Jack Henry says untraditional defensive approach the key to shutting down Collingwood’s forward line in Saturday night clash

Geelong’s back six will have a difficult task of stopping one of the AFL’s hottest and most dynamic forward lines on Saturday night, but an ‘untraditional’ is set to quell the influence of some of the game’s most dangerous goalscorers.

MELBOURNE. 19/03/2022. AFL. Round 1. Geelong vs Essendon at the MCG . Jack Henry of the Cats . Photo by Michael Klein

GEELONG’s back six will have a difficult task of quelling one of the AFL’s hottest forward lines when the Cats face Collingwood on Saturday night.

But with the Magpies’ forward line untraditional in its structure, it poses an interesting question as Geelong aims to get back in the winner’s column.

Cats defender Jack Henry said Geelong’s defensive unit was flexible and adaptable in any situation.

Cats defender Jack Henry said Geelong’s defensive unit lended itself to being adaptable in any situation.

“We are a pretty untraditional defence as well, we’ve got guys like Mark Blicavs who can play a bit higher up the ground and he often finds himself on smaller guys,” he said.

“We’ve got a pretty good balance of players back there that can be ready for a lot of different looks, like Kolo (Jake Kolodjashnij) as well, he’s good at playing small and tall.

“Especially after losing Harry (Taylor) and Hendo (Lachie Henderson), who were deep, traditional defenders, it’s given us a pretty dynamic defence at the moment that can adjust and adapt to a lot of different looks.”

Collingwood is tied with Geelong and Hawthorn for the most goals kicked through the first two rounds with 15, with five players (Oliver Henry, Brody Mihocek, Jordan De Goey, Beau McCreery and Steele Sidebottom) with at least three goals each. Nathan Kreuger (two goals) will miss Saturday’s clash through injury.

Collingwood is tied with Geelong and Hawthorn for the most goals kicked through the first two rounds with 15, with five players (Oliver Henry, Brody Mihocek, Jordan De Goey, Beau McCreery and Steele Sidebottom) with at least three goals each.

Ruck-turned-forward Darcy Cameron will be Collingwood’s tallest target, while 192cm-listed Mihocek is the side’s major goal-kicker.

Dangerous Jordan De Goey and experienced Jamie Elliott add a layer of nous to the Magpies forward 50, and Henry said getting tall defender Sam De Koning back for the clash would be a major help.

“He’s come in and he’s fit in really well and shown some really good glimpses from a young defender who can play a bit deeper,” he said.

Jack Henry said getting tall defender Sam De Koning back for the clash would be a major help.

“Sammy has already shown what he can do and how dangerous he can be for us down back, he had a really good pre-season this year.

“I spent a bit of time out of training with my foot issues, but I followed him around and almost trained vicariously through him.

“That chemistry is building really nicely, we’ve got a good relationship and he’s the sort of player you can rely on.”

Originally published as Jack Henry says untraditional defensive approach the key to shutting down Collingwood’s forward line in Saturday night clash