Autopsy Round 23 = Essendon 102-64 Collingwood

[The Royal Sampler]

IF Adams was the Best For Collingwood Today I run down Bourke Street Naked.

Bring a mask, Dave, for once you slow to a walk again.

 

[ANewDawn]

In the final game of the 2021 season, Collingwood concluded its tumultuous campaign in the meekest of fashions and manners, as Essendon consigned the Magpies to a losing margin of 38 points. The Bombers set up a defensive grid across half-forward where they were able to take intercept marks when the Woods attempted to generate rebound from the back pocket or half-back with reduced options and easy exits from defence on offer. Essendon were able to create numerous goals from turnovers, due to Collingwood's inability to safely exit D50 through to their midfield or forward arc, or had established players making several skill errors in the midfield that allowed the Dons to dine out on the scoreboard, and were incredibly accurate despite Collingwood having a similar number of scoring shots. The Bombers had 22 scoring shots for 16 majors, while the Pies had 19 scoring shots for just 9 majors. In a nutshell, a combination of simple skill errors and lack of quality rebound from defence under pressure from the Magpies resulted in Essendon bombing Collingwood away with a number of very easy goals that could not be defended. The lack of pressure from Collingwood also meant that they could not match the volume of scoring from turnovers as the Bombers were able to produce, which was extremely decisive in determining the outcome of this game.

Collingwood's statistical categories were won from contested possessions by +4 (116 - 112), hit-outs were won by +3 (27 - 24), clearances had an advantage of +4 (30 - 26), while centre clearances were up by +5 (15 - 10). They were the only categories that the Magpies won, and that was all she wrote for the 2021 season. Essendon took command of the remaining categories ranging from disposals by +42 (392 - 350), to kicks by +27 (233 - 206), +15 for handballs (159 - 144), while uncontested possessions had a differential of +34 (276 - 242), and +5 for intercept possessions (67 - 62). Stoppage clearances were narrowly won by +1 (16 - 15), uncontested marks were up by +6 (107 - 101), +4 for Contested Marks (14 - 10), with Marks Inside 50 won by +4 (17 - 13). Tackles were won by +5 (45 - 40), with a proportionately high number of Tackles Inside 50, which had a margin of +10 (14 - 4). Inside 50s had a differential of +9 (54 - 45), which allowed the Bombers more opportunities to lock the ball in their forward 50 arc with a high level of pressure, and ultimately displayed enough class in front of goal to outclass a depleted and highly inexperienced Collingwood outfit that limped to the finish line without any impetus to compete for a victory.

Taylor Adams (31 disposals @ 64%, 442 metres gained, 15 contested possessions, 16 uncontested possessions, 4 intercept possessions, 19 kicks, 12 handballs, 6 marks, 6 tackles, 6 score involvements, 10 clearances, 7 centre clearances, 3 stoppage clearances, 4 Inside 50s & 3 Rebound 50s) did everything he could to help his team compete, but he had very little assistance. Adams also struggled to hit simple targets, which proved to be contagious for the whole team. Effort levels from Adams are never questioned, his ball use remains a significant weakness when he is not under pressure, or has time and space to use it.

Jordan De Goey (23 disposals @ 74%, 475 metres gained, 4 contested possessions, 19 uncontested possessions, 16 kicks, 7 handballs, 8 marks, 4 tackles, 1 goal assist, 7 score involvements, 2 clearances, 6 Inside 50s, 2 Rebound 50s & 1 goal) maximised as much attacking damage from his possessions as possible, but could not impact the contest directly for himself, nor his team.

Steele Sidebottom (22 disposals @ 82%, 229 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 17 uncontested possessions, 12 kicks, 10 handballs, 8 marks, 3 score involvements, 3 clearances, 2 stoppage clearances & 3 Inside 50s) presented as a marking option from the midfield without fail, yet some of his skill execution was well off the mark for a player of his capability.

Josh Daicos (17 disposals @ 71%, 261 metres gained, 7 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 11 kicks, 6 handballs, 3 marks, 4 tackles, 3 score involvements, 2 clearances, 2 Rebound 50s & 1 goal) was serviceable on a wing without being influential. Won enough possessions to give his team an option between the arcs.

Chris Mayne (23 disposals @ 100%, 134 metres gained, 10 contested possessions, 13 uncontested possessions, 11 intercept possessions, 6 kicks, 17 handballs, 5 marks, 3 tackles, 1 goal assist, 3 score involvements & 2 Rebound 50s) defended with grit and determination in his last AFL game. Mayne looked to take the safe and easy option on the way out without losing possession of the footy or turning it over.

Jeremy Howe (20 disposals @ 70%, 268 metres gained, 4 contested possessions, 16 uncontested possessions, 6 intercept possessions, 12 kicks, 8 handballs, 4 marks, 2 tackles, 3 score involvements & 4 Rebound 50s) had a difficult assignment as the club's acting captain, where he and his teammates were under siege at every opportunity, and Howe did what he could do to minimise the damage, despite being guilty of creating clangers that could have been avoided and prevented.

Jack Crisp (19 disposals @ 90%, 335 metres gained, 9 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 9 kicks, 10 handballs, 4 marks, 2 tackles, 1 goal assist, 4 score involvements, 4 clearances, 3 stoppage clearances, 2 Inside 50s & 3 Rebound 50s) competed well defensively, while having stints in the midfield to give his side some direction which was sorely lacking.

John Noble (18 disposals @ 67%, 297 metres gained, 3 contested possessions, 15 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 11 kicks, 7 handballs, 6 marks, 2 score involvements & 4 Rebound 50s) had one of his worst games in a while, where he succumbed to the overriding pressure that Essendon put on him by turning the ball over rather frequently, which is not what we've come to expect from him.

Jack Madgen (17 disposals @ 82%, 228 metres gained, 7 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, 8 intercept possessions, 10 kicks, 7 handballs, 8 marks, 2 Contested Marks, 4 score involvements & 4 Rebound 50s) was Collingwood's most assured defender on an otherwise grim afternoon for the whole team. Madgen backed himself in confidently to take his marks, and did not turn any of his possessions over in what was his most impressive game at AFL level for the season.

Jamie Elliott (18 disposals @ 67%, 284 metres gained, 7 contested possessions, 11 uncontested possessions, 15 kicks, 3 handballs, 8 marks, 3 Marks Inside 50, 4 tackles, 6 score involvements, 5 Inside 50s & 4 goals) was easily Collingwood's best forward on a day where supply did not arrive or come easily. Elliott was able to display his accuracy in front of goal, but everything fell by the wayside when he went into the midfield, where a number of his possessions in that division did not hit many targets. Additionally, Elliott had an opportunity in the dying seconds of the season to boot his 200th goal. His left foot snap got touched by the man on the mark despite sailing between the big sticks, which would've also been his 5th goal. I Looking forward to watching you get to 200 goals in 2022, Billy!

Trent Bianco (17 disposals @ 59%, 231 metres gained, 3 contested possessions, 14 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 11 kicks, 6 handballs, 5 marks, 4 score involvements & 2 Inside 50s) stayed relatively active and busy across half-forward, where he pushed higher up the ground just to win his possessions and create scoring opportunities.

Josh Thomas (16 disposals @ 62%, 202 metres gained, 6 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, 9 kicks, 7 handballs, 5 marks, 2 tackles, 4 score involvements, 3 Inside 50s & 1 goal) did not have the greatest of games. His marking was adequate, but there was one inexcusable moment from Thomas which left me livid. His shot for his second goal went through but got touched by the man on the mark at the point of impact. Thomas may have played his last AFL game for the Magpies.

Darcy Cameron (14 disposals @ 71%, 136 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 9 uncontested possessions, 4 hit-outs, 9 kicks, 5 handballs, 9 marks, 3 Contested Marks, 2 Marks Inside 50, 5 score involvements, 2 Inside 50s & 1 goal) provided a marking target up forward where he had periods of success aerially without being a dominant scoring threat.

There we have it for another season! Collingwood's worst ranking ever in its history by finishing 17th, an occurrence that I don't want to read ever again. Plenty of list management discussions will be had, the coaching position will hopefully be decided next month, and all of the club's energy and planning will be on ensuring the arrival of Nick Daicos in November. From there, the Magpies will look at making immediate inroads towards returning to finals action as soon as possible. 2022 will be about planning for a resurgent charge towards contention for finals. Only from that point forward, will the Magpies ask themselves how far away from premiership contention they will be in the coming years.

Cheers Swooper18 for your stats tonight and throughout the season. Your efforts have always been a highlight of the analysis thread.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Not Rantall, he just shut down their accumulator running at 100%, and I still hold out for Tyler Brown... if he ever grows some shoulders.

Completely sacrificing your own game to limit someone else to 20+ touches is not that much of an accomplishment. It was a learning experience for Rantall, nothing more, and certainly not a notch on his belt.

 

[ANewDawn]

Yeah, it's one of those calls where I can't see him making any progress. I get why people hold out hope for him as he did a good job shutting down Parish. T Brown needs to turn himself into an attacking Defender or Mid sized forward, the inside mid calls never happened for him but agree if he had shoulders like Cripps he may make it. Our problem for years though has been keeping average players on our list for way too long.

And not being able to handle or develop players with obvious ability and a ready made body for the position like Sier.

 

[Rebuilder]

Completely sacrificing your own game to limit someone else to 20+ touches is not that much of an accomplishment. It was a learning experience for Rantall, nothing more, and certainly not a notch on his belt.

A learning experience where he cut his opponents possessions in half from last time we met them, I'll take the notch.

 

[ANewDawn]

Bring a mask, Dave, for once you slow to a walk again.

And TradeDraft you are going to have problems with the 5km limit getting to Bourke St from Frankston. Wait till the end of lockdown, if you are still alive by then.

 

[The Royal Sampler]

A learning experience where he cut his opponents possessions in half from last time we met them, I'll take the notch.

If only all our players could aspire to have 15 fewer possessions than their direct opponent, we could lose by 200 points per week.

 

[Rebuilder]

If only all our players could aspire to have 15 fewer possessions than their direct opponent, we could lose by 200 points per week.

He's a kid with a handful of games and he was given a job to do and did it, see no problem letting him have a little recognition for it, far better relatively than Sidebottom and Adams for all their possessions.

 

[Anzacday]

if you are still alive by then.

TradeDraft I’m certain he means because we are going to be in lockdown for a very long time.

 

[Gone Critical]

Along with Poulter and McMahon half of McCreery and a mid 20's pick worth of points towards Daicos if that softens the blow a little.

We flipped around a lot but i think you are over estimating the haul there. We could have done other trades that would have built up points and I dont really buy the half McCreery.

The other consideration is we would have got other players later in the draft we didn't give up the 1st of 2021. Its not like it was Poulter and McMahon or nothing. We would have been able to pick up players later in a draft that didnt use many picks overall. McMahon we picked earlier than most expected so maybe he was still available to us, likewise McCreery I would think was a need for us but maybe not many others so may have still fallen to us. Poulter we wouldn't have got but I am sure in a draft that had a crap shoot element to it Hine would have had others who interested him.

Suffice to say we would have still picked up some young players to fill the list spots. The glaring weakness in our list is access to the top end of the draft in the last 6 seasons and the 2021 1st gave us a clear possibility to trade into that in 2022. Futures swapping is always extra risk and GWS took our 1st as a relative bargain for the range of pick they and we expected it could be. Now that it has turned out to be at the really strong end of the range GWS's bet has paid off big odds and we have been burnt.

 

[Rebuilder]

We flipped around a lot but i think you are over estimating the haul there. We could have done other trades that would have built up points and I dont really buy the half McCreery.

He's very one sided.

 

[cakewalk_1]

Not to knock Poulter, he looks like he can be ok, but if you went to GWS today and said you interested in swapping Poulter and McMahon for your pick 2 they would just laugh.

I stand corrected. But isn’t our pick 2 likely to be Nick Daicos? If that is the case any team would take that option.

 

[loki04]

At least now we have pick 2 AND Nick Daicos, great result for the footy club after a horror year.

Huh? GWS have our pick.

But we will get ND so that is good.

 

[loki04]

You watch a club throw in a pick for Nick so we have to use 2.

Can live trade it on draft day.

*If we kept it.

 

[loki04]

It's very odd. Looks like he moves in mud, when he used to be one of the most mobile ruckmen in the comp. He still guts it out, hence why he can get to so many ruck contests, but I do wonder. Has he put on too much weight or something?

People age, bodies get banged up and desire wanes.

 

[loki04]

Our tackles don’t stick and when they do on rare occasions Players often get a handball out to advantage.
we are a horrendous tackling team.

Should do what Melbourne and Richmond did a few seasons back and get some people from Storm in as tackling coaches over off season.

 

[lyfsux]

I can understand the sentiment.

My biggest hope with Grundy is that a new coach can re-invigorate his career and give his career a new lease of life.

Hopefully with Clarkson going from the Hawks maybe Wrighty can use he's influence and get the big Monk back

He'll make Grundy earn his pay packet

 

[lyfsux]

Bring a mask, Dave, for once you slow to a walk again.

The way Victoria is at the moment a mask would be classified as a piece of clothing so that isn't naked is it

 

[sr36]

Hasn’t been mentioned but Wilson is a positive for me. Probably our best vfl player by the end of the season and looked clean and composed when he go it yesterday. From where he started the season I think he improved out of site and one I’d persist with

He did look composed with the ball in hand. Has a nice sidestep to create some space. He's pretty bloody slow though, plus goes to ground a lot and takes an eternity to get up.

 

[gouki88]

Should do what Melbourne and Richmond did a few seasons back and get some people from Storm in as tackling coaches over off season.

Think we did that under Mick too

 

[Abdul_The_Bull]

He certainly isn't at fault for destroying the list, he got a team that had been stripped of first rounders and given Wells and Mayne as the cream on the cakewalk within a cheating WA umpire of a flag, so NO I don't blame Buckley for any of that, I blame the ****ers that actually ****ed it , if you weren't so busy crying over Buckley you'd see that.

I can't believe folks are still lamenting the departure of Buckley.... It's worth noting that he took one the youngest premiership teams in the modern era and stripped it down resulting in a steady, yet predictable, decline down the table. In only one season of his ten year tenure did he improve on the previous years' position. That is damning....

 

[Anzacday]

I can't believe folks are still lamenting the departure of Buckley

You are showing your BF inexperience.
The succession plan was discussed for years.
Welcome aboard

 

[Trickster]

Apparently a two year deal will see him out of Collingwood.
Thanks for the service Pendles, but holding the club to ransom when your clearly at the end of your peak is unbecoming.
Enjoy the sunshine.

I'm not sure how all this has panned out and played out via media but not great if pres, coach and captain all go in the same year as finishing 17th. Lowest point in club history, if not already so

 

[Countrypie]

And not being able to handle or develop players with obvious ability and a ready made body for the position like Sier.

Sier may have ability and body but he doesn't have the head and therefore he is irrelevant.

 

[cakewalk_1]

handballing backwards is a skill I hope the new football department outlaw

It was frustrating to watch us win centre clearances only to go with a string of backward handballs or running patterns until we reached our defensive 50m only to turn it over and get punished on the score by opposition teams every week.
We spend so much energy on nothing possession football, meaning we have nothing left in the tank when the game is there to be won and end up caving in with 4-5 unanswered goals.