Toast Round 16 = Collingwood 88-59 West Coast

[upnsmoke]

Why are commentators always trying to justify another playing being BOG instead of Nick Daicos? It’s like a constant theme. As soon as another player has close to 30 disposals they are trying to justify why that player might be bog. Like I understand Pendles, who was good all night, but to try and say Josh was better, when he missed 8 of his first 10 kicks as well as some crucial tackles shows how much they are clutching at straws.

Pendles 3 votes for brownlow. He was best on ground.

Howe second best on ground.

Naicos third best, but he'll get 2 votes for brownlow.


The commentators were praising Pies and Eagles, very fair calls. Bucks was diplomatic with him saying Josh after Nick as having good nights.

In the end, everyone can have their opinion. Bucks opinion definitely worthy.

 

[BigVic]

A win is a win. We were without our best forward line and the young Eagles challenged us

Pendles ages like fine wine

 

[upnsmoke]

For all the clever researchers out there; when was the last time we were 13 & 2 from our first 15 games? I would think that it was probably the 70s but my memory isn’t finding anything.

I think 2011 Pies was actually 14-1 and only lost to Cats.... then preceded to lose to the Cats at end of Home and Away, got smashed... and also Grand Final. Basically Pies could beat everyone easily except the Cats absolutely had their number.

 

[Hardas]

Shame Charlie west was given no opportunity to show what he could do by shoving him in a four tall man forward line. But he seemed to be in the right spot a lot and that’s a good start.

I can't believe they played all 4 big forwards together. That's ridiculous.

 

[nahnah]

Over handballed and played arrogantly in the fist half. West Coast to their credit came back a few times and played well. Don't like the 4 talls up forward

 

[windchimes]

 

[TradeDraft]

I can't believe they played all 4 big forwards together. That's ridiculous.

Gave West his Debut for the Fans?

 

[jathanas]

Pendles easy BOG, amazing at his age. Liked Allan's game, not much else tonight.

Howe was epic. Again.

Checkers was solid in his 150th.

Houston's goal from 55 was sublime. We need to use him better.

West Coast put forth a credible performance. They would have easily accounted for Carlton tonight.

We missed Beau and Shoota.

Our kicking out of defence was diabolical in the first 1/2.

Jumbo Kebabs, across the road from the Southern Cross station, offer good post-game nutrition.

 

[domus]

Did it to relatively good effect in a pinch at Brisbane. Wouldn’t hurt to have him train there for a period to give us the option given the injuries to McInnes and now Frampton - we’re light on for alternatives

Then we might have to bring Coxy back in to assist in the ruck and up forward!

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

McStay to full back next week? As much as I want to give Dean a run of games, Howe was the only thing that stopped the backline from falling apart a number of times. Can’t expect him to do it all.

Nope. Dean to stay and perform as well as he can

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

The performance in isolation wasn't great, but it's always important to put things into perspective. We're 2.5 games clear on top, won more games already than we did last year and we're on a 7-game winning streak. It's just about as good as it can be at the moment as a supporter.

On the match itself, it was a tough grind, but good to see us overcome it in the end. Have to give credit to West Coast, they played better than I expected and brought the heat. It was the first game where I thought having several absentees adversely impacted us. Losing our high pressure players in McCreery, Hill and Schultz left us exposed when the Eagles were looking to transition quickly.

Furthermore, the Eagles did really well to trouble us in the air at various stages. Given they've lost McGovern and Barrass within the last 12 months, they seem to have some good intercept markers coming through which make their transition from these players a lot easier than what might have been initially anticipated.

The highlight of the night was West's debut goal. Stoked for the young lad he was able to get on the scoreboard instantaneously and get some invaluable exposure at senior level. It was always going to be a tough night for him with a crowded forward line of talls.

Pendles never ceases to amaze me with his consistency. 28 disposals, 9 clearances and a goal to cap off his fine work. The man is ageing like fine wine. He was my BOG for the night.

The decision by the coaching staff to shift Lipinski to a high half forward role is paying dividends. It's a third consecutive game he's kicked 2 goals.

I remain unsure about Charlie Dean. Makes me wonder whether someone such as McStay might have to shift down back while Frampton remains on the sidelines.

Looking forward to this coming Friday night. I want to bury Carlton once and for all.

 

[BillyElliott]

Good win. Got the job done against a very good opposition tonight. Six best 22 out has to have some effect on a team's performance. Our three best pressure forwards would have made a huge difference had they been out there. Pendles was sensational. There is no player in the team who gives me such a sense of calm when the ball is in his hands. Nick seemed a little discombobulated tonight! He played well but was uncharacteristically uncertain and fumbly a few times-something we rarely see.

Tim Membrey's hands are as good as any when he is on a strong lead under severe heat. His mark and his goal tonight in the last term were truly astounding. Charlie Dean worries me with games against Freo and Gold Coast coming up. He seems to be out of his depth at this level. Hopefully he gains some confidence and proves me wrong. Jeremy Howe is as remarkable and Pendles. His ability to kill a contest with a 25 m sprint, a huge leap and spectacular fist to the pill is second to none. His marking is elite and I think he is our most important defender.

I heard one moron ring SEN on the way home and the rant he unleashed about how horrible we were tonight, and how we need to be smashing sides now and we could easily lose top spot if we keep playing like we did tonight was a disgrace and it took a Carlton supporter to ring in and call him an idiot. He said he would give anything to be following a team like Collingwood.

I think next week will be another slog. I think Voss will make it an ugly arm wrestle and with most of our injured players still missing it might be a hard night's work.

And that Carlton supporter was the infamous Snapper.

Most measured I've ever heard him speak. Said he'd give anything to be in our shoes & couldn't believe there would be a Pie supporter whinging about sitting on top of the ladder whilst playing in 2nd gear and still winning games.

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

Fly's presser

A pretty strong challenge from the Eagles tonight, what did you make of that?

"You came into the press conference earlier in the week and I tried to plant the seeds for that. We knew what was coming. Watching there last month, you look at the worm of their score against and for in the last month, they hang in there, they've been really competitive. We knew that was going to be the case. Credit to them and the fight they brought. We had to wrestle our way through that. It was first half and second half, and we were more proud of the second half than the first but again we get feedback every week about our game and what opposition are trying to take away and what we want to maintain and tonight is no different".

Do you feel it was similar to last week as well with the challenge in the first half and then you find your own feet in the second half?

"Somewhat. I didn't think we connected inside 50 as well as we did last week. I thought last week it was elite and we had 18 marks last week and I think we had 13 [marks] this week. We had four talls and we were trying that for the first time. Charlie West deserves an opportunity, but then we sort of didn't want to leave Checkers out at his 150th [game] and Tim [Membrey] is playing really well and Dan [McStay] is second ruck. We went into the game thinking it is what it is and we'll just try to adapt and evolve for that. I just didn't think we connected as well and then obviously the second half was a bit different to the first".

Will you persist with the four-tall forward line?

"I'm not sure. I think each week we'll address it and what we need. We thought there was an opportunity tonight to reward behaviour, in particular Charlie West. Clearly a milestone for Checkers was hard to rest him or manage him. We'll assess that and I think we'll have a look at the tape of what worked and didn't work".

When did you know Bobby Hill wouldn't be available?

"I sort of had some awareness yesterday. He's got some personal stuff going on. I won't go into it. When you say 'personal reasons' it's because it is personal and I think we all respect that as an industry. I've got a lot of love and care for Bobby. I just want to make sure he's supported".

What was it about the Eagles that impressed you?

"I thought they were really aggressive with the ball at times. We sort of watching them go a slightly different model against us compared to their last few opposition. I thought they were really impressive at contest as well, really strong. The pressure was high. They marked the ball well down back at times as well. They were hard to score against. I think also we get caught up in ladder positions and you think 'oh expectation'. All week we were process, process, process; manage what we can control and got to sort of train to stay in the moment for those things. You get to quarter time and it's 1 goal apiece or something and you're like 'come on, we need to get our game moving here'. Certain parts of our game weren't quite moving and credit to what they were doing to us".

What do you think the Eagles took off you?

"They clearly opened the corridor on us at times and that was evident, but it wasn't taken away from us. I just didn't think we used the ball that well. We had a lot more turnovers this game than we have throughout the year. We'll look at that and how we connect and how we use the ball with each other. We talked a bit about that at half time. We won the second half by 37 points so it's a good indication and we keep the opposition to 58 points. If you take the ladder position out of it, you'll go 'oh, it's not a bad performance', but again I sit here and we reflect on the game as an opportunity to improve and we just got to get moving. One of the things I said to the boys was 'we come here for four points, we didn't come here for style points'. We got the job done, but we've got work to do".

Do you think the Eagles took the speed out of your ball movement?

"At times. I thought we probably played a little bit too fast early and then started to control the game a little bit better the way we were a bit more predictable after half time".

How important was [PLAYERCARD]Jeremy Howe[/PLAYERCARD] for you tonight?

"He was pretty huge for us. The way he was jumping for the ball, intercepting and spoiling. He's been huge for us all year, let's face it. He's such a critical part to us and playing for others really well and he just stabilises. Really important tonight and so was Pendles. I thought Pendles' pressure when we needed it in the second half was enormous and he kicked a goal late too. He was very good for us".

How clear is the holding the ball free kick for you?

"To be honest, it hasn't been clear for a long time. Way back when I was teaching [PLAYERCARD]Mason Cox[/PLAYERCARD] the game he says, 'What's this holding the ball thing?' and I said, 'I don't know, we're working it out'. And still, what are we, 15 years later, 10 years later? Yeah, I'm not sure. We average the most tackles of anyone per game, 98, and we have average about 6 holding the balls. I'm not sure, it's challenging".

Andrew McQualter in his press conference said he would go to the AFL to seek some clarity, would you like the AFL to come out a bit more?

"I just don't want to be the guy that rings the AFL every week, that's not my go. I'd let the game be the game. I'll let the game settle. It's amazing how many things if you give time and space to, it'll somehow find a way of balancing itself out. I'll leave that one alone".

There's always a lot of attention on Nick Daicos, were you surprised West Coast didn't apply the hard tag on him?

"We sort of prepped for it. I know Mini [[PLAYERCARD]Andrew McQualter[/PLAYERCARD]] pretty well from his Richmond days and I know Richmond had this 'never tag' philosophy where the system will catch these players. It didn't surprise me in the end, but coming into the game we prepped for it. I thought Nick's second half was really strong and his first half he was getting into some positions we wanted him to do and use the ball a bit better potentially. One thing I know really well about elite players is to not get in the way of them. If they're not quite executing, get out of the way and they'll fix it. Nick is certainly that player so I won't get in the way of trying to improve him as a player. He works harder than anyone in this game".

Dan McStay came off with a bit of a knee niggle and then came back on, is that all good or something to watch?

"He got a knee on knee knock and I reckon if you're Dan McStay and the last 18 months you'd be going 'just make sure that's ok'. He's had a lot of issues around that and so he got the comfort that it was all good and just got it checked out, and he came back on".

Is it the same knee though?

"Yeah, but no problems though".

A few weeks ago you called yourself a "footy nuffie", what's your assessment of the bye rounds? Do you like it?

"Look, I do like having more footy to watch each week. I don't have the perfect science to it, I don't know. There's obviously a reason. We don't actually get a genuine rest from the game. If I'm probably having an opinion, I'd say I would love a genuine rest from the game whether it's everyone gets a week off and everyone genuinely gets a week off. We're living with what we've got and our bye was good for us. We enjoyed it, we come back and we haven't lost since. It is what it is".

You play Carlton in six days, do you feel a bit sorry for Michael Voss and what he's going through at the moment?

"As a personal friend, absolutely. I care for my mate, Vossy, and send a message of love and care. Next week, we will be arch rivals. We'll go at it, and they're going to want to bounce back and we want to give it our best version of ourselves against our arch rival. When the ball is bounced, we'll be arch rivals and then after the game I'll make sure he's there for whatever he needs from me as a mate".

McRae post-match, R16: 'We came here for four points. We didn't come here for style points'

Watch Collingwood’s press conference after round 16’s match against West Coast

www.afl.com.au

 

[neilk]

Was mentioned on SEN on the way home that Allan covered more ground than anyone else last night. The measure was over 15km. Looks like he has endurance to go with his speed.

 

[Vicky Park]

Fly's presser

A pretty strong challenge from the Eagles tonight, what did you make of that?

Do you feel it was similar to last week as well with the challenge in the first half and then you find your own feet in the second half?

Will you persist with the four-tall forward line?

When did you know Bobby Hill wouldn't be available?

What was it about the Eagles that impressed you?

What do you think the Eagles took off you?

Do you think the Eagles took the speed out of your ball movement?

How important was Jeremy Howe for you tonight?

How clear is the holding the ball free kick for you?

Andrew McQualter in his press conference said he would go to the AFL to seek some clarity, would you like the AFL to come out a bit more?

There's always a lot of attention on Nick Daicos, were you surprised West Coast didn't apply the hard tag on him?

Dan McStay came off with a bit of a knee niggle and then came back on, is that all good or something to watch?

Is it the same knee though?

A few weeks ago you called yourself a "footy nuffie", what's your assessment of the bye rounds? Do you like it?

You play Carlton in six days, do you feel a bit sorry for Michael Voss and what he's going through at the moment?

McRae post-match, R16: 'We came here for four points. We didn't come here for style points'

Watch Collingwood’s press conference after round 16’s match against West Coast

www.afl.com.au

Thank you for doing this every week. Very much appreciated.

Plus I love reading what Fly says, and how he says it. He’s the poet laureate of AFL coaches.

 

[Fruit]

The win last night goes very close to guaranteeing us a top 2 position. That means we would play all our finals on the MCG which suits us better than any ground in Australia.

 

[Kes1984]

For all the clever researchers out there; when was the last time we were 13 & 2 from our first 15 games? I would think that it was probably the 70s but my memory isn’t finding anything.

2023

 

[Scodog10]

Not the best performance we’ve ever produced, but great to bank another win.

Tonight is good reminder that no game is easy regardless of the opponent.

13-2 means we’re probably only one game away from officially securing finals now.

Bring on Carlton!

That WC team will get past Richmond by season’s end and is a sneaky chance to catch the Roos and Bombers (Essendon won’t win again). The wheel is definitely turning out west so if you’re an Eagles fan reading this there’s reason to be optimistic. They’re a quality mid and small forward away from challenging for the top 8 with natural development, IMO.

With that as the context I’m a big buyer of what Fly was warning us about midweek with how they’re starting to track so to be headed and respond the way we did by winning the second half by 37 points given player availability (only one first choice small forward available) is a fantastic sign.

Some take it for what it is observations:

- If you’re a pressure, system, work rate etc. team the one style that’s going to bring you unstuck is lairy football. I don’t know what they were thinking in that first Q, but that’s the worst I’ve seen us all year.

- I think they both make the AA team, but that’s the worst 6 quarters from the Daicos’ all year. Josh had a mare there’s no other way to put it and Nick’s first half was perhaps the worst 20 possession half you’ll ever see hah. I think the lesson is that as a team we need to get better at not just giving it to a Daicos when they call for it and they need to adjust when they call for it. Absolute guns who had a night.

- Our intercept game is in impeccable shape currently. I don’t know the end of game numbers, but watching the replay it popped up that it was 13-7 midway through the 3rd. That’s a sign our pressure is on and where structured well behind the ball.

- no Hill, McReery, JDG or Shoota had us looking slow. Given we aren’t expecting any of them back v Carlton I think there’s an argument for Perryman to move up the field. Leggy then takes his role in the process.

 

[FromTheBoundaryLine]

Another win banked and I thought the Eagles played pretty well. Great to see another debut. Taking things in our stride nicely. Hope Bobby’s issues resolve themselves .
Go Pies !!!!!!!

 

[JuniorB]

WC played well, and don't forget that they ran Brisbane pretty close at the Gabba a little while back.

I'm surprised we went with 4 tall forwards - it makes it hard to coordinate leads, and Charlie will take time to develop chemistry with our others.
His goal was a beauty, and shows he's not just about contested marking, and thinks quickly.

Having Bobby as a late out upset team balance, and contributed to our poor forward half pressure.
I would think Will Hayes will get a game next week, and hopefully Bobby and Shoota will be back.

I think we need to persist with Dean, so we at least have some backup later in the season.

Realistically, WC were never going to win, because, like last week, we seemed to have the game in hand most of the time.
As Fly mentioned, we came for 4 points, not style points.

I'm sure the team will be focused on beating the scum next week.
You can bet they will be fired up against us, but we should get the job done comfortably.

Go Pies!!!!

 

[No SPIN]

So if we don't have any of our small pressure forwards back next week, does Mitchell come in. Who else do we have that can fill that role??. I don't think we can stick to that line up next week.

Not concerned about his lack of pace ? - defenders will run it out pretty easily.

 

[No SPIN]

Really look forward to seeing Shoota and Hill back.
Forward line dysfunctional tonight and the only small Elliott never gets a break.
Fwiw was disappointed in Dean, wasn’t a factor at all.
We are certainly limited for big defenders.

Isn’t the test for Dean whether his opponent was a factor?

 

[ClaytonM]

Was mentioned on SEN on the way home that Allan covered more ground than anyone else last night. The measure was over 15km. Looks like he has endurance to go with his speed.

He is putting his hand up for September action. If he keeps improving week on week he will be hard to leave out. Been a slow burn.

 

[The Plowking]

Kind of like watching your kid's primary school recorder concert.

Easily the worst win I've ever seen live.

 

[VinnieB]

Good win to you guys.

Nick for Brownlow, Pendles could be an ATG Magpie the same can be said for Nick and your defence especially Howe was amazing.

I’ve got to say I was surprised by the Eagles. McQualter may be a much better coach than I thought. Probably deserves more credit given what he is working with.