mattys123
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- Mar 24, 2008
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2012 AFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON
ROUND EIGHT
COLLINGWOOD VS GEELONG
MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND
FRIDAY 18TH MAY 7.50PM
TV/Radio;
http://www.afl.com.au/broadcast guide/tabid/9451/default.aspx#locd=VIC - Melbourne&round=Round 8
Note; As always, please refer to the quote from "Chief" at the bottom of the thread re posting and requesting of TV streams
http://www.afl.com.au/broadcast guide/tabid/9451/default.aspx#locd=VIC - Melbourne&round=Round 8
Note; As always, please refer to the quote from "Chief" at the bottom of the thread re posting and requesting of TV streams
Weather;
Preview (Dave86);
http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/newsfeatures/news/newsarticle/tabid/5586/newsid/136098/default.aspx
Preview (Dave86);
http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/newsfeatures/news/newsarticle/tabid/5586/newsid/136098/default.aspx
My Thoughts;
AT THREE QUARTER TIME OF THE 2011 AFL GRAND FINAL, the Geelong and Collingwood Football Clubs were separated by just 7 points, and the next 30 minutes or so would define the two clubs recent histories, either as ultimately successful, or as simply not good enough. What transpired in that last quarter is now history, with Geelong managing to add a further 5 goals and 4 behinds to the scoreboard, while Collingwood could only manage 3 behinds, meaning that the Cats would receive the spoils, running out 38 point victors in one of the most intense Grand Final battles, and season long battles in recent history. Geelong, in it's first season under new head coach Chris Scott won it's 3rd premiership in 5 years, while Collingwood would once again fall short in a Grand Final, with only the 2010 season giving them a recent taste of premiership success. It was the end of an era for Collingwood in many ways, a few players retired (Leon Davis and Leigh Brown) and their coach left the club after a messy year in the media involving his soon to be successor Nathan Buckley. But one thing is for sure, the result strengthened the strong recent rivalry that had been built up between the two clubs.
Collingwood and Geelong face off in the 1925 VFL Grand Final
While both clubs met on several big home and away occasions leading up to recent times, the 2007 Preliminary Final really was the beginning of the modern day chapter of this rivalry, which has roots as far back as the 1920's. In that epic preliminary final, the under dog Magpies almost stole the game from the short priced premiership favourite Cats, but it was Geelong that won it's way through to the Grand Final that year with a tough 5 point win. The next week Geelong would break the record for a winning margin in a VFL/AFL Grand Final with a smashing 119 point win over the hapless Port Adelaide, which made the preliminary final loss even harder to take for the magpie army, knowing it most likely would have been them on the winners dais if they had won the week before. In 2009, the two teams met again in the preliminary final, but this time the under dog Magpies didn't put up much of a fight, as they were systematically destroyed by Geelong by a margin of 73 points. Once again Geelong would go on and claim the biggest league prize in Australian sport the following week, all be it in a tighter battle against St Kilda.
But that preliminary final seemed to change things at Collingwood, and the following season after splitting the home and away clashes one all with the Cats, it was the Magpies who went into the 2010 preliminary final as favourites, and with a stunning burst from minute one, it was Collingwood's turn to win a Grand Final qualifier, as they routed Geelong by 41 points to book a place in the Grand Final against St Kilda, a match up they would ultimately win after two scorching battles which including a rare Grand Final draw. All of a sudden it seemed the rivalry had turned, but Geelong in 2011 wasn't about to lay down and die, as it is written in history now that Geelong was the only team over the whole season to defeat Collingwood, and the fact they did it three times made it even the more authoritative of a comeback for the Geelong Football Club, one that would lift it into the eyes of all football judges as one of the greatest collective teams of all time.
So come 2012, and Collingwood has a new coach, both teams have had several stars retire, and the first seven weeks haven't exactly been vintage stuff from the Cats and Pies. Geelong sits on four wins and three losses, but it's the fact that they have lost to teams such as Fremantle and North Melbourne, and also the margin of the loss to Adelaide on the weekend that has some writing the Cats off already as a premiership threat. Collingwood, not unlike Geelong, started the season slowly themselves, but with an impressive 58 point win over Brisbane last Saturday night, the Pies have a winning streak going, with four wins in a row giving them a superior five wins and two losses record over the Cats leading into a blockbuster for the ages at the MCG this Friday Night.
During the current four game winning streak Collingwood has looked to develop players in areas which they have become vulnerable because of long term injuries. In the absence of their best contested ball winner, Luke Ball, the Magpies have had Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Beams lift their games to yet another level, with both gathering well over 25 possessions per game on a consistent basis. And while Chris Tarrant has been missing for a while now, Lachlan Keefe has continued his great work this year down back, and even moved up forward and played a role last week in the big win over Brisbane. But the forward line for most of the season has been the biggest concern for Collingwood, especially with Andrew Krakouer, Brent MaCaffer and the retired Leigh Brown and Leon Davis missing from the lineup. Senior Coach Nathan Buckley made a few moves here though, giving Ben Sinclair a few games in a row to gain confidence, and also moving defender Tyson Goldsack up forward, and both paid back the confidence from their new coach with five goals between them last week. In the face of adversity and major injury concerns, Collingwood may well have discovered a new way to be competitive against the very best teams, although that will be tested to the limit this Friday Night.
At the selection table Collingwood welcome back three premiership stars, with Dale Thomas, Chris Dawes and Darren Jolly returning. The fourth inclusion for the Pies is young livewire forward Alex Fasolo, who comes back into the side after missing a week with a leg injury. These inclusions really do strengthen the Collingwood lineup, and even though the loss of Nathan Brown will be felt, Collingwood fans would say this is the strongest lineup the club has put on the field in 2012 so far.
Opposition Analysis.
Geelong just haven't been themselves so far in 2012 it seems. The old Geelong would win every close game it would contest, yet with losses to Fremantle (4 points) and North Melbourne (17 points) and a lucky win against Hawthorn (2 points), the Cats seem to have lost that aura that got them over the line time and time again, even when they didn't play that well. And then last week, the Cats were embarrassed in Adelaide, in a performance not unlike that of Collingwood's against Carlton in round 3, where without several top names, and with plenty of youngsters in the team Geelong failed to be competitive for any part of the game, as the Crows ran away with a 50 point win, and even that margin flattered the Cats.
Geelong have had their own injury concerns, with the likes of Varcoe, Vardy, Bartel, Scarlett, Menzel and Vardy all missing games, but in the past it seemed as if Geelong had players to cover any outs, especially in the home and away rounds. Maybe the biggest problem at Geelong is the loss of four key experienced players at the end of 2011, as Cameron Ling, Brad Ottens, Darren Milburn and Cameron Mooney all said their goodbyes after the Cats won the flag. Simply put, Geelong's depth looks weak.
But for anyone to write this club off at any point would be a stupid move, they still have champions on every line, and with the return of Scarlett, Stokes and Bartel for this match, the Cats team that runs out on Friday Night will still be a formidable group for the Magpies to over come. The Cats midfield may have struggled last week, but it still has deep talent, led ably by the kamikaze like Joel Selwood, who simply doesn't know how to quit before that final siren sounds. What the Cats may lack in that midfield is a genuine tagger though, with the loss of Cameron Ling hitting the hard. Taylor Hunt has been used in this role recently, to some effect, but he certainly doesn't have the effect on an opposition star that Ling had.
The Cats defense is still as strong as ever, as long as their big 3 are back their, Scarlett, Lonergan and Taylor. Although last week it fell apart without Scarlett and with Taylor suffering a knock to the head early on (Taylor Walker got suspended for two weeks for a sling tackle on Taylor), Lonergan was left to do plenty of work on his own against the likes of Tippet and Walker. Geelong's medium sized defenders are still in good form though, with Enright, Corey (when he goes back) and Hunt still performing their roles close to the level required of them by their coach. It will be interesting to see how the new look Collingwood forward line goes against the old looking Geelong defense.
If Geelong have a weakness that is really apparent at the moment, strangely enough it comes from their forward line. Hawkins started the season on fire, but his last few weeks have been poor, while Podsiadly hasn't been much better. Between the two talls last week, they had a paltry 3 shots at goal, which certainly didn't help the team when it was under extreme pressure down back and in the midfield. What may be a big loss for Geelong this week is that Allen Christensen has a calf injury, as the young midfielder/forward has been in Geelong's best players on plenty of occasions so far this season. But Geelong still have two of the most dangerous small forwards in the AFL, with Steve Johnson and Paul Chapman haunting Magpie fans for years, and still in good form, as between them they racked up over 50 possessions last week.
Geelong's drop off in form recently may well have had more to do with personnel then with actual effort, although last week definitely put the lack of effort sign up for several players, especially a few up forward. Geelong will fight back though, you don't write off a champion team that easily, and against their old foe Collingwood, you would have to expect the real Geelong to return this Friday night.
Key Matchups;
Jolly vs West
Darren Jolly returns for Collingwood this week, and he couldn't have timed his run better, as Trent West could be a danger for Collingwood if Cameron Wood had to take Jolly's place once again. West's stats may not look sensational of late, but he has the ability to get the ball around the ground, something only Jolly can do as a Collingwood ruckman.
Pendlebury vs Hunt
Who Taylor Hunt matches up on will be a big question, does he take Swan or Pendlebury? I say he'll take Pendlebury, as Geelong will think that Pendlebury will hurt them more per possession, and without Luke Ball they will look to shut down the ability of Pendlebury to get that contested ball out to the star Magpie midfielders.
Keefe vs Hawkins
Nathan Brown would have taken Hawkins, but with the unlucky Magpie once again succumbing to injury, Keefe may be asked to go back and take the bigger of the two Geelong talls. The big Queenslander has been great for Collingwood so far this year, and has held the likes of Hampson and Ryder to very little in recent performances. Hawkins is the main danger man for Collingwood, especially coming off a season worst game last weekend.
Lonergan vs Cloke
In the first quarter of the Grand Final, Cloke was on fire, until Lonergan was put on him and Cloke's influence on the game was lessened, with considerable help from Scarlett of course. The Cats won't want Scarlett to go one on one with either Dawes or Cloke, so Lonergan and Taylor are likely to get the two tall pies forwards.
Johnson vs O'Brien
These two have done battle on many an occasion, with Stevie J winning the majority of them. Harry started the season slowly, but his last few games have seen the old Harry return, and Harry is at his best when he is making those dashing runs out of the backline, while still being able to contain his direct opponent.
There are several other key matchups around the ground, in fact the likely lineups match up quite well in just about every position, which makes for a great game, on paper at least.
Teams;
Tip.
Another massive home and away battle looms between these two great rivals, and selection may well dictate the final result. With the Jolly, Dawes and Thomas returning for Collingwood, they will field their strongest outfit of the season, while for Geelong the inclusion of Scarlett and Bartel will make up for some of their recent injury concerns.
The coaching factor may also play a large part in this game, as Nathan Buckley has made visible changes to the Collingwood game plan, including more of a willingness to at least look for options in the corridor, as well as use of a handball on more occasions then in previous seasons. Also using Tyson Goldsack as a defensive forward on the returning Scarlett this week may give Collingwood the edge.
Ultimately though, this match will be won in the midfield, both forward lines will score enough if given the opportunity, so the contested possession count may well decide this match. And with the current form of the Collingwood midfield, it leans towards a successful night for the men in Black and White, although I expect the scores to remain close all night.
PIES BY 13
VFL
Collingwood's VFL side caused the upset of the season when they defeated reigning premiers Port Melbourne by 21 points last weekend. The Pies VFL outfit returns to Victoria Park once again on Saturday, this time against Bendigo, with the game scheduled to start at 1pm. Chris Tarrant will return this week after several weeks out with injury.
BLACK AND WHITE SHOW
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GO PIES.
Chief said:
