- Banned
- #1
(I'm filling in for the venerable Vincent Vegas this week - he will be the one doing these most weeks.)
As part of the new BigFooty initiative to have official Previews and Reviews of all games provided by each BigFooty team board, I'll be writing a review of each of our games from the Collingwood perspective.
The previews will, as always, be supplied by the terrific and talented DaVe86, now on a slightly more official basis, and the reviews will be supplied by myself.
____________________________________________________________
ANZAC day games have been memorable for supporters of both clubs. Win or lose, we walk away knowing we have seen a great game of footy. Few would have forgotten the day, some six years ago, when James Hird had his way with the entire Collingwood team like some cheap floosie, leading his Bombers to a 10 goal win. We might have left the ground grumpy, but ultimately, we knew we had witnessed something pretty cool. We had seen history created with our own eyeballs. And there was some measure of consolation in that, no matter how small.
No such consolation prize was on offer in the 2009 edition. The most unfortunate aspect of the entire game is that it will be falsely regarded as a "classic" due to the tight finish - a classification which severely cheapens the truly epic encounters that had preceded it.
This game, despite the finish, was one big lump of fail.
The tone was set in the opening minutes when a kick intended for an uncovered David Hille went sailing over his head, forcing him to jump and land awkwardly on one leg. His knee buckles. A sea of Pie supporters collectively fist-pump and incur the wrath of their Essendon compadres.
Despite the injury, Essendon had a ton of the ball early, with Angus Monfries repeatedly finding himself with the ball inside scoring range. He couldn't capitalise, and Collingwood gained the momentum half-way through the term. Pendlebury's continued good form and a strong Macaffer mark and goal was really the highlight of what otherwise was a poor quarter of footy replete with dropped chestmarks and miskicks.
With Ryder, a part-timer, destroying Fraser in the ruck, Essendon took control in the second and third quarters. Yet the standard of football never lifted. Any goals scored seemed almost incidental - as if they were only scored because, well, someone had to score.
It really speaks volumes about the match that the loudest cheers up to three-quarter time were of the bronx variety - directed at an out-of-form Scott Lucas, who went deep into Essendon's back half to chase kicks.
With Essendon leading by 11 at the last change, the Pies seemed to come out in the 4th much more focused. Perhaps someone had finally informed them that there was a ridiculous gap in talent-level between their team and the injury-depleted Baby Bombers. Pendlebury and Leon Davis in particular were superb in turning a deficit into a lead, both winning the ball in stoppages, running themselves into the ground, and slotting through crucial goals from difficult angles.
With Collingwood hanging an onto a 2-goal lead, and driving forward yet again, we witnessed what would in retrospect be the turning point in the match. Rocca found himself one out with Fletcher, and as he has done countless times in his career, simply pushed the gangly veteran aside as he marked.
Rocca ran into an open goal, and booted the Sherrin high enough to pierce the ozone layer. The Collingwood fans rejoiced, perhaps more relieved than jubilant. But it was not to be. The little man in fluro-yellow had deemed Rocca's shove in the side illegal, and tacked on a 50m penalty as well.
Essendon sensed they had received a lifeline, and proceeded to dominate the last few minutes. They got numbers to every contest. They played with a reckless gambler mentality which is always necessary to pull off a magical comeback.
And pull it off they did. Though Zaharaharhakris will be remembered as the hero for his last second goal, it was really the culmination of intense pressure from the Bombers and inane decision making from some senior Pie players who should have been able to ice the clock that secured the result. That, and the stubborn refusal of the moustached one to flood the backline.
And as gutwrenching as the loss was, a win would only have been a marginally more positive result. An average perfomance against Adelaide was forgivable. We moved on. A loss against the beast that is Geelong was understandable. But the way the side played against a team that on paper is bottom 4 was inexcusable.
Votes
5. Pendlebury
4. Davis
3. Prestigiacomo
2. Swan
1. O'Brien
As part of the new BigFooty initiative to have official Previews and Reviews of all games provided by each BigFooty team board, I'll be writing a review of each of our games from the Collingwood perspective.
The previews will, as always, be supplied by the terrific and talented DaVe86, now on a slightly more official basis, and the reviews will be supplied by myself.
____________________________________________________________
ANZAC day games have been memorable for supporters of both clubs. Win or lose, we walk away knowing we have seen a great game of footy. Few would have forgotten the day, some six years ago, when James Hird had his way with the entire Collingwood team like some cheap floosie, leading his Bombers to a 10 goal win. We might have left the ground grumpy, but ultimately, we knew we had witnessed something pretty cool. We had seen history created with our own eyeballs. And there was some measure of consolation in that, no matter how small.
No such consolation prize was on offer in the 2009 edition. The most unfortunate aspect of the entire game is that it will be falsely regarded as a "classic" due to the tight finish - a classification which severely cheapens the truly epic encounters that had preceded it.
This game, despite the finish, was one big lump of fail.
The tone was set in the opening minutes when a kick intended for an uncovered David Hille went sailing over his head, forcing him to jump and land awkwardly on one leg. His knee buckles. A sea of Pie supporters collectively fist-pump and incur the wrath of their Essendon compadres.
Despite the injury, Essendon had a ton of the ball early, with Angus Monfries repeatedly finding himself with the ball inside scoring range. He couldn't capitalise, and Collingwood gained the momentum half-way through the term. Pendlebury's continued good form and a strong Macaffer mark and goal was really the highlight of what otherwise was a poor quarter of footy replete with dropped chestmarks and miskicks.
With Ryder, a part-timer, destroying Fraser in the ruck, Essendon took control in the second and third quarters. Yet the standard of football never lifted. Any goals scored seemed almost incidental - as if they were only scored because, well, someone had to score.
It really speaks volumes about the match that the loudest cheers up to three-quarter time were of the bronx variety - directed at an out-of-form Scott Lucas, who went deep into Essendon's back half to chase kicks.
With Essendon leading by 11 at the last change, the Pies seemed to come out in the 4th much more focused. Perhaps someone had finally informed them that there was a ridiculous gap in talent-level between their team and the injury-depleted Baby Bombers. Pendlebury and Leon Davis in particular were superb in turning a deficit into a lead, both winning the ball in stoppages, running themselves into the ground, and slotting through crucial goals from difficult angles.
With Collingwood hanging an onto a 2-goal lead, and driving forward yet again, we witnessed what would in retrospect be the turning point in the match. Rocca found himself one out with Fletcher, and as he has done countless times in his career, simply pushed the gangly veteran aside as he marked.
Rocca ran into an open goal, and booted the Sherrin high enough to pierce the ozone layer. The Collingwood fans rejoiced, perhaps more relieved than jubilant. But it was not to be. The little man in fluro-yellow had deemed Rocca's shove in the side illegal, and tacked on a 50m penalty as well.
Essendon sensed they had received a lifeline, and proceeded to dominate the last few minutes. They got numbers to every contest. They played with a reckless gambler mentality which is always necessary to pull off a magical comeback.
And pull it off they did. Though Zaharaharhakris will be remembered as the hero for his last second goal, it was really the culmination of intense pressure from the Bombers and inane decision making from some senior Pie players who should have been able to ice the clock that secured the result. That, and the stubborn refusal of the moustached one to flood the backline.
And as gutwrenching as the loss was, a win would only have been a marginally more positive result. An average perfomance against Adelaide was forgivable. We moved on. A loss against the beast that is Geelong was understandable. But the way the side played against a team that on paper is bottom 4 was inexcusable.
Votes
5. Pendlebury
4. Davis
3. Prestigiacomo
2. Swan
1. O'Brien
