Finally the end of financial year rush at work has subsided and I’ve been left with enough time and energy to return to doing something I love – talking about Collingwood.
Given the timing, this piece will serve as something of a belated mid-season review, although I wouldn’t be surprised if it degenerates into a collection of random thoughts that I’ve had whilst watching the team go about their business over the last month or so. Considering how we were travelling prior to my hiatus and our reversal in form during my absence, I’ve regretted even more so not being able to keep this site active during a period where positives were presenting themselves thick and fast.
It’s time to make up for lost time…
I’m keeping perspective in regards to our five game winning streak; although I do think some people are being overly conservative when it comes to assessing our recent form. There is a valid argument in pointing out the teams we have beaten and how those sides have been travelling during the time we faced them, but we can only beat the teams we are presented with and so far we have done so in convincing fashion.
The match against Sydney was the one that probably hung in doubt for the longest period of game time, however we extracted something completely different to a percentage boost – yet equally as valuable – from our victory in that game. At three quarter time, we had our backs against the wall and I’m embarrassed to admit that I had resigned myself to the boys getting overrun in the last. Admittedly, I had cause for such resignation; we were two players short on the bench at the time and we looked to be running on empty.
Sydney on the other hand had rallied, snatching the lead from us until Dane Swan plucked it back in the dying moments of the third term. What transpired in the last quarter evoked some of the proudest feelings I’ve had for Collingwood in quite some time, as with their backs against the wall the lads gutsed it out and driven by the brilliance of Alan Didak and Leon Davis, sunk the Swans once more.
Leon Davis has continued on with his emergence as an elite level player last year and Alan Didak has hit his straps over the last couple of weeks, laying the ground work for repaying the faith shown to him. Paul Medhurst returned to the side last week against Fremantle and whilst he was not at his best and will take a couple more weeks to regain match fitness and touch, he did enough to remind us of just how big an asset he is.
After being understandably patchy at the beginning of the year, Harry O’Brien has once again found form. Nick Maxwell has played some of the best football I’ve ever seen him play over the last month, whilst Prestigiacomo continues to remind us of just how much we missed him. Heath Shaw has also run himself into some form after being in the wilderness and the result of all of the aforementioned positives is that our defence finally looks settled.
I sang the praises of Sharrod Wellingham after his game against Port Adelaide and he has continued to contribute since then. He still has a tendency to drift in and out of games, but that could have as much to do with game time and rotations as it does with his mental application. What has been noticeable is that when Wellingham is switched on and involved, he is having a decisive impact by either winning effective clearances or receiving on the outside and using the ball well.
Dane Swan has been his usual workhorse self and with Scott Pendlebury taking yet another step this year, our midfield woes are beginning to subside. Speaking of Pendles, we lost his services at the beginning of the Sydney game and have still managed to chalk up two victories without an important cog in our machine. Pendles absence was noticeable against Sydney, where his silky hands in the clenches were missed as we were smashed out of the middle for large periods of the match.
It hasn’t been an entirely dominant month, as our form during matches has been patchy. What has been comforting though is that over the last month this fluctuation in form throughout games has become less of an issue, whilst we’ve rediscovered the ability – largely through our match winners – to turn it on. Watching us dismantle Fremantle with a 10 goal final term last week was one of the most refreshing displays I’ve seen from Collingwood in a while; it seems we have remembered how to go for the jugular.
With our improvement in form, the speculation over the future of Malthouse has come to a grinding halt, which has been another positive for the club. You cannot underestimate the effect that such uncertainty, especially when highlighted on a public and regular basis, can have on a football club. With that said, I would hope that any decisions in this regard are made at the conclusion of the season when we have the complete picture of where we currently stand.
Whilst our last month has been good to excellent, it is our next month that will paint a more accurate picture of how we’re travelling. We face Essendon on Friday night, followed by games against the Western Bulldogs, Hawthorn and Carlton. The current ladder adds even more importance to these games, as they all shape as potential eight point games. We have been presented with an excellent opportunity to consolidate our current top four position as the season rounds the bend for the home straight.
After a rough start to the season, we’ve managed to turn things around somewhat by mid-year. Form can be fleeting and we’re set to find out a lot more about the list over the next month, but given how dire our position could have been we can be pleased with how the club has gone about their football for the past 5 weeks. On paper, they were sides we should have beaten, but as Collingwood supporters we know all too well just how precarious that statement can be.
