- Joined
- Jul 27, 2004
- Posts
- 10,701
- Reaction score
- 11,398
- Location
- Moana Heights Adelaide
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Other Teams
- Adelaide
DE BATTLE OF DE BOIDS
Collingwood: The (real) Magpies: The Collywobbles: The Woods or Woodsmen: The Pies (Hot or Cold): The Britannias (1897): The Cuthberts.
There may be a few I've missed. Perhaps our resident Collingwood troll might like to point them out.
When this club was formed in 1892, the prevailing view was that "The very name of Collingwood would strike terror into the hearts of opposing players". Maybe then. Now?
THAT 58 GRANNY
Ah, Collingwood. It's 1958 and I'm 15 going on 16 and I'm under the old scoreboard at the G watching the Melbourne—Collingwood grand final. The crowd that day was estimated at 97,956, but some enterprising blokes broke down a fence and thousands more poured through the gap. We were in danger of being crushed to death. People literally had to stand bolt upright for the entire match including the breaks.
The Pies have a great history in 1st grade footy, having won more premierships than anyone else and being the only side ever in VFL/AFL history to go through an entire season without a loss. They also won four premierships in a row and no one else has done that up to this point.
The 1958 grand final would have seen the Ds equal that record, so there was some extra spice 60 years ago.
Peter Marquis was a footballer with exquisite skills
The late Peter Marquis was in the best players for Melbourne in the 58 granny, and the Crows owe Peter a debt of gratitude, do they not?
THE HANDIES
Over the years, The Cuthberts have had a few handy players. A few that spring to mind are: Jock McHale, Syd Coventry, Gordon Coventry, Bob Rose, Lou Richards, Murray Weideman, Peter McKenna, Len Thompson, Peter Daicos, Nathan Buckley, Des Tuddenham, Thorold Merrett, Bill Twomey Jr, Peter Moore, Mick Twomey, Alby Pannam.
Lou Lou was a mighty footballer and one of the most colourful characters to live in Melbourne Town
No doubt there are a few I've missed and perhaps Resident Troll can help us out here.
RIGHT NOW
Enough of the oppos mighty history. What about today I hear you say. Righto, where are these two sides at in 2018.
The Cuthberts have lost two and managed to beat the Mighty Carlton juggernaut by 24 points. On the other hand we've won 2 and played like a bunch of idiots in the 1st half last week. Play a full game like that and even the Cuthberts could touch us up at AO.
Mind you, being at AO is a goodly thing. We don't often get beaten here and play much better than on that fast deck at Etihad. The way the Saints defenders and mids zipped around on Friday as they came out of defence looked like an A-22 Raptor in a dogfight with The Spruce Goose. Luckily the Saints overall skills and goal kicking are RS, otherwise we could have found ourselves 1—2 just like the Cuthberts.
REPLACEMENTS
There's word from the opposition camp that they may bring back Elliott and De Goey after each kicked a few in the Magoos. As they beat Carlton 2s by 130 points, I'm not sure how much the selectors will take from that. Bring 'em in by all means. We have the defence to handle them.
The Collingwood injury list is almost as bad as ours. They are hamstrung by the amount and quality they have in the medical tent. Our depth is better. Greenwood and Goldsack are big outs for them.
So, how will we go? Bring our A-Game on our home deck in front of another 50,000 crowd on Friday and we'll make 'em toast. Grundy played well in ruck for them against Kruezer—and that's not to be sneezed at—he had 25 disposals and seven clearances. But big Sammy is going okay, even if he did look a little bit under the weather before his last start. I reckon the ruck battle will either be even or go slightly our way. Pendles is always a problem and we need Greenwood or CEY to run with him and curb his influence. Big Cox should be manhandled okay by Tails. Unsure who goes with Reid if he plays forward. He's doing the up the ground linking job and may have too much pace for Harto. There is a strong possibility that Reid will play down back to counter our tall forward line.
Our forward line clicked into gear in the 2nd half, especially that burst of 10 minutes or so where we kicked half a dozen goals. The thing with our forwards is that you know they will get off the leash sometime. Good to see Eddie get a treble and start his march towards another club leading goal kicker of the year. Tex did not have a great deal of influence against the Saints despite kicking three. We need the skipper to impose himself—JJ also.
I'm looking forward to watching how much influence Gibbs and Pendlebury give their respective sides. Midfields do decide games and I think ours has a slight edge. Sidyberterm (I knew a bloke that insisted Sidebottom be pronounced this way) had 16 touches in the 1st q last match. We need to sit on him. Sling tackles are interesting at the judiciary. It doesn't matter if you carry one out as long as the slingee doesn't get hurt. You won't be suspended unless there's an injury. AFL logic.
WHERE'S BUCKLES AT?
It was interesting to watch Buckles' press conference following the last match. He looked like he wanted to cut his throat. Someone call Beyond Blue because I think he's majorly depressed with how his side—and his career are going—down the dunny. Maybe Eddie's put his love child on notice?
Buckley reckons his mob is 18th for groundballgets. Dunno where we are, but reckon we'd be doing okay. We should also note that The Cuthberts had 20 shots to 21 against the Blues.
SUMMATION:
Our defence has the ability to nullify their attack while our attack should score enough to win the game—provided a decent supply comes from the midfield. I'm hoping for big games from Tex, JJ and Eddie.
Crows by 32
