AFL Geelong v Collingwood: How Magpies found missing premiership puzzle pieces

Collingwood finished 2022 two points short of a grand final berth — but their super season was misleading. Everything they’ve done since has set them up as genuine flag contenders.

Chris Cavanagh

@chriscavanagh1

8 min read

March 18, 2023 - 11:57AM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

MELBOURNE . 17/03/2023. AFL Round 1. Geelong vs Collingwood at the MCG. Scott Pendlebury of the Magpies celebrates a 2nd quarter goal . Pic: Michael Klein

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There were some pieces missing from the premiership puzzle for Collingwood last year.

The Magpies might have fallen just two points short of a Grand Final berth, but their profile was not one that had ‘premiership contender’ written all over it.

Collingwood ranked ninth for points for last season, 14th for scores per inside 50 and 17th in both contested position differential and clearance differential.

Put simply, the side’s turnover game was in good shape but its stoppage game was not – and nor was the connection piece going forward.

What did they do about it?

The list management team went and recruited one of the best stoppage players in the competition in Tom Mitchell, another key forward target in Dan McStay and a creative small forward with lighting speed in Bobby Hill.

A focus over summer was also put on further perfecting a slick and attacking game plan built on speed, fitness and good foot skills.

There was also plenty of work done around stoppage play.

It is early days in the new campaign, but the evidence so far suggests all the right levers have been pulled.

Tom Mitchell celebrates kicking a goal for Collingwood. Picture: Getty Images

Against reigning premier Geelong on Friday night, the Magpies had a line-up and played a system and a game style that made them look every bit a flag contender.

This was not another ‘lucky’ narrow win, as was the case so often in 2022.

This was a dismantling of the Kings, who everyone else is out to decrown this season.

Let’s not forget that this is a Geelong side that won its final 16 games of last year.

The 2018 Brownlow Medal winner, Mitchell had four more clearances than any other player on the ground.

He finished with 10 – including five centre clearances – as Collingwood won the overall clearance count for the night 45-36.

When he wasn’t in the thick of it at centre bounces, Mitchell was playing forward where he also found a way to impact by kicking two goals – not something he has been renowned for in recent years but a nice bonus indeed.

In a forward line that was missing the suspended Jack Ginnivan, Hill provided a spark with his speed and ball use.

He logged only 10 disposals but made the most of his opportunities with three majors and one goal assist.

Bobby Hill provided a spark for Collingwood. Picture: Getty Images

McStay didn’t have his biggest night on the stats sheet with six disposals and a goal, but he did work hard and crash packs.

That helped bring other players into the game, while his presence this year will undoubtedly take some pressure off Brody Mihocek.

Collingwood’s clearance wins helped it dominate territory for much of the night and give its forward line plenty of looks.

The Magpies won the inside-50 count 62-46, but more importantly they generated scores from their entries.

At the same ground the previous night, Richmond had recorded 66 inside-50s for 8.10 (58) against Carlton.

Collingwood had no such similar issues finding avenues to goal as it booted 19.11 (125) from four less entries – making for its highest score since Round 18, 2018.

Daniel McStay celebrates kicking a goal for Collingwood. Picture: Getty Images

The Magpies kicked an astounding eight unanswered goals in the surge to the final siren, troubling the Cats with their run and speed more and more as the game went on.

“We spoke about managing our moments,” Collingwood midfielder Jack Crisp said of the message at three-quarter time.

“It’s what we did last year a bit. We’re a four-quarter team and we knew we ran over teams last year but we did more work this pre-season so we had belief in our system and what we were going to do was going to work.”

Confidence can be a powerful thing and Collingwood looks to have it in spades.

It also looks to have a better balanced playing list and an improved forward-half structure, which has the potential to take it all the way this year.

‘NEXT MAN UP’

Jeremy Howe is one of Collingwood’s best and most important players and will be a huge loss to the backline as he faces a lengthy recovery from a sickening broken arm.

The veteran finished fourth in the Magpies’ best and fairest count last year after missing just one game for the season.

He rated above average among key defenders for disposals, intercepts and intercept marks last year, as well as elite for metres gained.

The Magpies will want Howe back as soon as possible, but are not hitting the panic button.

They know there is an “obvious” replacement waiting in the wings in Billy Frampton, another off-season recruit.

The former Adelaide key defender was an emergency for Friday night’s clash with the Cats, only narrowly missing the cut behind Nathan Murphy.

Jeremy Howe will be a huge loss to the Collingwood backline. Picture; Getty Images

“He was pretty unlucky to miss out, Bill,” Collingwood coach Craig McRae said.

“He’s had a great pre-season. I sat him on the couch and said ‘Look, we’re going to trust Murph in to play that role because he plays our system slightly better at the moment’. But so he should, he’s been doing it a bit longer.”

Crisp, who has also been a key part of the Magpies defence in recent years, said while the great experience and leadership of Howe would be missed, the side had to move forward.

“We have a ‘next man up’ mentality in the way that we train,” he said.

“We do have a lot of blokes that are going to be ready to come in and fill those roles. It could open the door for Billy Frampton next week.

“He’s going really well. He couldn’t have done anything else to put himself in contention.”

Frampton is set to play in a VFL practice match on Saturday, ahead of a possible club debut against Port Adelaide next Saturday.

ENEMY NO.1

From the moment Ollie Henry’s name and photo came up on the big screen as players were warming up pre-game at the MCG, the ‘boos’ from the crowd were deafening.

And it wasn’t just the crowd who was getting stuck into the former Magpie turned Cat, who switched colours during the trade period last year.

Collingwood went in with a plan to target the 20-year-old – within the rules, of course – through some “push and nudge”.

“No silly free kicks of anything but just making sure we make you feel uncomfortable,” Crisp said.

“At the end of the game, we shake his hand. We loved the kid. We didn’t want him to leave. But we knew he was a confidence player so we just tried to shake his confidence a bit.

“(It’s) just all part of the game.”

Henry still had a very respectable night with 15 disposals and two goals, appearing to relish the theatre within the stadium.

But he might have also gone home sore, after being caught holding the ball in a crunching tackle from Darcy Moore as he ran into an open goal.

He was also in the middle of a scuffle at quarter-time, including being pushed over by Brayden Maynard.

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Collingwood kicked off season 2023 in sensational fashion with a 22-point win over reigning premier Geelong at the MCG on Friday night — a highly entertaining rematch of their epic qualifying final.

In front of 86,595 fans — the second-biggest home-and-away crowd for a match featuring these two teams — the Pies snapped Geelong’s second-longest winning streak of 16 matches.

For much of the night, Geelong’s incredible accuracy (it was 16.1 at one stage) kept it in the game.

Collingwood dominated general play, with healthy leads in inside 50s and clearances for the most part, but failed to convert that advantage.

The Magpies found themselves 22 points down 26 minutes into the third quarter. But the more energetic Pies didn’t relent, booting the final eight goals, including two from sub Reef McInnes, to run right over the top of the exhausted Cats.

The Cats ran out of puff and didn’t score in the final quarter until the 29-minute mark, before going down 19.11 (125) to 16.7 (103).

Bobby Hill and Josh Daicos after their barnstorming finish. Picture: Michael Klein

They buckled under the weight of numbers as the Magpies finished well clear in disposals (372-313), contested possessions (135-128), clearances (45-36), marks (105-69), inside 50s (62-46) and scoring shots (30-23).

Jordan De Goey franked his pre-season form with a best-on-ground performance that saw him register 25 touches and three goals

At 35, Scott Pendlebury turned in an influential performance that included 27 disposals (10 contested), eight tackles and a goal.

New captain Darcy Moore (nine intercepts) started his reign in fine style too with a dominant performance down back. Tom Mitchell had 21 touches, 11 clearances and two goals, and Bobby Hill three goals.

Dynamic brother duo Nick (35) and Josh Daicos (27) combined for 62 possessions.

Jordan De Goey seals the win with a late goal. Picture: Michael Klein

De Goey spoke of the Magpies’ ability to rally late post-game: “Yeah, the effort’s unbelievable mate. We have got such heart and it is where we’re renown for coming back in that last quarter.

“I think opposition sides worry about that. I think we thrive off it. So hopefully we can keep that going.”

Moore said the Magpies were very keen to capitalise on their superior leg speed.

“Coming up against the juggernaut of the competition for the last six, 12 months, (we) just refused to give up. I think that makes me so proud,” he said.

“I know the fans love it. You can hear them. They’re going nuts and it’s only round one.

“We have got 22 left to G so it should be a fun ride again, whatever happens.

“We’re not going to die wondering. A lot of guys have some great leg speed. So we want to use it. I think the coach is pretty open about saying we want to be fun to watch. So you know, it’s fun to play.”

Bobby Hill of the Magpies celebrates his first goal in the black and white. Picture: Michael Klein

HENRY RIDES ROLLERCOASTER

New Geelong forward — and former Magpie — Ollie Henry copped a loud chorus of boos all night from the Collingwood fans.

At the 17-minute mark of the second quarter, Henry converted a set shot and celebrated by letting the black-and-white army know all about it.

Six minutes later he was brilliantly run down from behind by Moore right in front of the Magpies cheer squad.

BOBBY GINNIVAN

Bobby Hill seemed to take his role of replacing the suspended Jack Ginnivan very seriously midway through the first quarter when he was tackled high.

But Hill was not awarded a free kick because the umpire rightly deemed he dropped his legs to create the contact.

MAGPIE GLOBETROTTERS

The Magpies’ second goal came as a result of some spectacular lead-up play that saw De Goey, under pressure and pressed up against the boundary line, tap the ball over his head to Pendlebury.

Under the pump, the former skipper handballed it over his head to Will Hoskin-Elliott, who combined with Taylor Adams and De Goey, again, to find Brody Mihocek.

Mihocek’s magnificent set shot from 45m out on a sharp angle then split the big sticks.