Land of the Giants
Premiership Player
A great afternoon at the Grand National, and even better night at the SCG.
I don’t think any of us saw it coming, especially the Swans and their supporters, who were in a state of shock. The final score of 4.6.30 was their lowest in 385 games at home. They would also have been in shock at the amount of support we had, which became clear as the trickle of red-and-white heading for the exits became a torrent. Now we’ve got the perfect answer when someone asks “where’s all your members?” – they’re at the SCG.
So, let’s look ahead to the semi-final next Saturday.
On the surface, Collingwood have had a good season, winning fifteen, losing seven and finishing top four with a healthy percentage. But if you look a bit closer, they’ve beaten only one top eight side, and that was Melbourne back in June. It’s tempting to say they’ve had a pretty soft draw, playing Carlton, Brisbane, Essendon and Fremantle twice. However, finals are a whole new ball game. Don’t forget we lost twice to the Swans during the year and blew them away when it mattered.
It will certainly be a different Collingwood to what we faced in round two. They’ve recovered from their own pre-season injury crisis, welcoming back Tyson Goldsack for his first game of the season last night against the Eagles, the same as we did with Zac Williams. And they’re playing well, going goal-for-goal against the Eagles before finally getting run down minutes from the end.
Back in March, we were missing Toby due to injury, and Tom Scully went down during the game itself, but the biggest difference this time is we've finally got a first-choice back line that includes Williams, Kennedy and Buntine. Williams in particular made us look a completely different team last night; all three seem to have restored a bit of structural balance that’s been missing over the past two years. The only forced change I can see is that Griffen will probably take Kelly’s place, as he’s unlikely to recover from a meniscus tear in seven days. Perhaps Sam Taylor might come in for Perryman.
I know history is against elimination final winners in the semis, but we have what it takes to defy history. The pressure will be on Collingwood to perform in what’s sure to be the most partisan crowd we’ve played against since the PF to Richmond. But it won’t faze us.
I’m heading down and hope to see as much orange as possible. And can we please have another pre-match function at the Imperial Hotel?
I believe that we will win.
I don’t think any of us saw it coming, especially the Swans and their supporters, who were in a state of shock. The final score of 4.6.30 was their lowest in 385 games at home. They would also have been in shock at the amount of support we had, which became clear as the trickle of red-and-white heading for the exits became a torrent. Now we’ve got the perfect answer when someone asks “where’s all your members?” – they’re at the SCG.
So, let’s look ahead to the semi-final next Saturday.
On the surface, Collingwood have had a good season, winning fifteen, losing seven and finishing top four with a healthy percentage. But if you look a bit closer, they’ve beaten only one top eight side, and that was Melbourne back in June. It’s tempting to say they’ve had a pretty soft draw, playing Carlton, Brisbane, Essendon and Fremantle twice. However, finals are a whole new ball game. Don’t forget we lost twice to the Swans during the year and blew them away when it mattered.
It will certainly be a different Collingwood to what we faced in round two. They’ve recovered from their own pre-season injury crisis, welcoming back Tyson Goldsack for his first game of the season last night against the Eagles, the same as we did with Zac Williams. And they’re playing well, going goal-for-goal against the Eagles before finally getting run down minutes from the end.
Back in March, we were missing Toby due to injury, and Tom Scully went down during the game itself, but the biggest difference this time is we've finally got a first-choice back line that includes Williams, Kennedy and Buntine. Williams in particular made us look a completely different team last night; all three seem to have restored a bit of structural balance that’s been missing over the past two years. The only forced change I can see is that Griffen will probably take Kelly’s place, as he’s unlikely to recover from a meniscus tear in seven days. Perhaps Sam Taylor might come in for Perryman.
I know history is against elimination final winners in the semis, but we have what it takes to defy history. The pressure will be on Collingwood to perform in what’s sure to be the most partisan crowd we’ve played against since the PF to Richmond. But it won’t faze us.
I’m heading down and hope to see as much orange as possible. And can we please have another pre-match function at the Imperial Hotel?
I believe that we will win.
