Finals have become a regular occurrence for Collingwood in recent seasons, a fact that is mostly refreshing yet lends itself to frustration as we have thus far fallen short. After having a mid-season purple patch which saw us win 12 out of 13 games from round 9 onwards, we were provided with a new form of hope. We had gone someway towards breaking the trend that emerged in previous seasons; a trend which saw us habitually drop winnable games to inferior opposition.
With this winning streak the premiership hopes of Collingwood fans strengthened and assumed a more real quality, a tangible aspect. Securing a double chance, particularly after the bitter disappointment of wasting the opportunity in 2008, in a final series that was comprised mostly of Victorian sides set the scene for these hopes to be realised.
What panned out was disappointing, but not without some consolatory elation. In the qualifying final we fell short in an arm wrestle with the Saints; a game in which similar to earlier in the year, we were better early on but were then well beaten from halfway through the second quarter. The elation came in the semi-final against Adelaide, where after being blitzed out of the blocks the Magpies swarmed in an awesome third quarter display. The match culminated with Jack Anthony kicking the winner with just seconds remaining after a frantic final quarter. A week later – and no matter how you slice it – the Pies bowed out of the 2009 race in forgettable fashion against a rampaging Geelong. As awesome as Geelong were in 2009 and have been for the past three seasons, our performance in the preliminary was unacceptable and dare I say shameful after half-time – but I’m sure the players acknowledge that.
In the wash, we were once again beaten for class and experience in the middle of the ground, whilst despite Jack Anthony’s 50 goal season up forward our attack at large struggled throughout the year and particularly so in September. We were cruelled by the loss of Pendlebury early in the first week of finals, but even with Pendles in the side we were admittedly up against it in the class stakes when compared to St. Kilda and Geelong. There is no shame in that of course, but it did need to be addressed.
Identifying that our window was open and with what many considered a shallow draft on the horizon, the powers that be decided that we were going to target the missing pieces during trade week. For years the Collingwood faithful have been screaming for a big bodied ruckman, a deficit that we have unsuccessfully tried to mask in previous September sorties. During the 2009 trade period, our prayers were answered when we acquired the services of Darren Jolly – a ruckman who is more than just a big body, but one of the very best players in his position. With Jolly now wearing black and white, the Magpie midfield will have to use the pre-season to grow accustomed to first rate tap service, rather than perfecting the art of anticipating the opposition’s ruckman.
Complimenting the addition of Jolly is Luke Ball, a player regarded for his courage, leadership and importantly his ability to win the hard ball. With Shane O’Bree nearing the end of his career, Luke Ball will fill the position of hard-bodied extractor within our midfield brigade. With Ball and Pendlebury sitting at the feet of Darren Jolly and an improving Cameron Wood, Collingwood should be getting a lot more first use in 2010.
Whilst the addition of Jolly and Ball is an exciting one (made better by the manner in which we acquired Ball, but that’s been done to death) and will certainly go a long way to mending some recurring problems, these two additions are not, in my mind, the final piece to the puzzle. A lot will depend upon the continued improvement from the likes of Wellingham, Beams and Sidebottom; with the likes of Pendlebury, Maxwell and O’Brien consolidating upon the steps that they took this year. Realistically, despite factoring in September for the past four years and reaching the preliminary final twice, there is still improvement to be had from a majority of our list and if the likes of Medhurst, McCarthy and Fraser can have a better run with injury we’ll be well and truly primed.
We were aggressive in the trade period without going overboard; managing to add some much needed elements, improve our depth with the addition of Simon Buckley whilst also picking up some youth. If we are to be successful in 2010, it will be a mixture of improvement from the old and a successful assimilation from the new that will get us over the line. I’ve liked the methodical manner in which the club has gone about creating our current playing list; as when it comes to success we ideally want to have some longevity as opposed to being a flash in the pan, a single season anomaly. Geelong have shown what astute drafting and development can produce, it would be nice if we could put a stop to their dominance whilst replicating it.
With Jolly and Ball and expected improvement from our existing list, it’s a reasonable expectation that we will be a lot more competitive against the top echelon in 2010.
