Well after that insipid display of disposing the ball on Saturday, we clearly need to drop a couple of the culprits. Holland seems to be injured - most likely sustained during the match? Therefore Holland out. I personally thought that Reid was ready, but it looks like he isn't. Of course, it could've just been an off night, but I think we might be best to stick with two talls for now, despite me being one who called for Reid to come in. He has a very bright future at the club, but right now he just needs to work on his disposal, and perhaps put some more muscle on.
After listening to the VFL game, and reading some reports, I'd say Iles could be a minor solution to our current problem. He seems to be underrated by the Magpie faithful - he has speed, endevour, good footskills, good defensive awareness, and he's hard at it. Sounds good to me. Bring him in for Brodie Holland, and give him a bit of game time (unlike the 43% or whatever it was that we gave Stanley). The other in, to replace Reid, should be Scotty Burns. He's THE in and under mid, and he is THE leader. Boy do we need him out there. However, if by some chance he still isn't right: JA - a possible inclusion, who doesn't really play as the "tall" like Reid does. He won't get in the way of Rocca as much as Reid did (nothing against the kid though).
The other alternative, is to bring Maxwell in a play him forward, and DEEP forward. It's been glaringly obvious in the last two weeks that our forward line pressure has been WAY down. This can clearly be attributed to our small forwards playing up the ground and midfield. Maxwell is one of the best tacklers at the club, and if he is told to play for the BALL, he will do it for us on the biggest stage of the H&A calender. He is also pretty good going for goal. The reason I would only bring Maxwell or JA in to play forward, is because Essendon are short on talls at the minute, and neither are required down back, because we already have a minor surplus of talls for this match given the opposition forwards.
Therefore, the changes I want to see are:
OUT: Holland, Reid.
IN: Iles, Burns.
If not Burns, then Maxwell or JA.
As for the matchups: Lloyd is slightly down on form (apart from the Carlton game), but just like Rocca, he is due. He is a very dangerous forward, and we need to watch him hard. Wakelin or Brown are the obvious matchups, don't mind either way. The other one to take the resting ruckman - Laycock or Hille. Harry O'Brien to take Mcphee, and we really need Harry to lift, he's been average the last two weeks. When Lovett or Davey plays forward, I'd probably say Heater should get the job, though I'm quite concerned about their pace. We don't have any obvious matchups for them, though Johnson could get a gig there. The alternative is to have Harry take whichever is forward, and then put Goldsack onto Mcphee.
Michael will take Rocca, and most likely Ryder for Cloke. However, if we don't play a third tall, which is likely, Fletcher may take one which will free up Ryder to play forward, which is dangerous. In that case, O'Brien would take Ryder. To avoid this, Fraser should probably drift forward just as he did vs. Kangaroos (brilliant game mate), which would force Fletcher to take him, and keep Ryder down back.
Iles and Rhyce to do tagging jobs on Stanton and Lovett/Houli, who can all carve the opposition up if not closely checked. Not really concerned about their tags on our mids.
In terms of structure: I've already said I want to see a smaller forward line. Whilst having Maxwell down there would suggest we're playing a third tall, his pressure and ability at ground level says otherwise. Nonetheless, Cloke to start at CHF and lead hard up the ground. We should direct our forward thrusts through Cloke, rather than constantly ignoring his hard work. Rocca starts from the square, with Medhurst and Maxwell (if Burns doesn't play) starting right beside him. Leon and Thomas to start on the flanks, and pushing up into the midfield. But when we have possession, we need them to double back after presenting and provide the crumbing option at the feet of Rocca. It's nothing new to most: but our crumbers have been nowhere when the ball goes to ground. Therefore if they don't get the ball when they start forward and present an option leading up - Thomas, Medhurst and Davis MUST double back towards goal and get ready for the crumb. Rocca is out of sorts, and the ball is going to ground a lot.
Finally, Essendon's style is bad for us. They run hard, they chase hard, and they play very attacking football. Our pressure must be at it's maximum this week. Their disposal isn't that great compared to Geelong and Adelaide who use a similar style, therefore they are very vulnerable to high pressure, causing turnovers and allowing us to hurt them on the rebound. HOWEVER, we need to take a risk and actually go HARD on the rebound. Straight down the corridor, with numbers of runners. This is the only reason I think Johnson should stay in the team (his disposal is appalling of late) - to provide a hard running rebounding role. Rhyce, Johnson, Swan, Didak, Heath, Goldsack... they need to run HARD and hurt the Dons where they're vulnerable, and that is on the rebound! High intensity, hard running, HIT TARGETS! We can and will go a long way, possibly all the way, if we improve in these areas. We are more than capable of doing so, it's all MENTAL.
This is ANZAC DAY! The biggest day of our football year outside of finals. The mighty MCG is sold out, and by god I can't wait for the roar after the national anthem! Of course, it's not all about the footy.. it's about the ANZACS! We've gotta go out there and show the same spirit that those heroes showed to protect our wonderful country! Show some bloody heart and courage Collingwood!
What can you tell me about this picture:
It's a photo of Gallipoli. I'll tell you what it is: IT'S BLACK AND WHITE! Black and bloody white! Coincidence? Is it because perhaps colour photos didn't exist at the time? NO! It's because those brave souls KNEW that in 93 years time, the mighty Collingwood Football Club would be on the brink of on-field disaster to it's season! They knew that the direction of our talented young team would rest on this day! WIN... and we go 3-3 and begin the march to glory! Lose... and the team's confidence is devastated, losing 3 in a row and looking towards 2009. Those diggers and the photographer who took that photo knew what was at stake.. so they made it all in BLACK AND WHITE, TO TELL OUR PLAYERS, TO TELL OUR SUPPORTERS... THAT THE TIME IS NOW! THE TIME FOR SOFT, GUTLESS, UN-AUSTRALIAN, UN-COLLINGWOOD-LIKE FOOTBALL IS GONE! THE TIME TO HARDEN UP AND DO IT FOR THE JUMPER IS NOW, THE TIME TO DO IT FOR THOSE WARRIORS IS NOW! We must honour these Australian heroes and their black and white intentions, by going out there and playing the brand of football that would make Bobby Rose proud.. that would make ALL of our club champions proud, that would make Scotty Burns the proudest damn person on the planet, because he is the captain of the club that never gives in, that never backs down, that puts in every last ounce of effort until victory is OURS!
We must stand up on the biggest stage of all, and shout out at the other 15 clubs who currently look at us with a grin...."DO YOU REALISE WHO THE **** WE ARE? WE ARE THE COLLINGWOOD FOOTBALL CLUB! YOU HAVE TO BEAT THIS IF YOU WANT TO WIN THE FLAG!" This is IT!
GO THE damn PIES!
