Post Match. Pies sink Suns. All comments.

[Rick]

According to McCraes post match our clearances actually increased when Begg was in the centre.

I was surprised they didn’t throw him forward more often.

[Magpietothemax]

I love the way Fly coaches from the bench and interacts with the players so freely and warmly. It is great to see, and reflects a very positive synergy

[Jezza]

"Points for" through our first 7 games.

102, 100, 91, 74, 91, 93, 115.

Last year, we scored 90+ on only three occasions. If higher scores means we're conceding a bit more, then it's a trade off I'm willing to accept.

[Cam]

[masoncox]

Beggs has a long way to go.
He should make way for Cox next week
Cox was close to best on ground in the VFL.
But you can see what Fly sees in him.
He has a touch of mongrel in him and he is competitive.
He is worth keeping
But he has a way to go.
We got thrashed in the ruck today.
But we did well mopping up

[rambler]

[qldmagpie67]

Good effort today
We showed improvement in some facets but defence is still a concern
This new high pressure up defence is vulnerable but so far we’ve been able to still win
Today proved one thing many have been saying for some time
Hit outs is the most useless stat in the game
We lost them 50-17 but onky lost clearances 33-36
So even hit outs to advantage aren’t worth anything when pressure comes from your midfielders who are expecting not to win the clearance
A ruckman on $250k is just as effective as one on $1m
That $750k could be spent on a power forward or elite midfielder
Next week we can’t give Richmond the freedom to move the ball like we did to the Suns today they won’t waste the opportunities
Defence needs to go back to man on man and stay within 5m of them not giving them 10/20m room
4-3 is a good start let’s hope we continue to improve

[Jezza]

Fly's post match presser:

You were able to hold them off at various stages. What did you make of the performance?

[Pipes1970]

[pietillidie]

[Take_a_Screamer]

[Piesnchess]

[JC Hartley]

In the opening game of the month, Collingwood responded to every challenge that Gold Coast gave them to prevail comfortably by 25 points. The Magpies had to be exceptionally smart with their ball use to hit targets and maintain possession, given that there weren't many tall targets to take marks or take on responsibility in the ruck, after Brodie Grundy was ruled out for 3 months. That led to Darcy Cameron assuming the mantle as the team's top ruckman, while Aiden Begg came in on debut and competed strongly. The ball use on display for most of the afternoon was superb or very good as Collingwood's forwards got plenty of opportunities to take some marks and kicked goals. There would've been emphasis on running the ball forward by hand to reduce the need to kick long to contests, while also ensuring no long bombs by foot were attempted and precise kicks over short distances for most of the day, which allowed the Woods to play with a group of forwards who were not blessed for height and brought about the focus on more precise ball movement to give the forwards greater chances of scoring goals, as kicking long to contests all the time would've been ineffective and disadvantaging Collingwood's plans. As far as the general scheme of the contest was concerned, it was full of momentum swings from the outset where the Suns had the first two goals, before Collingwood piled on 7 goals in the opening term to establish an early lead, before the pendulum swung within the last three quarters, where Gold Coast threatened to draw close to Collingwood's lead, then the Pies would respond with the next 2 or 3 goals to restore control of the game. Extremely pleasing that the Woods were able to respond with goals to stop the Suns in their tracks, and played to the plan of running and carrying the ball from defence and the midfield, especially on transition as that allowed the forwards to continually move without being stagnant. This style of play needs to be reproduced each week for the next couple of months as it will be tailored to the availability of the players that Collingwood currently have to be able to implement the game plan.

Collingwood won the vast majority of their statistical categories from sources such as disposals by +29 (356 - 327), +10 for kicks (208 - 198), handballs were won by +19 (148 - 129), while contested possessions were won by +6 (129 - 123), uncontested possessions were up by +22 (221 - 199) and intercept possessions had a margin of +15 (68 - 53). Stoppage clearances were won by +3 (22 - 19), marks had a differential of +3 (92 - 89), Contested Marks had a differential of +6 (15 - 9), while tackles were up by +1 (56 - 55), and +6 for Inside 50s (52 - 46). Gold Coast won their categories from hit-outs by +17 (50 - 17), followed by clearances by +3 (36 - 33), +6 for centre clearances (17 - 11), while Tackles Inside 50 were up by +4 (7 - 3), uncontested marks were won by +3 (80 - 77), and Marks Inside 50 had an advantage of +3 (16 - 13).

Patrick Lipinski (30 disposals @ 77%, 338 metres gained, 7 contested possessions, 23 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 13 kicks, 17 handballs, 3 marks, 2 goal assists, 12 score involvements, 2 clearances, 2 centre clearances & 6 Inside 50s) set the game up early with 20 disposals in the first half, and contributed at various stages in the last two quarters. Lipinski was able to link up with hands to teammates in better positions, and contributed substantially to the team's scoring chains.

Jack Crisp (28 disposals @ 68%, 499 metres gained, 7 contested possessions, 21 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 18 kicks, 10 handballs, 8 marks, 2 Marks Inside 50, 6 tackles, 9 score involvements, 7 clearances, 2 centre clearances, 5 stoppage clearances, 3 Inside 50s, 2 Rebound 50s & 1 goal) started the game slowly, before accumulating possessions regularly over the last three quarters. Crisp was able to win his own ball, took marks to give the team control and drifted forward to impact the scoreboard.

Taylor Adams (23 disposals @ 65%, 327 metres gained, 6 contested possessions, 17 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 14 kicks, 9 handballs, 8 marks, 8 tackles, 1 goal assist, 6 score involvements, 2 clearances & 7 Inside 50s) sacrificed his brand of contested footy to run out into space to provide a marking target which he was able to do successfully and gave his forwards opportunities to mark or compete inside 50, while applying numerous tackles to maintain pressure.

Josh Daicos (20 disposals @ 85%, 430 metres gained, 4 contested possessions, 16 uncontested possessions, 11 kicks, 9 handballs, 2 marks, 1 goal assist, 8 score involvements, 2 clearances, 2 stoppage clearances, 5 Inside 50s, 2 Rebound 50s & 2 goals) played his most damaging game of the season, where he looked to get forward more and stay busy in scoring chains. Lovely to see Josh hit the scoreboard in the second half with two goals that maintained momentum in Collingwood's favour.

Steele Sidebottom (20 disposals @ 80%, 426 metres gained, 3 contested possessions, 17 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 12 kicks, 8 handballs, 9 marks, 9 score involvements, 3 Inside 50s & 2 Rebound 50s) played his role well by keeping his width at all times so he could take marks and kept the ball moving in his team's direction by hitting targets or kicking to his team's advantage so scores could occur.

Will Hoskin-Elliott (17 disposals @ 71%, 231 metres gained, 6 contested possessions, 11 uncontested possessions, 4 intercept possessions, 9 kicks, 8 handballs, 4 marks, 1 goal assist, 4 score involvements, 3 clearances, 2 stoppage clearances & 2 Inside 50s) alternated his game time up forward with stints on the wing and continued to accumulate disposals without looking ominous.

Darcy Cameron (16 disposals @ 56%, 155 metres gained, 13 contested possessions, 3 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 15 hit-outs, 10 kicks, 6 handballs, 4 marks, 2 Contested Marks, 5 tackles, 6 score involvements, 5 clearances, 4 stoppage clearances & 2 goals) played his most important game for the club by taking the bulk of the ruck contests, where he battled manfully. Cameron was able to win his fair share of ruck contests and was able to have an impact up forward early on.

Aiden Begg (15 disposals @ 87%, 152 metres gained, 8 contested possessions, 7 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 2 hit-outs, 5 kicks, 10 handballs, 4 marks, 3 tackles, 1 goal assist, 5 score involvements, 3 clearances, 2 stoppage clearances & 4 Inside 50s) put in an eye-catching debut at AFL level by assuming control in the ruck where he was competitive without winning very many hit-outs, but it was his work around the ground where he was really good. Begg was able to hold a few marks, pump the ball forward and contribute to scoring chains throughout the day.

Scott Pendlebury (25 disposals @ 72%, 416 metres gained, 9 contested possessions, 16 uncontested possessions, 7 intercept possessions, 18 kicks, 7 handballs, 6 marks, 6 tackles, 1 goal assist, 4 score involvements, 3 Inside 50s & 2 Rebound 50s) was sublime with his ball use behind the ball to give the team control against the flow and threats that the Suns had posed, before being inserted to the midfield in the last quarter to even up the clearances and contests against a midfield line-up of Jarrod Witts, Touk Miller, Matt Rowell & Noah Anderson who gave the Magpies plenty of headaches.

John Noble (21 disposals @ 86%, 405 metres gained, 3 contested possessions, 18 uncontested possessions, 5 intercept possessions, 14 kicks, 7 handballs, 3 tackles, 1 goal assist, 6 score involvements, 2 clearances, 2 stoppage clearances & 4 Inside 50s) made every post a winner with his ball use, decision making and constant dash off the last line of defence without wasting a single target. This was comfortably Noble's best performance of the season, and may there be more to come.

Nick Daicos (19 disposals @ 95%, 270 metres gained, 4 contested possessions, 15 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 9 kicks, 10 handballs, 6 marks, 7 score involvements, 3 Inside 50s & 3 Rebound 50s) had a moderate impact on the contest where he spent time alternating between periods up forward and behind the ball in defence. Nick made an effort to ensure a large portion of his possessions ended in scores, especially when he was up forward.

Isaac Quaynor (14 disposals @ 79%, 309 metres gained, 8 contested possessions, 6 uncontested possessions, 7 intercept possessions, 8 kicks, 6 handballs, 3 marks, 4 tackles, 3 score involvements & 3 Rebound 50s) complimented John Noble nicely to form synergy behind the ball to then go forward in waves of constant movement and run off half-back.

Darcy Moore (13 disposals @ 85%, 280 metres gained, 6 contested possessions, 7 uncontested possessions, 8 intercept possessions, 10 kicks, 3 handballs, 7 marks, 3 Contested Marks, 2 score involvements & 4 Rebound 50s) gave Collingwood great drive from defence with accurate kicks on the way out, and took some impressive marks to prevent goals being conceded.

Brody Mihocek (13 disposals @ 77%, 232 metres gained, 6 contested possessions, 7 uncontested possessions, 10 kicks, 3 handballs, 7 marks, 3 Contested Marks, 4 Marks Inside 50, 8 score involvements, 2 Inside 50s & 4 goals) stood up with some excellent pack marks up forward as the only noted key forward in a division filled with small forwards, and converted much of his hard work to reward his team. Mihocek has now kicked 4 goals in a game on 10 occasions. He is yet to kick 5 goals in a game. Hopefully that comes next weekend.

Jordan De Goey (11 disposals @ 46%, 194 metres gained, 8 contested possessions, 3 uncontested possessions, 6 kicks, 5 handballs, 2 marks, 4 tackles, 3 score involvements, 2 clearances, 2 centre clearances, 2 Inside 50s & 1 goal) was unable to reach lofty heights throughout the match. Aside from a nice goal in the opening term, there's not much to write about.

Jack Ginnivan (11 disposals @ 82%, 186 metres gained, 4 contested possessions, 7 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 8 kicks, 3 handballs, 4 marks, 2 tackles, 7 score involvements, 2 Rebound 50s & 3 goals) made the most of his limited opportunities, and produced the goal of the day with daring run from the Shane Warne Stand pocket to evade multiple opponents and had the audacity to finish off his left foot at the top of the goalsquare. Here's to many great moments over the next 10 years, Jack!

Collingwood's next game will be against Richmond on May 7 at the MCG. This particular contest will be season-defining in many ways and will feel like a final. The Magpies will need to replicate their method up forward with precise ball use to maintain possession and find marking targets inside 50 to convert goals. Alternatively, if that style of play gets cut off or heavily reduced, then scoring goals up forward from stoppages could be the next best ploy. Additionally, both teams will look to cash in from turnovers, so it is important for Woods to have the wood over the Tigers by scoring as many goals from this scoring source as possible when Saturday afternoon calls for action.

[Big T]

[Big T]