Post Match. Dons down Pies. All comments, please.

[Ronnie McKeowns boots]

[slangman]

Everybody just needs to ease up.
Pendlebury is not going anywhere.

As for a few others, I think that they already know that their time is up.

We should seriously recruit Lynch and Talia from the Crows as they would offer experience and body strength in key posts.
Lynch could easily kick 40 goals next year which would be better than Cox’s best return. As a delisted free agent I don’t see any downside in recruiting him.

[K]

"Stringer contributed 24 disposals, six clearances, six inside 50s, two goals and had nine score involvements against the Pies on Sunday..."

Who was his opponent? I couldn't really tell...

[Lazza]

[Pies2016]

[Jezza]

Rantall did a good job restricting Parish to only 21 disposals, half of what he got on Anzac Day.

[JC Hartley]

In the final game of the 2021 season, Collingwood concluded its tumultuous campaign in the meekest of fashions and manners, as Essendon consigned the Magpies to a losing margin of 38 points. The Bombers set up a defensive grid across half-forward where they were able to take intercept marks when the Woods attempted to generate rebound from the back pocket or half-back with reduced options and easy exits from defence on offer. Essendon were able to create numerous goals from turnovers, due to Collingwood's inability to safely exit D50 through to their midfield or forward arc, or had established players making several skill errors in the midfield that allowed the Dons to dine out on the scoreboard, and were incredibly accurate despite Collingwood having a similar number of scoring shots. The Bombers had 22 scoring shots for 16 majors, while the Pies had 19 scoring shots for just 9 majors. In a nutshell, a combination of simple skill errors and lack of quality rebound from defence under pressure from the Magpies resulted in Essendon bombing Collingwood away with a number of very easy goals that could not be defended. The lack of pressure from Collingwood also meant that they could not match the volume of scoring from turnovers as the Bombers were able to produce, which was extremely decisive in determining the outcome of this game.

Collingwood's statistical categories were won from contested possessions by +4 (116 - 112), hit-outs were won by +3 (27 - 24), clearances had an advantage of +4 (30 - 26), while centre clearances were up by +5 (15 - 10). They were the only categories that the Magpies won, and that was all she wrote for the 2021 season. Essendon took command of the remaining categories ranging from disposals by +42 (392 - 350), to kicks by +27 (233 - 206), +15 for handballs (159 - 144), while uncontested possessions had a differential of +34 (276 - 242), and +5 for intercept possessions (67 - 62). Stoppage clearances were narrowly won by +1 (16 - 15), uncontested marks were up by +6 (107 - 101), +4 for Contested Marks (14 - 10), with Marks Inside 50 won by +4 (17 - 13). Tackles were won by +5 (45 - 40), with a proportionately high number of Tackles Inside 50, which had a margin of +10 (14 - 4). Inside 50s had a differential of +9 (54 - 45), which allowed the Bombers more opportunities to lock the ball in their forward 50 arc with a high level of pressure, and ultimately displayed enough class in front of goal to outclass a depleted and highly inexperienced Collingwood outfit that limped to the finish line without any impetus to compete for a victory.

Taylor Adams (31 disposals @ 64%, 442 metres gained, 15 contested possessions, 16 uncontested possessions, 4 intercept possessions, 19 kicks, 12 handballs, 6 marks, 6 tackles, 6 score involvements, 10 clearances, 7 centre clearances, 3 stoppage clearances, 4 Inside 50s & 3 Rebound 50s) did everything he could to help his team compete, but he had very little assistance. Adams also struggled to hit simple targets, which proved to be contagious for the whole team. Effort levels from Adams are never questioned, his ball use remains a significant weakness when he is not under pressure, or has time and space to use it.

Jordan De Goey (23 disposals @ 74%, 475 metres gained, 4 contested possessions, 19 uncontested possessions, 16 kicks, 7 handballs, 8 marks, 4 tackles, 1 goal assist, 7 score involvements, 2 clearances, 6 Inside 50s, 2 Rebound 50s & 1 goal) maximised as much attacking damage from his possessions as possible, but could not impact the contest directly for himself, nor his team.

Steele Sidebottom (22 disposals @ 82%, 229 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 17 uncontested possessions, 12 kicks, 10 handballs, 8 marks, 3 score involvements, 3 clearances, 2 stoppage clearances & 3 Inside 50s) presented as a marking option from the midfield without fail, yet some of his skill execution was well off the mark for a player of his capability.

Josh Daicos (17 disposals @ 71%, 261 metres gained, 7 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 11 kicks, 6 handballs, 3 marks, 4 tackles, 3 score involvements, 2 clearances, 2 Rebound 50s & 1 goal) was serviceable on a wing without being influential. Won enough possessions to give his team an option between the arcs.

Chris Mayne (23 disposals @ 100%, 134 metres gained, 10 contested possessions, 13 uncontested possessions, 11 intercept possessions, 6 kicks, 17 handballs, 5 marks, 3 tackles, 1 goal assist, 3 score involvements & 2 Rebound 50s) defended with grit and determination in his last AFL game. Mayne looked to take the safe and easy option on the way out without losing possession of the footy or turning it over.

Jeremy Howe (20 disposals @ 70%, 268 metres gained, 4 contested possessions, 16 uncontested possessions, 6 intercept possessions, 12 kicks, 8 handballs, 4 marks, 2 tackles, 3 score involvements & 4 Rebound 50s) had a difficult assignment as the club's acting captain, where he and his teammates were under siege at every opportunity, and Howe did what he could do to minimise the damage, despite being guilty of creating clangers that could have been avoided and prevented.

Jack Crisp (19 disposals @ 90%, 335 metres gained, 9 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 9 kicks, 10 handballs, 4 marks, 2 tackles, 1 goal assist, 4 score involvements, 4 clearances, 3 stoppage clearances, 2 Inside 50s & 3 Rebound 50s) competed well defensively, while having stints in the midfield to give his side some direction which was sorely lacking.

John Noble (18 disposals @ 67%, 297 metres gained, 3 contested possessions, 15 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 11 kicks, 7 handballs, 6 marks, 2 score involvements & 4 Rebound 50s) had one of his worst games in a while, where he succumbed to the overriding pressure that Essendon put on him by turning the ball over rather frequently, which is not what we've come to expect from him.

Jack Madgen (17 disposals @ 82%, 228 metres gained, 7 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, 8 intercept possessions, 10 kicks, 7 handballs, 8 marks, 2 Contested Marks, 4 score involvements & 4 Rebound 50s) was Collingwood's most assured defender on an otherwise grim afternoon for the whole team. Madgen backed himself in confidently to take his marks, and did not turn any of his possessions over in what was his most impressive game at AFL level for the season.

Jamie Elliott (18 disposals @ 67%, 284 metres gained, 7 contested possessions, 11 uncontested possessions, 15 kicks, 3 handballs, 8 marks, 3 Marks Inside 50, 4 tackles, 6 score involvements, 5 Inside 50s & 4 goals) was easily Collingwood's best forward on a day where supply did not arrive or come easily. Elliott was able to display his accuracy in front of goal, but everything fell by the wayside when he went into the midfield, where a number of his possessions in that division did not hit many targets. Additionally, Elliott had an opportunity in the dying seconds of the season to boot his 200th goal. His left foot snap got touched by the man on the mark despite sailing between the big sticks, which would've also been his 5th goal. Looking forward to watching you get to 200 goals in 2022, Billy!

Trent Bianco (17 disposals @ 59%, 231 metres gained, 3 contested possessions, 14 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 11 kicks, 6 handballs, 5 marks, 4 score involvements & 2 Inside 50s) stayed relatively active and busy across half-forward, where he pushed higher up the ground just to win his possessions and create scoring opportunities.

Josh Thomas (16 disposals @ 62%, 202 metres gained, 6 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, 9 kicks, 7 handballs, 5 marks, 2 tackles, 4 score involvements, 3 Inside 50s & 1 goal) did not have the greatest of games. His marking was adequate, but there was one inexcusable moment from Thomas which left me livid. His shot for his second goal went through but got touched by the man on the mark at the point of impact. Thomas may have played his last AFL game for the Magpies.

Darcy Cameron (14 disposals @ 71%, 136 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 9 uncontested possessions, 4 hit-outs, 9 kicks, 5 handballs, 9 marks, 3 Contested Marks, 2 Marks Inside 50, 5 score involvements, 2 Inside 50s & 1 goal) provided a marking target up forward where he had periods of success aerially without being a dominant scoring threat.

There we have it for another season! Collingwood's worst ranking ever in its history by finishing 17th, an occurrence that I don't want to read ever again. Plenty of list management discussions will be had, the coaching position will hopefully be decided next month, and all of the club's energy and planning will be on ensuring the arrival of Nick Daicos in November. From there, the Magpies will look at making immediate inroads towards returning to finals action as soon as possible. 2022 will be about planning for a resurgent charge towards contention for finals. Only from that point forward, will the Magpies ask themselves how far away from premiership contention they will be in the coming years.

[Magpietothemax]

Thanks JH.
Really liked your appraisal of Madgen.
It is sad how he gets blamed for every mistake in the back half.

[Rd10.1998_11.1#36]

[Rd10.1998_11.1#36]

[Collingwouldn't]

[Swanny2011]

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

[mudlark]

[Pies2016]

^ ^ ^
Archie Perkins turned him inside but to be fair, Perkins is agile and a midfielder, Madgen isn’t.
I still don’t get the hate. The guy is a depth player who plays when key personnel are missing. This year if it wasn’t Howe missing, then it was Moore.
We can argue about which depth player is better then the other but in the end, the outcome would have been the same for all of them had Moore and Howe both been available. None of those depth players would have got a gig.
Our defensive structures were horrible on the weekend. Madgen was the kid with the finger in the dyke. All things considered, I thought he went ok …. for a depth player.