Teams: Collingwood Vs. North Melbourne (Round 6, 2009)

Collingwood

B: Shaw / Prestigiacomo / Maxwell
HB: O’Brien / N. Brown / Clarke
C: O’Bree / Lockyer / Thomas
HF: Medhurst / Cloke / Macaffer
F: Anthony / L. Brown / Rocca
Foll: Fraser / Beams / Pendlebury
INT: Davis / Barham / Swan / Toovey
EMG: Goldsack / Corrie / Wellingham

IN: Heath Shaw, Nick Maxwell.
OUT: Shannon Cox, Tyson Goldsack.

North Melbourne

B: Watt / Thompson / Gibson
HB: Pratt / Firrito / Rawlings
C: Urquhart / Harris / Thomas
HF: Harding / Edwards / McMahon
F: Warren / Petrie / Hale
Foll: McIntosh / Ziebell / Swallow
INT: Lower / Power / Simpson / Greenwood
EMG: Ross / Jones / Goldstein

IN: Daniel Harris, Shannon Watt.
OUT: Brent Harvey (elbow), Lachie Hansen (hamstring).

Much to my surprise, we have made only two changes ahead of our clash against North Melbourne.  I personally expected at least three, with the likes of Toovey, Macaffer and Barham being fortunate to escape the knife.  I also thought that Leigh Brown may have made room for one of Wood or Bryan considering Fraser’s performance last week, but the experiment continues.

Just on Barham and Macaffer, I’m actually glad to see that we’ve decided to persist with them.  Macaffer didn’t have a noteworthy debut, but at the same time he didn’t do too much wrong and I’d like to see what he can offer after settling a bit more at senior level.  Barham had a day to forget as far as his disposal was concerned, but his endeavour was once again commendable.  If he can continue to work hard and improve his disposal he might become a regular fixture, otherwise he might be relegated to the VFL until he polishes up on the basics.

I’m not sure what to think of this side, which is a feeling I’ve had all year when it has come to team selection.  We have effectively made minimal changes after what was one of the worst losses I can remember — it still hurts.  Our back line should become a bit more settled with the welcome return of Shaw and Maxwell, but I’m still not sold on our top-heavy forward line.

As far as the omissions go, the dropping of Goldsack was fair enough as he is still yet to find his feet at senior level after a forgettable 2008.  Shannon Cox I’m a little surprised by, as I thought he would have had enough credits in the bank after a reasonably good start to the season.  Cox has his detractors and had his worst outing against Essendon, but he has been in our best or thereabouts for most games in 2009.  Someone had to reap the whirlwind after ANZAC Day and it turns out that Cox was our Dorothy.

I remain uncertain about our team selection and downright fearful about our ruck situation opposed to the likes of McIntosh, Petrie and Hale.  North’s midfield has taken a significant hit with the loss of Harvey and Wells, but the likes of Simpson and Harris are very good in the clenches and are likely to be well-serviced by their rucks — whilst you would hope that we gain supremacy in the midfield, it’s never a sure thing.

Without pondering further, I’m just going to say we better win this one because if we don’t, we could realistically be standing 2-6 in a couple of weeks time.  After last week, the side owes something to the supporters — it’s time to pull the finger out Collingwood.