How going through the corridor has turned Collingwood’s season around

FINALS were a distant thought, if not a longshot, for Collingwood. Yet in the past five rounds, the Magpies have regained a lethal edge which has breathe life back into its aspirations this season.

Nathan Buckley gets into his players in the match against Hawthorn. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

COLLINGWOOD was staring down the barrel five rounds into the season when coach Nathan Buckley reached for the toolkit.

Before the Round 6 win over Geelong, the Magpies’ ball movement was stodgy, their scoring lacking and the confidence low.

Finals were a distant thought, if not a longshot.

Yet in the past five rounds, Collingwood has regained a lethal edge, changed its forward line and helped breathe life back into its aspirations this season.

From Rounds 6-10, Collingwood ranked No.1 for successfully moving the ball from half-back to the forward line.

The Pies safely complete the passage 53.5 per cent of the time, six per cent better than the second-ranked Port Adelaide.

And in one of the most significant tactical shifts in the game, Collingwood is now going up the guts.

Buckley’s men were ranked 18th for corridor use from defence over the first five rounds including the Anzac Day loss to Essendon.

Jack Crisp as a loose defender has been central to Collingwood’s revised game style. Picture: AAP

But since Round 6, the Pies are now footy’s second-most corridor-centric team out of defensive-50m.

They go up the middle out of the back half 26 per cent of the time and have scored the third-most in the league from that area.

All season the Magpies have been very strong defensively, and perhaps like the Western Bulldogs, try to own the corridor in-game.

Central to the game style is a loose defender, such as Taylor Adams or last week Jack Crisp, whose job is to attack the middle.

They endured a setback against Carlton in probably the most disappointing loss of the season, but have otherwise tried to be aggressive and instinctive with the ball.

FORWARD THINKING

Internally, the message from the coaches is that the Pies’ players are doing a lot right.

Leading the Collingwood kick rating from the back half are captain Scott Pendlebury (+17.7), and defenders Tyson Goldsack (+15.9) and much-improved Brayden Maynard (+13.2). Jeremy Howe (+5.1) is in All-Australian form.

And after Sunday’s clash against Fremantle in the west, where Buckley is looking for his first win in charge at Subiaco, speedster Travis Varcoe and Ben Reid will come into selection contention for the Queen’s Birthday blockbuster against Melbourne at the MCG.

In the forward half of the ground, Collingwood has renovated. It had to. It’s the connection in the forward half of the ground that was a huge headache and had cost them severely in the first month.

Darcy Moore has benefitted from the more direct ball movement. Picture: AAP

Since then, the Pies have done away with a traditional two or three-pronged key forward structure in favour of a much more mobile and smaller attacking setup.

Replacing big men Mason Cox and Jesse White with Jamie Elliott and Daniel Wells has given the Magpies a much more dangerous and agile edge.

Darcy Moore has sprung to life and is now interchanging into the ruck with Brodie Grundy. And instead of going forward, where Grundy has struggled to have an impact, Grundy is now swaps almost directly to the bench.

It means that Collingwood has been playing parts of games without a key forward at all, but rather a collection of five or six medium-sized or small goal kickers. That has created more movement off the ball, more space inside attacking 50m, and less of a tendency to dump it on the big fellas’ heads.

The synergy has returned. The passage forward has been more seamless and fruitful at the halfway mark of the season.

TURNING TIDE

According to Champion Data, the Pies’ overall ball movement is 121 per cent above the AFL average over the last five matches.

Buckley said this week it felt like the tide had turned.

“I feel like we are starting to get more consistency and understand ourselves a little bit better and what we are capable of and we want to keep exploring that,” Buckley said.

Daniel Wells has given the Pies a dangerous edge. Picture: Michael Klein

While their conversion on goal has still been poor — they are ranked second-last for goal kicking accuracy — Collingwood has averaged 96 points a game in the past five rounds, ranked sixth.

They have been getting some rewards, just not “filling their boots”, as Buckley lamented after their 45-point win over Brisbane on Sunday.

The Magpies aren’t back in the top half yet, but a turnaround has occurred. They will find out much more about where they sit over the next month of games against Fremantle (Subiaco), Melbourne, Port Adelaide and Hawthorn (all at the MCG).