The Scores
Collingwood: 3.1 / 8.3 / 14.7 / 17.15 [117]
Melbourne: 5.2 / 7.2 / 9.4 / 10.4 [64]
Goals
Collingwood: Anthony 4, Didak 3, Lockyer 2, Cloke 2, Swan, Medhurst, Brown, Fraser, Davis, Beams.
Melbourne: Green 3, Miller, Johnson, Morton, Petterd, Bate, Bruce, McLean.
The 10th Letter’s Best: Fraser / Didak / Swan / Davis
Review
After a disappointing result last week, we were perhaps fortunate to have to back-up against last year’s wooden spooners in Melbourne. Whilst Melbourne gave us an early scare and some of our first quarter play was reminiscent of round one, the boys managed to come good and run over the top of the struggling Demons.
Before the ball had even been bounced, Magpie supporters were given some bitter-sweet news: Dayne Beams would be making his debut, but it would be at the expense of Dale Thomas who fell ill overnight. We would get to see the promising Beams again, but we would be missing one of our better players from round one.
Our ball movement in the first quarter left a lot to be desired, as we were once again stagnant and haphazard. On the contrary, Melbourne were moving and using the ball a lot better than us in the early stages — something that surely worried a lot of Collingwood supporters in the opening thirty minutes.
Brad Miller, a player who I don’t particularly rate, proved a headache and got the better of Nathan Brown as our defence fell victim to a lack of pressure all over the ground. For the Pies, Lockyer was one of our best in the opening quarter and kept us in the contest by pushing forward and kicking a couple of goals.
The teams exchanged goals early in the second quarter, but as the half-time break approached our boys began to settle — largely due to the tireless efforts of Dane Swan. Ben Johnson collected a lot of the ball and provided us with some drive, whilst Leon Davis and Alan Didak began to work their classy selves into the match.
Didak proved to be the difference as the second quarter neared its conclusion, kicking two goals back-to-back to tie up the scores. Shortly after, Leon Davis spotted up Paul Medhurst 15 metres out with a scintillating pass. Medders went back and converted, sending the Pies into the main break with a seven point lead and a healthy dose of momentum.
We carried the momentum into the all-important third term, as the Pies began turning the screws and grinding the Demons down. Paul Medhurst had been quiet for the most part, but similar to last week began to work himself into some form during the third quarter; setting up John Anthony for his fourth and final goal of the match.
Josh Fraser – who had battled it out all day as our sole ruckman – was absolutely superb, setting the side up with some creative work out of the ruck whilst pushing forward to kick one of his own as the Pies took a 33 point lead into the final quarter.
The last quarter was a formality as it became apparent that Melbourne had ran their race. We spent most of the final term peppering the goals with little result, adding three goals eight points to our final score. Travis Cloke, who worked hard as always but received little reward, bobbed up to kick two in the final term; whilst Didak showed the rest of the boys how to kick straight when he added his third from a set shot. As the final siren sounded, Collingwood were victorious by 53 points.
In the wash-up, Scott Pendlebury had what most would consider an off-day, as he didn’t look 100 percent from the get go. Despite this, he battled on and still amassed 26 disposals whilst generally using the ball well. Leon Davis was fantastic, working hard to clean up and steady us down back. Dane Swan finished the game as our leading possession winner with 33 disposals and was instrumental in keeping us thereabouts during our poorer periods.
Shannon Cox played more of a defensive role and despite a couple of forgettable kicks, was good once again. Heath Shaw started slowly but got better as the match wore on; unfortunately though he was reported for a mid-air collision with Jared Rivers and although I think he should get off, there is no telling with the tribunal. Nathan Brown struggled early, but was swung forward and provided another target and some good defensive work; kicking a good goal in the third from 40 out on a reasonably tight angle after winning a free kick from an excellent tackle.
Josh Fraser and Alan Didak were our two stand-outs. Fraser was excellent playing as our lone ruckman, whilst Alan Didak brushed off an uncharacteristic round one performance to return to his classy best; finishing the game with 29 disposals and 3 goals. Fraser’s performance has sparked talk regarding the possibility of him carrying the ruck responsibility every week, but some perspective is required as Josh was admittedly up against a sub-standard ruck division.
Leigh Brown didn’t do much to suggest he’s a better option than Bryan or Wood, as he looked about as effective as either of those players. He is admittedly quicker around the ground and even more agile, but much like Wood and Bryan he didn’t have any notable impact on proceedings. Dayne Beams on the other hand had a fantastic debut, gathering18 disposals, 5 marks, 6 tackles and 1 goal. His goal was memorable, kicking truly from 50 metres out on a 45 degree angle.
What has been most impressive about Beams has been his ability to win his own ball. He looked composed when winning the ball in tight situations and showed decision making beyond his years, playing a part in setting us up out of the centre on more than one occasion. His defensive work when not in possession is also commendable as evidenced by his six tackles. Quite simply, we have found a player in Beams.
It was hard to make much out of Brad Dick’s senior return, as he only came into the match when the heat was off. With that said, it wasn’t a case of Dick being a front-runner, as his application in chasing and applying pressure was excellent, but he clearly just needs to find some touch and adjust to the pace of senior football. Hopefully he’ll be better for getting more of a sniff in the final term, as I wouldn’t be surprised if we persisted with him for a run of games.
Much like last week, John Anthony looked to be our most dangerous forward throughout the game, as Cloke did most of his work further up field. I wasn’t sold on Anthony’s prospects as a forward heading into 2009, but after the NAB Cup and our two games thus far I have been converted. I will still say that he has something to offer down back if required, but we would be silly to move him from our forward line any time soon. He got caught behind a couple of times, but admittedly on those occasions the delivery to the forward line left a lot to be desired.
I’m a little bit torn about the result, as whilst the scoreboard would show us to be convincing winners; I’m not sold on how convincing we actually were. Our first quarter was poor once again and better opposition would have made us pay a heavier price. Whilst we applied ourselves and wore the Demons down, we still suffered from poor execution in patches throughout the game.
It is clear however that some of our better players are still finding form, so there is improvement to be had. Our ruck situation is still a concern and there were several periods of play where we looked impotent when it came to winning centre clearances. Whilst we could never question Travis Cloke’s work ethic, he needs to have more of an influence on the game and make himself a target in more dangerous positions.
We still need to revise the game plan I believe, or at the very least improve our execution of the current one. Our defence has looked extremely vulnerable when we have allowed the opposition to carry the ball with little pressure. Melbourne are probably the worst outfit going around at the moment, yet they still looked to have our measure and worried our defenders when our intensity wasn’t switched on. It’s a concern that we rely so heavily on intensity, as it’s arguably the hardest quality to sustain throughout the course of a match — let alone throughout a season. The bottom line is, regardless of the opposition’s quality, sides will always find a way to score if they’re provided with a free run through the corridor.
We performed well enough to secure the four points and some important percentage, but we’ll need to find something more if we’re to be competitive against the better sides in the competition. I’m not too concerned as our season is still in its infancy and I’m hopeful that a lot of our weaknesses will be ironed out through basic match fitness and a few players finding the form we know they’re capable of. The side is yet to find the right balance and the chemistry has suffered as a result, hopefully with a few more rounds team selection will become less of an experiment and the side will settle in turn.
