Robbo: Maggie Varcoe would be proud of brother Travis Varcoe, gallant Pies
MAGGIE Varcoe — a lover of football and life — will be laid to rest on Tuesday and last night her brother Travis was awesome in defeat, Mark Robinson writes.
COLLINGWOOD lost the match, won respect, but it matters not — they now face a knockout final at the MCG this weekend.
It was an extraordinary and epic qualifying final, won by West Coast by 16 points.
The Eagles now rest for a week, like Richmond, and will host a home preliminary final.
The Magpies fly home the west and will play Greater Western Sydney, conquerors of pitiful Sydney at the SCG.
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Is there pride in defeat?
Certainly, Sis would be proud.
Maggie Varcoe, a lover of football and life, will be laid to rest on Tuesday and last night her brother Travis was awesome in defeat.
Before the game Maggie was saluted with a minute’s silence and for dedication or inspiration, Travis looked to the skies.
In the third quarter, when the Pies had the Eagles under siege with forward entries time and again, Varcoe ran down Luke Shuey which produced a goal for teammate Josh Thomas.
Most of this teammates ran to him.
The goal gave Collingwood a 10-point lead at the three-quarter time and momentum filled their hearts.
It was truly an amazing game.
West Coast surged in the first quarter. Collingwood responded with the same in the second quarter. Collingwood upped the pressure in the third quarter. And the ifnal quarter was epic for its closeness, it’s pressure and its drama, all of it seemingly played ona ground drenched with dew.
When it mattered, the Eagles’ champs stood firm.
Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling, quiet for three quarters, kicked the first two goals of the final quarter.
Jordan de Goey gave the Pies hope with a goal, before Lewis Jetta, Darling and Jack Redden ended Collignwood’s dreams.
At the siren, West Coast players sought out Varcoe and hugged him and wished him well.
It was the closest of the four first-week finals games.
The first quarter was furious, full of free kicks and manic Eagles players, and they kicked the first three goals, before Varcoe gave the Pies confidence with a goal just before the siren.
Of course, heroes abounded.
Eagle Liam Ryan’s first shot at goal went out of bounds on the full, his next was dead-centre from 50m, and in the final quarter he and Willie Rioli and Jetta caused all sorts of headaches for the Pies.
So did Elliot Yeo, who was the unluckiest player to not make the All Australian team.
Still, while the Rioli-Ryan combo is the Eagles X-factor, backman Jeremy McGovern is the excellence factor.
He matched up against Brody Mihocek, hounded Mason Cox and, at quarter-time, had taken seven marks — four of them intercepts.
If it continued, the Pies were dead. It didn’t.
McGovern didn’t take a mark in the second quarter and finished with only nine for the game. Coach Nathan Buckley orchestrated stoppers for McGovern, largely Chris Mayne, while McGovern wanted to get to Cox.
In totality, it messed up the gun Eagles defender through the second and third quarters.
It also messed up the Eagles. They took 33 marks in the first quarter and just nine in the second, as the Pies adopted a bit of Richmond and Melbourne’s grubby football: get it, move it forward however you can.
Elliott Yeo was Exhibit A in that regard and he finished with 36 disposals, 24 of them contested.
The Pies kicked 6.1 to 3.4 to lead by three points at the half and then 10 pints at three quarter-time.
While Buckley missed the McGovern plan in the first quarter, it was bewildering why West Coast coach Adam Simpson allowed Steele Sidebottom to roam free for a quarter and a half before Mark Hutchings was given the role to stop him.
Why it took so long was bewildering.
Hutchings curbed him somewhat after that — and the move helped the Eagles strong arm the midfield, led by Jack Redden, Yeo and Dom Sheed, who played his best game of the season.
Other critical players were Mark LeCras, who played up the ground, and Nathan Vardy in the ruck, who didn’t let Brodie Grundy dominate.
Buckley’s faith in Tyson Goldsack received huge reward — until the final quarter.
He played on Kennedy, who was in his first action since Round 18 and lacked match awareness. The Eagle looked cold and Goldsack looked sharp, even though the Pie was playing his first game of the season after recovering from an ACL.
Kennedy took his first mark early in the third quarter and from then he found his groove.
So did the Eagles.
Their final quarter was powerpacked in front of a crazed home crowd.
And clearly the Pies will need to produce some of what the Eagles did if they are to beat GWS in next week’s semi final.
Gallant losers is bearable for a week. Gallant losers twice in consecutive weeks wins no friends.
Originally published as Robbo: Maggie Varcoe would be proud of brother Travis Varcoe, gallant Pies
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