2020 First Elimination Final: The Team

2020 AFL First Elimination Final COLLINGWOOD V WEST COAST Time & Place: Saturday Oct 3, 8:10 PM AEST Perth Stadium TV: 7mate / Fox Footy Weather: Temp: 7° - 19°  Rain: 10% <1.0mm Wind: SW 28kph Betting: Collingwood $3.00 West Coast $1.39

B: Jack Crisp, Jordan Roughead, Jack Madgen

HB: Brayden Maynard, Darcy Moore, Isaac Quaynor

C: Chris Mayne, Adam Treloar, Josh Daicos 

HF: Will Hoskin-Elliott, Brody Mihocek, Jaidyn Stephenson

F: Jamie Elliott, Mason Cox, Jordan De Goey

Foll: Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams, Scott Pendlebury 

Int: Levi Greenwood, John Noble, Josh Thomas, Darcy Cameron

In: Chris Mayne, Darcy Cameron

Out: Tyler Brown, Travis Varcoe (omitted)

Emerg: Tyler Brown, Callum Brown, Travis Varcoe, Mark Keane

The Age Peter Ryan Can Collingwood Find A Way To Score? The Magpies have lost the scoring power that propelled them to second and third in consecutive seasons, ranked 17th for percentage of goals once inside 50. The personnel is similar to 2018 with Mason Cox, Jordan De Goey, Jaidyn Stephenson, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Josh Thomas and Brody Mihocek inside 50, however, only De Goey has looked really threatening, with Cox improving. The rest are out of form, while Jamie Elliott has had to plug midfield holes in Steele Sidebottom's absence. The real cause of the problems, however, is the ball movement, which is both slow and unpredictable because Collingwood's midfield tends to overuse the ball around congestion and doesn't use their legs enough to create space. With centre clearances also a problem, the only run the Magpies generate comes from rebounding defenders Jack Crisp, Isaac Quaynor, Brayden Maynard and John Noble, which means the entries are too shallow. How Does Collingwood Curb Nic Nat's Influence? Having had an ordinary season by his standards after back-to-back All-Australian selections, Collingwood's Brodie Grundy faces rucking's biggest challenge when he takes on this year's All-Australlian ruckman Nic Naitanui at Optus Stadium. Add in Collingwood's poor recent form in winning centre clearances and it all points to a significant advantage for the Eagles, as the high-leaping Naitanui not only wins the ball but fights hard on the ground. Grundy has not been taking the ball out of the ruck because his ball use is ordinary but against the Eagles he might have to revert to that tactic and gain ground, however possible, to bring ground level forwards into the game. The Magpies' sweeper also becomes important at stoppages so that the Eagles can't, under any circumstance, run out of the front of a stoppage. What Weaknesses Can Collingwood Exploit? If the Eagles have a weakness it is winning ground balls in defence, which makes the job of bringing the ball to ground when opposed to the Eagles' key defenders vital. Jeremy McGovern has dominated them in the past, forcing Collingwood into a defensive posture to limit his impact. If Cox, Mihocek or even Chris Mayne can stop Tom Barrass from marking then the Magpies' small forwards, led by the powerful De Goey, are a chance of scoring. One option is to select Stephenson to play out of the square, allowing him to impact off short bursts, with his form in 2020 a reminder that few players can perform off an interrupted pre-season. Can Anyone Stop Liam Ryan? The forward has gone from strength to strength since being a vital link in the match-winning Eagles' play late in the 2018 grand final that led to Dom Sheed's goal. No one debated his All-Australian selection as he is brilliant on the ground and in the air, with ''Flyin' Ryan'' now a catchcry among AFL fans. Maynard is likely to win the unenviable job of trying to control Ryan but he will have no hope if the ball is coming in fast, as Ryan feeds off chaos, particularly at home, where the Eagles are virtually impossible to beat. Can The Travelling Magpies Beat The Homebody Eagles? The Eagles have scored 21 more points at home as opposed to away and are in the top four on many counts - scores from turnover differential, scores from clearance differential, points for and against and percentage of goals per inside 50s - when playing at Optus Stadium, while languishing in the bottom half of the competition for the same measures when interstate. They have won their past eight games at the venue and defeated the Magpies by 66 points at Optus Stadium in round eight. That shows how big the Magpies' task is as they crawl out from their sleeping bags in the Winnebagos at Joondalup to play a final. They didn't push back hard on the conditions imposed so they have to deal with their lot and hope their outstanding record on the road helps them pull off an interstate finals heist not seen since they beat Port Adelaide in the 2002 qualifying final. Scott Pendlebury, De Goey and Cox are big inclusions from that game while the Eagles are missing Elliot Yeo, which improves their chances of being competitive. The Final Word West Coast will win but the margin will be tighter than many expect with the Eagles to prevail by 18 points.