AFL 2022: Collingwood claims seesawing affair as Craig McRae notches first win
Fun. Instinctive. Rewarding. Collingwood unveiled a new fast-paced, aggressive style. And it’s paid immediate dividends for new coach Craig McRae.
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Craig McRae wants Collingwood to put the foot to the floor.
For the past few years the Magpies have played careful, controlled football.
It’s a style that Steele Sidebottom says saw the club often over-possess the Sherrin. They were the No.1 short kick team in the competition.
But in Friday night’s opening-round win over St Kilda there was a new dawn.
In 2022, it is clear the direction is to attack with a more instinctive game. One that is unafraid to go up the middle, take a risk, or forward handpass out of a stoppage almost in a Richmond manner.
And premiership star Sidebottom, who has gladly returned to a wing role after two years of being swapped around the ground, couldn’t be happier with the new brand.
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For only the second time in 45 matches Collingwood booted 100 points to post a first-round win that saw Jordan De Goey return to his best, Nick Daicos make a blistering start to his career and Patrick Lipinski make pick No.45 look like chicken feed in that trade with the Western Bulldogs.
Collingwood belted the Saints in the centre clearances 18-9, and when the Saints challenged in the third term the Magpies’ pressure went through the roof to regain control of the match.
There was the Jamie Elliott smother, the Jack Crisp intercept, and the Ollie Henry moment of magic when he sidestepped one opponent and then brushed aside another, to goal and help seal the win.
As Brett Ratten said after the match, the Saints failed to handle the black and white heat around the ball.
There was also a worrying moment which Ratten addressed at the last change – and then again after the game – when Jack Higgins failed to give off an easy pass to Jade Gresham who was wide open in the forward pocket.
Instead, Higgins blazed away. Gresham was unhappy and Higgins copped a spray.
It was an easy goal that went begging at a crucial stage.
But if Carlton made a statement on Thursday night with its fourth-term comeback, Collingwood did the same in unveiling a new fast-paced and aggressive style, with a bolstered midfield brigade.
And Sidebottom loves the new direction. It is fun, he said. And instinctive. Rewarding.
“It is exciting and it is really fun,” Sidebottom said.
“We have probably got caught out over-possessing the ball (in recent years).
“But we are just told, ‘If we have the footy we are in control. If the option is there and you like it, you take it’.
“If in doubt we want to go forward and give our forwards a chance. They’ve done a heap of work forward of the footy just to compete and if they can’t mark it, just to bring it to ground.
“The coaches just want the guys to play to their strengths, and that is so good.
“What makes it even better was there were stages where our pressure was very hot.
“And that is huge for us, if we can combine that (quick movement and pressure) more often than we are going to win games.
“We are going to do some damage, which is nice.”
The Magpies went up the centre corridor about 40 per cent last season but that figure soared to 60 per cent midway through the third term on Friday night as the Magpies took the game on.
When they have the momentum, McRae said, they want to capitalise, after having the third worst offence in the competition last season.
“I loved our fight and our spirit. We are trying to form a new DNA, if you like, and when our fans come and watch us play we want to show them we have a bit of fight in us,” McRae said.
“In that last quarter, our pressure was really high and we got the game back on our terms.
“We are going to go forward more and we are going to kick to more contests but Hayden Skipworth is our ball movement coach and he has done an enormous job.
“He has got the guys going moving the ball fast, but you have got to assess the game and know when to go fast and when to go slow, otherwise you can’t defend behind it.
“It’s round 1, we have a lot of improvement in that part of the game, but I’m really pleased to impact the scoreboard like that.”
De Goey kicked two goals in his first AFL game since his New York nightclub episode, but McRae said there was no “scar tissue” from previous incidents.
McRae said De Goey was “a great teammate” and “a great human within our four walls”.
“Everybody judges Jordy on things maybe he has done in the past,” McRae said.
“I judge him on the things I know of him.”
Sidebottom is happy too, having booted two goals from a wing, including a brilliant snap on his non-preferred left foot from almost 50m.
He has been flipped around in multiple positions in recent years but has returned to a wing after a frank chat with McRae.
“The last couple of years probably haven’t been my best footy, but just to go out and perform again,” Sidebottom said.
“I’ve been thrown around a bit. I think the wing is where I have played my best footy. I’ve done all pre-season on the wing, tonight on the wing.
“I’ve been forward, mid, anywhere I’ve needed to go, but it’s nice (to settle down).
“It was the first thing ‘Fly’ said to me, ‘Where do you see yourself playing your best footy?’
“I feel like I know the wing role better than most, and ‘Daics’ and I always like to go on the fat side so we have a fight to get on to it.”
Wasted chance
There were some stern words in the St Kilda camp when Higgins burned wide open teammate Gresham and Ratten took it up with the former Tiger.
“It was spoken about at three-quarter-time. And post-game,” Ratten said.
“It is (uncharacteristic) but it is also about how we want to go about our footy, too.
“The pleasing part was that I spoke to Jack at three-quarter-time in front of the group about, ‘That is not helping our team’.
“And then straight away in the last quarter he got one at the top of the goalsquare and handballs it straight to Gresham, so you sort of say, ‘He’s learned from that and taken it on board’ and what is expected from him as a teammate’.
“That is good because we missed an opportunity to put the Pies under pressure.
How Pies’ key recruits took down the Saints
—Ronny Lerner
New recruits Nick Daicos and Patrick Lipinski have helped ensure Collingwood’s Craig McRae era got off to a thrilling start at Marvel Stadium on Friday night with a 17-point win over St Kilda in a seesawing encounter.
Continuing the early trend of season 2022, this was another exciting match that featured wild momentum swings, and fortunately for the Magpies, when the dust settled, they ended up on top, 15.12 (102) to 12.13 (85). It was just the second time the Magpies cracked 100 in their past 45 matches.
In a clear shift from their methodical, possession game plan from last year, the Magpies employed a fast-paced brand that saw them use the centre corridor regularly, and it paid off dividends.
Daicos lived up to the hype, and then some, as he seamlessly carried over his underage form to senior level, finishing with 27 disposals, five clearances and seven intercepts from halfback, while Lipinski was instrumental with a game-high 30 touches (13 contested), five clearances and a goal.
The Pies also enjoyed crucial performances from Jordan De Goey (27 touches), who kicked two goals, Brody Mihocek (three majors) and Josh Daicos.
Jack Hayes (18 touches) produced a memorable debut for St Kilda, kicking three goals and taking 10 marks, while Jack Steele (28), Brad Crouch (27) and Tim Membrey (three goals) also shone.
The Saints headed into the clash without Jack Billings (groin), Hunter Clark (shoulder), Nick Coffield (ACL), Jarryn Geary (shoulder), Dan Hannebery (hamstring), Zak Jones (personal reasons) and Paddy Ryder (Achilles), and it proved to be too many missing soldiers to overcome.
After the Saints kicked the first goal via Mason Wood, the Magpies, who were without Brayden Maynard (suspended), Jordan Roughead (shoulder) and Will Hoskin-Elliott (hip/groin), settled quicker.
Collingwood dominated the ball in the opening term (113-80) and kicked four of the next five majors, including a pair to Mihocek, to lead by 16 points – a margin that should’ve been greater had it not been for early inaccuracy.
This is some sort of debut 👀
— AFL (@AFL) March 18, 2022
Jack Hayes with his third!#AFLSaintsPiespic.twitter.com/6pGyYOelB1
The Saints responded well in the second term, winning the territory battle to get within eight points in the shadows of halftime, but couldn’t fully capitalise on the momentum shift with Max King missing a pair of straightforward set shots.
And Collingwood responded by giving the Saints a lesson in forward efficiency, piling on four goals in a row to lead by 35 points early in the third period.
But just as the Saints looked down and out, they lifted themselves off the canvas, put the brakes on Collingwood’s running game and banged home the next five majors, including two from debutant Jack Hayes, to lead by a point early in the final quarter.
The Magpies weren’t done with, though, and ensured one final twist in the tale, as they responded ferociously with four of the next five goals to put the result beyond doubt.
HIGGINS HORROR SHOW
Very late in the third term, St Kilda forward Jack Higgins burnt Jade Gresham all by himself in the forward pocket, and went for the goal himself but didn’t make the distance from 45m out. It capped off a poor quarter for Higgins who also missed two set shots and also missed a snap shot from the top of the goalsquare that would’ve levelled the scores.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
Late in the first quarter Jack Ginnivan gathered the loose ball and his quick snap from 45m out on the boundary bent around magnificently to put the Magpies up by 10 points. The superb finish got the Magpie faithful pumped up. And early in the last term, Ginnivan kicked a crucial set shot from 50m out in front to put the Pies up by 11. Young forward Oliver Henry also stepped massively in the last term, kicking two crucial goals, including a spectacular effort from 35m out after selling candy to two Saints defenders, and saving a goal down the other end by winning a free kick for holding the ball.
Jeremy Howe is box office ðŸ¿#AFLSaintsPiespic.twitter.com/WXWdiUHhcd
— AFL (@AFL) March 18, 2022
HOWE GOOD IS THAT
They weren’t quite in the top 10 of his career hangers, but Jeremy Howe gave a reminder to everyone of his aerial capabilities when he jumped over Tim Membrey and Rowan Marshall in the second and third quarters respectively to take a pair of lovely marks. It was great to see him back doing what he does best after injuries restricted him to just 12 games in the previous two years.
DARCY HAD MORE TIME
St Kilda’s run of goals in the second half started when Jack Sinclair’s clever attempt from 45m out on a sharp angle floated through the big sticks, despite Collingwood defender Darcy Moore having the chance to touch it on the line. But Moore seemingly failed to get his bearings right, didn’t realise where the goal line was and wasn’t able to get a touch on the ball.
SCOREBOARD
SAINTS 3.2, 5.6, 9.12, 12.13 (85)
MAGPIES 4.5, 7.9, 10.11, 15.12 (102)
LERNER’S BEST
Saints: Hayes, Steele, Crouch, Membrey, Marshall, Howard.
Magpies: Lipinski, De Goey, N.Daicos, J.Daicos, Mihocek, Grundy, Pendlebury.
GOALS
Saints: Hayes 3, Membrey 3, Gresham 2, Wood, Kent, King, Sinclair.
Magpies: Mihocek 3, Sidebottom 2, Ginnivan 2, De Goey 2, Henry 2, Lipinski, Elliott, McCreery, J.Daicos.
UMPIRES Power, Chamberlain, O’Gorman
VENUE Marvel Stadium
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LERNER’S VOTES
3 P.Lipinski (Coll)
2 J.De Goey (Coll)
1 J.Hayes (StK)
Manager reveals plans for De Goey’s next move
Footy’s biggest free agent Jordan De Goey is determined to pledge his future to Collingwood with contract talks looming in the early months of the AFL season.
De Goey’s manager and brother-in-law Ryan Vague told the Herald Sun on Friday the midfield star was adamant his future was at the club despite another summer of controversy.
The Pies and De Goey are both happy for him to play the early rounds of the season as he proves he can back up his strong finish to 2021 that saw him finish fourth in the Copeland Trophy.
But despite a summer where the Pies banned him from returning to the club the 26-year-old has no plans to shop himself to rivals.
De Goey averaged 29 possessions from Round 13 onwards and if he can back up that year a player already paid around $800,000 per season could receive a modest pay-rise on a long-term deal.
Vague said both parties were happy to wait until early in the year but made clear De Goey was happy at the Pies.
“We are definitely open to sitting down with the footy club and we will see what comes from that from their perspective. The rest of it will in time take care of itself. He absolutely does (want to stay),” he said.
“He has been welcomed back with open arms, he loves the new coaches and the footy club and the boys and he’s been there since day one.
“I can also see it from their point of view. Let’s wait and see over the first few rounds. “Whether that’s four or six or eight weeks. But he is very confident in his ability to go from last year.”
De Goey is seen to be on his last chance after a string of incidents but having stuck with him Collingwood will want to secure him on a long-term deal if he can show he has changed.
De Goey was ordered to undergo anger management and alcohol therapy sessions as well a club-imposed program with the Salvation Army after pleading guilty to a charge of harassment over a New York bar room brawl last year.
While he was disappointed not to be allowed to train with the club as they stood him down until his case was finished, he has still got himself into career-best shape.
“Without being back at the club pre-Christmas, what he did in the US really stacks up. It held him in good stead and by the end of their pre-season his numbers were really good.
He hit some PBs and benchmarks and he is super happy with his fitness. He says it’s the fittest he has ever been.”
Darcy Moore will also sign a new free agency deal at some stage with early talks on a long-term extension.
The Pies have worked hard to rectify their salary cap position over recent seasons and do have space to attack the free agency market or consider a trade for an established star.
But the club’s progress under coach Craig McRae this year will dictate whether it is too early to bring in elite mature talent or the club’s rebuild means going back to the draft will be a wiser call.
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