Collingwood was a tall man short and its midfield went missing, writes Mick Malthouse
COLLINGWOOD was brave in defeat but in the end couldn’t hurt West Coast after quarter-time because it was one man short and the midfield went missing, writes MICK MALTHOUSE.
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ENTERING the match with unchanged line-ups, Nathan Buckley had resisted the urge to bring in tall defenders Ben Reid or Darcy Moore.
Adam Simpson confident that McGovern was fit enough to play an entire game.
The match-ups early were effective. Tom Barrass on Mason Cox. Will Schofield on Jordan De Goey. Mark Hutchings on Steele Sidebottom. Levi Greenwood tagging Elliot Yeo. And Jeremy McGovern free in the backline to act as an interceptor.
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But it was Collingwood who settled fastest. Strong tackling and constant pressure versus nerves led to fundamental and costly West Coast mistakes, and five unanswered goals to the Pies.
Big starts are always hard to pull back. Especially in a Grand Final. Momentum is everything.
By halfway through the first term the Eagles were playing into Collingwood’s hands.
By kicking the ball laterally out of their backline, they were allowing the Pies to cut off their forward run, pushing them backwards instead.
Whereas Collingwood was doing what West Coast needed to — using its run to break through the corridor and deliver to its forwards.
But, settling enough to get on top in the clearances, the Eagles were able to pull two back just before the first break and calm the Collingwood storm.
West Coast’s defence held up in the second term through Barrass, McGovern and Tom Cole, denying Cox a clear run at the ball with clear intercept marking, stemming the flow of the Pies’ scoring.
But Collingwood was equally as stringent in the Eagles’ forward 50. Jack Darling nowhere to be seen for the visitors.
It was a stalemate.
Both teams showed signs of Grand Final fatigue with plenty of missed opportunities.
One for one for the quarter, West Coast’s slow ball movement was costly, while Collingwood’s quick run delivered.
Before Luke Shuey, working hard the length of the field and becoming damaging, brilliantly goaled from a forward stoppage, to make it four West Coast goals from the last five scored.
Brodie Grundy, while not dominating, was getting the important ball to his ground clearance players in the Eagles’ forward line, denying them further opportunity to reduce the deficit. Just two goals in it at halftime.
Josh Kennedy’s mark and goal in the opening minute of the third term was important for his confidence, while Buckley, recognising Shuey’s influence, moved Greenwood on to him early.
Goal for goal, it was a high intensity arm wrestle.
Tom Langdon was outstanding back, keeping Collingwood in the game.
But it was Jack Darling who was starting to exert some influence and made the Eagles suddenly look a lot more dangerous.
Yeo, without the shackles of Greenwood, put them in front for the first time in the match, and started having more of an impact.
In a sign of desperation, Sidebottom, definitively beaten by Hutchings, was moved to full-forward to break his tag, and Cox was moved in behind the ball to float across the backline.
Shuey continued to be brilliant and Collingwood had to fight for every possession in its forward 50.
Scores level, game on.
De Goey in the middle had an instant impact with two quick centre clearances to give the Pies the best start to the quarter.
Cox wasn’t getting taller, but McGovern and Barrass were getting tired and the Magpie giant took full advantage.
Five goals in eight minutes of the last term was a sign that the defence of both teams were feeling fatigued, and it would come down to the team that settled defensively first who would be in the best position to finish strongly.
The Eagles desperate pressure kept the ball in their forward 50 and made for plenty of scoring opportunities, but the number of missed shots on goal would have left Simpson frustrated in the coaches’ box.
McGovern continued to be allowed to drift across the backline, unmanned, and hurt Collingwood in doing so.
His marking was extraordinary and set up the Dom Sheed goal which sealed the win for West Coast.
In the end the Pies were a tall man short.
The Eagles two big ruckmen Nathan Vardy and Scott Lycett, playing tag in the ruck and the forward line, never let Grundy off the hook, and the Pies’ midfield was in turn nullified and eventually beaten. Scott Pendlebury again had a quiet final.
Tactically the two coaches tested each other.
Very rarely do big men kick a bag of goals in a final however, and Kennedy’s three, Darling’s one and Vardy’s one, far outweighed Cox’s two goals and meant the difference.
Collingwood was brave, but it couldn’t hurt West Coast enough after opening the game with five unanswered majors — 9.11 to 6.7 after quarter-time in the Eagles’ favour was telling.
Kennedy, Darling, Chris Masten, Shannon Hurn, McGovern, Vardy, Yeo, and Liam Ryan were excellent.
But it was Norm Smith medallist, Luke Shuey who did the real damage with strong marking, desperate tackling and kicking that hit the target every time.
The most defining and influential performance however, came from Hutchings who stopped Sidebottom in his tracks after a 41-possession game last week.
Hutchings was just extraordinary in his discipline and his focus.
Schofield took over from Hutchings when Sidebottom went forward.
Tackling pressure both forward and back made every forward entry tough for Collingwood and kept the pressure up on its backline, until it broke wide open for the Eagles in the final minutes and led to the premiership.
Adam Simpson has learnt not only from his Grand Final loss three years ago, but also from every encounter with Collingwood this season and he remained calm throughout the game, sticking to his game plan and backing his players.
His reward is the cup.
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Originally published as Collingwood was a tall man short and its midfield went missing, writes Mick Malthouse