- Sep 14, 2005
- 18,420
- 18,667
After Saturday’s loss to the reigning premiers, Pies have slumped to 12 and 6 record, exposing them to potentially missing the 8 all together, with only 4 points separating them from Sydney in 8th and 8 points from as low as 10th. Although they’ve got Brisbane and Fremantle which they’ve already beaten this season, they also have an under fire Sydney, Port Adelaide and vying for a finals and top 4 spot.
All the talk has been around Collingwood’s inability to beat top 8 sides, but have been one of the in form sides competition, winning 7 in a row, and disposing of majority of their bottom 10 challengers, something a lot of the top 8 sides have struggled with in such an even competition. Would it have been a different story if the Pies were able to keep some of their bonafide best on the park?
The story of Collingwood’s season has been their wretched run of injuries, so I thought I’d do a chronology of events.
Before the season started, Collingwood’s best 22 would’ve looked something like this -
Goldsack, Dunn, Scharenberg
Howe, Moore, Crisp
Aish, Pendlebury, Sidebottom
JDG, Reid, Wells
Elliott, Cox, Fasolo
Grundy, Treloar, Adams
Thomas, Varcoe, Langdon, Hoskin-Elliott
(Bolded are those who have missed chunks of the season)
From Collingwood’s best 22 at the start of the year, more than half have had interrupted, or a non-existent season. What has worked out well for the Pies is that the depth available has been able to step up, and some have even managed to become best 22, which has seen some of those names above drop below best 22, and become depth themselves.
Unfortunately, and what has become a common theme is that even some of the depth that has stepped in has succumb to injury, and really exposed the Pies and their ability to truly stamp their authority on the season.
Appleby looked well within his league at AFL level before succumbing to a hamstring injury, Broomhead would’ve been an adequate replacement for Fasolo before breaking his leg, Kirby was exciting Collingwood fans late last year but has had a heart complication which has ruled him out for 2018, Sier had 9 tackles and 5 clearances last week against North, and was really settling in as Treloar’s replacement, also now on the injury list.
Since that pre-season best 22, Collingwood’s side has transformed to what it is today, and looks more like this -
Maynard, Dunn, Scharenberg
Howe, Moore, Crisp
Phillips, Pendlebury, Sidebottom
JDG, Hoskin-Elliott, Thomas
Elliott, Cox, Stephenson
Grundy, Treloar, Adams
Langdon, Aish, Daicos, Mihocek
The injuries have both been a blessing in disguise, in that it has allowed others to step up and cement their spot in Collingwood’s best 22, but could also potentially spell the end for Collingwood’s 2018 with some names/positions being irreplaceable, most notably for me, the defence.
For Collingwood’s structures down back, and assuming Howe recovers from the knee to the head, Dunn and Scharenberg are not replaceable. Alongside Howe, they are Collingwood’s three best KPDs. It’s been a very interesting season for the Pies, but Scharenberg may be the straw that breaks the camels back IMO.
What are your thoughts?
On a side note, I am going to also set up a GoFundMe page for the homeless where for every post by a Richmond supporter stating ‘Pies have injuries’ everyone has to make a gold coin donation. Let’s eliminate homelessness in this thread, we’ll also have spare change to build a train line to the airport too.
All the talk has been around Collingwood’s inability to beat top 8 sides, but have been one of the in form sides competition, winning 7 in a row, and disposing of majority of their bottom 10 challengers, something a lot of the top 8 sides have struggled with in such an even competition. Would it have been a different story if the Pies were able to keep some of their bonafide best on the park?
The story of Collingwood’s season has been their wretched run of injuries, so I thought I’d do a chronology of events.
Before the season started, Collingwood’s best 22 would’ve looked something like this -
Goldsack, Dunn, Scharenberg
Howe, Moore, Crisp
Aish, Pendlebury, Sidebottom
JDG, Reid, Wells
Elliott, Cox, Fasolo
Grundy, Treloar, Adams
Thomas, Varcoe, Langdon, Hoskin-Elliott
(Bolded are those who have missed chunks of the season)
From Collingwood’s best 22 at the start of the year, more than half have had interrupted, or a non-existent season. What has worked out well for the Pies is that the depth available has been able to step up, and some have even managed to become best 22, which has seen some of those names above drop below best 22, and become depth themselves.
Unfortunately, and what has become a common theme is that even some of the depth that has stepped in has succumb to injury, and really exposed the Pies and their ability to truly stamp their authority on the season.
Appleby looked well within his league at AFL level before succumbing to a hamstring injury, Broomhead would’ve been an adequate replacement for Fasolo before breaking his leg, Kirby was exciting Collingwood fans late last year but has had a heart complication which has ruled him out for 2018, Sier had 9 tackles and 5 clearances last week against North, and was really settling in as Treloar’s replacement, also now on the injury list.
Since that pre-season best 22, Collingwood’s side has transformed to what it is today, and looks more like this -
Maynard, Dunn, Scharenberg
Howe, Moore, Crisp
Phillips, Pendlebury, Sidebottom
JDG, Hoskin-Elliott, Thomas
Elliott, Cox, Stephenson
Grundy, Treloar, Adams
Langdon, Aish, Daicos, Mihocek
The injuries have both been a blessing in disguise, in that it has allowed others to step up and cement their spot in Collingwood’s best 22, but could also potentially spell the end for Collingwood’s 2018 with some names/positions being irreplaceable, most notably for me, the defence.
For Collingwood’s structures down back, and assuming Howe recovers from the knee to the head, Dunn and Scharenberg are not replaceable. Alongside Howe, they are Collingwood’s three best KPDs. It’s been a very interesting season for the Pies, but Scharenberg may be the straw that breaks the camels back IMO.
What are your thoughts?
On a side note, I am going to also set up a GoFundMe page for the homeless where for every post by a Richmond supporter stating ‘Pies have injuries’ everyone has to make a gold coin donation. Let’s eliminate homelessness in this thread, we’ll also have spare change to build a train line to the airport too.
