around the goalpost chasing a loose ball nine minutes into the match. In instant agony, he was given the green whistle for pain and taken to the ambulance, but with one vehicle required at the ground at all times for potential emergencies, Broomhead’s ambulance was forced to wait before a second arrived. A tick over 20 minutes later, a third ambulance was called as Tom Scully fractured his ankle under a crunching tackle. 2. Where are the Pies' goals coming from? Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley swung Darcy Moore forward to start the match after Ben Reid (hip) was a late withdrawal and big man Mason Cox suspended. Opposed to Giants captain Phil Davis, Moore looked the most dangerous forward in the early stages, kicking a goal in the first term. With the lack of a second ruckman, Pies captain Scott Pendlebury was made to enter seven ruck contests in the first half before Brodie Grundy had a monster second half. Moore watched on after half-time, withdrawn from the game with a hamstring injury. 3. Sore Pies Pies star Adam Treloar looked a shadow of his usual self before rallying to finish with 24 touches. One of four former Giants playing against their old side, Treloar spent large parts of the game deep in attack. Following pre-season groin soreness, the midfielder didn't train with the main group in Thursday's training session and lacked his typical bursts of speed. His first kick of the game came 26 minutes into the second term, a spectacular snap from the pocket. Vice-captain Taylor Adams played deep forward at times after a recent back injury. |
4. Could the Giants' free running continue? After kicking 20 goals to put the Bulldogs to the sword last week, the Giants’ floodgates were expected to open at the MCG. Think again. Last week GWS took 22 marks in the forward 50, this week it was 12. An undermanned Collingwood defence stood up for three-and-a-half quarters before tiring late as the Giants kicked clear. Pre-game, livewire forward Toby Greene was a late withdrawal with a hip injury, replaced by defender Aidan Corr. 5. What MCG hoodoo? As the Pies kicked nine points clear in the final term courtesy of James Aish, many thought 'here we go again' for the Giants at the MCG. Having won only one of their previous 12 encounters at the venue, the Giants steadied thanks to Stephen Coniglio's two goals, clinching the points and adding to their solitary victory from 2014 over Melbourne. With only one more match to come for the season at the home of football, it was a crucial final term for the Giants as they hope to be back again at the climax of the season. Moore looked the most dangerous forward in the early stages, kicking a goal in the first term. With the lack of a second ruckman, Pies captain Scott Pendlebury was made to enter seven ruck contests in the first half before Brodie Grundy had a monster second half. Moore watched on after half-time, withdrawn from the game with a hamstring injury. |
| THE MEDIA | |
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GREATER Western Sydney has notched just its second ever win at the MCG, withstanding a brave Collingwood fightback to win by 16 points in a fierce Easter Saturday contest that was marred by serious injuries to both teams. The Giants started Saturday's game as prohibitive favourites and the bookmakers looked to have got it right when the visitors got out to a 17-point lead early in the second term on the back of four straight goals. But the Magpies were not about to roll over, rebounding from their disappointing round one loss to Hawthorn to give GWS an almighty scare. Despite being down to two men on the bench for the entire second half, Collingwood looked set to overrun the Giants when it kicked the final term's opening two goals to lead by 11 points. However, the Giants' class shone through when it counted as they kicked five of the last six goals to clinch a 15.5 (95) to 12.7 (79) victory that spoke volumes of their growing maturity. Both teams' days were soured by sickening injuries in the first quarter, which ran for nearly 39 minutes after Collingwood forward Tim Broomhead and Giants midfielder Tom Scully were stretchered from the ground. Broomhead, who was a late inclusion for Ben Reid (hip), suffered a broken left leg in a horrific collision with a goalpost early in the term, while Scully suffered a fractured right ankle after his leg got caught under a Callum Brown tackle close to quarter-time. The Magpies will also be sweating on Darcy Moore's fitness ahead of round three after the young tall sat out the entire second half with a hamstring injury. The Giants lost star forward Toby Greene before the game when he was a late withdrawal with hamstring soreness. Stephen Coniglio (27 possessions, seven clearances and three goals) was the star for the Giants and stood up more than anyone when the game was up for grabs. When the Pies made a fast start to the final term, Coniglio kicked two consecutive goals to put the Giants back in front – for good as it turned out. Dylan Shiel (26 possessions) and Callan Ward (29) were also prime movers through the midfield, while Josh Kelly's defensive work rate shone as he laid a game-high 15 tackles. Lachie Whitfield (26 possessions and one goal) and Heath Shaw (11 rebound 50s) gave GWS plenty of drive from defence, while Jeremy Cameron (three goals) waged an entertaining battle with Pies defender Jeremy Howe. In the Giants' previous 12 games at the MCG, their only previous win had come against Melbourne in 2014. Brodie Grundy (20 possessions, 45 hit-outs, eight clearances and two goals) was outstanding for the Magpies, decisively winning his ruck battle with Rory Lobb. Pies captain Scott Pendlebury (30 possessions) was solid in the first three quarters, but brilliant in the last when he did everything he could to drag his team over the line. Tom Phillips (32 possessions) gave Collingwood dash all day from defence, while fellow backmen Howe, Lynden Dunn, and Matt Scharenberg worked well together to keep the Giants' tall forwards largely in check. MEDICAL ROOM Collingwood: Tim Broomhead suffered a broken left leg at the nine-minute mark of the first term, when he tried to soccer a goal and his leg collected the goalpost. The impact was sickening and the forward was stretchered from the ground in obvious pain, before taking to hospital by ambulance. Darcy Moore went down to the rooms late in the second term to be assessed for a hamstring injury. He returned to the ground briefly but did not appear for the second half. NEXT UP The Magpies have a six-day break before taking on Carlton at the MCG next Friday night. The Pies have lost two of their past three games against their traditional rival. LUCKLESS Magpie Tim Broomhead faces up to a year on the sidelines after suffering a horrendous broken leg in an act of desperation in the opening term of Saturday’s clash with Greater Western Sydney at the MCG. And the Giants didn’t emerge unscathed in what proved to be a game of attrition, losing key midfielder Tom Scully for an extended period with a suspected broken ankle. The Magpies were brave, given they were two players down after halftime, with Darcy Moore out of the game with a hamstring issue. In a cruel blow for Broomhead, who is in the last year of a contract, he threw his left foot out in an effort to soccer through a goal for Collingwood at the 13-minute-mark of the first quarter. He didn’t make contact with the ball, but his outstretched foot smashed into the goalpost, instantly fracturing his leg. As Magpie fans celebrated good fortune of Tom Phillips’ kick trickling through for a goal, it wasn’t long before attention switched to Broomhead, who was face down in agony behind the goals. The vision of him banging his hands on the turf in excruciating pain with his left leg contorted beside him, indicating a serious break, was heartbreaking to watch. Instantly, in the Triple M commentary box, former Tiger and Bulldog Nathan Brown knew what it meant, having had his own career so rudely interrupted by a similar type break. He forecast 12 months on the sidelines for the 24-year-old Magpie. Broomhead had been late inclusion into the side after Ben Reid withdrew with a hip injury, and was desperate to make an impression after fighting through a series of soft-tissue injuries which have restricted his AFL career to only 36 games since his 2014 debut. He is the second Magpie to be out for the rest of the season while in the final year of a contract, following on from veteran Tyson Goldsack. Goldsack suffered a serious knee injury in an innocuous incident during the JLT game against Western Bulldogs. Broomhead was in tears as he taken from the ground on the motorised cart, using the green stick in an effort to relieve the pain. He was then taken from the ground to Epworth Hospital. Another ambulance was called when Scully went down in a tackle not long after Broomhead’s injury, and the Giant was forced to stay at the ground until the third medical transport arrived at the MCG. He, too, was then whisked away to hospital for treatment. Giants football manager Wayne Campbell said the club feared Scully had fractured his ankle. “It doesn’t look good,” Campbell told Fox Footy. |
Greater Western Sydney fought off a fanatical bunch of Magpies to record just their second win at the MCG in their short history. Headed in the last quarter and with the crowd against them, the Giants found enough to rebound and win a tight tussle by 16 points, a late snap from Lachie Whitfield sealing the game with just three minutes remaining. It was a gutsy win from the Giants because this was a different Collingwood side to the one that turned up against Hawthorn a week earlier. Not only were the twin talls in Mason Cox and Ben Reid missing from the forward half, due to suspension and injury, the Magpies turned up with only one purpose: to attack the opposition. Forget finessing or worrying about perfectly formed forward entries, the method was less important than seeing what happened when pressure is applied. The focus of that pressure were the talented men in the orange jumpers of the Giants who turned up at the MCG hoping to win their second game at the venue in 13 attempts. If given space, the Giants can destroy their opposition with quick ball movement and turn opponents into witches hats. So the Magpies denied them space, depriving them of room to breath and forcing mistakes. Even when Tim Broomhead suffered a shocking broken leg when it snapped as he kicked the goalpost when running full tilt to kick the ball off the ground, the Magpies maintained not only their composure but their purpose too. The pressure rattled the Giants, which were also dealt a massive blow when running machine Tom Scully fractured his ankle after his leg became tangled underneath a tackle in the first quarter too and he was, like Broomhead, taken from the ground on a stretcher and sent to hospital. His loss compounded the effect of Toby Greene's absence with the star on-baller a late withdrawal due to hamstring tightness. By half-time the momentum was with the Magpies as they led the uncontested and tackle count and they built on that energy early in the third quarter kicking the first two goals to establish a seven-point lead. At that point they led the forward half tackle count by 10 and were on the march despite losing Darcy Moore to a hamstring injury after losing Ben Reid before the game with a hip injury and Mason Cox to suspension. The small forward line worked though with chaotic entries troubling the Giants' tall defenders Phil Davis, Nick Haynes and Jeremy Finlayson. However the Giants haven't made two consecutive preliminary finals by chance and they struck back, moving the ball quickly and kicking accurately. Their method was clumsy and they were fumbly but they manufactured goals through a touch of luck with miskicks hitting teammates inside 50 who managed to kick straight four times. However they faced an angry Collingwood who refused to lie down, again kicking the first two goals of the final quarter to take the lead before Stephen Coniglio, who played well all day, kicked two consecutive goals to drag the Giants back in front. In the end the class told the tale with the Magpies not able to move the ball from one end of the ground to the other as effectively as the Giants when it mattered. A lapse at a late stoppage allowed Lachie Whitfield to kick a snap goal before Jeremy Cameron kicked his second goal to ensure the four points went north to the west of Sydney. Collingwood's loss sets up a huge clash against Carlton next Friday night at the MCG with both teams winless after two rounds. COLLINGWOOD'S effort in its brave loss to Greater Western Sydney should set the 'minimum standard' for the Magpies for the rest of the season, coach Nathan Buckley says. On Easter Saturday at the MCG, the Magpies bounced back from their disappointing 34-point round one loss to Hawthorn, pushing the highly fancied Giants to the brink. After falling 17 points behind early in the second quarter, Collingwood fought back and appeared on the brink of an upset victory when two early goals in the last quarter put it 11 points up. The Giants rallied, kicking five of the last six goals to run out 19-point winners, but the Magpies' chances were not helped by the fact they had played the entire second half with just two players on the bench after injuries to Tim Broomhead (broken tibia and fibula) and Darcy Moore (hamstring tightness). Buckley was proud of his team's performance after the game, but challenged his players to bring the same effort for the rest of the season. "I suppose it's their challenge to keep producing that and not (the effort of) round one," Buckley said. "It showed a lot of pluck, showed a lot of endeavour, a lot of discipline through the game. We sort of had it on our terms for the most part, but it just opened up late. "As I said to the players, it's the same result in terms of win and loss but you have a very different feeling about the effort that was brought to the table and the application to what we want to do for longer. "We still can be a lot cleaner at ground level and cleaner with the ball in hand. There's still (room for) massive improvement on that, and we need to find it. But that needs to be a minimum standard for us going forward." Buckley was also pleased with his team's "more adventurous" ball use against the Giants, particularly from defence, while he said the Magpies had coped well with Moore's absence in the third quarter, but their lack of an aerial presence in attack had told late in the game when they were tiring and weren't able to break the lines with run and carry. The Magpies coach was also satisfied with the way many of his players responded to their round one loss to Hawthorn. He specifically nominated ruckman Brodie Grundy, who starred with 20 possessions, 45 hit-outs and two goals, Matthew Scharenberg, Tom Phillips, Tom Langdon and James Aish. "I suppose it's their challenge to keep producing that and not (the effort of) round one. It showed a lot of pluck, showed a lot of endeavour, a lot of discipline through the game. We sort of had it on our terms for the most part, but it just opened up late. As I said to the players, it's the same result in terms of win and loss but you have a very different feeling about the effort that was brought to the table and the application to what we want to do for longer. We still can be a lot cleaner at ground level and cleaner with the ball in hand. There's still (room for) massive improvement on that, and we need to find it. But that needs to be a minimum standard for us going forward." |
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