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News Link to a Good article by Pendles

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Thanks for the link. I only got to read the first 2 paragraphs as i don't have herald membership. Will read full story on telegraph tomorrow.

However from what i read there is a good and possible bad bad point. Good is bucks reaction but possible bad point is Scott expecting a win when we play our best. Hope just me but seems a bit complacent.

As i said, i have to read full article as pendles is the last bloke to be complacent.

Fwiw bucks and pendles will be an unbelievable coach and captain and make sure we never give in
 

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I hate to be that guy but... you should probably change that to cynical before someone accuses you of being a typical collingwood supporter.
 
I hate this "wake up call" cliché. It's as though football clubs go through a sleep-wake cycle that is never-ending. Does this mean Geelong are unconscious whereas Melbourne are in a constant state of hypervigilance?
 
NATHAN Buckley hit us with the brutal truth.

Reviewing Friday night's loss to Carlton, it was clear to the coach that our hunger to win the footy was lacking.

When Collingwood is on, we know teams fear the level of intensity we bring to the contest. We need to get that back.

Having that desperate edge to our performance is something we have prided ourselves on.

But in the first five minutes against the Blues we were smashed in the middle and forced into making panicked decisions.

Even worse, for one of the rare times in the past few years, we didn't respond.

If you thought we looked overawed or shell-shocked you would be right, because that's the way I was feeling after the initial Carlton onslaught on the MCG.

The Blues were so clean and quick with the footy and executed their game style - particularly by hand around the stoppages - as well as I have seen. They are a lightning-fast footy side.

But the great thing about our game is that you get the chance to atone.

Tomorrow, we get that opportunity against Port Adelaide.

While the coach is always going to cop it in some ways, it is up to the players to perform on the day.

For that reason, it's been a big week at the Westpac Centre, preparing as well as we can for the Power. Not because of some of the comments being made outside the footy club.

The mood inside the club has been as buoyant as ever. While we are all feeling for our great mate Luke Ball, who is out for the year with a knee reconstruction, no one is so pretentious that when we start losing, or injuries happen, we crack the sads and start complaining.

Your character shows through in adverse situations and, if anything, it brings you closer together.

This week, Daisy Thomas and Heath Shaw have been their normal jovial selves, stirring everyone up. Midfield coach Robert Harvey is one who copped it after dislocating his finger in a handball game with Harry O at the beach.

Bucks has been ultra positive.

When you have a shocker in a big loss like I did, it obviously stings twice as much. But when I went and saw him and Harves about my own performance against Carlton they filled me with confidence.

In a nutshell, they said that you are going to have bad games from time to time, but the challenge is to never have two ordinary ones in a row. The good thing is you get to rewrite things in seven days and what matters is how you bounce back. After a disappointing night, hearing that was gold.

By Tuesday, in glorious sunshine at the St Kilda Sea Baths, everyone was pumped about the game tomorrow, and not getting sucked one bit into any back-and-forth happening on the outside of the fence.

WHEN I arrived at the club in 2005, I realised quickly that Collingwood is always in the media. And to buy into it, or let it affect your mindset, is a distraction you don't need.

Case in point was Heath and Maxy's betting suspension last year and the focus on the coaching "succession plan".

So, whatever Mick, Eddie, or whoever else outside the playing group and coaching staff has said this week hasn't registered with any of us. Not one word.

Like Ross Lyon's favourite bubble principle, we only worry about what we can control.

We understand that Mick is in the media and that as a former Collingwood coach and football great that whatever he says is going to attract attention. But he is paid to make comment.

If he said our game was no good against Carlton, he'd be spot-on. He has always called it as he saw it. If we play well against Port tomorrow I'm sure he will be among the first to congratulate our efforts.

The much bigger issue is in regards to the wake-up call we received last weekend. Carlton, West Coast, Hawthorn and Geelong, they are the benchmark teams and we need to lift. It is evident that the competition has gone up a notch.

We know we can compete with those sides. We lost to the Hawks in Round 1, but had we kicked straight in the first term we could have been up by five goals.

But we got a kick in the pants from Carlton, and it was good to get it early, so we can rectify things in time.

Of course, that's going to be a bigger challenge without Bally for the rest of the season. A part of the focus this week has been rejigging the midfield set-up to help offset his loss.

Guys like Sharrod Wellingham, Jarryd Blair, Steele Sidebottom and Daisy are all going to have to chip in. Swanny and I will have to lay a few more tackles, get a couple more hard balls. And, as I said, lift our intensity back up to the levels we know
 

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News Link to a Good article by Pendles

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