AFL 2021 Round 1: The Team

AFL 2021 Round 1 COLLINGWOOD v FOOTSCRAY Time & Place: Friday March 19, 7:50pm EDT MCG TV: 7mate / Fox Footy Weather: Min 15 Max 26 Chance of rain: 5% <1mm Wind: S 9kph Betting: Collingwood $2.10 Footscray $1.77

B: Brayden Maynard, Jordan Roughead, Jack Madgen 

HB: Jack Crisp, Darcy Moore, Jeremy Howe

C: John Noble, Scott Pendlebury, Tyler Brown

HF:Jamie Elliott, Brody Mihocek, Will Hoskin-Elliott

F: Josh Daicos, Mason Cox, Josh Thomas

Foll: Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams, Jordan De Goey

Int: Oliver Henry, Isaac Quaynor, Trey Ruscoe, Brayden Sier 

Emerg: Callum L. Brown, Darcy Cameron, Levi Greenwood, Nathan Murphy

New: Oliver Henry

Collingwood News New draftee Oliver Henry is set to make his debut in the black and white after impressing throughout the pre-season. The 18-year-old has been a lively target during the Magpies intra-club outings and will add plenty of flare to the forward line.  Defender Jeremy Howe makes his official return after recovering from a knee injury that saw him miss close to all of 2020, while Scott Pendlebury contests his 317th game. The Pies medical substitute will be out of the four emergencies; Callum Brown, Darcy Cameron, Levi Greenwood and Nathan Murphy. This will be confirmed one hour before the game starts. Steele Sidebottom will miss the clash as he recovers from a calf injury at looks to be available for round two.

ROAR: MATCH PREVIEW Round 1 Collingwood vs  Footscray (Western Bulldogs) Without doubt, this is the match we’ve all been waiting for – the grudge match between Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs at the MCG. The Pies made headlines during the off-season when they elected to offload Adam Treloar despite him still being contracted to the club, and the decision was made at the death to trade him to the Western Bulldogs. This has set the fuse for what promises to be an explosive Friday night at the MCG – and it’s not the first time a Round 1 match between the Pies and Bulldogs has been so highly anticipated. You’ll remember back in 2016, the Pies offloaded Travis Cloke to the Dogs and such was the hype surrounding his trade to Whitten Oval, the AFL scheduled a Friday night grudge match between the two sides in the opening round of the 2017 season, with Cloke kicking a first-quarter goal against his old side. As was the case four years ago when the Pies fans turned against Cloke, they’ll also be expected to turn against Treloar when he debuts in the red, white and blue for the first time against his old club. Treloar’s departure from the Holden Centre has again led to predictions that the Pies will again regress, having gone from grand finalists in 2018 to preliminary finalists in 2019 and then semi-finalists last year. On the flipside, his acquisition by the Bulldogs could be what they need as they attempt to put behind consecutive elimination final losses and continue moving up the ladder. But could Treloar be the difference between the two sides this Friday night? Despite losing him, the Pies should take the points at the MCG. Prediction: Collingwood by 12 points