- Mar 16, 2014
- 8,524
- 8,666
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
A breath after a rolling, wild, stormy, combative half of the year. All of us would have taken our ladder position at the start of the year. But interesting questions remain. I guess there are always going to be questions, right until the premiership is won. But let's have a look at the ones which face us looking into the second half of the year.
The first and most glaring is about our forward line. Just what should it look like? Most of us would have had McStay in the 22 at the start of the year, even if he's mostly a workhorse. Mihocek is brave, stoic, competitive, a marvel. But we've known for years that he needs help. The loss to Melbourne highlighted that this is, indeed, one of our weaknesses -- especially in mid-winter when the tracks are slower. Lever, May and Gawn did us bad down the line.
The football department brought McStay in for just this reason. It's the right thought, whether McStay is the right player is yet to be proven. His early games were disappointing after a fine pre-season. So it's over to McStay to make it work because we need a hard-working leading forward to come down the line for the bail-out kick.
What this allows is for us to play 2 styles: 1. the kamikaze counter-attack which we've made so famous and 2. A slower style that can still compete if the ball is sent long down the line. Without this flexibility, we might struggle.
Second: McStay comes in, but who goes out? We were cooked like a pheasant in the hit-outs by Gawn and Grundy when we lost to Melbourne. So I don't get attacked, let me defer to Brenton Sanderson on this: “But this is five games in a row that they've [Collingwood] lost clearance head-to-head, and Cox and Cameron got really badly beaten in hit outs in this game. We know that that wasn't their strength last year either, they didn't win clearance last year, but five games in a row now they've lost clearance head-to-head. So that's a slight concern, that has to be a focus.” (Regular readers will remember that I suggested Melbourne would get us on the inside in my last preview, and so it proved to be).
The way I see it, we make a choice of Cameron or Johnson in the 22. When McStay comes in, there's a decent chance either of them might drop out. I'd be happy to see how they all go together for a couple of games, but that means Johnson has to develop into a more rounded footballer. At the moment it's mark or bust. He'll have a short career if he doesn't remedy that.
My guess: Johnson will be replaced by McStay. But it's just a guess.
Having said that, come the finals, the weather improves and our slick ball movement comes to the fore again. We won't have to go down he line quite as much.
Third: How will we go with injuries, suspensions and form of individuals? Here I'm thinking Howe, who makes us a better team, De Goey, who is crucial, Ginnivan, who has the blues and whose athletic limitations are really hurting him. Speed kills. Lack of speed sends you to the VFL. We've done okay on the injury front but we all know the impact when too many elite players go down.
Versus Adelaide at the G this week
Adelaide are a good team. They're hard. They move the ball beautifully. Rachele, Isak Rankine, Walker, Dawson -- they have quality. But I have no fears for us this week. Yes it'll be combative, but the week off will have done a universe of good. It's at the G. Everyone will be refreshed. We may again lose the clearances but that's where Adelaide's dominance will end.
They're a good team but we're an elite team.
The Washup
The Magpies by 15 points in a rebound performance that will tell us a lot about how our team is going to look heading forward.
The first and most glaring is about our forward line. Just what should it look like? Most of us would have had McStay in the 22 at the start of the year, even if he's mostly a workhorse. Mihocek is brave, stoic, competitive, a marvel. But we've known for years that he needs help. The loss to Melbourne highlighted that this is, indeed, one of our weaknesses -- especially in mid-winter when the tracks are slower. Lever, May and Gawn did us bad down the line.
The football department brought McStay in for just this reason. It's the right thought, whether McStay is the right player is yet to be proven. His early games were disappointing after a fine pre-season. So it's over to McStay to make it work because we need a hard-working leading forward to come down the line for the bail-out kick.
What this allows is for us to play 2 styles: 1. the kamikaze counter-attack which we've made so famous and 2. A slower style that can still compete if the ball is sent long down the line. Without this flexibility, we might struggle.
Second: McStay comes in, but who goes out? We were cooked like a pheasant in the hit-outs by Gawn and Grundy when we lost to Melbourne. So I don't get attacked, let me defer to Brenton Sanderson on this: “But this is five games in a row that they've [Collingwood] lost clearance head-to-head, and Cox and Cameron got really badly beaten in hit outs in this game. We know that that wasn't their strength last year either, they didn't win clearance last year, but five games in a row now they've lost clearance head-to-head. So that's a slight concern, that has to be a focus.” (Regular readers will remember that I suggested Melbourne would get us on the inside in my last preview, and so it proved to be).
The way I see it, we make a choice of Cameron or Johnson in the 22. When McStay comes in, there's a decent chance either of them might drop out. I'd be happy to see how they all go together for a couple of games, but that means Johnson has to develop into a more rounded footballer. At the moment it's mark or bust. He'll have a short career if he doesn't remedy that.
My guess: Johnson will be replaced by McStay. But it's just a guess.
Having said that, come the finals, the weather improves and our slick ball movement comes to the fore again. We won't have to go down he line quite as much.
Third: How will we go with injuries, suspensions and form of individuals? Here I'm thinking Howe, who makes us a better team, De Goey, who is crucial, Ginnivan, who has the blues and whose athletic limitations are really hurting him. Speed kills. Lack of speed sends you to the VFL. We've done okay on the injury front but we all know the impact when too many elite players go down.
Versus Adelaide at the G this week
Adelaide are a good team. They're hard. They move the ball beautifully. Rachele, Isak Rankine, Walker, Dawson -- they have quality. But I have no fears for us this week. Yes it'll be combative, but the week off will have done a universe of good. It's at the G. Everyone will be refreshed. We may again lose the clearances but that's where Adelaide's dominance will end.
They're a good team but we're an elite team.
The Washup
The Magpies by 15 points in a rebound performance that will tell us a lot about how our team is going to look heading forward.
