Struggling Magpies must turn to Daniel Wells after loss to St Kilda
COLLINGWOOD has plenty of grunt, and arguably the most dominant ruckman in the AFL. But they lack any finesse and slick ball use. Enter Daniel Wells.
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NATHAN Buckley must give Daniel Wells a wink and a nod at the club on Monday.
When Collingwood brought the silken veteran to the club on a big-money deal in last year’s trade period, it was a chance to add some of the flair, coolness and polish the Magpies lacked.
The Magpies have plenty of onball grunt, and arguably the most dominant ruckman in the AFL in Brodie Grundy, but what has cost them over the first month of the new season is some finesse and slick ball use.
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And it proved again on Sunday at Etihad Stadium as Collingwood dominated the midfield battle (winning 40 clearances to St Kilda’s 22) but failed to convert in the forward half of the ground.
It left the door open for the Saints who were the far cleaner and more damaging side on the rebound and deserved this 14-point triumph.
But the big question this week at the Holden Centre will be Wells, and whether he will take on Essendon in next Tuesday’s Anzac Day blockbuster at the MCG, after making his return through the VFL on Saturday.
He has had problems with his calf all preseason but has improved his fitness to the required level over the past fortnight.
Midfield coach Scott Burns said the star midfielder was close to playing on Sunday, but the Pies decided to give him a run around in the twos, and one more week of training.
Buckley must pull the trigger on Wells this week.
Wells has the exquisite kicking skills that can help the Pies extract the best out of a forward line that Paul Roos said was missing another senior big body to help provide more aerial support for Darcy Moore. The 21-year-old key forward battled again, but so did all of the Collingwood forwards, to be fair.
The forward set up was improved in the win over Sydney last round but the connection and synergy wasn’t there on Sunday as kicks repeatedly fell into the waiting hands of Dylan Roberton, Jimmy Webster, Blake Acres and Sam Gilbert.
While most of the focus at St Kilda has been on the move to dump No. 1 pick Paddy McCartin, coach Alan Richardson would have been impressed with the work of fellow big forwards Josh Bruce and Tim Membrey who marked with authority and, especially in Membrey’s case, used the ball brilliantly at times.
The Saints had 19 contested marks to Collingwood’s eight for the day, highlighting the difference in potency at either end.
Nick Riewoldt’s mark diving forward on the lead in front of Tyson Goldsack to start the last quarter was one of the grabs of the season, too, albeit more of a slips catch.
And then went the Saints, rocketing forward under the roof, there was only modest pressure coming from the black and white in the crucial third term.
After 115 tackles last week, Collingwood had only 46 tackles at three quarter time on Sunday. That’s chalk and cheese from week to week, and an unwanted drop-off.
Jamie Elliott had minimal impact in his return from more than a year and half out with back and ankle injuries and Moore’s slow start to the year continued.
It would be a big call to drop Moore, but we know Buckley has brought Mason Cox in for the Anzac Day game before and it worked as the big American nailed the first goal of last year’s game.
Elliott missed his first set shot in the first term and he passed off his next best opportunity inside 50m early in the last quarter when he off-loaded the ball to Alex Fasolo, who missed.
And while the footy water cooler talk may again drift back on to Buckley over the next week or so, with his Pies slumping to 1-3, you could not blame him for this one. No way.
This was an execution issue. And a difference in intensity and effort in that third term. Overall it was a sloppy and mistake-riddled game and the Saints were allowed to rack up easy uncontested marks, passing the 100-mark in the last quarter. The Pies conceded 72 on average this season, but the Saints were able to skip away at crucial periods.
Buckley was fuming at three-quarter time. Collingwood’s halftime meeting would have centred around composure but it wasn’t there.
The Magpies clearly had the upper hand in the midfield battle, leading the centre hit-outs seven to one and centre clearances 23-11 at the main change.
Buckley showed his frustration in the coaches box as Brayden Maynard, Levi Greenwood and Jack Crisp all turned the ball over.
At the same time, Bruce began to assert himself in the second term with some clever grabs and a pair of goals on Henry Schade that put the Saints 12 points up at halftime.
COLLINGWOOD 2.6 3.7 5.8 7.13 (55)
ST KILDA 1.3 4.7 8.12 9.15 (69)
GOALS
Magpies: Hoskin-Elliott 2, Fasolo, Crisp, White, Blair, Schade
Saints: Bruce 2, Membrey 2, Montagna, Gresham, Riewoldt, Acres, Billings
BEST
Magpies: Adams, Grundy, Howe, Pendlebury, Reid
Saints: Ross, Riewoldt, Roberton, Bruce, Geary, Brown, Membrey, Newnes
INJURIES
Magpies: Tom Phillips (illness) replaced in selected side by Jarryd Blair, Will Hoskin-Elliott (left wrist)
Saints: Nil
Reports: Nil
Official crowd: 36,650 at Etihad Stadium
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