The Scores
Collingwood: 5.5 / 5.9 / 8.15 / 13.17 [95]
Geelong: 2.3 / 10.6 / 11.11 / 18.14 [122]
Goals
Collingwood: Medhurst 3, Anthony, Beams, Brown, Cox, Davis, Dick, Didak, Fraser, Lockyer, Thomas.
Geelong: Chapman 4, Johnson 3, Hawkins 2, Stokes 2, Varcoe 2, Ablett, Byrnes, Mooney, Rooke, Wojcinski.
The 10th Letter’s Best: Fraser / Beams / Swan / Pendlebury
Bad kicking is bad football; probably the most suitable epitaph for tonight’s defeat. After bucking our recent trend by getting out to a great start in the first quarter, we fell apart after some poor conversion in the second quarter and Geelong – to their credit – seized control.
It was important that we applied pressure early – both on the field and the scoreboard – and the team succeeded in doing so for the first thirty minutes of the game. Despite dominating the quarter, we let ourselves down by missing some gettable opportunities — a disappointing trait that would continue throughout the match.
Pendlebury was brilliant early, whilst Beams also impressed providing a good contest in the middle whilst also managing to push forward to kick a goal. Our pressure all over the field was perfect, our small forwards were looking dangerous and we managed to get the best of Geelong out of the centre and in most contested situations.
The second quarter started much the same, with Collingwood holding sway for the first 5 minutes but failing to convert. Leigh Brown had an opportunity in the first quarter and a bit to cement himself within the senior line-up, but instead went some way to signing his VFL papers after missing three very gettable set shots; the third of which resulted in Geelong carrying the ball the length of the pitch with Wojcinski finishing truly.
That Geelong goal turned out to be the catalyst, as the Cats put on what could have been a replay performance of their second quarter in our NAB Cup encounter. Geelong added 8 goals for the quarter, whilst some of their prime movers – who had been well held – began working their way into the match. On the other hand, we only managed to add 4 behinds for the quarter after having the chance to push our lead beyond 5 goals early in the second.
We entered the main break trailing by 27 points and things weren’t looking good. To our credit, the boys worked themselves back into the game by winning the 50/50 contests over the field and breaking even in the centre once more. Pendlebury and Swan were instrumental, whilst Fraser continued to battle tirelessly in the ruck. Marty Clarke became more prominent, whilst the rest of our defenders managed to get their direct opponents back into check.
As was the trend though, despite regaining our momentum and having control for most of the quarter, we failed to convert. We could have realistically been within a kick – perhaps even in front – of the Cats by the end of the third term, but instead we still trailed by 14 points heading into the final term.
As good sides do, Geelong punished us for being wasteful by turning it on in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, adding three quick goals to take the margin out to a game high 32 points. The contest was effectively ended at that point and the sting left the match. To our credit, the team battled it out but Geelong had all the answers as we eventually went down by 27 points.
Josh Fraser was our best despite being one of the offenders in the missed opportunity category. He stood up once again without genuine back-up in the ruck, but I just don’t know how sustainable the plan to have Josh go it alone is. Pendlebury had a similar game to last week, he wasn’t outstanding throughout but had periods where he stepped it up a notch and was pivotal in getting us back into it. Some comfort can be taken in the fact that Pendlebury hasn’t been stellar the last two games, but still manages to find the ball.
Our defenders were fairly good despite being exposed a few times due to being under siege. Harry O’Brien kept Steve Johnson quiet for the first quarter and a bit before Johnson started having a say in proceedings. Shannon Cox was reasonably good for the entire match, although he did let himself down with some efforts where he was simply too laconic; which Geelong made him pay for.
We lost Ben Johnson early after he broke his fibula — ironically as he was caught out trying to get onto his left side. Johnson has his detractors and I have been critical of him in the past, but he was sorely missed tonight as he did an excellent job blanketing Ablett early. On top of this, we also lost some flexibility on the bench in the absence of Johnson and our rotations suffered.
Heath Shaw suffered muscular cramps and was forced from the field. The reports regarding this injury are sketchy at these early stages, but given that Heater has also been reported for “pushing” an umpire in the second quarter we should probably prepare to be without him for a few games whichever way it goes.
Dayne Beams was once again a shining light, as he backed up his efforts from last week with an even better performance. Against opposition that was the polar opposite of last week, he amassed even better stats with 21 disposals, 9 marks and 1 goal. What was even more impressive were his efforts that don’t get recorded on the stat sheet, as he had a real dip from start to finish and was the last player at the bottom of the pack on numerous occasions.
I try to hold off calling things too early, but Beams is something special. In fact, I don’t know if there is anything to be gained by playing him at VFL level. I say keep him in the side unless he has a series of absolute ‘mares or begins to noticeably fatigue as the season wears on. Currently, he looks the goods and at this rate will give the rising star a real shake.
One player who could do with some time in the VFL is Brad Dick. Similar to last week, he only came into the game during periods where the intensity had dropped. He did straighten us up and show his more experienced team mates a thing or two by converting an important set shot in the third, but also had some forgettable disposals by foot in general play. Understandably, he is still trying to find the pace of the game but currently I find it hard to justify his position in the seniors based on his last two performances.
I mentioned Leigh Brown stamping his VFL papers in the second quarter, but to his credit he worked hard in the second half and spotted up a few targets inside 50, along with kicking a good running goal to give us a spark in the third. I think we all knew that Leroy shaped as a potential source of frustration, but until Wood and Bryan absolutely demand senior selection I don’t have a problem with keeping him in the seniors for the time being.
As for our other Brown, Nathan looks a little lost down back at the moment. I don’t know whether we should play with the idea of sending Leigh Brown down back and trying Nathan up forward or even pinch hitting in the ruck, but the well seems to have dried up temporarily for Rambo as far as being a key defender. We desperately need Nate to make it as a key defender, but he’s definitely in a rut and considering we don’t have a replacement waiting in the wings we must find some way to get him involved and rekindle his form.
In the end, we were beaten by the benchmark in the competition whilst also doing ourselves no favours. Outside of our poor kicking for goal, we still have to work on our consistency throughout the course of a match. So often when we lose momentum, it stays lost and the siren becomes our only saviour. With that said, it’s extremely difficult to maintain intensity when being continually deflated by poor goal kicking. Certainly another aspect we need to work on is our execution during important moments — as it has been lacking so far this year.
Whilst I was pleased that we worked our way back into the contest in the third term (similar to the Adelaide game) we simply can’t afford to have quarters such as our second one tonight and our two previous first quarter efforts.
Our future midfield is slowly shaping with the addition of Beams, but Pendlebury and Swan desperately need some genuine assistance outside of our part-timers. Sometimes I feel that our extended rotations through the middle hinder any cohesion that we manage to achieve. The solution won’t be found this year as we’re still rebuilding our midfield, but hopefully we can get a better idea heading forward throughout the course of the season.
We currently stand 1-2 and our next few weeks are going to be extremely important. We face Brisbane next Friday night at the Gabba, a 50/50 prospect on paper but one that we simply have to win at this point to keep our season afloat and self-belief healthy during these early stages.
In the end, I don’t think too many of us would be surprised with a loss tonight; but the manner in which it came about lends itself to disappointment.
