The bUCKET__preview thread is back just for this week only although I may do other preview threads that aren't taken yet. I missed doing those preview threads last year.
The legendary mighty West Coast Eagles vs Collinglol.
The Eagles are 10-8 and Collingwood are 5-13 and will be looking to bounce back after losing all year. We've caused them problems before and their only wins since 2018 have been both by one point.
The legendary mighty West Coast Eagles vs Collinglol.
The Eagles are 10-8 and Collingwood are 5-13 and will be looking to bounce back after losing all year. We've caused them problems before and their only wins since 2018 have been both by one point.
We should have been 18-0 this year but we just cannot seem to win close games and the Pies besides the Melbourne game have pretty stagnant ball movement which will help our defense. They lost to an undermanned Port side whereas we won to a good St Kilda side after being up 33 points. We have been their kryptonite having the edge over them regardless where we play since 2018 and we match up well against them.
Unfortuntely Shuey, Ryan are injured and Petch won't be ready. Pies won't have Pendlebury from injury in an depleted midfield from failed list managements.
Never ever gets old. Mr Clutch Sheed sinking the Pies in the 2018 Grand Final. This was in my last preview thread against them but will include it again for being an iconic moment in club's history.
Never ever gets old. Mr Clutch Sheed sinking the Pies in the 2018 Grand Final. This was in my last preview thread against them but will include it again for being an iconic moment in club's history.
How do we beat them?
May edit this part until game day.
Collingwood's ball movement looks stagnant and their F50 entries have been poor. With the new rules speeding up the game, the Pies rank 17th for Marks inside 50, 17th in shot efficiency%, 16th points for, etc etc. With the players they lost and the stagnant gameplan they have, they're playing like a bottom 4 side.
We'll need to employ our kick mark game against them as Harvey and co have never found a way to stop it so it can wear them down as they have to keep on chasing. The team will lose leadership in the midfield with Shuey out so Sheed, Kelly, West and Gaff will need to become our number one type mids like in the 2020 game vs St Kilda not the third and fourth support type mids like in the half of the Saints game where they got smashed. I know they're capable of stepping up when they play at their best. Brander also needs to step up since his time as a mid while Shuey is out isn't working out well and he seems to just be a wallpaper over the cracks type player when he's playing midfield.
Collingwood's forward line has been poor and they will not win a flag with that forward line but they can be potent when they get it in quickly and cleanly. Cox is someone we cannot underestimate, at his best he can tear a game apart see 2020 elimination final so we cannot allow him to run and jump at the ball and we have to slow Collingwood's ball movement down. Gov cannot get sucked into Mihochek dragging up the ground so our defense doesn't get forced into a one on one. De Goey as overrated he is can still be damaging if he has space to lead into so we must block off his leading space.
As depleted their midfield is due to poor trade decisions, injuries and form loss, Adams or Sidebottom should get the hard tag as they're one of the best ball users in the league despite their form loss so I'd say the job is for Hutchings to do it especially that we have no Shuey and Redden. Tagging was very important in 2018 when Hutch used to nullify their best mid. With Witherden out, I'd say Hurn should do all the kick ins as he's be an upgrade on Gov and Rotham in that area, hopefully he can go left side more often than not to mix things up not the same exclusively right side like last week where the Saints had extras in the contest and killed us on the crumb and spread.
Simmo must hold all our forward structure NO MATTER WHAT regardless if we're over 100 points down (highly unlikely against the Pies) so it would make it harder for them to overlap and switch so they can go down the line more often and plus we'll have one on ones which our forward line is very good at. Have faith and trust the midfield will win the ball and even have a spare at the contest from the back line since our forward line is one of the best in the league. I'd rather risk conceding goals when we can score more then the opposition with this forward line. I personally think West should stay despite his sub par performances as whenever he's in the forward line, our forward pressure is much better, I'd say he should stay up forward and crumb more.
Very important the midfield goes after the ball an NOT wait for it to come to them otherwise we'll put our backline under pressure as the oppo will win clearances. They can't afford to feel entitled that Nic Nat will give them silver service each time, they need to fight for the footy more harder than their opponents so we can win ground ball gets and Nic Nat winning the taps should only be a bonus. We are capable of doing so as we've smashed Port in contested possession who have been the best contested possession side for the past year. Tackling is a MUST DO as we've never been a known tackling side and show them that we are NOT pushovers. With better midfield pressure, they'll be forced to kick high so our defense can intercept it. Midfield MUST SHOW NO MERCY.
Team selection is also important, selecting the wrong team will cost the match (see every game we’ve lost). I'd say we go in small but it's tempting to bring another tall against Grundy and Cox or D.Cameron. Going small with specialist mids means that we'll run out games better as a tall doesn't take up a midfielder's spot.
Key Matchups.
Nic Nat vs Grundy: Nic Nat's season has been decent and certainly been worth more than overpaid Grundy's. Nic Nat has to beat Grundy in the ruck for a psychological edge and tap it to his teammates on the run. All of Nic Nat's great work will be useless if the mids don't hunt for the ball with hunger and fire.
Nic Nat beating Grundy will go a long way for our mids to give constant supply to our lethal forward line. Will also show that Grundy is NOT worth seven million dollars unlike Nic Nat who's on a fraction of Grundy's salary.
Hutchings vs Adams/Sidebottom: We need a hard tag, Adams and Sidebottom are excellent ball users so shutting them down will force the Pies to use lesser ball users which means they're more likely to make the wrong decision or fail to execute which will make life easier for us.
Hutchings tagging Adams or Sidebottom will cause the Pies ball movement to fall apart.
Sheppard vs De Goey: De Goey at his best is a match winner but he can also be a non factor. Whenever De Goey is forward then Shep must take him and he'll need team support to block up his space to lead into. He'll also need to act like a tagger during F50 stoppages as he can also be damaging there, especially if Gov is up against Grundy in the ruck.
The ever reliable Shep. Stopping De Goey will take out one of their major scorers.
Kennedy, Darling and Allen vs Tohill, Madgen and Roughead: Collingwood's backline is the only thing that keeps them in games and our forward line is the only thing to keep us in games as well. Important we win clearances and get fast ball movement to our forwards so they can have a better chance. Darling is likely to get Madgen on him so he should drag him up the ground so JK and Allen can be isolated without help coming. There's been talks the Ruscoe may play forward though.
Time for JK, Darling and Allen to dominate.
Our last five matches against Collingwood.
early 2021 whatever we won
EF 2020: L 75-76. Poor selections costed us in my opinion, I felt Ah Chee or Petch shouldn't have played, I reckon Jetta should've played instead, we needed his accurate kicking.
R8 2020: W 111-45. Destroyed them and JK had a field day. No matter the angle we rarely missed that day.
R17 2019: L 77-78. They overrun us in the fourth after doing well for the first three quarters. That had to cost us top 4 and the flag if losing to the Hawks didn't.
R3 2019: W 98-76. Great performance from the team and why they don't match up well against us.
GF 2018: W 79-74. Fought hard after being down by five goals. Mr Sheed came in clutch when we needed him to and very happy we were premiers that year.
Teams.
TBA.
Predicted or my preferred changes: Ryan goes out with injury with Brander (likely) or Foley (less likely) and Brander should be dropped for Nelson to give us extra run at the end. Tempting to drop senior players but I would give credits in the bank another week. Also tempting to bring in another tall like Williams if fit since they may play Darcy Moore or Cameron up forward and plus they could also chop out for Grundy in the ruck. I'd be putting Cole on notice too.
My preferred or predicted 22.
B: Sheppard, Hedwards, Rotham
HB: Cole, McGovern, Hurn
C: Duggan, Sheed, Gaff
HF: Langdon, Darling, Cripps
F: Waterman, Kennedy, Allen
R: Nic Nat, Kelly, Yeo
I/C: West, Hutchings, Nelson, Williams (if they go tall) or Exxon if they go small.
Medical sub: Foley or Ainsworth.
Will be updating this part once the team sheets come out Thurs 4:20 pm AWST. Actual 22 will be below.
Team sheet to be updated below.
Weather Forecasts.
We should be all good: Mostly showers. Light winds becoming easterly 20 to 22 km/h during the morning then raining during the day. Should be more cooler as it's an arvo game.
Venue Tickets.
Lets give our boys much needed support at TBA. We cannot allow Pies fans to cheer so we must override their cheers to give the boys morale. Boo any Pies taking set shots so they miss. Everyone scream "TACKLE THEIR ASS" loudly so our boys can tackle and pressure the hell out of them. Everyone must cheer for us for four quarter so we can play four quarters. Good news is we are don't have crowds anymore.
If your going to the game at TBA then I recommend walking from your home and taking the bus that goes to the TBA or your nearest train station to the city and if you arrived then walk to the train station line to TBA as it's much better and cheaper than parking in the city provided there's no free parking spots there. Show no mercy to any Pies fans you see on the way to the game. Please arrive a few hours before the game because of delays due to COVID protocols.
Predictions.
West Coast Eagles by 61 points (that's just being me optimistic and arrogant). My new predictions is West Coast Eagles 19 points being realistic.
After this whole season, we'll get a kick from the backside to play harder and show no mercy despite losing gun players to injury. Collingwood are playing like a genuine bottom four side, maybe they're tanking to get Nick Daicos?
