AFL practice match Collingwood v Hawthorn: New-look Magpies score heavily against the Hawks
If Friday’s practice match is anything to go by, Craig McRae is taking inspiration from his time at Richmond to shed the ‘Conservative Collingwood’ tag.
They have long been ‘Conservative Collingwood’.
Risk evasive with slow ball movement that gave their forwards little chance to shine, the Magpies had consequently averaged a lowly 71 points a game across the past three years.
Even more damning is the fact that the club had reached the magical 100-point barrier on just three occasions from its past 56 matches.
But if Friday’s practice match against Hawthorn is anything to go by, it looks like new coach Craig McRae is flipping the script this year.
Against the Hawks, Collingwood piled on 18.3 (111) to 6.9 (45) – in a three-quarter game and with last year’s third-highest goalkicker Jordan De Goey watching on from the stands.
McRae and his head of strategy, Justin Leppitsch, were both assistant coaches to Damien Hardwick during Richmond’s premiership years of 2017, 2019 and 2020.
And there was a bit of the Tigers in the way the Magpies moved the ball on Friday with a surge mentality, giving a revamped forward line time and space to work in before the Hawks could flood back.
The chip-chip short-kicking game of last year was nowhere to be seen.
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“We were able to go forward…and I thought the contest was really good,” Collingwood assistant coach Scott Selwood said.
“From there we were able to play off that and get some guys in some good space and in isolation.”
Jamie Elliott’s best football has always been brilliant and the marking small forward looked as fit and dynamic as ever in a five-goal performance.
But Elliott’s game was hardly a shock.
The big surprise was the way the Magpies’ forward line functioned like a well-oiled machine – something we have not been able to remark too often in recent years.
The talls – Brody Mihocek, Mason Cox and former Geelong recruit Nathan Krueger – provided contests in the air, took marks and each hit the scoreboard with multiple goals.
The smalls – headlined by Elliott, Jack Ginnivan, Trent Bianco and resting midfielders including Patrick Lipinski and Nick Daicos – got to the right spots, applied good pressure to lock the ball in and took their opportunities when they presented.
What the Magpies did was not against a second-rate Hawthorn defence, either.
Regular senior players Sam Frost, James Sicily, Kyle Hartigan, Blake Hardwick and Jack Scrimshaw were all on the park for the Hawks.
Cox is a particularly intriguing watch this year – and not just because of his new prescription goggles.
Out of favour under former coach Nathan Buckley last season, the 211cm American put his hand up and offered to try and find a new home at the end of last year if it was best for the club.
However, Cox’s first coach in Australia was McRae, who was keen to keep him around.
Collingwood says it is “still working out” its best forward line mix, but Cox kicked three goals in the main match on Friday while fellow ruckman-forward Darcy Cameron ran around for the seconds.
“When he was in one-on-one contests he took some nice clunks. When he didn’t, he brought the ball to ground and he was able to pressure,” Selwood said of Cox.
“So he gave us different looks, he gave our forwards a really good contest and then we can play off that. He’s going really well.”
Practice match notes: Goals galore as Pies give McRae plenty to dream on
New Collingwood coach Craig McRae made a winning start to his time in the top job as the Magpies picked apart Hawthorn on their way to a monster practice match win.
The two sides played their strongest sides in the first three-quarter match, which saw the Magpies soar to an 18.3 (111) to 6.9 (45) triumph at Morwell Recreation Reserve.
The clubs also played a second three-quarter match with weaker teams, including VFL top-up players.
Jamie Elliott kicked five goals in a starring role for the Magpies, who moved the ball with speed and precision and were unusually efficient going inside 50.
Wearing prescription goggles, Mason Cox had no trouble seeing the big sticks and booted three goals, while fellow tall forwards Brody Mihocek (three goals) and Nathan Kreuger (two goals) also had an impact in attack.
The one sour note for Collingwood was a concussion for defender Isaac Quaynor during the second quarter, which will sideline him for next Sunday’s AAMI Community Series match against Greater Western Sydney under the AFL’s concussion protocols.
Collingwood hopes to welcome back Jordan De Goey for next week’s match after he sat in the stands in Morwell as he continues to nurse a broken rib.
Collingwood and Hawthorn also played a second three-quarter match with weaker teams, including VFL top-up players, with the Hawks fighting back to record a draw based on cumulative scores from the two matches.
WHO STARRED?
COLLINGWOOD
Jamie Elliott lit the fire early for the Magpies with three goals in the first quarter on his way to five majors in a blistering performance.
The 29-year-old spent most of his time forward but also had some stints through the midfield.
“It’s probably a whole pre-season. He’s been extremely strong,” Collingwood assistant coach Scott Selwood said of Elliott.
“He got the result (on Friday) but it’s been a lot of hard work from Jamie to get to this spot. His body’s now sound and he’s been able to not only have a good pre-season for himself but he’s now a leader of our team and he’s done a great job with that. You can see all those things starting to come together for him.”
Jack Crisp was all class by foot through the middle, while a lean-looking Brodie Grundy was dominant in the ruck.
Taylor Adams and Patrick Lipinski also found plenty of the footy through the middle.
Second-year small forward Jack Ginnivan brought good forward pressure and kicked two goals in the first quarter on his way to three for the match.
HAWTHORN
James Worpel was the pick of the midfielders, winning plenty of the ball and finishing off his work with a goal in the third quarter.
James Sicily was strong in defence in his return from an ACL injury, amid a backline which was under siege throughout the day.
Entering his third season, midfielder Finn Maginness looks ready for a breakout year.
Last year’s top draftee Josh Ward ran hard all day and racked up plenty of the footy.
MAGNETS MOVED
COLLINGWOOD
Scott Pendlebury settled into his new role in defence, spending only a few brief rotations on the ball.
His presence down back meant Jack Crisp got a lot more midfield minutes than usual and that looks like an experiment worth continuing with based on his outstanding performance.
HAWTHORN
Ned Reeves looks set to assume the mantle as No.1 ruckman for the Hawks, having taken the first centre bounce against Brodie Grundy.
Reeves has played just five AFL games, but the 208cm big man is developing nicely.
The Hawks used Ben McEvoy as a back-up ruckman to Reeves, with the captain spending the rest of his time resting forward.
RECRUIT/DRAFTEES WATCH
COLLINGWOOD
Former Bulldog Patrick Lipinski looks a shrewd pick up for the Pies and showed his ability in the clearances as well as pushing forward to kick a crafty goal.
Lipinski was the equal-leading possession winner for the Pies, alongside Taylor Adams.
Last year’s No.4 draft pick Nick Daicos warmed into the game nicely and won more than his fair share of the footy playing mostly onball.
Former Geelong defender Nathan Kreuger provided a target in attack alongside Brody Mihocek, while rookie draftee Charlie Dean was impressive as the deepest key defender.
HAWTHORN
Last year’s No.7 draft pick Josh Ward was a standout, starting on a wing at the first centre bounce and also spending time onball.
Fellow draftee Connor McDonald also had some nice moments through the midfield and showed his class.
Former Collingwood ruckman Max Lynch sat out the first two quarters but had a crack when he came on.
ROUND 1 BOLTERS
Charlie Dean is in the box seat for a Round 1 debut, given fellow key defender Jordan Roughead is on the sidelines with a shoulder injury.
Nick Daicos is also ready to go and any question marks about whether Patrick Lipinski would work his way into Collingwood’s best 22 were quickly erased by his stellar performance.
There has been plenty of excitement about Josh Ward at Hawthorn all summer and you can lock him in for a Round 1 debut.
WHO WAS MISSING
COLLINGWOOD
Jordan De Goey (ribs), Jeremy Howe (abductor), Jordan Roughead (shoulder)
HAWTHORN
Chad Wingard (managed), Luke Bruest (concussion), Will Day (ankle), Changkuoth Jiath (knee), Jarman Impey (foot)
AFL makes last minute call on Cox’s match day glasses
- Rebecca Williams
Collingwood big man Mason Cox had to wait until the last minute to gain permission to wear his prescription sunglasses in a practice match against Hawthorn on Friday.
The AFL confirm at 2.40pm on Friday it had approved the prescription eyewear for use during the coming season after reviewing a submission from the Magpies.
Cox has been trialling the eyewear over the pre-season after experiencing a horror run with career-threatening eye injuries in the past three years, requiring six different surgeries.
The 211cm American wanted to wear the eyewear in a match situation when the Magpies face Hawthorn in a practice game at Morwell Friday afternoon.
Cox recently spoke about how the specially-designed glasses had helped him.
“You are kind of nervous the first day (wearing them) then everyone just kind of gets used to it,” Cox told Channel 7.
“A few of the players have tried them on and gone ‘That’s not too bad actually’.
“One of the biggest problems I had was my pupil would not constrict again so going under lights is essentially like looking into the sun.
“There is a different intensity of tint, so you have got some that are a bit darker and some that are a bit lighter. Depending on how much light there is on the day will be the selection of tint I will use on game day.
“It’s something in other sports that is kind of normalised I guess but no one has really seen it in AFL.”
The 30-year-old first required eye surgery in 2019 after he suffered a torn retina against the Gold Coast following an accidental poke in the eye.
During the operation, it was discovered his other retina was also detached dating back to an incident in a contest from the Magpies’ 2018 Grand Final loss to West Coast.
The surgeries left Cox “legally blind” for a period of time during his recovery.
He was forced to spend 45 minutes of every hour lying on his back as part of his recovery in a dark room and was unable to look at screens.
“It was tough going for a month and a half or two months,” Cox said of his surgeries in 2019.
“I was pretty much legally blind for a while.
“For a long time it was sitting in a dark room staring at the ceiling, there was not much going on in my life.”
Cox has played 76 games for the Magpies across six seasons, including seven last season.
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