Nathan Buckley acknowledges Pies’ woe after horror performance against GWS
Nathan Buckley has admitted Collingwood’s standing as a premiership favourite is under fire as his charges struggle to put together the consistency needed to be a genuine contender.
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Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley labelled his side a “patchwork quilt” after the Magpies premiership hopes continued to nosedive at Giants Stadium.
A blunt Buckley admitted his side’s lofty place on the ladder presents a false reality as the heavyweights struggle for consistency heading into next week’s MCG blockbuster against Richmond.
Collingwood has now lost three out of their past four and if not for their get-out-of-jail heroics against West Coast last week, they would officially be in a slump.
But Buckley is concerned enough as it is after his side failed to turn up and were blown off the park by a hungrier GWS outfit which ran out a 47-point winner.
“It seems to be a bit of a patchwork quilt at the moment and then that will flip the next week. We’re just lacking consistency,” said Buckley.
“Regardless of who we play or what stage of the year or where we sit on the ladder, if we don’t find that consistency in our own performance in our own brand, it makes it pretty difficult to find your best.”
Buckley made the stark admission Collingwood are still searching for their identity after their status as premiership favourites was thrown into jeopardy.
“We are a team that’s looking for consistency in its brand at the moment,” he said.
“We’re not at all as consistent as we’d like to be.
“We dug ourselves out of a bit of a hole last week, and even (against the Giants), whilst we didn’t win the game and there was some areas I thought we could have been a lot better in, we had 63 inside 50s.”
Collingwood appeared to match up poorly against the GWS talls in the first quarter, with Jeremy Finlayson looking particularly dominant against his smaller opponent, kicking three.
But Buckley said height wasn’t the issue, rather execution and work rate.
“We had the ball in our front half but we weren’t as clean inside as we’d like to be,” said Buckley.
“We weren’t able to penetrate their defence. We had 63 inside 50s so to kick 11 and have 20 shots at goal was wasteful.
“The margin in the first quarter, we didn’t turn up unfortunately.”
Buckley’s attention now turns to Richmond and one of the biggest games of the season against the resurgent Tigers at the ‘G.
But the Magpies coach denied any issue with preparation against the Giants and said his players were focused on the job at hand.
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