Collingwood’s pre-season focus on delivery inside 50m showing signs of improvement

NATHAN Buckley put it on record late last year. The most critical area Collingwood had to improve this season was its delivery inside its attacking 50m arc.

Adam Treloar at Collingwood training.

NATHAN Buckley put it on record late last year.

Perhaps the most critical area Collingwood had to improve on this season was its delivery, or should we say ‘connection’, inside its attacking 50m arc.

It is the most important kick in footy, and for the Pies to help break their three-year finals drought next season, the coach wanted improvement on last season.

“Our last kick inside-50m and our ability to kick between our mids and forwards was a massive, well, was a big issue for us throughout the year,” Buckley said in September.

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“Although it improved gradually (in 2016), it wasn’t to the standard we want it to be.”

On Wednesday morning, we might have seen some of that improvement.

Throughout an hour-long match simulation session at Magpies’ headquarters, the Pies produced probably their most impressive hit-out of the summer, especially when hitting those targets within goal range.

The ball movement Buckley was talking about forward of centre was crisp and clean. They looked potent, with Ben Sinclair, Travis Varcoe, Steele Sidebottom, Adam Treloar and Scott Pendlebury helping ignite that run from the back half.

Matthew Scharenberg at Collingwood training.

Chris Mayne at Collingwood training.

But the kick inside-50m is the big one.

Dual knee reconstruction victim Matthew Scharenberg helped set the standard lacing out recruit Chris Mayne with a precision pass inside-50m and Mayne finished coolly, slotting the tight-angled set shot.

Likewise, father-son draftee Josh Daicos responded down the other end soon after, popping a beautifully-weighted ball into the outstretched hands of Lachie Keeffe.

Keeffe, in place of new Bulldog Travis Cloke, reeled in several big grabs, as his forward-line education gathers pace. He looks a man on a mission after two years out of the game with a drugs ban.

The forward line just looks more mobile. The threat is perhaps more evenly spread and Mayne’s work ethic and preparedness to fling himself in the direction of the ball, or opponent, and scrapping for every possession has been a highlight over summer, defying some of the widely-held scepticism about his recruitment on a four-year deal.

But kicking remains one of the top agenda items at Collingwood this preseason. They want to link up with more uncontested possession while maintaining a strong focus on winning the ball at the source, as per the Western Bulldogs. That’s who the Pies think they play most like.

Lynden Dunn and Jeremy Howe at Collingwood training.

The trade moves back up the kicking philosophy. Full back Nathan Brown and small defender Marley Williams, for all of their endeavour and defensive nous, did cough the ball up, at times.

Ex-Melbourne stopper Lynden Dunn is an improvement in that regard, Jeremy Howe is a springboard from defence, Scharenberg’s comeback is on course and Ben Reid should be ready by Round 1.

They can all kick the footy. Before his two knee recos, Scharenberg was likened in style and development to Hawthorn superstar Shaun Burgoyne. Ex-Kangaroo Daniel Wells played early in the match simulation, and always looks silky when he has the ball in hand, but his preseason has been less than ideal. He ran more laps, at mid-pace, under the watchful eye of fitness guru Bill Davoren, and still appears short of a gallop.

They are trying to ramp him up, slowly but surely.

Buckley said at the member’s forum last year the Pies’ ball movement had improved with the help of a new skill acquisition coach over the past two years.

Drills have become less “patterned”, meaning players are asked to make more decisions in their skill drills. There is no lane kicking on autopilot, anymore.

During today’s session, the rewards from the hard work were seemingly on show as they hit forward line targets and enjoyed repeat shots on goal.

It was only one session, but it was a positive one for the Pies as they gear up for a difficult start to a big season.