Deep dive special: Inside look at where Collingwood is heading in 2020
So much about Collingwood in 2020 will depend on Jordan De Goey. Can he overcome the distraction of his contract saga to help power the Magpies deep into September?
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Amid the heartache of Collingwood’s 2018 Grand Final loss there was pride at the manner of defeat.
As Nathan Buckley’s Pies saddle up for another premiership tilt, no one at the Holden Centre is sugar-coating the embarrassing nature of last year’s finals exit.
It is a theme that will drive this club all year, aware a last-gasp charge at GWS in the preliminary final belied a greater truth.
Collingwood sleepwalked through three quarters of a preliminary final, down 8.8 (56) to 3.5 (23) until they finally snapped out of that fog.
Senior assistant coach Robert Harvey told the Herald Sun the Pies had thrown away a golden opportunity.
“I suppose in a lot of ways the players were filthy. They were angrier and more disappointed with last year than a couple of years ago (in the Grand Final). The players and staff were really grumpy with how we turned up in a prelim. We just didn’t play our best footy.
“At times through the year we had been coughing and spluttering a bit and couldn’t get the continuity in our game we had been striving for.
“We just played poorly and they are the facts. So everyone has to live with that and we are looking to come out and redeem ourselves and get going. The Giants were really good, but it’s so frustrating and disappointing to have played fairly well in the first final (against Geelong) and then not to have turned up. We were so far behind on the night and couldn’t get our game going and then it was even more frustrating that we could get it going for 20 minutes and get close.
“So we have to learn from that and sometimes you have to endure that pain to get through it.
“Other teams have done that and we feel like we have had to endure a bit hopefully we come out the other side of it.”
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Collingwood poured on the last nine scores of the preliminary final but a series of huge defensive efforts in a wet, slogging game put GWS into a Grand Final.
Every Pies fan and player will have pondered what might have been against Richmond the next weekend.
The midfield-forward connection fell apart in that contest - key forwards Ben Reid and Brody Mihocek took two marks between them - and Brodie Grundy’s 73 mostly ineffective hitouts have been well-scrutinised over summer.
Collingwood will enter 2020 with an elite squad that has introduced ex-Sydney forward Darcy Cameron but in all likelihood will not see Dayne Beams again.
For Buckley’s men the strategic concerns that reared their head in that final were not foreign — and they are absolutely fixable.
Jordan De Goey missed the preliminary final with a hamstring issue, Mason Cox returns from an eye injury that ruled him out for the finals and Jaidyn Stephenson should get a full run at the season after his betting scandal last year.
“We have worked on some really clear areas over summer to iron it out,” says Harvey.
“We have got some highly driven players, as you would imagine, chasing what they want to achieve.”
On that sodden MCG the Pies were swamped by a perfect storm of a GWS team packing the stoppages and conditions that didn’t allow the Pies to spirit the ball to the outside of the contest.
“We just think teams were pretty good at coming at us around the stoppage stuff and so we need to be proactive in that space and play to our strengths more often than not. For the majority of the season we were, but we fell away in that piece late,” he said.
The Collingwood defence is clearly elite - Darcy Moore and Jeremy Howe winning aerial contests, Jordan Roughead locking down hard, Brayden Maynard as the feral stopper of small forwards and emerging talents John Noble and Isaac Quaynor easing into new roles.
“What is probably underrated is how well those guys defend,” says Harvey.
“We had the second-best defence last year, so to be able to get the job done last year defensively with those boys was a real asset and it’s something the boys pride themselves on. Obviously, we want to continue that this year.”
Cameron is an unknown quantity despite strong NEAFL form that included eight goals playing mostly ruck in 11 second-tier contests last year.
“In some ways it’s probably an area we haven’t had a lot of depth in. We have more of that this year,” says Harvey.
“So it’s an area there is competition in. Throw Ben Reid into that mix, who is really keen to put his best foot forward, and it’s healthy competition. Mihocek has been one of our mainstays and to be able to do what he does for us at his height has been a real win for us and he has great respect in the group.”
The trio of dangerous smalls in Jamie Elliott, De Goey and Stephenson will all play some midfield time depending on match-ups and fitness.
“It’s just a great asset to have. For Jordy to have the ability to go into the midfield like he does, even as the midfield coach I would like to play him more in the midfield but it’s where he’s needed on the day. For us it can even be who we are playing against,” says Harvey.
“Stevo is ready to go after his glandular fever. With his speed and endurance his midfield capabilities are strong so that’s where he should look to for the future, but with his speed and power in the front half that’s good for us too so he will spend time in both areas.”
Beams was recruited as the icing on the cake for Collingwood’s midfield, but in his nine games last year he never dominated enough for Pies fans to truly miss his subsequent absence.
Rupert Wills added a hard-tackling punch to the midfield in his nine games (and two finals), while Brayden Sier has a chance to atone for a disastrous 2019 campaign.
The club’s No.40 draft pick Jay Rantall has looked at home as a hard-running inside-outside onballer in early practice match sorties. Don’t discount an early debut for the teen who won the club’s first time-trial of the summer.
“We feel like we have got midfield cover,” says Harvey of the delicate Beams situation.
“Obviously, Beamsy is still on our list and he is one of our players so we have great care for how that is looking. In the short term I think we have enough depth to be able to cover and we had to deal with that last year as well. Rupert stepped up and we have Brayden there as well so we have guys duking it out for midfield spots.”
Finally, there is the senior coach, one of football’s most fiercely driven characters who has rounded out his personality with a softer, more authentic edge.
“He is coaching really well,” says Harvey of a man he has shared the coaches box with for eight seasons.
“Obviously, he is as disappointed as anyone how we finished last year so there is an edge and a drive to Bucks and the group. All the staff and players want to get better. It’s a great environment to be in, which is good but in the end we are there to get results and he is driving that pretty hard.”
THE LIST
In: Trent Bianco, Darcy Cameron, Max Lynch, Jay Rantall, Trey Ruscoe, Tom Wilson.
Out: James Aish, Ben Crocker, Lynden Dunn, Tyson Goldsack, Sam Murray, Daniel Wells.
The Collingwood list is stacked with elite talent plus a burgeoning list of kids who are kicking down the door for opportunities. No other side has such an array of medium and small goalkicking targets like Jordan De Goey, Jaidyn Stephenson, Jamie Elliott, Will Hoskin-Elliott and Josh Thomas. But big boys win finals, so can the key forwards in Brody Mihocek, Mason Cox, Ben Reid and Darcy Cameron get the business done in September?
Off contract: Darcy Moore, Jordan De Goey, Ben Reid, Jack Magden, Jordan Roughead, Mason Cox, Travis Varcoe.
No reason Roughead won’t get an early extension, while Chris Mayne’s new contract to 2021 was released last week but actually brokered in last year’s trade period.
Moore surely stays at Collingwood given a relatively injury-free season which allows the Pies to justify handing him big money.
De Goey, currently without a manager, came back out of shape and is only just recovering.
If he wants Dusty Martin-style money he can still affect the rock-star aura but needs to repeatedly win games off his own boot. He loves the Pies but his contract saga likely has twists and turns ahead.
BIG YEAR FOR ...
Mason Cox: The big ruckman is uncontracted and laughed off talk he might head to Essendon in the off-season but had kicked only 19 goals from 14 games until a season-ending eye injury saw him miss finals.
Everyone knows his best is majestic — especially Richmond fans — but can he be more consistent in leading up to an elite midfield or at least bringing the ball to ground?
PRE-SEASON HERO
Isaac Quaynor: The NGA recruit was a top-10 pick in the 2018 national draft and after a hyped summer he had to wait until Round 16 for the first of his four games in his debut season. That is no criticism of the pacy half-back who has burnt up the track this summer and will back himself to find a role from Round 1 onwards.
Collingwood’s selections last year started at 40 but already they are excited by gut-runner Rantall (40), pacy half-back Trent Bianco (pick 45) and tall defender Trey Ruscoe (55).
Recruiter Derek Hine’s statement that Bianco kicks the ball better than Steele Sidebottom was franked by a dashing practice match contest against Carlton.
“The best thing about those boys is that the expectations of them aren’t limited,” says Harvey.
“We saw glimpses of Rantall when we played Geelong in a practice match and Ruscoe and Rantall against Carlton. They are guys we want to see more of, they are showing plenty of stuff and hopefully they get their chance.
“Ruscoe and Bianco are defenders who use it well and Rantall is that high half forward midfielder who we are really impressed with.
“All summer (Rantall) hasn’t looked out of place and that’s why we put him in for those first two games. He looked like he was ready and he has to keep turning up like he does but he should be a good player for a long time.”
BEST PLAYER YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF
Tom Wilson: The 22-year-old 194cm athletic tall represented Victoria in footy’s Under-16 championships then instead chose basketball and was on the Melbourne Tigers and Sydney Kings lists before choosing the Pies over Geelong, Hawthorn and Gold Coast.
Already in a practice match against Carlton he has shown dash and an ability to throw himself into marking contests with abandon. The Pies wouldn’t be surprised if he cracked a debut this season.
“He is earning great respect,” says Harvey.
“He hasn’t got a long footy background but he is learning the game and has a real future. He is earning that respect with how he goes about it. With a few things he did last week, he has some genuine talent and he is working hard to bring that to fruition so he’s got a good future.”
MORE MAGPIES NEWS:
Darcy Moore in no rush to re-sign with Collingwood
De Goey recovers from slow start to summer ahead of potential Wangaratta return
Collingwood AGM: Eddie McGuire re-elected as Magpies president for three more years
Darren Jolly reveals mental health issues after brain tumour scare
STATS THAT MATTER
First in pressure differential (plus 5.7 per cent)
Fourth for scores inside 50 (44.8 per cent)
Sixth for time inside forward half (plus 2.01 minutes)
Second for points against (73 points)
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This story is part of Deep Dive, a new series taking fans into the inner sanctum and exploring the issues and opportunities of every AFL club ahead of season 2020. Our team of AFL journalists cast their expert eye over all teams, players and prospects to give you a deeper picture. A new club is explored each day until the first bounce on Thursday, March 19.
DEEP DIVE PART I: WILL ‘ASHAMED’ DEMONS BOUNCE BACK?
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Originally published as Deep dive special: Inside look at where Collingwood is heading in 2020