Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final Gold Coast Suns 1.3 6.5 6.7 9.9 63 Collingwood Magpies 5.2 10.4 15.8 20.12 132
This year, Collingwood has accounted for easy-beats, sometimes with substantial margins (Saints, Blues). They're like flat-track bullies. (Even though St Kilda has a few respectable scalps, their season is heavily influenced by who's missing, eg Riewoldt.)
So, once again, this game said more about our opposition than it said about Collingwood: basically, that, at least until they get their best players back, notably Ablett, the Suns will continue as part of a cohort at the foot of the ladder. Pretty much, it looks like the bottom 5 are settled.
Reading from the bottom, the next three teams are Geelong, Port Adelaide and Essendon. It would be a brave pundit who wrote off any of those to make the final 8.
A little more concerning is the observation that the top 5 spots are currently occupied by interstate teams, with Hawthorn sixth.
Pendlebury
Grundy must have spoken to Pendlebury about this blog. Last week, I lamented (not for the first time) our inability to stem opposition run-ons. And this week, there's Pendlebury:
He says Collingwood needs to work on halting the run-ons which
have allowed opponents to get away from them this season.1
Grundy watch
Grundy continues to improve under the tutelage of this blog. Against the Suns, at a stoppage in Collingwood's F50, he tapped nicely over his head to a team mate. Can't remember what happened next.
Tweaking the game plan
Cloke played further away from goal; Witts did much more of the ruck work; Grundy spent time in F50 to good advantage. Although he only kicked a single goal (and missed a regulation set shot), Cloke had a good game.
With two marking smalls up forward (Elliot, Fasolo) Collingwood looked far more menacing than it has in quite a while. White who has largely been a waste of space kicked 4 goals, Fasolo and Pendlebury each kicked 3; Varcoe bagged a couple; and Grundy and Oxley kicked singles. The team kicked 20. Pretty impressive.
Perhaps the move of Cloke further up the ground was also in response to this blog. Maybe even Buckley is getting tips from The Footy Bogan.
Sidebottom was a welcome return, doing lots of good things, racking up 32 disposals - though some showed that not all the cobwebs had been cleared. Swan still gets a lot of the ball (a game-high 36), but many of his disposals are way below par. Marley Williams was again solid in defence also providing much drive. This was probably Varcoe's best game in black and white. Goldsack's game was a standout.
The Elliot show
Elliot is rapidly assembling a highlights reel like Krakouer's. A few weeks ago against Carlton, he jostled with an opponent after just failing to mark, found inspiration and kicked a goal off the ground. Yesterday, he managed 3 impossible things before sunset. Running with opposition perhaps 30 out, he hacked a soccer goal out of the air.
Running with the flight of the ball and an opponent, he looked sideways to check for danger, casually extended an arm and somehow took the mark. The consequent shot was from an improbable angle, but he casually dobbed it.
He finished with 5.
The wrap
The Suns may have run us into form. Collingwood kicked 5 goals in each quarter. The Suns equalled us in the second quarter. For the game, they scored 1-5-0-3.
Pendlebury would have been disappointed that, in the second quarter, Gold Coast score 4 unanswered goals in 6 minutes. At that time, Collingwood supporters would have been shifting uncomfortably in their seats.
For Collingwood, the challenge remains to play well against a real team. So far we've beaten Essendon (11th). Next week we face North Melbourne (9th).
Sources, Notes, Footnotes, References
[1] http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/consistency-will-be-key-to-collingwoods-season-says-captain-scott-pendlebury-20150521-gh6ji9.htmlhttp://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-match-centre/afl-live-gold-coast-v-collingwood-20150523-gh847y.html
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