Autopsy Round 23 = Adelaide 59-56 Collingwood

[DinoSoar]

If your intent is to come in here and troll, think again as it won’t end well for you.

Anzacday Maggie5 Gone Critical

 

[Kirby]

Very disappointing result considering the effort we put in. Can’t fault the effort at all.

It feels strange that our backs and midfield killed them, yet we lost. There were a lot of poor entries of course but the ball lived in our 50. Should have done better.

Checkers and McStay totally annihilated. That’s where we lost it I think.

 

[Pendles!]

Reckon we watched two different games.

Beau made a big difference in his pressure and perceived pressure alone. A huge driver of the inside 50 advantage as he and Schultz both played as men possessed.

Which brings me to the next apology I owe. Schultz has been incredible this last month when everyone else has looked like absolute crap. Credit where it’s due, he has well and truly turned it around.

Schultz is an absolute gun. We’re very lucky to have him.

 

[jathanas]

And not just that, but also get some of our super boots 50m out and maybe have a shot from there. I know not easy but Houston, Maynard etc, should’ve gotten them to try and kick over the flood at goal.

It would be bloody hard to kick them from outside 50 with a wet ball, but I agree with your point; new avenues to goal are needed.

They worked their butts off for no reward. Must improve i50 efficiency.

Playing the top side interstate and keeping them to 9 goals, but losing the game. FMD.

 

[IlovethePies]

It seems that when teams get a lead on us, or equalise after being down (like Adelaide tonight) they go into flood mode against us.

They have assessed that we cannot score, and they have a high probability of getting one or two out the back.

Adelaide maintained this strategy for the entire second half against us.

It is not new.

Freo, GC did the same.

What is it about our game, our style, etc that allows teams to exploit this weakness?

And why do we seem never to have even attempted to devise an innovative strategy to oppose it?

 

[BillyElliott]

Schultz is an absolute gun. We’re very lucky to have him.

The way he just throws himself at everything.. he's such a little terrier. Love him.

 

[nickyds35]

I think it's best for us all to think Hill won't play again this season. If he does, bonus.

Lol we can just lever get full value for any of the players we trade do we.

Treloar, Grundy, Stephenson, Noble.

Meanwhile we pay full whack for every player we get in.

 

[Go Woods]

I am also not too stressed about losing top 2 or even top 4.

Premierships are won in September. And playing an extra game is not a death sentence for those who missed out on top 4. Just have to execute and have a reliable interchange.

Pies had their injury down time and rest time also, and they over trained the last few weeks so their tank is good for September, where they can ease up a bit on training and focus on tactics so the bodies are less worn.

Hope you're right.

 

[domus]

Wow.

 

[Monco Matt]

As a supporter who sat through a 1 point defeat in 1966 & then a 10 point loss in 1970 & the draw in 1977 & then the 5 point defeat in 1979, I have no time for honourable losses. My general sense of it is that in most Collingwood losses it is that our forward line repeatedly let's us down & more specifically, it had been the key forwards. Now when you have 71 inside 50's to 37, then it is your forward line that costs you the game. So the scrutiny must applied to the forwards (excluding Elliot) & especially your key forwards such as McStay, Mihocek & Membrey. The latter kicked 2 goals & so I will give him a pass. OK. But the other 2, I cannot. Mihocek has been a very good servant to the club but unfortunately I think father time & a period of continuous physical battering has caught up with him in 2025. I hope that I am wrong. As for McStay, he has promised a lot but simply does not deliver. We badly need some young key forwards otherwise there will be more of the same. Yes; the umpiring was not great but good sides overcome such obstacles & ultimately win. I am afraid that we over the last 6 weeks - if not longer - we have wasted the season after a very promising start. Goodnight & good luck.

Agree on Checkers. Now, we know Garry Lyon loves Checkers, so maybe we can use him to convince the Dees to hand over their 1st rounder? Any chance? lol

 

[Kirby]

Did anyone think that the rain sort of turned the game against us?

It seemed to crush our style and made us play territory footy which just suited them.

 

[Bianconeri]

The bloke is probably heartbroken about his kids being in another state & what this will mean. He obviously wanted to stay with us, which is why he signed the extension.

Have some compassion & empathy.

He’s had a really rough bout of gastro, I’m very empathetic of that.

 

[Hazz]

Thilthorpe was bulldozering McStay EVERY time... like Thilthorpe literally just taps the ball to every spot where an Adelaide player was. Absolute horrible rucking from McStay... no resistance.

So frustrating seeing big guys get bullied.

It’s like they’ve never had to play with a fire in their guts. Put some knees into a defender or something, ****, anything….

 

[Mollythedolly]

Pies have rested their veterans and bloodied youngsters this season.
Also the Pies pre-empt their heavy load training so they are more fresh in September.

Pies also dont rely on super athletic stars to win, they need soldiers on the ground who hold position and distribute the ball in a way so it ends up with play makers like Naicos.

I'm not too worried, the top 8 is very even and no such thing as an upset. Its a very competitive top 8 this year. Expectations are set, as long as Pies have a crack at the top 4 and the flag for the next 5 years or so, then its OK. 2023 flag bought a lot of kudos points in my book.

Agree on the top 8. Still a nine horse race at this stage imho.

 

[lenny20]

I think a lot of folks are missing the forest for the trees here.

Our inside 50 scoring percentage was abysmal, yes, but it was largely by design. We were allowing the extra in defence for the crows in the second half because it meant our own defense became near impenetrable. The Crows only scored one second half goal that wasn't the DIRECT result of an umpiring howler. Not just an iffy decision, an outright mistake.

(Meanwhile we got absolutely zero love on any of the 50/50 calls inside our own forward half, which would have made the scoreboard much more interesting)

Tactically, honestly, the plan worked. The structure and the gameplan outmatched the best team in the league on their home deck. Part of that meant copping a huge outnumber when the ball went forward. But that's part of the risk/reward, you can't have it both ways.

I think we probably made the correct call - because with even a tiny bit of luck, we win that. Alas, we didn't get the luck, such is footy, and such is life.

It wasn't an enjoyable watch, it was frustrating as feck, but strategically I think the coaches got a very large part of the setup right.

And intensity-wise, that game looked like COLLINGWOOD for the first time in a long time.

Tough beat, but there are reasons to be bullish here. Go pies.

 

[doofdoof]

As a supporter who sat through a 1 point defeat in 1966 & then a 10 point loss in 1970 & the draw in 1977 & then the 5 point defeat in 1979, I have no time for honourable losses. My general sense of it is that in most Collingwood losses it is that our forward line repeatedly let's us down & more specifically, it had been the key forwards. Now when you have 71 inside 50's to 37, then it is your forward line that costs you the game. So the scrutiny must applied to the forwards (excluding Elliot) & especially your key forwards such as McStay, Mihocek & Membrey. The latter kicked 2 goals & so I will give him a pass. OK. But the other 2, I cannot. Mihocek has been a very good servant to the club but unfortunately I think father time & a period of continuous physical battering has caught up with him in 2025. I hope that I am wrong. As for McStay, he has promised a lot but simply does not deliver. We badly need some young key forwards otherwise there will be more of the same. Yes; the umpiring was not great but good sides overcome such obstacles & ultimately win. I am afraid that we over the last 6 weeks - if not longer - we have wasted the season after a very promising start. Goodnight & good luck.

Great post.

Three talls clearly not working. Would have put Allan on earlier and replaced one of the talls with JDG or another medium/small down there.

Would love a Logan Morris in the system right now too.

 

[sr36]

Yea, judging by fly’s comments, it looks like hill is done at Collingwood.

Yeah, this week was a worry. The Tom Morris story reeked of Bobby or his manager trying to use the media and then for him to have neither played VFL or gone to Adelaide doesn't sit well.

 

[Jafo]

I am also not too stressed about losing top 2 or even top 4.

Premierships are won in September. And playing an extra game is not a death sentence for those who missed out on top 4. Just have to execute and have a reliable interchange.

Pies had their injury down time and rest time also, and they over trained the last few weeks so their tank is good for September, where they can ease up a bit on training and focus on tactics so the bodies are less worn.

Glad you have this optimism. All is not lost just yet. But for me it’s hard to see how we get ourselves off the canvas to have a good tilt in September. Let alone getting to and then winning the big dance.

 

[Hazz]

Even more bizarre is why coach and match committee haven't changed it up for 7 weeks. Fly talks about not standing still so it would be nice to see a bit more creativity when it's not working.

Fly talks a lot but tried nothing.

Bewildering.

Scarred coaching? What happened to going for it?

 

[IlovethePies]

I think a lot of folks are missing the forest for the trees here.

Our inside 50 scoring percentage was abysmal, yes, but it was largely by design. We were allowing the extra in defence for the crows in the second half because it meant our own defense became near impenetrable. The Crows only scored one second half goal from that point that wasn't the DIRECT result of an umpiring howler. Not just an iffy decision, an outright mistake.

(Meanwhile we got absolutely zero love on any of the 50/50 calls inside our own forward half, which would have made the scoreboard much more interesting)

Tactically, honestly, it worked. The structure and the gameplan outmatched the best team in the league on their home deck. Part of that means copping a huge outnumber when the ball goes forward. It's part of the risk/reward. I think it was probably the correct call - because with even a tiny bit of luck, we win that.

Alas, we didn't get it, such is footy, and such is life.

It wasn't an enjoyable watch, it was frustrating as feck, but strategically I think the coaches got a very large part of the setup right.

Thanks, a very interesting analysis. You're suggesting that we deliberately allowed a flood so that they couldn't penetrate our defence.

But then, we need to have some kind of innovative, unexpected tactics to go around/above/beyond the flood, otherwise their defence becomes just as impenetrable as ours.
This is what I fail to see.
We just don't do anything different when teams flood our forward line.

 

[Jafo]

Great post.

Three talls clearly not working. Would have put Allan on earlier and replaced one of the talls with JDG or another medium/small down there.

Would love a Logan Morris in the system right now too.

I think West will be our next best Forward

 

[domus]

Did anyone think that the rain sort of turned the game against us?

It seemed to crush our style and made us play territory footy which just suited them.

Yes.

 

[domus]

I think West will be our next best Forward

Let's not get carried away. He is still an undersized key-another typical Collingwood tall. He has a long way to go before I'd be making predictions.

 

[Angelus512]

Honest Q. Is our coach Teflon Coated? Because he’s ducked honestly the righteous level scrutiny this year.

His strategy has failed. This resting players stuff has backfired badly.

He appears to make absolutely 0 major changes as the match goes on (Same as Buckley)

In his defence he won the flag in 2023. Relying on that as some excuse the coach isn’t starting to get into fair criticism field is weak sauce.

Hes tactically poor. He seems to be lacking the fire to actually scold players for genuinely shit performance. I could go on but the above is more than enough.

 

[Magpie_man]

Being that style and pressure and we win most games - our game is in decent shape, we should all be feeling pretty bullish.

Most importantly the list is in a healthy spot as well.

Agree. De Goey is improving albeit had a less than satisfactory performance. Howe and Hill to return and I feel our team chemistry was better tonight
Just one thing though, we need to tighten up on our Inside 50 efficiency. McRae may need to change up the current tactics a little. Adelaide seemed to flood our forward line so well and bog us when we had some flow about us. We lost to Freo earlier this year in similar circumstances too. Not sure the answer, maybe the players need to gel a bit better together. The chaos footy works, but it would be nice if we had more marking targets inside 50 too other than Elliot and Schultz for some reason being the main targets…

 

[Magpie_man]

Can't win if you don't score, been the way since Carlton. Didn't kick a goal in a half against gold coast, couldn't kick one more against freo, kicked 3 goals in 3 quarters again Brisbane and tonight had 70+ inside 50s and still lost.

Absolutely bizarre how we've gone completely impotent going forward

It’s like our midfielders and forwards are lacking some sort of chemistry. We now either bomb to Elliot or a small forward hoping for them to out mark three taller opponents, or we play frantic chaotic footy that leads to the opposition rebounding it anyway