Strolling Into September

I can’t remember too many games that carried a similar feeling as that of Sunday’s twilight match against the Western Bulldogs.  There was a lack of urgency not only from the players of both teams but also from those watching; a subdued atmosphere of supporters who were already thinking a week ahead, merely curious about who would play who. 

Third position had been considered the best result by most, as over the last month Geelong have been looking vulnerable, even ripe for the picking.  Whilst Geelong have shown signs of weakness and have struggled with injuries to key players, St. Kilda has also slowed down after what has been an incredibly impressive season.  I can’t say for sure who I would have preferred to play, although if pressed I would probably say Geelong given that we match up well on them and have struggled against zone based defences such as that employed by the Saints and Hawthorn.

When you break it down though, the simple fact is if we’re to win a premiership this year, we have to beat at least one of Geelong or St. Kilda — and more than likely both.  With that in mind, our opponent in the first week of finals was always unimportant.

The game itself wasn’t enthralling, but a good example of how much football has changed.  It was almost a direct contrast to the Hawthorn Vs. Essendon clash on the day before.  In that match, we witnessed tough, man-on-man contested football – whereas in our game we witnessed conservative circle work and possession football.  With third spot up for grabs, the 22 point margin outlined at the beginning of the match added a new dimension, one that came to the fore in the final quarter.

It was a match played in bursts, with the momentum swaying between both sides.  The Bulldogs had our measure in the centre of the ground for a majority of the match, winning centre square clearances with ease.  We missed Pendlebury and our midfield brigade clearly wasn’t switched on, but you can’t take anything away from the Dogs as they do have an impressive array of midfielders.  Despite their dominance out of the middle, the lead continued to change throughout the game and the margin was never beyond two goals until the final quarter.

Dane Swan had a quiet match and we can only hope that he’s saving himself for our finals campaign, whilst Alan Didak worked hard all over the ground but was uncharacteristically sloppy with his ball use.  Our disposal in general was well below our usual standard, as players too often opted to finesse the ball by hand or foot, often causing team mates to be flat footed and selling them into trouble.  Considering a fair portion of our young list already have finals experience, I would hope that the lads know by now that when the pressure is on, being cute just isn’t an option.

Brad Dick and Sharrod Wellingham struggled to make any impact and whilst I rate both, I’m not entirely sold on them heading into week one.  I have a suspicion that Wellingham will step up on the big stage at the MCG, whilst Dick is always a dangerous option even when he’s struggling to get involved.  It is the continued struggles of Medhurst that have me worried the most however, as he is the sort of player who – if he gets his act together – could play a big part in our fortunes.

Similarly, Travis Cloke hasn’t been setting the world on fire up forward and his kicking woes, particularly from set shots in what should be easy positions, continue to be a source of frustration.  Watching Cloke in front of the sticks lately has caused many to rightly ponder the possibility of such inaccuracy costing us at a critical stage.  We’ve suffered as Collingwood supporters in this regard, lately I’ve been getting flashbacks of Tarrant during the third quarter in the 2002 Grand Final.  Travis lining them up is to me what a ceiling fan is to Captain Willard – the horror, the horror.

In fairness, it isn’t just Travis who is struggling in front of the sticks – the side at large has been wasteful for a month or more now.  I’m all for sharing the ball around and trying to find players in better positions, but sometimes we just try to be too fancy up forward.  It’s improved somewhat since the Brisbane and Adelaide matches, but it did creep back in during the last quarter against Richmond.  Honestly, we could have had third spot cemented via percentage if we had have kept our heads and been more methodical in the last six weeks.  A heavy dose of set shot kicking and footy fundamentals should be on the agenda in the lead-up to our clash with the Saints.

As for positives, I was impressed by the efforts of Goldsack and Toovey.  Toovey has won me over and lost me, then won me back all throughout the year – but I couldn’t fault his game.  He gives 100% all of the time and he was certainly cleaner and more convincing than some of our more celebrated players on Sunday.  Goldsack, who I have a high opinion of but have been frustrated by at times, performed admirably and would be unlucky to find himself out of the team.  Both Goldsack and Toovey were part of most of our more memorable passages on Sunday, using their pace to good effect.

Maxwell and Heater continued their good form, Heater in particular who was one of our only players who wanted to move the ball and make the play with any sense of purpose.  John Anthony put in a commendable performance despite not troubling the scorers all that much.  I’ve been impressed with Jack’s work ethic over the second half of the year, as he’s worked up the ground and helped out in defence whenever required.  He’s a smart footballer despite some occasional brain fades (that are becoming more infrequent) and when he has it, he generally uses it intelligently and effectively.

When it was up for grabs in the last, it was the Bulldogs who wanted it more and it showed.  We grinded out the last while the Doggies methodically worked their way towards the four goal target.  Despite not playing particularly well, it was encouraging that we stayed in touch for the entire game and even in front for periods.  Whilst I was a little disappointed with our showing at large, I’m not reading too much into this performance.  With just about all of our players down on output and influence, there is definite room for improvement.

At the beginning of the season, my expectation come round 22 was a top four spot and we have managed to achieve that.  This of course is just a preliminary expectation and now that we have achieved that goal we must aim for the premiership.  After our effort on Sunday it may appear that we have strolled into September, but let’s not forget the hard work the lads put in to get there.  People can say what they want about our draw, but in the second half of the year we had an extended period where just about every game was considered a “must win” game – and we passed with flying colours.

I’m never confident when Collingwood is concerned, twenty plus black and white years have taught me that much, but I’m always optimistic and forever hopeful.

21 Down…

I can’t remember a season where I’ve been so needlessly nervous; it feels like I’ve spent the last three months of my life bracing for a let-down that hasn’t eventuated.  It turns out that there is no respite from this fluctuating anxiety, as we now have a top four spot sewn up and the aforementioned pre-emptive nerves have made way for something else, something much bigger.

The anxiety that accompanies the possibility of dreams realised, the anxiety that shadows expectation like a pilot fish.  With only one more round to go, Collingwood are being touted as not only contenders, but perhaps even premiership favourites.

I’m not eager to take on board the favourites tag, even though from a purely statistical vantage point the tag is warranted.  We have been the best performed side in the second half of the year, with Geelong and St. Kilda wavering a little over the last few weeks.  Considering St. Kilda’s streak and Geelong’s recent history, I don’t think we’ve done enough to topple either for the early title of favourite but it’s shaping up to be a compelling finals series all the same.

Last week we took on a fast finishing Sydney, who were making an unlikely charge towards a finals spot as Hawthorn, Port and Essendon fought it out to see who didn’t want the final spot in September.  Sydney had pushed both Geelong and St. Kilda to the very limit and were a lucky bounce or two away from beating both sides.  We’ve had Sydney’s measure for a while, but the manner in which we notched up yet another victory was very encouraging for several reasons.

Sydney play a contested brand of football, regardless of how convincing any of our wins have been against them, we’ve always had to earn them.  If Richmond’s rough house tactics the week before did us a favour by bringing the group together in a militant sense, then the match against Sydney gave our boys a good test run for the tight contested style of play that finals football demands. 

The first half was the typical arm wrestle that most games involving Sydney resemble, with our boys once again being a little wasteful in front of goal.  Whilst we couldn’t break out to more than a three goal lead, we didn’t give Sydney an inch the other way either, with our miserly defence standing up once again.  It was a scrappy first half in all honesty, littered with fumbles and stoppages.  Dane Swan and Pendlebury both struggled to have their usual influence, whilst Brad Dick struggled to find his touch early in the piece.

As has become a habit, it was the third quarter when Collingwood put Sydney to the sword, with Brad Dick snapping a freakish yet fortunate snap that bounced through after being launched from outside 50.  Medhurst presented tirelessly, whilst John Anthony stood up to be our best performed forward, ending the day with four goals.  After racing out to a 5 goal lead by the end of the third term, Collingwood kicked into cruise control for the last quarter, holding out Sydney and winning the quarter by a further 11 points whilst being wasteful once more with a 3.6 return in the last.

Dayne Beams was our best player over the four quarters.  Whilst Beams finished the day as our leading possession getter with 24 disposals, it was his repeated efforts in contested situations that stood out.  Sydney are a great litmus test if you’re looking to gauge a player’s ability to become an inside midfielder and Beams passed with flying colours.  Scott Pendlebury and Brett Kirk cancelled each other out, whilst Dane Swan worked his way into the game in the second half despite a fantastic blanketing performance by ex-Pie Rhyce Shaw.

Tim Watson described Heath Shaw’s performance on the day perfectly when he said that he had been “flawless.”  It’s just about the ideal description for a defender’s game; whilst Heater may not have racked up his usual impressive stats, his numerous one percenters and the fact that he was not beaten once put him up there with Beams vying for best on ground honours.  Maxwell continues to lead by example by putting in a similarly flawless performance marshalling our troops across the back half, whilst Leigh Brown made amends for his last performance by being undoubtedly good down back, even bobbing up with some highlight worthy moments.

We continue to show how evenly spread we are with talent, as in games where our tall timber fails to fire our medium and small forwards bob up with a bag or two.  When our smalls have difficulty getting on the scoreboard, our tall timber emerges.  After the Sydney game, with Swan and Pendlebury contributing just 35 disposals between them, we still ran out comfortable winners as this “share the load” philosophy extends to our midfield. 

We bested Sydney by 41 points, which could have been more with accurate kicking and an absence of the pity rule applied to a few marking contests.  All in all, it was a win that was indicative of the brand of football that the club is playing – a true team effort.

This week we head into a twilight match with the Bulldogs that will decide who finishes third and who faces who out of the Saints and Cats.  The Bulldogs are in pretty good shape as well, despite a recent disappointing loss to an enthusiastic Eagles outfit.  Despite sealing a double chance, I don’t want to see us flirt with form and hope that the boys go in with all guns blazing, a victory could give us the final bit of mental ascendancy required to go all the way.

Before I sign off,  I just have to say that it’s good to be a Collingwood supporter right now.  Bucks is coming home, Beamer has signed up for another two years and has put the Gold Coast speculation to rest.  We’ve also got a crop of good young players performing well in the VFL, who coincidentally also sealed a finals appearance this past weekend. 

We’re nearing the summit and the next part of the journey is undoubtedly the hardest, but right now as I look at the ladder with a sense of relief and achievement warming my innards, I can’t help but dare to dream.

Flying The Flag

Heading into the game against Richmond, I was slightly apprehensive as to how the team would perform.  In previous seasons, we have had a tendency to drop such games against inferior opposition, particularly when backing up after an impressive victory.  With our top four spot not yet cemented, it was imperative that we took the four points away from our encounter with Richmond, along with some all important percentage.

Come Saturday night, we had achieved both of those objectives in a big way.

After kicking two of the first three goals Richmond were simply insipid, putting on a disgraceful display that was disrespectful to both departing son Joel Bowden and the Richmond faithful.  The fireworks aside, the indifference that Richmond displayed when required to at least be competitive made the game something of a comedy, even awkward to watch at times despite the fact that I’m a Collingwood supporter.

The Magpies simply dismantled Richmond and if not for sloppy conversion would have posted one of the more embarrassingly lop-sided scoreboards for the season, with only Fremantle’s effort against Adelaide keeping Richmond away from that shameful achievement.  We played well in what was a one-sided contest, but I would hope that the club would try not to extract or spend too much time on any positives from what was an admittedly forgettable game.

That’s not to say that we weren’t impressive in patches, or that there weren’t any notable individual performances.  Simply put, any side would have beaten Richmond on Saturday and despite being dominant, I feel that matches such as this one carry a risk of potentially manipulating a side’s form in a negative fashion.  The errant kicking for example was a direct result of players becoming a little more relaxed and lazy when executing basic skills; we cannot afford to squander such opportunities against the better teams, particularly during September.

I’m sure the coaches wouldn’t be reading too much into the result aside from the fact that the percentage gained was a most welcome bonus at this time of the year.

The biggest talking point to come out of the game was the melee that ensued during the second quarter, after Jake King struck Alan Didak in an off-the-ball incident while play was stopped.  As Didak received a free kick and attempted to play on and run around the mark, he was dispossessed by King, who then found himself in the unenviable position of being in possession of the football whilst surrounded by a contingent of Magpies out for revenge.

Lockyer was the first to meet King, driving him into the ground before Leigh Brown and Dane Swan piled on, leaving King invisible and vulnerable at the bottom of the pack.  Players swarmed and spot fires broke out everywhere as the umpires completely lost control of the match.  Whilst this is the sort of thing the AFL has attempted to remove from the game, it was good to see a little bit of passion emerge.  As a Collingwood supporter, it was great to see the entire team fly the flag whilst at the same time being mindful not to do anything stupid that would leave them at the mercy of the match review panel.

We’ve been thrown many tests over the last three months and we’ve handled all but one of them in flying colours, the melee with Richmond – whilst not a test – was a good exercise to reinforce the team’s solidarity.  With finals football just around the corner and the intensity set to rise, a little niggle was perhaps just what the doctor ordered.  Because of that, I’m not bitter towards Jake King or even Hislop for that matter, as I think they may have just done us a favour.

But the football is ultimately what is most important and on Saturday we were treated to some very good signs from the likes of Wellingham and Beams in particular.  Beams notched up his first 30 possession game, which given the state of play may have come with an asterisk if not for the manner in which he racked up those numbers.  Dayne ran hard to provide an option and linked up well, but most notably he was in-and-under at every opportunity putting his head over the ball during a match where Richmond had signalled its intentions early.  Not only was Beamer clean at ground level, but he created a lot of opportunities from less than 50-50 contests.  Topping off his game, Dayne showed his class by slotting a difficult shot from 40 metres out tucked up against the boundary line.

Sharrod Wellingham made the most of his opportunity against Richmond, showing class, poise and hardness in several contested situations.  Wellingham has really come along this year and whilst he had a patch where he ran out of spark, the rest he was given in the seconds looks to have been just the medicine.  Wellingham’s work in close has gone up a level this year, at times he has been Pendlebury like in the clenches with his decisive clearance work.  The best part is that despite Wellingham’s performances this year already making a good case for his continual selection, there looks to be ample room for improvement.  Sharrod finished the game with 19 disposals but most likely would have added to that had he not lost game time after cramping up in the third.

As we await the return of Fraser, Cameron Wood continues to cement his name in the senior side.  Whilst not as prominent as last week, Wood put in another good performance against Richmond and continues to work hard around the ground.  Brad Dick’s forward pressure was on show once again, highlighting just how important he is to our side.  In modern football, most clubs like to use the back half as a springboard for attack and having players such as Dick and Thomas continually harassing within our forward 50 severely hinders the opposition from collecting themselves and setting up play.

John Anthony worked hard all day and is really becoming something more than just a lead-up target.  He has shown willingness over the last month to work as far up the field as our defensive 50, whilst still managing to provide a dangerous option up forward.  His kicking has admittedly been shaky lately, but we’ve seen how good he can be and Jack is still a pup after all.  With a little more maturity and experience, it’s a reasonable expectation for Jack to contribute 50+ goals a season.

Our back line was solid once again, with Heath Shaw back to his best at providing drive from defence.  Leigh Brown had a game he would like to forget, but given that Nathan Brown seems to be struggling with a knee complaint I’m not expecting Leroy to face the axe just yet.  Chris Dawes was serviceable without standing out and as a result may be vulnerable when Fraser becomes available.  Whilst I wouldn’t consider him quite ready yet, I’ve liked what Dawes has shown at senior level as he seems to have improved upon his earlier performances this year, managing to get involved a lot more the past two weeks.

In the end, it was a dominant victory against one of the poorer sides I’ve had the displeasure of watching this year.  You know things are bad when despite the agro that was exhibited during the game, I could feel nothing but pity for Richmond and in particular, their fans.  As for Collingwood, we continue to march on and if we can put away Sydney for the 100^th time in succession this coming weekend, then we could very well have third spot sewn up prior to the final round — a position that could make things interesting at the selection table against the Bulldogs.

True Grit…

Despite our recent performances on the road, particularly in South Australia, Adelaide was always going to be a real test for our boys, particularly with so much at stake.  In many ways, Adelaide are a similar side to us, a well drilled team that doesn’t rely so much on star power as it does on team work and executing a set strategy.  The game played out very much as expected; a low scoring arm wrestle that tested the resolve and fitness of all 44 players who took the field.

Collingwood burst out of the blocks in the first quarter, dominating the first 10 minutes of play despite not getting full reward for effort on the scoreboard.  Brad Dick looked lively early but proved to have a wayward radar in front of the sticks.  It seemed to be a confidence related issue, as he looked to give the ball off more often than not when in scoring positions.  After the first 10 minutes had elapsed, Adelaide dragged their way back into the game and gained ascendancy, clawing the margin back before eventually taking the lead.

The second quarter was very much Adelaide’s term and a quarter in which I would consider Collingwood fortunate.  Adelaide controlled most of the play and could have placed some serious scoreboard pressure on the Magpies if not for errant kicking.  Adelaide added 1.6 for the quarter compared to Collingwood’s 1.2 and changes needed to be made if we were to get on top.  We were having trouble getting it past the middle of the ground and spent a lot of our time being corralled in the back pocket and half-back line.   On our occasional forays forward, Adelaide rebounded the ball out of defence with ease through superior numbers and running.

Despite our excellent record at AAMI, my confidence had been deflated a little by the time halftime arrived.

We started slowly in the third term with Adelaide picking up where they left off, but once again being wasteful in front of goal.  To our credit, the boys stuck to the task at hand in what was a gruelling affair, eventually arresting the momentum by breaking through Adelaide’s zone with some dash and daring.  We managed to kick four consecutive goals to rein Adelaide back in, taking a one goal lead into the final quarter.

Dane Swan was brilliant in the third quarter after being masterfully switched to the half-back line in order to break a close checking tag from Shirley.  Cameron Wood was on course to have his best game for Collingwood, which has been a call that seems to have been made every week since his return to the senior side.  Our defenders proved honest as always, with the usual suspects in O’Brien, Maxwell, Shaw and Presti all continuing on with their excellent form.

The final quarter started well for the Pies with Didak kicking the opening goal to give us a tiny bit of breathing space.  Adelaide answered soon after, but as the quarter progressed Collingwood started to turn the screws.  Didak was brilliant in the last quarter and played a massive role in getting us over the line in the second half.  Dane Swan finished the night with 30 disposals in what some might consider a quieter game by his standards, although it was an equally important performance considering how effective he was across the half-back line.

Maxwell provided the highlight of the night in the last, after killing a contest with a running left handed spoil before running onto the ball, breaking a tackle and finding Didak at half-forward, who in turn setup Dawes for what proved to be the match winning goal.  Cameron Wood covered a lot of ground the entire night and fittingly capped his night off by kicking his second shortly before the final siren.  Wood finished the night 24 disposals, 8 marks, 19 hit outs and 2 goals – a return that is sure to silence his critics in the media.

Chris Dawes provided us with another option up forward and proved to be an important player during the second half, presenting well up the ground and making the most of his opportunities.  Jack Anthony got his kicking boots back on and Travis Cloke – whilst not dominant – also played a serviceable role.  Brad Dick’s return would have been exceptional had he kicked straight, but his defensive work up forward was valuable as usual and he continued to show his ability to get into dangerous positions that result in scoring opportunities.

Dale Thomas had one of his poorer games for the season, which leads me to wonder whether he might be carrying an injury.  He looked disinterested at times and his defensive pressure – which is usually a positive attribute for Daisy – was below his usual standard.  With that said, Thomas is always a valuable asset to have on the field and a player who requires the opposition’s attention at all times.  Medhurst is still yet to hit his straps, but he is showing signs and with three rounds remaining, he may just peak at the perfect time.

We have now won 10 out of our last 11 games, an excellent achievement considering that our last month has seen us front up to some serious tests in the shapes of the Western Bulldogs, Brisbane, Adelaide and traditional rivals Essendon and Carlton.  Despite not playing our best football, last night’s victory showed an impressive amount of perseverance and mental application to stick to the task at hand in front of a mostly hostile crowd and eventually win by a comfortable margin considering the nature of the match.

After an unlikely loss to the Eagles, Collingwood have jumped over the Western Bulldogs to now sit outright third on the AFL ladder with three games remaining.  Our next two matches are against Sydney and Richmond and whilst you would expect that we would win these matches, I’m as apprehensive as ever.  Historically, we’ve had a tendency of losing such games at this point of the season heading into finals.  It’s important that we win both of these games to ensure a top four finish prior to the encounter with the Bulldogs.

Earlier in the year I had some concerns about the brand of football we were playing and some uncertainty as to what direction we were heading in.  Full credit has to be given to the players and coaches for the turning the season around like they have, as we are currently on course to have one of our most successful home-and-away seasons.  Defeating Adelaide last night also provided further credence to our claims as one of the best travelling teams in the competition, with a 4-0 record interstate this year.  Whilst we will – and should – be judged by our performance in September, we can most certainly enjoy the ride.