Season 2019 - Collingwood

Collingwood

Coach – Nathan Buckley

2018 –

Points For – 3rd
Points Against – 8th

Top 5 Best and Fairest

  1. Steele Sidebottom
  2. Brodie Grundy
  3. Scott Pendlebury
  4. Jack Crisp
  5. Taylor Adams

2018 Rising Star Noms

Sam Murray (Rnd 3)
Jaidyn Stephenson (Rnd 4)

Ins – Dayne Beams, Jordan Roughead, Isaac Quaynor, Will Kelly, Atu Bosenavulagi,

Outs – Jarryd Blair, Alax Fasolo, Kayle Kirby, Sam McLarty, Adam Oxley, Josh Smith

My Prediction

I got this one desperately wrong last year, I didn’t just have the Pies missing the eight but had them missing by a distance. They had a lot go right last year but also had their fair share of injuries and lost some crucial players along the way. Their midfield looked shaky before the year but suddenly it looks like it bats deep and full of quality.

The backline is probably their main concern. They are light on key position depth and have Dunn returning from a serious knee injury. Darcy Moore chose to hang around but I am not convinced he will take the next step. I have always rated him highly but he just looks a role player. Howe is an amazing intercept mark and they get reasonable drive from their half backs although they looked better with Murray playing.

The midfield was consistently good in the second half of last year. Sidebottom had a career best year and de Goey announced himself as someone who will rip the competition to shreds at stages. You then add Beams on top of Phillips, Wells, Treloar and even Mayne who was incredibly important last year and you have one of the best midfields in the competition. They bat deep and have a lot of quality ball users all the way through.

The forward line surprised last year and the emergence of Mihocek in the second half of the season gave them a marking option outside of Cox (who I still don’t rate despite his accent and back story). Thomas fulfilled some of the potential he looked like he had before the nose candy took a couple of years out of his career and then came Stephenson who just impacted games constantly over the year and kicked goals when they needed them. With all that said, there still looks to be holes in their forward line and in the grand final we saw that they lacked a real quality marking tall who does more than just provide a target.

Grundy isn’t just a quality ruck but the minute the ball hits the ground they have another midfielder, he racked up ridiculous numbers last year and he is probably their most important player. They picked up Roughead which gives them a solid back up should anything go wrong. From a coaching perspective, Buckley really turned it around last year. He didn’t just prove he could coach but his PR people made him appear likeable and look like a man of his people. He looked more relaxed and his players definitely responded and they looked like they wanted to play for him.

I guess the thing we should ignore is that Collingwood had a really soft draw last year, they had a reasonable run during the season and secured top four with that run. That being said, they had to beat quality teams in the finals to make the big show and they looked the part. I don’t seem them missing the finals but they are going to have a harder draw this year and I think that may impact their top four chances. I think they finish between 4 and 6.

4 Likes

What are they planning to do with Roughead. His best position is ruck. He’s an average kpd at best.

Seems a strange acquisition to me. Will probably play a lot of vfl. Then again they have no key defenders so who knows.

Still think their side looks unbalanced but their midfield is so stacked it should be enough to see them play finals again and they had a terrible injury run last year (though some of that was probably a blessing).

I’d love their form of last year to be a flash in the pan.

Pies were an easy draw assisted top 4 team. A 14-0 record against the non-finalists of 2018 and 1-7 against the 2018 finalists in the H&A season. Caught Richmond on a bad night in the prelim and then choked in the Grand Final after kicking the first 5 goals of the match. They are definitely a finals team this year but I’m not buying them as a flag threat.

5 Likes

theyre a good team now. yes they got a very easy draw last year but i think theyll be up there. i have a feeling Degoey is going to demolish teams this year though.

1 Like

Top 4, probably top 2.

1 Like

Grungy
Pendles
Treelord
Frontbottom
Mr Beans
Adams
Phillips
Sier
greenwood

is a scary high quality midfield, but they’ll need some of the young players to kick on to provide depth as I think wells is shot & mayne could fall away.

Disagree. They exposed the lack of height in the Tiges defence and exploited it with great delivery to Cox. WEagles learnt from that and double teamed him in the GF. They are a dangerous outfit, with plenty of quality right across the field. DeGoey is a real goer, one whose feats l hope Begley can replicate. Buckley got them working well as a unit. The harder draw will impact on them. They weren’t convincing during the regular H & A games, but it all clicked into place during the finals, until they got to the big dance, when a few nerves got to them. Grundy is a modern great in the ruck and is in the process of redefining the position. Pendles defies time, but must begin to slow down at some stage soon. Sidebottom had a horrendous GF, and will be keen to make amends, while Mayne doesn’t convince me that he is the real deal. Darcy Moore has been kicked around and not allowed to settle into one position/role long to show what he is truly capable of, they have misused him by trying to turn him into a swing man. Stephenson is a star in the making, and l look forward to McGrath playing on him, running off him, and dominating him in the seniors, just as he did in the juniors.

They will make the 8. Going so close last year will burn in their bellies for much of the coming season and drive them on. They are right in the mix for the top 4, won’t finish any lower than the top 6.

3 Likes

They’re a good side and well coached.
It will be nice if we can give them a scare this year, we were nowhere near them last year.

2 Likes

Best midfield in the game by a mile. Top 4

3 Likes

I have a funny feeling we will both be 5-0 going into ANZAC day, and we will come out and give them a royal thrashing, then the hype will be unbearable around us.

6 Likes

Maybe its my bias towards Collingwood, but I reckon they were blessed with a pretty easy run during the H&A. Yes they came good in the lead up to the GF, but still couldnt beat the Eagles both at home and away.

I’ve got them either missing the 8, or just scraping in. Dont see them featuring in the pointy end of the finals this year - too many KPP holes IMO.

1 Like

I remember he was OK when he played FB at the Dogs for 3 or 4 years?
Might not be best 22, but he’ll be first cab off the rank behind Grundy, and depth in the backline too, where they’ve had heaps of injuries.

I think he’s a good acquisition for pick 75.

2 Likes

Best 22
Grand final side (Excl emergencies I made up)

In: Beams, Moore, Wells, Elliott
Out: Aish, Goldsack, Thomas, Sier

B: Maynard Langdon Crisp
HB: Howe Moore Greenwood
C: Mayne Pendelbury © Phillips
HF: Hoskin-Elliott Micohcek De Goey
F: Stephenson Big Cox Varcoe
R: Grundy Treloar Sidebottom
Int: Beams, Adams Wells Elliott
EMG: Brown, Qaynor, Reid

Imagine they would like to replace Greenwood as well a young defender with more run.
Pretty handy midfielders on the bench.

Callum Brown might get into the senior side had an ok VFL finals series, with another preseason.
Dunn - have left out due to knee injury
Quaynor might be a chance to make an impact being a ready made player from their academy.
Reid - where is he at, is he fit, will they play him in defence again?

Collingwood defence is ok, Midfield possibly the best.
And De Goey is the barometer in the forwardline along with Stephenson.
WIll make finals again, and with Beams added they will expect at least a preliminary finals performance

Prediction 3-8
Would only have Eagles and Richmond to probably finish above them.

Edit: + Jamie Elliott

1 Like

Elliot would be in best side if he gets back on park also

Pies not only had a very easy draw but umpires completely favoured them all year.

Little wonder Eddie kissed Gil on head after prelim win.

3 Likes

Would be curious to see how they go without Grundy for a long period of time, he’s a seriously good footballer.

They are an annoying team, with an annoying number of annoyingly good players.

These annoyingly good players are in dispersed with a number of spuds that always seem to play annoyingly well.

Should be a middle of the ladder team, just have an annoying habit of winning games.

Could finish top 4.

That would annoy me. Again.

9 Likes

Those are my memories as well.
Then he got Bevo’d.

Agree will make top 8. Top 4 50/50.

On Anzac Day correct. In the second game, we were with them up to the last quarter, and we were down 1 in defence with Ambrose doing a 'string. They had lost Dunn, we had lost Daniher. In the last quarter our midfield ran out of legs. Belly tired against Grundy and 2-3 crucial centre bounce clearances to Pendlebury lead to goals by DeGoey. That was the difference in the end. Note: we beat West Coast.
In 2019 I reckon we will be up there with both West Coast and Collingwood, inside the top 6 but in the case of Collingwood, I would be playing 2 ruckmen. Belly is in the top 5 ruckmen in the comp now and can halve it with Grundy for 3 quarters, but cannot match Grundy for mobility and tank for 4 quarters.

2 Likes

Minson broke down and Roughead got pushed into the ruck.

Buckley was always a good coach.
He got more wins out of his team than the team would suggest.
That’s a good coach.

They’ve lost nothing, added Beams, and if Moore is any sort of player then they’re better this year than last.

They very friggin’ nearly won the flag, and the template that WC put down…not many teams can follow.
I’m not just talking about in the ruck, I mean the relentless pressure they put on for four quarter and it still nearly didn’t work.

I’d back Collingwood to finish above WC this year.
I just hope there’s a team good enough to beat them at the business end.

5 Likes