Post Match. Pies Wallop Weagles. All comments.

[Gerry Cooper]

His workrate is so high and his ability to close down space so good that it's still like having an extra player.

Yes it was great to see Sidey playing well again and we will see games like that from him still from time to time, particularly when the pressure coming the other way is reduced. He played his role very well today and I had him in my NIck's votes ahead of a few others as a result.

[Gerry Cooper]

[quote="doriswilgus"] I read on the internet that Mcreery and Elliott have already been ruled out.

[Pete 70]

Beau is a walk up start in our system

[thesoretoothsayer]

Great game from Crispy. Really imposed himself on the game from the first bounce.

[Pies2016]

In a game that’s not difficult to find good Collingwood players, one player who won’t get likely be acknowledged to the extent he deserves, was Billy Frampton. He’s playing some very positive footy right now. Obviously helped by a dominant midfield today but his one on one contests have improved out of sight. Darcy Cameron was pretty good too.

[ANNODAM]

Once in a while, it’s good to sit back & watch a game feeling relaxed.

[Magpietothemax]

Really excellent win, given the number of top 22 players missing.
What stood out for me was the return of the elite skills that were so crucial last year in winning the Premiership. Our skills in tapping, handpassing, moving the ball to the next players' advantage, and exhilarating ball movement, were back to the very best.
It was also pleasing to note the level of quality of our debutants and minimally experienced players. Obviously, they are being prepared expertly to seize their opportunities when achieving senior selection.
Wonderful debut game from Joe Richards.
Great game from Steele as well.

[winpies]

Very happy with the win.
Very happy with the margin.
Very happy with the newbies.
Very happy I can go to work tomorrow and stick it up the Weagle supporters I work with.
Not happy with the injuries.

Go Pies!

[RudeBoy]

An amazing win really, considering the players we had missing - JDG, Mitchell, Elliott, Mihocek, Schultz and McCreery - on top of losing 3 players in the game, of which 2 were down before quarter time.

As others have noted, the stand out newbie was 'Smokin' Joe Richards. He is a natural footballer, with elite skills by hand or foot as well as a smart reader of the play and decision-maker. He'll be hard to squeeze out of the team after that stellar debut.

Sullivan stood up again in the heat of battle and plays the Taylor Adams role well. McInnes and Macrae kicked a few goals each, but to my eye, they still don't have a stamp of AFL players about them. I am happy to be proved wrong. They are obviously good depth players, but unlikely to hold their spots when others return. The same probably goes for Bytel. That may seem harsh, but it's how I saw it.

It's fantastic to see Crisp back to his rampaging best, and Sidey may have found a new role as a defender. WHE was terrific and seems to be enjoying playing closer to goals.

Both the Daicos boys were magnificent, as was the old man Pendles. The one player who never seems to get enough recognition for his performance was Cameron, who is in career best form and will surely poll well in the Copeland this year.

Overall a terrific team performance, which should embolden our team onto greater heights over the coming weeks. If we can keep winning, in the absence of so many stars, it will give us great depth later in the year, particularly in September.

[Jezza]

Great performance. Very satisfying to sit back relaxed and content with what the team produced.

Interesting to see our primary method of scoring today was off stoppage, particularly centre clearances which is a shift away from the way we've typically played under Fly with our turnover game. It's a good sign where we're adapting and showing flexibility with our style, rather than being one-dimensional. I still think turnover is king come finals, but it's very encouraging that we're winning in different ways, making ourselves more unpredictable for opposition teams to counter.

The highlight of the day were our newbies and fringe players shining on the big stage, partly forced by injury circumstances leading into the game. They all exceeded my expectations which was fantastic. Loved Richards' first half performance on debut. One of the finest debut performances I've seen in a long time. Nice to see Fin and Reef given full game time to show what they were capable of producing when given the chance.

The older brigade were excellent. Pendles, Sidebottom, Crisp all outstanding in their roles today. I hope this is a turning point for Sidebottom and Crisp as they will be pivotal to any success we might have in 2024.

Loved N Daicos' performance, especially through the middle when we were dominating clearances. Darcy Cameron is going under the radar somewhat, but he's been a very consistent player this year and deserves more recognition than he receives.

The injuries to Howe, Harrison and Bytel were the only sour note of the day. Hopefully they won't be absent for too long, but our depth will be really tested in the short-term. From what I can gather, only Schultz might return next week agains the Crows so match committee will have to be innovative again.

5-1-3 and finally sitting in the top 8. We're gradually rising up the ladder

[Prometheus]

I happened to be at a "local" pub in the inner west of Melbourne this evening at around 6.30pm .... I hadn't watched the game and only knew that we had won.
So, I'd had a few beers and feeling rather relaxed and at the bar behind my mate, I spot this fellow who seems .... very familiar.... could it be, I'm thinking ... is it?
So I say something like ... "you look like someone famous" .... lol... fellow just politely smiles at me.... my mind goes kinda blank ...
So .. I think.... it's got be to be him.... (and having heard that he lived in the area) ..... Craig McRae.
Do you mind if I take a photo with you I ask?... sure he says...
comes along side and gives a thumbs up as I take a selfie with him.
Lovely chap.... he thanked me for being polite and excused himself to join his friends/family.
I was chuffed.
Go Pies!

[Take_a_Screamer]

How about post the photo up here...

[Jezza]

Fly's presser

Pretty gutsy performance today, especially with some new players featuring and the injuries you faced during the week and again today?

"Yeah, really pleased. We came here today with the intention to see a few different Collingwood players that the fans hadn't seen and hadn't been exposed to [at] the level. I said before the game that we'll still have 23 Collingwood jumpers out there. I just want to look really connected and [I'm] really pleased for that part, that young guys getting opportunities that they've been craving for and then they jump at it. You look at Reef [McInnes] and Fin [Macrae] kicking three goals each and Joey Richards looks like he's a more than capable player at the level which we thought based on his form. You still got to go and execute. We're really pleased".

Is that the biggest outcome of the past fortnight if you include Lachie Sullivan that the squad depth is bigger than you anticipated?

"Yeah, and that's what this competition forces you to do and West Coast are going through it at the moment. They lose their best midfielder and then they lose their best key forward and he's nearly winning the Coleman [Medal], that's difficult to replace. You can't replace certain levels of your talent, but all you ask is for guys to come in and do the job. For us today, we asked them to come and do your job, and we got a little bit more. That won't always be the case, but all those guys come in and impacted the game, which is really pleasing".

Jeremy Howe was thrown forward, but went down with injury. What do you do now?

"Well this is it, isn't it? I'll just go back onto the development side, I want to give credit to our development team. Josh Fraser, Andy Otten, Nev Jetta, Chloe McMillan and Harmit Singh. They're doing a fantastic job. Right now they're copping it at VFL level. The VFL are struggling because there's a flow on effect, but they've done an incredible job to get these young players ready to perform. That's career ownership, but getting the players ready, setting them up to succeed is awesome so well done to our team".

The forward line was drastically different today, but you still managed 10 individual goal kickers. That must've pleased you?

"Yeah, and that's around the point of what will you do next? We're really proud of our defensive efforts today. We kept an opposition to 37 points, and that's really difficult to do. They [West Coast] kicked five goals and I'm really confident we'll find a way to score. What that equates to who knows? We had 10 individuals goal kickers this week and we've had that in over time. We're not a forward line that's relied on someone kicking five or six goals, that just hasn't been our story. It may not be our story, but we'll find a way to score through good system".

You scored very heavily from centre clearances which is some sort of record?

"Is it? We learnt some good lessons against the Bombers we got smashed around that phase and in the next two weeks we're really positive around what that looks like. They're one of the best centre bounce clearance scoring teams in the comp going into this game so we knew that was a big part of the game".

You talk about young players in terms of depth, but what have they provided in terms of bringing energy into the team?

"Well certainly when they kick for their first goal it provides an enormous amount of energy, not only for the players but all of our staff. There's an excitement about youth, there is. When you're young, bring energy. When you're old, try to bring energy and we saw Steele [Sidebottom] go to half back today. He looked really lively and did some really nice things for us. This is a long competition, a long year and along the journey you find out about yourself. Every team is gonna go through some form of injury management, and this is what comes next which is the important part".

On the injuries, what is the early sense with Harvey Harrison and Jeremy Howe?

"Howie's got an adductor strain. Not major, but he's likely to miss a game or two. I don't know, but he's unlikely to play in the coming weeks. Harvey [Harrison] rolled his ankle. Just a standard sprain. We've got a 6-day break, but unlikely to play, but you never know. We'll see how that progresses".

Did Jack Bytel have a concussion?

"Yeah, Jack got concussion. A young lad comes in and he's got a second opportunity. He looked really at home, he did. He did some nice things for us. Took a nice mark and did other little things, so there's some comfort in knowing that there's some trustworthy guys waiting to get their opportunity".

On Steele Sidebottom, you mentioned he played defence and that's the first time that's happened in his career. What was the discussion with him like before that?

"It was good. 318 games and never played back. Funnily enough, it's 20 metres further down the ground than what he normally plays. He helps our backline out a lot at stoppages. He's a smart player, and he can read the play really well and he was really important today. I'm looking forward to watching the replay of all the things that I saw live. It's exciting for him".

Did Sidebottom need that move to get his form going?

"I think his last couple of weeks have been progressing towards this and a change of role can give excitement. I did chat to him and he said 'I've got a bit of excitement in my stomach, you know a new challenge and a new opportunity'. I don't want to put ceilings on our players. This game will, 'you're too old or you're too slow'. Why would we? Just get better. Today was better. Better than potentially he's ever been. Clearly as a back he's never done it so will that prolong his career? I'm not sure, but it's certainly a good step towards it".

Do the injuries alter how you might manage some of those veterans, and it's forcing your hand in terms of you manage them now if you can?

"We've been pretty deliberate in what we want in terms of you see early in the season resting some of our players or managing. We had a plan to do the same. Now I think we got a couple of three 6-day breaks coming. We're pretty deliberate whether it's game time, whether it's training loads, whether it's resting. We've been forced a bit. Jordy's [De Goey] forced and Tom Mitchell's forced. These things are in front of us. We can't control, but there is an intent to look after our players. It's a long year".

Nick Daicos and Jack Crisp led from the front and filling the void with those experienced heads missing?

"Yeah, and Jack [Crisp] in particular. That's Jack best game by far. Everything that we want of Jack was there. High run, inside 50s, led inside 50s, high pressure, second highest on the ground. Then there's Nick [Daicos]. I think they [West Coast] tried to tag him in the second half and he's just such an incredible worker. He led tackles for us and he led contested possessions. 17 contested possessions. Apparently he gets the easy ball".

Back to Joe Richards and Fin Macrae, they were impactful in the first half when the game was up for grabs?

"Yeah, and you can only look above the level of VFL, and then you get your chance and then he gets his chance on talking about Joey [Richards]. He was the highest pressure player on the ground, in your first game and set up many goals. Kicked his own, maybe unlucky not to get a couple. Really clean; same with [Lachie] Sullivan. Looks really clean. Harvey Harrison, really clean at ground level and in tune with the game. That's exciting for those young lads".

You love the storytelling since you've been at the club, but you must love the story with Joe Richards only playing at Wangaratta two years ago?

"I remember Dekka telling me about him, and he's got this kid from Shepparton. I think half of Shepp was here today watching. He's been a guy that you could tell that was coming, but it was early days. I'm talking last year. It's like 'oh okay, yeah maybe'. But this year, it's been like 'okay this guy looks too good for VFL' and then he looks ready to play AFL. We've got a pretty good array of small forwards. Beau McCreery, Lachie Sullivan and Bobby Hill. It's hard to go past those guys, but all of a sudden the opportunities present and you go 'Okay, we've got one more' that can do all the things that we need when we need them".

What has Joe Richards done to improve himself since he's been at the club?

"Physically, he look stronger. Come back after pre-season, he looked like a strong young man and then role compliance. Diligence. We have a 'development player of the month' and he won it in April for doing all the things that make you want to get better every day. You don't fluke this stuff. I say that regularly. You know, you turn up here you can hope that you play well but sometimes you come here with great belief because you've done the work".

Lachie Schultz will be back next week, but will anyone else return?

"We're hoping, but there's still some to play out. Jordy [De Goey] and Tom [Mitchell] will be a race to the line, but there's some chance at this stage".

What about Jamie Elliott returning?

"We're going to get an update on Jamie. We'll probably release that early this week. There's just been some stuff that's been grumbling so it might be a bit more than one week".

What about Beau McCreery?

"Beau McCreery won't be available next week. He hasn't come up in the protocols at enough time, so he'll miss another week but likely [to return] the week after".

https://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/video/ ... 5507749001

[think positive]

Happy enough. Weren’t challenged. Midfield dominant.
Big negative on injuries.
Dermie commentary mind numbing. Reid wasn’t in the top 25 players on the ground.
Onto bigger and better things.

yeah well, clearly He knows when he is amongst true greatness!!
the look of love!

[BazBoy]