By Michael Gleeson and Jon Pierik
Will Hoskin-Elliott plays everywhere and nowhere. A sneaky target forward, hard running wing, intercept mark, rebound defender – he is a player without a position.
Last year, as Collingwood tried to patch their defence together after Nathan Murphy, the Luigi to Darcy Moore’s Mario, retired due to concussion, Hoskin-Elliott found a position helping try to solve the Murphy-less puzzle.
Will Hoskin-Elliott (left) will be part of the Pies’ recast forward line.Credit: AFL Photos via Getty Images
Craig McRae moved Hoskin-Elliott back and he played well. He tends to do that.
Hoskin-Elliott, or “WHE” as is the shorthand for some fans, is a WD-40 player. McRae applies him to squeaky areas.
The long off-season after missing the finals and the introduction of a trio of experienced players – Tim Membrey, Dan Houston, Harry Perryman – has meant Hoskin-Elliott has been shuffled again. This time not to grease the wheels in another section but to try to give the team an extra dimension.
“I think we’re gonna start off in the forward line and see what happens,” Hoski-Elliott said ahead of Sunday’s opening round match against GWS.
“I like to base my game, similar to Jack [Crisp], and play all areas of the ground. So we’ll start as a forward and see where it takes us.
“Maybe a deep forward hopefully, coming out of the goal square like big ‘Plugger’ Lockett.”
He was joking about the Plugger bit.
Moving Hoskin-Elliott back to the forward line seems reasonable, but where or how do they all fit? Collingwood brought in Membrey from the Saints. They have Dan McStay finally fit and clear of injury. They also have Brody Mihocek and Mason Cox as marking targets.
And that is just the “talls”, depending on whether you bracket Jamie Elliott, a Robbie Gray-style medium forward with a big leap and strong hands, which make him a target.
Elliott is touch shorter than the others, but he has company as the under-sized target. Membrey is only 190 centimetres. Mihocek is 192 centimetres. They are effective complementary targets but not big power forwards. Put it this way, Crisp who plays his 250th game this week, is a midfielder. He is 191 centimetres.
Brody Mihocek marks against Richmond in the practice game.Credit: AFL Photos
Then there are the smalls: Bobby Hill, Beau McCreery and Lachie Schultz. Pat Lipinski has also played a high forward-midfield role. He looks likely to play more on a wing this year.
A finger injury will keep Cox out this week, but there is depth.
Much attention has rightly focused on the recast defence at Collingwood with Houston’s arrival, Josh Daicos’ move to half-back, and Reef McInnes being used as a key back. The moves at least in the tiny sample to date have made Collingwood look dangerous in attacking from defence. But the defensive changes have clouded the similar shuffling up forward.
Crisp said the silver lining of not making finals was that the Magpies had more time to work out the chemistry of game changes and new players this year.
“I think a lot of us probably see the difference compared to last year. We get to practise on field and build a bit of chemistry. Just focus on different areas probably given us a bit of confidence. We saw we were quite connected against the Tiges, [able to] play our brand of football. So I think we’ve been able to spend at least two, 2½ months together getting quite beneficial for us, and hopefully we can see the results.”
Membrey’s arrival broadens that scope for using versatile hybrid tall forwards with Mihocek, Hoskin-Elliott and Elliott.
“Tim is, I would say, similar to me. I’m a bit better!” Mihocek laughed, but, in the competitive way of footballers, he might not have been joking.
“I have that much respect for Tim and what he does, and he loves to be crash and bash but is also a quick moving forward. Dan [McStay] is more that key who takes the brunt of the force, and I’m happy to do whatever. Tim is working really well down there. He gives us something extra.”
Mihocek battled with injury last year after tearing a pectoral muscle, but he has also played such a combative style of game that he looks beaten up much of the time.
The breadth of forward options for Collingwood does not tempt him to take periods of rest in the season.
“Probably not. I don’t know, I always feel banged up. I think it’s a good thing for me, it keeps me switched on and ready to go. And I know that once I get out on the ground an injury wouldn’t worry me,” he said.
“Even in the practice game people were saying, ‘What are you doing going back into that pack?’ But it’s the way I play, and I won’t change it.”
‘It’s a real weapon’: Daicos to make a switch as McRae declares stars fit
Jon Pierik
Brayden Maynard has shrugged off any concerns about his fitness, while skipper Darcy Moore is ready to reignite his career as the Magpies prepare for the big wet against Greater Western Sydney on Sunday.
Maynard was full of dash and dare in a 90-minute training session in the heat on Friday, with Collingwood coach Craig McRae confirming the premiership defender would line up in the season opener at Engie Stadium.
Magpies defender Brayden Maynard trained strongly on Friday ahead of the season opener.Credit: Getty Images
“He will play,” McRae said.
Maynard missed the Magpies’ pre-season clash against Richmond, after battling a foot issue through the summer.
The robust defender is a key cog of the Magpies’ premiership tilt, and part of a strong backline led by Moore, star recruit Dan Houston and new member, Josh Daicos. The latter will spend time as a rebounding playmaker, despite being established as one of the league’s best wingmen, where he won the Magpies’ best and fairest award and was an All Australian in the club’s 2023 premiership year.
McRae said Daicos would provide tremendous drive.
“It’s a real weapon to have Josh off half-back, setting the game up there. The game now requires you to hit targets out of defensive 50, otherwise you are in trouble. To have Josh, and futuristically have Houston, they are a couple of weapons that will ask a lot of questions of the opposition,” McRae said.
The Magpies will unveil recruit Harry Perryman, named on a wing where Daicos once ruled, while former Saints’ forward Tim Membrey was named on an extended bench, but McRae said he remained in firm contention to play.
However, star recruit Houston (suspended), premiership gun Jordan De Goey (knee bruising) and Mason Cox (finger) will miss the trip north.
McRae said Perryman, a tackling machine and the former Giants defender who signed a six-year deal with the Magpies, provides versatility.
Former Giant Harry Perryman has impressed with his on-field intensity over summer.Credit: Eddie Jim
“We thought we would bring Harry in to play a little bit of midfield because he is such a good transitional runner, and just over the pre-season, prepping him for that, stoppage craft, knowing he can go back and play those defensive roles for us,” McRae said.
De Goey trained strongly on Friday and is expected to be fit for round one or two. But McRae said the Pies had learnt from last year when they selected some players who were “fit to play but not fit to perform”.
“He is making a case for next week … but we’ll wait and see,” McRae said.
Moore had interrupted pre-seasons through 2023 and 2024, but McRae said the skipper was ready to return to his best. The athletic defender, and intercept marking king, struggled, at times, through a draining ’24 campaign.
“There is an energy in him. We catch up regularly. We are excited for presenting a better version of Darcy, in particular, a lot fitter,” McRae said.
Seeking redemption after missing the finals – on percentage – last season, McRae said the Magpies were optimistic about the season ahead. But he stressed this year was not about recapturing past glories.
“I am not really keen to recapture anything. I am keen to create a whole new version of us, and a whole different feel and a whole different energy from different players,” McRae said.
As Essendon did earlier this week, the Magpies trained, at times, with a wet ball in preparation for the expected soggy conditions at the Sydney Showgrounds as a result of Cyclone Alfred.
McRae said the Magpies would take an extended squad to Sydney before determining their best options.
“We probably spent 20 or 30 minutes of match committee [talking] about who plays if it’s really wet, what’s coming. The unknown is hard to plan for, other than to play for wet weather. I have seen different forecasts,” McRae said.
“We would like to think our game style doesn’t really matter if it’s wet or dry. Some positional changes [will be] made.”
The Magpies will have their captain’s run in Melbourne on Saturday before flying north.
The Giants will be without injured trio Jesse Hogan, Tom Green and Jake Stringer.
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