AFL 2020: After back-to-back losses in Perth reuniting with family in Queensland could be what Collingwood needs
Nathan Buckley concedes the Magpies’ stay in Perth eventually drained the players emotionally but he’s confident they have renewed drive ahead of their must-win match against Sydney.
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An “emotional” reunion with wives and children in Queensland on Monday could be the catalyst for a Collingwood rebound after the players lost their edge in Perth according to coach Nathan Buckley.
The Pies moved to their new Sunshine Coast hub after back-to-back losses during a long-stay in Perth, and were greeted by a banner made by their welcoming party which immediately boosted a “sombre” mood.
Preparing for a quick back-up against Sydney on Thursday night, Buckley conceded there were “plenty” of things that impacted performance and the emotional toll of distance could be one.
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But the Magpies coach also said his team needed to “just play better” having moved away from the brand that had established Collingwood as early premiership contenders
“Winning and losing has an impact on the psyche of the group and the atmosphere, so we were a little bit sombre,” Buckley said on Wednesday.
“Jumping on the plane and getting over here brought more than a touch of light, given the boys ran in to their families on Monday night. It was quite emotional actually.
.@SP_10 reunited with Jax. 🥰 pic.twitter.com/przEAEFQJZ
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) August 3, 2020
“There are plenty of things that go in to impacting a performances. Getting right in the head space, and heart space.
“But the reality is we haven’t played very well the last couple of weeks.
“We have been out of shape. There was a lot of things in our control we haven’t looked after.”
Buckley said the team hadn’t been “in sync”, not helped by continual changes to the team, a scenario he said would have to continue.
That will include resting players like Darcy Moore and Jamie Elliot, players with a history of soft-tissue injuries.
Defender Jordan Roughead was left out last week as part of a plane to “share the load”, but Buckley said he would return to play Sydney.
“We will omit players out of this week’s 22 for that reason, to make sure we have the freshest, hungriest 22 to take on Sydney,” he said.
“We began a policy of sharing the load last week with our selection and that will continue.”
How good. pic.twitter.com/uhVFkjkr7h
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) August 3, 2020
Buckley defended out-of-sorts forward Jaidyn Stephenson, and said he wasn’t the only one who needed to “step up and give us a bit more”.
Captain Scott Pendlebury remains unavailable, and big man Mason Cox isn’t yet back in the selection mix, not helped in pushing his case by training restrictions
“No-one ever has 100 per cent exposure to their list. That’s why you have a deep list to be able to cover that, and we have not been able to do that well enough,” Buckley said.
“Our challenge is to look after that. We are in a compressed part of the fixture and our mentality has been to share the load which we think will help us in the shorter term and the longer term.
“We need to earn this win (against Sydney) and get ourselves back on track.
“But it’s not going to come without paying the price.”
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Originally published as AFL 2020: After back-to-back losses in Perth reuniting with family in Queensland could be what Collingwood needs