Anzac Day AFL: Collingwood v Essendon news, teams

Skipper Scott Pendlebury remains bullish about Collingwood’s premiership chances and has backed the club’s young guns to shine on Anzac Day.

Scott Pendlebury says it is time for Collingwood’s kids to “put their stake in the ground” — but has also warned not to rule the 1-4 Magpies out of this year’s premiership race.

Endurance machine Jay Rantall will make his AFL debut on Anzac Day, while 192cm target Nathan Murphy is set to play his first game since 2018.

The Magpies fielded the AFL’s oldest line-up in Round 4, but have since lost Taylor Adams (knee), Jordan De Goey (concussion), Jeremy Howe (hamstring) and Levi Greenwood (concussion) to injury.

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They unveiled outside midfielder Finlay Macrae last week while eye-catching Beau McCreery has started to look at home as a tackling forward.

“I’m fortunate, I get to train with these younger guys all the time,” Pendlebury told the Herald Sun.

“I know there’s talent underneath that’s coming through. It’s not just the crop that we’ve just drafted – there’s guys that have been sitting there for two or three years that haven’t got a game because we’ve been a fairly strong side.

Finlay Macrae made a strong impression on debut for Collingwood.

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“But at the moment with injuries there are opportunities if they are in form and now they get their chance to really cement their spot in the side.

“These guys really see this as an opportunity to put their stake in the ground and lock their spot in.”

Rantall was Collingwood’s top pick in the 2019 draft (No. 40) although Pendlebury said 2021 was effectively his first AFL season.

“Those formats (last year’s scrimmages in AFL hubs) didn’t really let his strengths shine,” Pendlebury, a Kayo ambassador, said.

“Now that we’ve got full-length games again we can see the athlete he is. He can run all day, he’s very clean, he’s very predictable as a midfielder and a guy that’s really earned his stripes.

“I feel like he’s one of those guys that’s just going to run himself into the ground. He came in and won the time trial – 2km is almost too short for him.

“Even last week in the VFL, his ability late in quarters to be the midfielder who always gets to the next contest and be an outnumber player.”

Jay Rantall will make his Magpies debut on Anzac Day.

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Pendlebury said Murphy was a “wing and high halfback” with strong aerial skills.

The Magpies were set to draft Murphy at No. 6 in 2017 if Jaidyn Stephenson was unavailable, but were able to secure both with Murphy lasting until pick No. 39.

“It’s his fourth year now on the list and he’s a guy who’s just persevered. He’s had some injuries along the way,” Pendlebury said.

Pendlebury – who could overtake Essendon legend James Hird by winning a record fourth Anzac Day medal on Sunday – said it was too early to dismiss the 2021 Pies.

“I speak about that middle tier as well, that 24-to-27-year-old bracket – Darcy Moore, (Brayden) Maynard, De Goey, (Will) Hoskin-Elliott, (Brodie) Grundy – guys like that are extremely talented,” he said.

“I feel like we’ve played some good footy in patches this year, but obviously not enough to win some games.

“If we can turn that around I think this year is certainly not out of the equation for us.”

BUCKLEY: NEW PRESIDENT WON’T DECIDE MY FUTURE

Marc McGowan, Glenn McFarlane and Michael Warner

Nathan Buckley has declared that football boss Graham Wright and not the new club president will determine his coaching future.

Buckley was keen to “debunk” the theory on Thursday that the exit of Eddie McGuire would have any impact on him being at Collingwood next year.

The Magpies coach said it was not part of Mark Korda’s role as Collingwood president to appoint or reappoint a coach.

He said new head of football Wright would have the biggest say in his tenure being extended to an 11th year.

Buckley is out of contract at season’s end and the Magpies have only one win through the first five rounds after making the finals – including the 2018 Grand Final – the past three years.

Nathan Buckley is out on contract at the end of the season. Picture: Getty Images

“No, we’re not sitting down talking about 2022 at this point,” Buckley said.

“There are different (topics such as) list management and development where you lift your eyes, but my job is to manage the coaches to have the players in the best shape possible to perform on the weekend.

“There are some medium-term aspects in that.

“Winning is probably the easy one and I don’t even need to have the conversation to know that, but there are also consistency of performance and growth from our club and from our team.

“We are endeavouring to do that as best we possibly can, starting from next Sunday.”

Buckley expected Korda, Wright and chief executive Mark Anderson to catch up soon to discuss the club’s direction.

Buckley hasn’t given up hope of qualifying for another finals campaign, but said that, as with Anzac Day opponent Essendon, Collingwood was in the process of “introducing some youth”.

The Pies are preparing to forge on with the Darcy Moore forward experiment, even with defenders Jeremy Howe (hamstring) and Mark Keane (suspension) unavailable.

Swingman Will Kelly, who played in defence in the VFL last week, is primed to play his first senior game of the season and second overall.

Jack Madgen and Chris Mayne are other backline options, although Buckley conceded Mayne was under an injury cloud.

Nathan Buckley isn’t expecting the new president to have a say on his future. Picture: Getty Images

Buckley said he was keen to change his team’s forward mix after the first month’s evidence and that he needed a greater sample of Moore the forward than just one match.

“Jordan Roughead’s stood up and played exceptionally well early in the year and we believe we’re as stable back there as any,” he said.

“We also think the way we defend the ground actually helps our back six, so potentially if we can hold up there and Darcy can do some damage forward of the ball (that’s a good result).

“As he said to me last week, just as long as no one thinks he’s going to be the knight riding in with the white horse to fix it all up … he’ll be a part of our mix and he’s not the entire solution.”

Wright spoke to players and staff about in-game mobile phone use after the Howe and Jordan De Goey situation, and Buckley was confident the situation wouldn’t arise again.

EDDIE’S TAKE ON THE NEW PIES PRESIDENT

Collingwood has appointed long-time board member Mark Korda as its new president.

Korda was named as Eddie McGuire’s successor at a board meeting on Wednesday night.

He has been acting as co-president with Peter Murphy since McGuire sensationally quit in February following the damning fallout from the “Do Better” report.

VRC chairman Neil Wilson was also appointed to the board to fill the vacancy left by McGuire, who resigned in early February.

The Herald Sun had reported that up until this week the board had been split on whether to appoint Korda or Murphy to become the club’s 13th president.

Mark Korda has been appointed as Collingwood’s new president. Picture: Collingwood FC

It comes after a long process to appoint a new president, with interim co-presidents Korda and Peter Murphy both keen for the role, and after some key Collingwood figures endorsed former Channel 9 boss Jeff Browne for the presidency.

One option for Browne’s supporters would be to force an extraordinary general meeting at which external candidates could nominate for the board.

McGuire has endorsed the appointment of Mark Korda as his replacement describing it as “a steady as you go” transition.

The former president said he’d been concerned that old divisive “ghosts” of Collingwood had started to appear since his departure two months ago.

“I appointed Mark 14 years ago and he has been vice-president for a fair period of that time and in charge of finance and operations,” McGuire said.

“So it is a steady as you go transition into Mark Korda, he has been there for 14 years and knows the finances upside down of the club.”

McGuire said he’d been concerned troublemakers from the past had started to raise their heads in recent weeks.

“One of the things that I’ve been really concerned about in the last couple of months is that some ghosts of Collingwood have reappeared who have been long-term people who have split that club,” he said.

McGuire has endorsed Mark Korda. Picture: Alex Coppel.

“I was really really worried, and that’s why I’ve been very quiet, I don’t want to be running the campaign for anybody. I was absolutely worried that we were going to go back to the bad old days.

“Tonight Mark Korda is the president, rally behind him, get the board right and go forward.”

He said the push for former AFL legal adviser and Channel 9 boss Jeff Browne to become president had come too late.

“This was a scheduled board meeting and they were ready to go,” McGuire said on Footy Classified.

“Jeff coming into a position where he could add something to Collingwood was probably a bit late.”

Korda, who has been on the board since 2007, admitted Collingwood had some significant challenges ahead but said he was ready to take them on.

“Collingwood has long held a place in my life and I take on this role with the strong belief that we have in our possession a wonderful legacy, a strength and spirit with which we must seek to do and be better. We have challenges but great people and passion to meet them,” Korda said.

“Collingwood has been made by many and it will take many to drive it forward. I thank Peter Murphy for his support, particularly over recent months, and his determination to see Collingwood continue to flourish. We have worked closely and talked daily over the past months and will continue to do so. I welcome Neil to the board.”

He also paid tribute to McGuire, who served as president for more than 20 years before his departure in February.

“I also thank and pay tribute to Eddie for a contribution that may be the equal of any in the club’s 129 year history. His time was a transformational one that we must honour by creating a new age of prosperity and growth for Collingwood,” Korda said.

“There is a collaborative commitment from the board to serve our club and create real progress that will live on through those who follow.”

Korda was co-founder of the Korda/Mentha group which is a prominent investment and advisory group and the nation’s leading restructuring firm.

Originally published as Anzac Day AFL: Collingwood v Essendon news, teams