Tarkyn_24
Okeydoke7 is [redacted]
- Dec 23, 2006
- 51,945
- 72,936
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
14th v 13th
2021 TOYOTA AFL PREMIERSHIP
Round 2 • CARLTON V COLLINGWOOD
THURSDAY, 25 MARCH 2021 7:20 PM AEDT
HEAD TO HEAD
PLAYED: 258
CARLTON: 127
COLLINGWOOD: 127
DRAWN: 4
In what poses as an intriguing battle, the Carlton Blues and Collingwood Magpies kick off Round 2 action under lights at the MCG.
Carlton enter the game as slight outsiders on the back of solid Round 1 form, having pushed 2020 premiers Richmond to the brink in an enthralling return for AFL football. The clash between the two VFL heavyweights was notable for providing the first glimpse of the new stand rule, which generally looks to have facilitated more attacking football, with offenses taking advantage of the flat footed player on the mark to open up angles. Inadvertently, this has resulted in more playing area posing a credible scoring threat, as players have essenitally been able to gain extra territory before disposing of the ball which would have otherwise been impeded by effective defence of the mark. In terms of Carlton's Round 1 performance itself, the Blues were in the match up to their eyeballs until the final ten minutes, when a procession of Richmond scoring (3.3) closed out the match and denied the Blues an unlikely Round 1 victory. Carlton were well led by their skipper Patrick Cripps (28 disposals, 5 clearances, 4 tackles) who provided significant inside presence and looks to be primed for a sensational 2021, and supported by a variety of tall forward options that looked cohesive with one another and impacted the scoreboard. Harry McKay (2.3), Jack Silvagni (1.0 - suffering an unfortunate injury which will rule him out of the Collingwood clash) and medical substitute Oscar McDonald (2.1) provided legitimate marking targets and were threats all night.
Collingwood, on the other hand, enter Round 2 with a point to prove after a lethargic Round 1 performance that did little to subdue existing fears around the team's perceived holes. Their opponents, the Bulldogs, dominated control of the ball (+124 uncontested possessions) and forward thrusts (+19 inside 50's) in a performance that exposed Collingwood's frailties. In the heat of Round 1 action, Collingwood's bottom six contributors had no influence on the outcome of the match; a criticism that has been consistently levelled on this team, and one that does not bode well for a side that essentially had almost a full complement of players to choose from. Trey Ruscoe (3 disposals, no score), Oliver Henry (4 disposals, no score) and Will Hoskin Elliott (12 disposals, no score, 5 clangers) offered precious little as medium options in the forwardline, failing to exert any defensive pressure nor having any real offensive impact, leaving much of the work to other, more servicable options in Mason Cox (15 disposals, 2.1), Jamie Elliott (12 disposals, 2.0) and Brody Mihocek (11 disposals, 2.2), who also combined for 8 of the team's 40 inside 50's on the night. Darcy Moore was Collingwood's standout on a torrid night - in a performance that should attract Brownlow votes, he had a team high 12 marks (6 contested) and 8 one percenters, along with 5 rebound 50's.
Player to Watch
CARLTON: Zac Williams
Wanting to provide our board with the best opposition analysis and insight, I attempted to delegate the opposition analysis to my Carlton supporting partner. Unfortunately, when I asked her which Carlton player we needed to be concerned about this week, she threw up two names - Chris Judd and Bryce Gibbs. On pressing for a potentially more relevant name, Eddie Betts, I was promptly informed that he plays for Adelaide now.
My unsuccessful attempts to delegate thus mean that I've had to do my own research. Zac Williams is a player that needs no introduction to Collingwood faithful. having had a significant say in depriving us a seat at the 2019 Grand Final table. On a day in which GWS were missing a number of significant players, Zac Williams filled the midfield void, having a game changing 25 disposals and 10 clearances from a mere 68% gametime as Collingwood failed time and time again to take advantage of Brodie Grundy's ruck "dominance" (yet another pervasive Collingwood issue that hasn't been attended to in the space of the last three years, but I digress). I raised such supressed memories because I do believe Zac Williams possesses the ability to routinely impact results in such a manner, and am very interested to see to what use Carlton put him. Personally, I think Williams plays his best football as an inside midfielder, and shapes as a potentially lethal midfield partner for Patrick Cripps and Sam Walsh. However, Williams is also equally capable as an outside midfielder and rebound defender, so may present a unique opportunity for David Teague to use in a variety of roles. I eagerly look forward to seeing what use Williams is put to tomorrow night.
COLLINGWOOD: Josh Thomas
I can already feel the heat of the passionate outrage I'll get for making such an outlandish prediction. My gut feel has been that, since the turn of the century, Carlton have quite often let members of our mosquito fleet get off the chain. While players like Kade Simpson, Andrew Carazzo and Heath Scotland of yesteryear, and Adam Saad, Nic Newman, Zac Williams and Sam Docherty of the contemporary Blues have proven competent rebounding defensive options, the depth of the small back stocks at the Blues has always posed a problem. While it's only Round 2, Josh Thomas' AFL career is well and truly at the crossroads, and he may well be squarely in the sights of the scrapheap if he can't rediscover some form, and quickly. To the arguments in Thomas' favour - his most competent thirty minutes of football came last year against the Blues, in which he filled his boots with 2.3 and looked like a threatening offensive weapon that was also capable of applying significant defensive pressure. If he can recapture that form, and even perhaps regain a little of the potential that he displayed early in his career as an inside, contested beast, there might be hope for his 2021 yet. If we scale out on the more broad tapestry of recent performance, the outlook is far less rosy and you'd be forgiven for carting me off to the nearest mental asylum. I'd persist this week and see what he can produce against a side he traditionally performs well against (see exhibits A and B, below):
![[PLAYERCARD]Josh Thomas[/PLAYERCARD].png](https://www.bigfootycontent.com/attachments/1084/1084129-9d739fc564711d7d09959b628b996fca.jpg "[PLAYERCARD]Josh Thomas[/PLAYERCARD].png"){kind=small}
Non-KPP bags of 4+ goals v Carlton, 2000 onwards
My tip: I'm not as bullish as I'd usually hope to be going into a clash against Carlton. It looks like they're turning the corner, and conversely we have some serious problems that need to be addressed. I don't see this one getting too out of hand by virtue of our magnificent defense led by Moore, Howe and Maynard but I do believe that particularly in the midfield, Carlton will be too strong for us unless we can address our common centre clearance inadequacies.
Carlton by 17
Maggie5 not sure if you want to use this as a preview or match-day thread, feel free to lock or change titles, tags etc as required.
Edit: Shout out to JDG for game number 100, oops. Me forgetting was defintiely your fault Maggie5
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Why? The two who should have been axed were axed. All good.
