Deep dive: Collingwood has issues up forward, with ball movement and with a number of big name players
The Jordan De Goey and Dustin Martin comparisons have been thrown around a lot. But until the Magpie finds any form of consistency, they must stop.
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Adam Treloar came within two minutes of being a Collingwood premiership player in 2018.
Two-and-a-half years on, he might be closer to that elusive flag now he is in red, white and blue than if he had got his wish to stay in black and white in 2021.
Jumping to conclusions in Round 1 of any season is always fraught with danger.
But the cold reality of Collingwood’s 16-point loss to the Bulldogs on Friday – the manner more so than the final margin – shows they have a power of work ahead of them.
The bookies believe the Dogs are closer in the premiership window than the Magpies, with TAB tightening their 2021 flag quote into $11, with their opponents edging out to $21.
Collingwood faces a huge Thursday night clash with old rivals Carlton – with the loser set to start the season 0-2.
Here are a Glenn McFarlane’s key take-outs/observations about the Pies’ Round 1 loss …
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ANY DUSTY COMPARISONS NEED TO BE TEMPERED AHEAD OF JORDAN DE GOEY’S 100TH GAME … AND HE MUST PLAY CLOSER TO GOAL
Anytime you read or hear something about the explosive nature of Jordan De Goey’s game, there seems to be the obligatory mention of his Dustin Martin-type qualities.
He’s certainly got some of those traits, but until he finds an equilibrium between his devastating best and his more modest efforts, that discussion should be tempered.
De Goey is 25 and will play his 100th AFL game on Thursday night.
He averages 16.42 disposals per game and has kicked 82 goals so far.
He has also polled 26 Brownlow Medal votes.
Martin was two years younger when he reached his 100th game – in Round 15, 2014 – and albeit he was then more of a traditional mid than De Goey has been, he was still averaging 22.86 disposals per game, with 108 goals and 50 Brownlow votes to that stage.
The Richmond superstar has clearly taken his game to a new level in the seven years since.
So there is still plenty of time for De Goey to find that level of consistency required, but for the sake of his team the clock is ticking.
There is also the vexed question of where the club needs him to play.
One of the most astute footy brains in the game, Mick McGuane, is adamant Collingwood’s dearth of goalkickers means De Goey MUST play closer to goal.
McGuane wants a 70-30 forward-mid split for De Goey.
Fox Footy’s Leigh Montagna this week raised the stat that Collingwood has a 14-4 record when De Goey kicks three or more goals.
Montagna said: “If they don’t play him (forward predominantly), I can’t see how Collingwood kicks big enough scores this year to trouble the really good teams.”
WHERE HAS ALL THE PRESSURE GONE?
Collingwood made that 2018 Grand Final – as well as the penultimate weekend a year later – off the back of pressure and energy.
The contrast on Friday night could hardly have been more stark.
Buckley conceded post-game that his team must rediscover that hunt and grunt again – and fast.
The Western Bulldogs kept Champion Data busy, obliterating Collingwood in almost every stat imaginable.
But the most damning was the fact that despite having almost 150 fewer disposals than their opponents, the Magpies laid three fewer tackles than their opposition.
“The worrying stat for us was that they laid three more tackles than us, despite that dominance in possession,” Buckley said.
“We had 104 tackle attempts for 53 tackles, so we tackled at around 50 per cent which is as low as I can remember.”
Tellingly, only five of those tackles were laid inside 50, an indication of effort, or a lack thereof.
COLLINGWOOD’S MIDFIELD WAS ONCE TOUTED AS ONE OF THE AFL’S BEST. THAT SEEMS AN ETERNITY AGO
Can it really be only two years ago since Matthew Lloyd said that Collingwood’s core of onballers had the potential to be “one of the deepest and best midfields” for years?
Dayne Beams is gone from that mix, and the Magpies traded out Treloar, believing he didn’t fit the mix or connection they wanted.
But the Collingwood mids were made to look second rate by the Bulldogs on Friday night.
Their best midfielder is still Scott Pendlebury, who has just turned 33.
Steele Sidebottom was missing, but he too is 30, and could spend more time in attack now.
Taylor Adams is the reigning Copeland Trophy winner and an important player. He will be better for the run on Friday after racing to prove his fitness for Round 1.
Are Jordan De Goey and Jamie Elliott better suited to playing in attack rather than through the middle as they are keen to, given Collingwood’s forward woes?
The Magpie kids will get more time through the middle this season and beyond, but none has yet shown the spark or the capabilities of 20-year-old Bulldog Bailey Smith.
As Jonathan Brown said on Fox Footy: “There’s not a younger one that’s popping through saying ‘I’m the best midfielder’ like a Bailey Smith coming through.”
SEVEN GOALS AIN’T GOING TO WIN YOU MANY MATCHES IN 2021
Collingwood’s inability to kick big scores remains a massive issue.
But Buckley laid the blame more at the feet of his mids than his forwards this time around.
The jury is out on Collingwood’s forward structure off the back of the effort against the Dogs.
Add to that the alarming 2020 rankings which saw the Magpies ranked 13th for points for, 16th for scores-from-inside-50 percentage and 16th for forward 50 marks.
On Friday, the Magpies had 18 scoring shots (only one less than the Dogs) from their 41 inside 50s (20 fewer than the opposition).
“It’s pretty hard to judge the forwards as such … we didn’t get a really good read on it tonight,” Buckley said.
“I don’t know how the game is going to pan out, but if we play like that around the ball, we are not going to give ourselves the chance to win games of footy.”
Mason Cox, Brody Mihocek and Elliott each scored two goals each.
But it is hardly a surprise that the Magpies’ attack that produced so many different scoring options in 2018 is seriously struggling for potency right now.
And it’s hard to see how that’s going to change in a hurry.
WILL HOSKIN-ELLIOTT AND JOSH THOMAS ARE A SHADOW OF THEIR 2018 PRODUCTIVITY, AND THEIR SPOTS IN THE TEAM MUST BE IN JEOPARDY
Collingwood had six players kick 25 goals or more in 2018, including Hoskin-Elliott and Thomas, who combined for 80 (yes, that’s not a misprint).
But what’s happened to them since?
Hoskin-Elliott kicked 42 goals that season, but only 30 goals from his 38 games since.
Thomas has been unable to replicate the form that saw him kick 38 goals in 2018. He has managed 26 in his last 37 games.
Unless they can offer more on the scoreboard, and return to applying the pressure required, their spots in the team must be questioned.
Buckley conceded on Friday night: “We need to keep looking at the mix in that front half that works for us. It’s too hard to assess (on this example).”
Collingwood hasn’t had a 50-plus goalkicker since Travis Cloke booted 68 goals in 2013.
Mihocek won the goalkicking last year with 25 goals, which joined Alex Fasolo’s 25 goals from 2016 as the club’s equal lowest tally since 1954.
CLUBS ARE NOW DOUBLE-TEAMING GRUNDY, AND HE NEEDS HELP
Brodie Grundy was coming off three successive BOG efforts against the Bulldogs leading into Friday night’s game.
So it was little wonder Beveridge recruited Stefan Martin in the off-season to back up Tim English whom Grundy had previously monstered.
It might yet prove to be one of the bargain recruits of the year, given the two Bulldogs effectively doubled teamed Grundy.
Grundy won the hitouts but not the duel.
Martin won the clearances (6-3), the disposal count (15-11), the contested possession count (12-4) and he also kicked one goal to nil.
Grundy is coming off a year in which he was below his 2019 All-Australian best, but his pre-season gave an indication he was ready to get back to his top level again.
Much will be made of his lucrative seven-year contract – signed after his brilliant 2019 season – that has now come into effect.
But that deal is done, and Grundy is more than capable of getting back to his game-defining best.
But he just might need some more help.
Buckley conceded after the match that he should have used Cox more regularly in the ruck to help out.
“I thought their big boys tag teamed him and (we) probably didn’t get Mason in the ruck as much as we intended, definitely not in the centre bounce as much as we would have liked,” Buckley said.
“I thought Brody was amongst the midfield that was beaten on the night.”
DARCY MOORE WILL CAPTAIN COLLINGWOOD ONE DAY, LIKE HIS DAD PETER DID THREE DECADES AGO
Collingwood’s backline was a beacon of light under duress on Friday night, led superbly by Darcy Moore.
Moore made an early down payment on a potential second All-Australian blazer – yes, admittedly that’s a very early call.
Added to the leadership group this season, it seems certain if he continues his trajectory that Moore will emulate his father, Peter, once more and become skipper of the club one day.
Pendlebury will play on for a few more seasons, and Adams and Sidebottom as his vice-captains are the next in the queue.
But Moore’s leadership on and off the field is growing by the minute.
If only they had two of him … one to hold down the key defensive posts alongside Jeremy Howe and Jordan Roughead; the other to assist Collingwood’s forward woes.
Don’t forget Moore did kick 5.0 in his third game of AFL football as a 19-year-old – against the Bulldogs of all clubs.
‘GLAD IT’S OVER’: EMOTIONAL TRELOAR’S GRUDGE MATCH ANGUISH
Adam Treloar insisted on Friday night he wanted to put a permanent full stop to his rivalry with Collingwood after he and the Western Bulldogs locked away their first win over the Magpies in four years.
In the much anticipated grudge match played out before 46,051 fans, Treloar was beaming after the Bulldogs’ hard-fought 16-point victory in what proved a personal and professional win for the 28-year-old.
In a game that started in a quick cacophony of boos and ended in some vocal cheers for him, Treloar finished the game with 18 disposals (with 10 contested) and having five clearances before being swamped by his former teammates who came in to congratulate him.
It came 127 days after he was reluctantly traded out of the Magpies’ line-up – despite having a long-term contract – due to Collingwood’s lopsided salary cap woes.
But as heartbroken as he was at the time, and as bitter as some of the moments have been between him and his former club, he now wants to move on from the rivalry narrative and savour his new career with the Bulldogs.
“I am kind of glad it is over now,” Treloar said on Channel 7.
“We can move on now and stop talking about the Adam Treloar versus Collingwood (storyline).
“It was never that; it was about our Round 1 clash, no matter who it was.”
“(I was) really happy we put in a good performance. We butchered it a bit moving forward but there’s always areas to work on after the first game.
“The last couple of weeks in particular where it became clearer that I was going to play and I was kind of over the mishap I had in the pre-season … were challenging times.
“They were very emotional because I do love the guys over there and each and every one of them mean a lot to me. All the players on the field mean a lot to me now, so I’m glad that one is over. “
Treloar started on the wing on Friday night and gave initial opponent Tyler Brown a hug before the opening bounce.
He played in a variety of roles, including high half forward and while his disposal was wayward at times, he was a handy player for his side.
His teammate Bailey Smith won the best afield honours, helping himself to 35 disposals and two goals.
Treloar’s first opportunity came four minutes into the game when he found himself loose across the wing with an open paddock leading into the Dogs’ forward line to the Punt Road end.
As soon as he gathered the Sherrin, the boos came in like a tidal wave as some Magpie fans disregarded Travis Cloke’s pre-game pleas to show respect to Treloar.
Treloar gathered and ran towards a leading Aaron Naughton, as the Collingwood supporters prayed for a shanked kick.
But he delivered a perfect pass into Naughton, who ended up nailing the Bulldogs’ second goal of the game.
It was Treloar’s first touch, his first effective pass and his first goal assist in Bulldogs’ colour as the two teams slugged it out early before the red, white and blue eventually won the arm-wrestle and the match.
Originally published as Deep dive: Collingwood has issues up forward, with ball movement and with a number of big name players
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