Autopsy Round 19 = Collingwood 78-79 Fremantle

[Kes1984]

It's a marathon, not a sprint. It'll be worth it come September. Whilst sides from 3-9 are going flat knacker now, they'll hit the wall come finals time.

Agree with this. Only issue is, now we need to return to flat knacker again if we want to hold a top 2 spot. It's unfortunate both the past two weeks resulted in losses, when so close. Close isn't getting the all important 4 premiership points.

 

[Big Bryza]

Bigfooty needs an “ignore poster after loss” option.

Some absolute comical melts on here after a 1pt loss.

If you hadn’t watched the game or season you’d think we were bottom 4 and got done by 10 goals with our best team on the park.

Posters forget how good this club is atm.

I remember being a kid in high school during the 90’s. That was rough. Shit stirred every week from floggings! My assistant principal only wore his Collingwood jumper on a Monday if we won. Think I saw it 6 times in 4 seasons!

Amen to this.

14 from our last 17 with the 3 losses by 1 goal or less.

Take a deep breath everyone.

 

[Big Bryza]

Just as we can take some comfort in the fact we only lost the last 2 games by a combined 7pts, with games against Brisbane, Hawthorn and Adelaide to come what if they produced 3 more narrow defeats?

Not that hard to imagine is it and I doubt we'll be so forgiving once real ramifications in terms of ladder position are felt.

That string of 3 games would be worthy of a qualifying, preliminary and grand final this year, let alone games to simply decide your finishing position within the top 8.

After 2 losses in a row, the stakes are suddenly huge, and we could easily see ourselves slipping out of the top two, facing an away qualifying final, and potentially an away preliminary final, to just make a GF.

Just as I was worried the game against Gold Coast projected as a loss (same goes for Adelaide), I long thought beating Fremantle was a near certainty, I just don't rate them away from home, and the loss yesterday was a golden opportunity blown in the end.

We should have beaten them, all the metrics point to that, but as a result of not doing so, we now have precious little wiggle for more "honourable" losses.

Beaten Giants, Suns and Pies away from home. Decent form.

 

[jathanas]

Regarding the recent ‘resting’ or management of players (I’m being serious), we’ve taken a risk. Keep playing the older players, or those with a niggle? Or let them rest and recover?

Backfired? Maybe. We’ve lost these last two games by a total of 7 points, although being goalless in the first half against the Suns, or 22 points up in the last versus Freo and still losing would not have been part of the plan. This way of losing will be keeping the coaches awake at night.

Anyway, the point of this post is that I want to make the connection between looking after the players’ welfare, and our much vaunted club culture. We can keep sending players like Checkers out to be battered week on week, or we can give him a rest. The same with Lippa and his niggle, Frampton needing one more week, Membrey and his new baby, and Bobby and his mental health.

It’s 2025 - the players will appreciate this.

And while they may not appreciate losing games as a consequence, when the crunch (or crunches) come in September, players who’ve been looked after will find that extra inch, that extra 1% when needed.

Only the veterans have been rested.

Howe, Frampton, Bruzzy, Houston, & Beau… injured. Bobby - personal circumstances. That's some talent taken from the side by the cruel injury gods.

 

[TradeDraft]

 

[Pistol Night]

Amazing how a full strength team beat a team with 5 or 6 stars missing. Just

 

[PowerfulPies2023]

Pyman

 

[JuniorB]

Beaten Giants, Suns and Pies away from home. Decent form.

They have Young back too, who is a gun.