Nathan Buckley declares Taylor Adams a certain starter in Round 1 despite injury scare
Taylor Adams has sent a scare through the Collingwood camp, with the midfielder finishing the club’s final Marsh Series match on the bench. Nathan Buckley provided an update on his star after the match.
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This was about two famous names and one famous number.
On a chilly afternoon in Morwell, and at a pre-season game that was uneasy on the eye, thank goodness for a few young men – Josh Daicos, Ben Long and, wearing Nick Riewoldt’s old No. 12, Max King.
Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury’s 14 disposals in the first quarter were as predictable as they were polished while Jeremy Howe was as impassable as ever with 11 marks.
But on a day where Jack Lonie’s four second-half goals delivered the Saints an 11-point victory, this was more about the kids.
Daicos, 21, made it hard for coach Nathan Buckley to leave him out of the Round 1 team. King, 19, made life hard early for key defenders Darcy Moore and Jordan Roughead.
And Long, 22, showed why Saints insiders have been raving about him all summer.
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Long, a 2016 VFL premiership forward for Footscray, looks at home at halfback, where his exquisite ball use and vision will help with transition.
By halftime, the explosive nephew of Essendon legend Michael Long had 18 disposals. He has never touched the ball more after 30 AFL games and three full seasons at the Saints.
He was the Saints’ best, and by a long way. Playing with similar creativity was Daicos, who was stationed on a wing by Buckley.
Daicos’s neat set-shot goal capped a busy first quarter and by halftime he had 15 disposals, 12 of which had hit the target.
Daicos – the son of 1990 Magpies premiership star Peter Daicos – went on with it, and the combination of brothers Tyler and Callum Brown in the final quarter provided some spark when the game opened up late.
As for King, the runaway hype gained further steam in the first quarter. The No. 4 draft pick from 2018 looks certain to make his AFL debut against North Melbourne in Round 1.
On Sunday there were five marks (two contested) in the first half for King, albeit only 1.2.
The game got tougher for King, although Jason Dunstall was impressed at his ability to keep creating a contest to bring the ball to ground.
BUCKS BACKS ADAMS
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has declared Taylor Adams a certain starter in next week’s Round 1 blockbuster against Western Bulldogs.
Adams, 26, sat out the second half of Sunday’s loss after an incident late in the second term.
“(Adams) jarred his hip in that incident at the front of the interchange bench late in the second (quarter), so we just pulled the pin on him then and get him set for Round 1,” Buckley said.
“He wanted to keep playing, but then he could be missing an arm and want to do the same thing.”
JOSH SET FOR BIG BATTLES
DON’T be surprised if Josh Battle gets given some of the toughest tasks in the game this year, tagging the likes of Marcus Bontempelli, Nat Fyfe and Patrick Cripps. The man who started as a forward and was thrown into defence last year is unlikely to stay back, given St Kilda’s surplus of defenders. But the endurance beast – who was a late inclusion – has the frame and fitness to run with some of the game’s best. Battle’s strong mark set up Dan Butler’s last-quarter goal as he pushes for a place in the Round 1 team.
WHAT THE COACHES SAID: NATHAN BUCKLEY
Darcy Cameron made way for All-Australian Brodie Grundy, with Buckley challenging the impressive recruit to become more damaging in attack.
“Darcy’s been really good in the ruck and basically it was Darcy out and Brodie Grundy in,” Buckley said.
“Brodes was quiet today, but he’ll be better for the run. Darcy played really well (on Saturday) also, so there’s no doubt his performances have been really strong the last two weeks.
“He understands we probably need to see a little bit more of him forward of the ball, because when you’re playing well on-ball but you’ve got an All-Australian ruckman (Grundy) in front of you, you need to be able to do the job in front of the ball.
“He’s going to continue to work on that and be an ongoing challenge for Mason, Brody Mihocek and (Ben) Reidy as well.”
Cox took three contested marks but was held scoreless on Sunday.
Buckley was frustrated his team gave up 35 inside 50s after halftime although praised the backline for restricting St Kilda to 10 goals.
Goalkickers Jamie Elliott and Jordan De Goey rolled through the centre square as “a point of difference” for Buckley’s midfield brigade.
“Those two boys we’ll definitely be seeing through the midfield at times when we need those fresh legs and a little bit of ballistic drive out of those contests,” Buckley said.
WHAT THE COACHES SAID: BRETT RATTEN
Saints coach Brett Ratten said his team was fortunate to only trail by 13 points at the first break despite the Magpies dominating uncontested marks.
“It wasn’t pretty footy. Some of the stuff through the second quarter was hard to watch,” Ratten said.
“But that’s what you get with new men working together and playing together.
So that’s the first time (Zak) Jones has played with (Dougal) Howard and (Paddy) Ryder and (Brad) Hill and (Dan) Butler.
“If we keep putting these men together they’ll keep getting a greater understanding of each other, which is good.
“That connection is going to be really important and those five blokes, plus (Ryan) Abbott could come in at any time as well, making sure we get on the same page and understand each other because they’re very good players.”
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Ratten praised Dan Hannebery’s “voice and direction” on the field after he collected 18 disposals.
“He’s a quality player, he can play multiple positions and he gives good leadership,” Ratten said.
BEST:
COLLINGWOOD: Sidebottom, Howe, Daicos, Crisp, Pendlebury, Moore, Mayne, Phillips
ST KILDA: Lonie, Hill, Long, Steele, Billings, Dunstan, Clark, Jones
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