Comments on: Collingwood 2010 Season Preview

By: Hawthorn’s 2010 Season Preview | Weekly Tips, Game Reviews and Dream Team tips with Articles of the latest issues of the AFL.

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:13:41 +0000

[...] review in depth every 16 clubs. We started off with Fremantle, then the Bulldogs, the Kangaroos and Collingwood. Last week we have looked at Richmond, Sydney, the West Coast Eagles, Essendon and Melbourne. This [...]

By: the_tony

the_tony — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:06:51 +0000

Whatever the plan was on Saturday, it obviously worked. I see people saying that Port may have suffered as they have traveled 3 weeks in a row… Boo Hoo. At least they were still within their state…..

The “take away” from this game was the spread of goal kickers and probably the end of the single target up forward. (despite what we saw in the NAB cup final).

By: Jermayn

Jermayn — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:54:03 +0000

So Fraser will be a Lynch playing in the middle which can allow you to double team the ruckman etc (Port Adelaide did this to perfection last year). To be honest I like Fraser forward with Cloke (who can then go and chase the ball up the ground) and Anthony.

By: the_tony

the_tony — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:02:04 +0000

@jermayn, As a tap ruckman, Fraser is weak, only due to his lack of height and size. As a ruck-rover, he performs well and can play the link man role through the middle of the ground that other lumbering ruckmen can’t. Cloke had an off year and can be excused, he runs hard and is difficult to beat when he lead out, agreed that his kicking is atrocious at times but as with others (like Matty Richardson) when he doesn’t think about his kicking for goal he invariably snags one from 50 out on the boundary, just one of those things with him. Reid is going to blitz this year from defence and Rusling will have to wait for an injury.

By: Jermayn

Jermayn — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:15:33 +0000

oh I gotta jump in here and give my opinion to add to this mini argument

I think what Jolly and Ball bring is the history of performing in finals where various Collingwood players have unperformed continuously.

Jolly gives Fraser (a dud ruckman and #1 pick) less pressure to lead the ruck and now he can play forward. Cloke (I agree with Mike is a waste of time and maybe they should off load him to the Gold Coast for some future picks) will then have another tall target to help him as Reid & Rusling are nothing but Bench Warmers.

Can they make the top two? Maybe if Buckley could wind the clock back…

By: 2010 NAB Semi Finals Wrapup | Weekly Tips, Game Reviews and Dream Team tips with Articles of the latest issues of the AFL.

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:50:41 +0000

[...] in touch with us or just review what we have written with your own views. Last week we previewed Collingwood, Fremantle, North Melbourne and the Bulldogs. This week we will preview another four or five clubs [...]

By: Deano

Deano — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:43:09 +0000

Tony I’m happy with your reply as it seems quite balanced However, to describe that The Dogs inability to put away an inexperienced Port Adelaide side as “not the best form” is utterly ludicrous when you take into account what they did to the sides they played in the two weeks previous. I think most people would agree when I suggest that before the NAB Cup both The Eagles and Crows would have been more fancied to finish higher in the season proper then the Power. I’m not sure that is the case now, to me they have been easily the most impressive side of the pre season so far and if they can keep up that kind of intensity at the ball then they will be a real show to sneak a finals berth.

Like you I am happy to see how the season pans out but do not for one minute underestimate how well the Power are playing at the moment. Any side that is not switched on 100% will be beaten by them. Great sides have the ability to scrounge out wins even when they are not at their best or are being challenged by a more willing opponent, this is what the Dogs were able to achieve on Fri night.

By: the_tony

the_tony — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:37:39 +0000

Deano, it comes with the territory to pump your team up. But seriously, if you analyse those last four games the main reason for the failure were related to not getting the ball out of the middle. We were just smashed at the ruck contests and couldn’t get the ball back so we relied on turnovers. I think you’ll see much improvement in that area.

Mike, I think Adelaide are effectively gone before the season even starts with the amount of injuries they’ve already racked up and Brisbane while having recruited pretty much everyone who was available, still don’t know if Fev and Brown can play in the same team. I think they’ve recruited to boost Voss’s (ego and) chances of winning a flag right now but they are probably no where near Saints and Cats in terms of talent. The Bullies were almost beaten by a fairly inexperienced Port side the other night, which was only won in the last minute, not the best form. So on the form I’ve seen so far I think Collingwood have been biding it’s time and setting up for a strong season. I think after the first 6 rounds we’ll see how they shape up.

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:09:59 +0000

First and foremost they will not make the top two…just remember who else is up near the top, Bulldogs, Geelong and St Kilda, with Adelaide and brisbane looking to have big years. Just by the team they have on paper they would currently be sitting in fourth position…maybe even fifth.

They are not that good of a team as everyone thinks and as Deano pointed out they don’t seem to be great under pressure, and realistically they shouldn’t have even made it to the preliminary final and look what happened when they did.
Do they even have a forward line? I watched the pre season game against the Saints and Cloke imo is a waste of time, Leigh Brown seems ok but other than that they have Didak and Medhurst who are consistently inconsistent. I cannot see them making the GF and with other teams coming up behind them they need to address the holes in their team and fast.

By: Deano

Deano — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:59:19 +0000

I like your optimism tony but am having second thoughts on the pies chances this year.

What makes you think that the Pies can make top 2 when in the last 4 weeks of the ’09 season they played the Dogs(3rd), Saints (2nd), Crows(5th) and Cats(1st) and not only had a 1-3 record (and a very lucky 1 at that!) but only scored 258 points in these games and had 378 kicked against them?

This equates to 64 points per game for and 94 points per game against. When you consider that their Home and Away averages were 98.8 for and 80 against you can see that when the heat was turned up their performance dropped dramatically.

In all honesty I don’t see how Ball and Jolly will change this given that collingwood have had a significant run at the finals in the past decade and the same players keep coming up short. Leon Davis, Travis Cloke, Dale Thomas even Dane Swan was ordinary in the post season after blitzing the regular season.