Desperate times for Collingwood and Nathan Buckley as forwards misfire again in loss to Essendon
IT was the same story for Collingwood as the forwards failed to fire again and now it’s time for Nathan Buckley to make some desperate changes to resuscitate its season.
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COLLINGWOOD’S “break glass in case of emergency” moment has arrived.
In fact, the Magpies reached for the hammer 15 minutes into the third term when defender Ben Reid was swung into a key forward post in a desperate to attempt to reshape the attacking setup.
Five rounds in, that’s what it’s become for the Magpies. Desperate.
Mick Malthouse has already written his former side’s finals prospects off, saying it was “curtains” for Collingwood, and by extension its coach Nathan Buckley, with Tuesday’s loss to Essendon.
And it was the same old story for Collingwood, as the Magpies again racked up 23 more inside 50m entries than Essendon, yet struggled to capitalise on the scoreboard.
That is a staggering number, 23, in a 18-point defeat.
The connection in the forward half is clearly the club’s biggest problem, and aside from Jordan De Goey — and Daniel Wells for the first four rounds — that’s with a full and healthy list.
To this point, they’ve relied so heavily on third-year spearhead Darcy Moore, who dropped the simplest of chest marks in the second term.
He looks bereft of confidence. The man who joined him in the forward-50m was Mason Cox, who only took his first grab in the last quarter.
Together, Cox and Moore were Collingwood’s two lowest-possession winners, with 15 together. Seven marks in total. That’s not enough.
The writing was on the wall for the big American when Joe Daniher ran around Cox on the mark for a running shot on goal in the first term. Cox had little impact.
Moore was played more out of the goalsquare, perhaps in an attempt to simplify things for him, but it seems clear he relies on his athleticism for his possessions, rather than game sense.
Unless things change dramatically, that combination isn’t going to get the job done, and Collingwood is in for some significant change towards the back half of the season.
So Buckley has to act, and he did so when Reid played the bulk of the last 45 minutes of the game as a permanent forward, in a bid to give the Magpies’ midfielders a more threatening forward option.
Otherwise, they will go into every game hoping for more midfield miracles.
To be fair, Reid didn’t have his best day in defence and former Demon Lynden Dunn can replace him anyway as a key defender. Reid has the class to offer something.
In poker terms, Buckley needs a full house or flush or something decent, quick.
Reid has to start forward against the Cats, who were brave enough to pull a similar move with Harry Taylor over pre-season.
Collingwood needs to resuscitate its season against the might of Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield in only five days time.
The Cats are the second-best scoring side in the competition. Right now, Collingwood is at the other end of that ladder.
Time to flip the magnets.
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