Tom Phillips says Collingwood must start turning honourable losses into wins

COLLINGWOOD running machine Tom Phillips is sick of the honourable losses and the near misses and knows a win against Carlton will ease the pressure on the club and coach Nathan Buckley.

Tom Phillips says the Pies are playing for coach Nathan Buckley. Picture: Getty Images

RUNNING machine Tom Phillips has insisted near enough is no longer good enough for Collingwood as it prepares for its must-win clash with Carlton at the MCG.

While the 21-year-old Magpie acknowledged the team was brave in narrowly going down to the Giants last week, despite losing two players before halftime, Phillips is honest enough to say he is sick of the honourable losses and the near misses.

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“We have just got to be a team that gets to the next level,” Phillips said.

“Near enough isn’t good enough ... it can’t be any more. We can’t keep losing by 10 points or something like that, because it has been happening too much in the past two or three years.

“We really are better than that when we are up and about, and when everyone is contributing.

“It is a matter of getting the mix of everyone playing their role, and not having too many individuals floating in and out of the game.”

Phillips makes no apologies for his impatience — he says everyone at the club feels the same, including the fans.

Having played 26 games for the Magpies since his Queen’s Birthday debut in 2016, only 10 of them have resulted in wins.

Tom Phillips says it’s time for the Magpies to start winning. Picture: Getty Images

He knows a win on Friday night won’t take the pressure off the club, including coach Nathan Buckley, who is only two games into a new two-year deal, but a loss will intensify the external heat.

“Bucks is an easy target, and that’s stupid because internally we know what he is about,” Phillips said.

“We play for him. He has got the most passion and guts in this footy club that any individual could have.”

Phillips has no fear in taking part of the responsibility for Collingwood’s poor performance against Hawthorn in Round 1, saying he needed to “reinvigorate” himself after the loss.

“I was a bit off, I was just a bit scratchy and not as polished or as clean as I should have been,” he said.

“It wasn’t the way that I have been playing.”

“The whole team embarrassed ourselves a little bit (against Hawthorn). We were really clumsy with the footy, even if the effort was there, to an extent.

“We were much better (against Greater Western Sydney), even if it is hard with the injuries and with guys not being available. Still, there are no more excuses any more.”

After struggling to have an impact against the Hawks, Phillips more than made up for it against the Giants.

He had a career-high 32 possessions, kicked a goal, and even polled two votes in the AFL Coaches’ Association.

That effort was more meritorious when taking into consideration Phillips was only rotated twice during the game, due to the early losses of Tim Broomhead (broken tibia and fibula) and Darcy Moore (hamstring).

He played a total of 125 minutes — the most any Magpie player has been out on the field in a game since 2011.

“I don’t mind that,” he said of limited rotations.

“That’s really my strength. I guess I am a bit of a rare one when I can stay out there.”

“At the same time, I want to make sure I am not a liability out there and stuffed on my legs and can’t contribute. I want to make sure when I am out there, I am involved in everything I need to be.”

Part of his importance to Collingwood is Phillips’ endurance and ability to run.

That’s never been a problem for the player who joined ultra marathon runner Samantha Gash in India as part of her World Vision project in late 2016 to raise money to fight malnutrition, for access to clean water and a safer environment for the local children.

Phillips was quiet against the Hawks in Round 1, but lifted against GWS. Picture: AAP

He’s also the club’s time-trial king, as the man who dethroned Steele Sidebottom of his mantle across the past three seasons.

The left-footer admits the game against the Blues gives the Magpie a chance in the Friday night football window to make a statement, though he knows it won’t be easy.

“We need to learn to kill teams, and that means putting the foot on the throat.” he said.

“Carlton had a good Round 1 and we know they are good on the MCG, so it is going to be a challenge.

“We were a bit down in the aerial department (last week), so it meant we had to play with our angles a bit and move the footy a bit differently. I love it when we change the angles and when there is a lot of run; that suits me.”

Phillips’ AFL dream looked remote five years ago. Playing junior football with Beverly Hills and Warrandyte, he was initially overlooked in the Oakleigh Chargers development programs.

But the support of his father, Anthony, who played with Essendon reserves, and his uncle, Andrew, who played 42 games with Carlton from 1989 to 1991, helped him stay focused.

The Magpies took Phillips with pick 58 in the 2015 draft, after he played in a second straight premiership with Oakleigh Chargers in 2015, shutting out Ryan Clarke, now with North Melbourne, in the TAC Grand Final.

All that seems like half a world away for Phillips, with his focus sorely on the clash with Carlton, and getting that much-needed first win of the 2018 season.

“We are all getting to the stage where a lot of us have played a number of games together,” he said. “We are not forecasting anything, or saying what we can do, because we know that doesn’t go down well.

“We have just got to get out there week by week and win these games, and treat it like it is a Grand Final.”

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