Post Match v Dees...all comments here thanks!

[woe_is_me]

Whatever happens you must agree that Woey is at a crossroads in his career, he either has to step up or him will struggle to get a spot next year....

I absolutely concede he is at a crossroads, but he is not yet a liability to the team. He has lost confidence - it's plain to see, he is getting a fair bit of the ball, just his decision making is out, but it will return, and then most people on here will do a back-flip.

And despite what my nick may suggest, I'm not a Woewodin disciple, however I do think he is very harshly treated by alot of our supporters, who, because he has won a Brownlow medal, expect him to be a megastar without any faults. He is only human, and has form fluctuations like most others!!

[bokka]

Pretty good to keep with them for 2 1/2 quqarters considering the players wre buggered by then and how undermanned we were esp in midfield, and considering how good Melbourne looked. the forwards were stuffed at the end also, from having to be rotated through the midfield all game.
THey should bounce back unless the new players start getting major burnout. NOt many teams to come are as good as Melbourne so it's not out of the question to win 7 or 8 of the next 8 which would put us right in the running.

[Sultan of spin]

it's not out of the question to win 7 or 8 of the next 8 which would put us right in the running.

I wish i had your optimism, I know we are playing a lot better but so are some of the teams we are playing soon: Sydney, Brisbane and Port all are all strting to fire up. That said i think we will beat the swans next week.

[bokka]

it's not out of the question to win 7 or 8 of the next 8 which would put us right in the running.

I wish i had your optimism, I know we are playing a lot better but so are some of the teams we are playing soon: Sydney, Brisbane and Port all are all strting to fire up. That said i think we will beat the swans next week.

Yes the next few games are an exciting prospect - the question is will it turn to depression? Will it be like 03 after the break, or like 04? Pretty hard to imagine it being as good as 03, since from memory we only lost one game after the break (not including the big'un) - but hopefully close at least.
I think there'll be some real chemistry with Buckleyand Egan in the same team and also Leon coming back. Leon and Egan may need other special players in the team to get the best out of themselves, like the Beatles or two galaxian ships joining together. then Didak, carra, c3, Taz and Josh are others that might be in that category and dare I say, the team might start to dazzle with brilliance. Might turn out to be balderdash from the one eye of a collingwood barracker (timely preemption of Dr Grumpy) but time will tell.

[DaVe86]

Collingwood's bid to make the finals took a serious nose dive on Queens Birthday monday after a 45 point drubbing to arch enemy Melbourne. After a promising start to the game, Collingwood managed to go into half time in front, only to fade out in familiar fashion in the 3rd and 4th quarters. Collingwoods loss was furthered dampened by the loss of in form midfielder rheece shaw who has ruptured his ACL joint and will require a full knee reconstruction.

Collingwood was belted in the ruck from the onset but its stellar defence led by James Clement held sway and made life very difficult for Melbournes dangerous forward line. Their crafty midfield was held with Travis Johnstone benched after been tagged by Brodie Holland and Nathan Brown picking up minimal touches whilst been tagged by Rheece Shaw. Other matchup's included Ryan Lonie on Brad Green and Tarkyn Lockyer on Aaron Davey.

Early on, Davey picked up 7 touches immediately and Tarkyn Lockyer was seemingly in for a very long day in the office. However, Lockyer tightened up and severely restricted Davey from then in. Lonie also totally shut down Green whilst Cameron Bruce was finding life difficult on James Clement. The problem for Collingwood was Brad Millers opening term of 7 marks against Shane Wakelin which kept Melbourne in it whilst Collingwood had the momentum early. Alan Didak was his electrifying best in the opening term with 2 first quarter goals.

Travis Johnstone came on and goaled, and from then on, Melbourne always looked threatening without putting the points on the board. Russel Robertson and Adam Yze also started working their way into the game.

The second quarter saw the tragic injury to Rheece Shaw. However Collingwood continued to frustrate Melbourne and finished the term with a 2 goal lead. Travis Cloke was notching up plenty of the ball. Alan Didak seemingly got injured as well and was slightly restricted for the remainder of the first half. Jeff White continued to win the ruck duals against Cameron Cloke and Josh Fraser as Melbourne begun to belt Collingwood out of the middle. After a quiet start, Paul Licuria also worked his way into the game. The dominance of Brad Miller forced James Clement to be moved onto him, which left Shane Woewoedin with the key job on Cameron Bruce. After a promising start from woewoedin, he was totally outclassed by the taller, more agile Bruce. Dane Swan was finding life very difficult on Adam Yze as well. Clement enjoyed a very good battle with Miller who continued to notch up touches, but was also beaten on a few occassions by Clement. Although Melbourne were in seemingly better touch, Collingwood was able to hold off the onslaught and remain infront at quarters end.

Melbourne in the second half were a completely different team. Led by Adam Yze, the dee's were a machine and turned a 2 goal deficit into a 50 point win by games end. Lockyer was arguably the pies best as he notched up 28 key midfield touches to Daveys 18. Other significant contributors in the second half were Paul Licuria who also finished with 28 touches and Scott Burns who finished with 33 touches and was pretty good through the centre. Even though Melbourne lost David Neitz to a depressed cheek fracture after a solid bump on Lockyer, their forward line was unaffected as Yze kicked 4 telling third quarter goals and finished with 5, Robertson kicked 3 and Bruce 2.

Ryan Lonie was able to restrict Brad Green to only 13 touches. Clement was again moved off Miller and onto Yze who was towelling the pies up. Clement was able to hold Yze to 0 goals in the last term and Lonie did a great minding job on Miller in the mean time. Lonie also kicked an important 3rd quarter goal to keep Collingwood in touch, but goals were few and far between in the second half.

Other significant contributors for Collingwood included Holland and O'bree who had 22 and 20 touches respectively and Didak who finished with 3 goals. Tarrant was well held by Nicholson and was unable to find any space. His task was made much harder by pathetic kicking from the midfield and a terrible lack of supply. He still ended up with 6 marks and 2 goals but it was no where near enough.

In the end, the flood gates finally opened after they had threatened to from early in the 2nd quarter. Malthouse just ran out of matchups and players like Cameron Bruce, Miller, Yze, Johnstone and Bizzel all had around 20 possessions, Johnstone the highest with 27. The dee's had too many options up forward. Jeff White was telling in the ruck with 25 hitouts whilst Paul Johnson managed 13. In reply, Fraser had 15 hitouts and Cameron Cloke only 6. The game was definately won out of the middle, as our forward line had the potential to also have big games.

Collingwood now goes into the split round with 4 wins and 8 losses, and will regret narrow losses to Adelaide and Kangaroos. Collingwood was not humiliated by Melbourne but absolutely run out of legs. Melbourne have now definately proved they are serious premiership contenders and ended Collingwoods 3 match winning streak with ease.


(if you want to use this for the match report go ahead, im sorry i havent really proof read it as i have just posted it quickly)

DaVe

[Mossi]

I reckon, the Dees effort on he weekend has taken a bit out of them. See how West Coast are going to belt them! second best midfield against the best. Loosing Shaw meant we lost an important cog that linked our fowards not to mension the speed he provides. Rhyse not only has he stepped up a gear in all departments his positional play has been outstanding! It p.......ses me off we lost him for the year!!

[Johnson#26]

anyone willing to do a match report for the website??

Steve I'll have mine up asap.

[Johnson#26]

[35forever]

For three weeks we took our opportunities in the first half & kicked goals instead of points, this week we kicked points. Simple, very simple. At the end of the third quarter Melbourne took its opportunities & kicked the goals which broke our hearts.

The almost exact replay of last year is almost uncanny, I've never heard of any team having two such identical seasons. Based on that we will lose a close one to Sydney, and then fade away - apart from one or two stirring wins against the odds - to finish where we are...thirteenth.

Lets hope we're smart enough not to finish in such a stupid spot. 15th would be far better, it gets us a good player without the ignominy of the dreaded spoon, lets leave that to Carlton so they have as many as us.

Be very clear fellas, the season is lost. We kicked it away in the first half on Monday. Had we gone into the second half five goals up as we should have, we would have won & the season would be well & truly on. We didn't.

Say goodnight Gracie.

PS: I told you Yze would get us & that it wouldnt be close. Shit I'm clever.

PPS: If we weren't stuffed before, we are most certainly stuffed without our best player, probable Copeland leader, and only truly speedy midfielder. Thanks for a great first half Shawry, you kept us in it despite the knockers, lets hope Collingwood looks after you when contract time comes around, and doesnt screw you shamefully like we did to your dad.

Good luck Rhyce, get well soon.

[Lazza]

Why does the Fat lady ALWAYS have to dress in black & white??

Her song is loud and clear unfortunately.

"All our bags are packed we're ready to go,
making the final eight is out the door
Already I'm so depressed I could cry
But the draft is looming, an early pick
Lets get champs who are really quick
May next year be so great for mighty 'pies!!

So let us play the kids again
Show them how to win with pain
Let's see their skills and talent on the ground
Till the 'pies get more of the leather
Side by side lets stick together
And look forward to nest season's first round........

[melissa]

Gee, you guys are writing off the whole season! We still have eleven more games to go. And, if:

Richards comes back in.
Lonie is put on a wing,
Taz plays a HFF or wing,
Leon, Bucks, and Johnno play,
Woey, Morrison and Cheesy are dropped,
Cam Cloke manages to hold his temper in check,
Dids keeps playing like he has,
and Cara or Ruzza play at FF, (and our guys honour their leads)

and of course, most importantly, MM doesn't persist with a matchup that is clearly not working (eg. Yze vs Swan)....

...we can make the finals.

The chances of all (or most) of this happening? About as likely as Rhyce Shaw playing again this year.

By the way, What the hell was Wakelyn doing on the bench? My brother said he was even up forward at one point in the third quarter. Go figure.

[DaVe86]

wakelin spent the whole of about 5 minutes up forward. He was dreadfully beaten by miller and i must say wakelins form over the past 3 weeks has been a bit down on his earlier form. Lonie was doing good jobs on both miller and green and i think mick just felt he wasnt needed which is strange considering the onslaught of goals. Maybe mick was just trying to teach him a lesson or there was some injury

[bokka]

wakelin spent the whole of about 5 minutes up forward. He was dreadfully beaten by miller and i must say wakelins form over the past 3 weeks has been a bit down on his earlier form. Lonie was doing good jobs on both miller and green and i think mick just felt he wasnt needed which is strange considering the onslaught of goals. Maybe mick was just trying to teach him a lesson or there was some injury

I heard on "Monday's Experts" (AFL.com.au) with Jarrod Molloy and some other bloke, that Wakelin was carrying an injury, something like a quad strain from memory.