Collingwood has a trusted travel plan in place for its trip west to take on the Eagles
PICKING the right time to fly out of Perth is always tough for Melbourne based clubs. But the Magpies have a plan to make sure their players pull up perfectly ahead of a potentially quick break.
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COLLINGWOOD premiership coach Mick Malthouse has backed the Magpies’ red-eye travel plans for their qualifying final in Perth.
The Magpies are the only team forced to travel in week one of the finals and have been scheduled to play at night in the last game of the weekend, against the Eagles at Perth Stadium.
Collingwood’s taller players, including Mason Cox and some of the club’s veterans, will fly to Perth on Thursday night while the majority of the team will make the trip Friday morning.
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But the team is planning to board a plane home within hours of finishing the clash and expect to land in Melbourne about 6am on the Sunday.
“It’s exactly what I would have done, it’s exactly what I’ve done through my 30 years of coaching,” Malthouse said.
“It’s get in, get out, that’s it in a nutshell.
“It’s what I did with both West Coast and Collingwood … it worked very well at West Coast and it certainly worked well at Collingwood.”
If Collingwood loses the Magpies face the prospect of a compromised seven day break for a potential Saturday semi-final against the winner of the Sydney derby.
While Malthouse said the Magpies had “drawn the short straw” in terms of the finals fixture, he said if unsuccessful, the shorter break could work to their advantage.
“I don’t think it’s an issue. Seven days is practically normal,” Malthouse said.
“That’s something you cannot afford to worry about. It is not something that you want to draw attention to with your playing group. You just get on with it.
Collingwood played at the new Perth Stadium for the first time in their Round 23 win against Fremantle and Buckley said his team had learned plenty ahead of their first final.
“The stands really hang over the top of you, so it’s got a bit of an MCG feel in that regard,” Buckley said.
“It’s a bit sneaky skinny to be honest, we kicked out of bounds on the full a few times.
“ANZ Stadium had a similar quirk about it.
“It’s actually not as wide as it feels at times … that probably gives us a bit of a heads up into what you can get out of your offence and what you may be able to do with your defence as well.”
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Originally published as Collingwood has a trusted travel plan in place for its trip west to take on the Eagles