Winners are Grinners !

[Clemo]

The Press are allready on the bandwagon trying to sell papers
From http://www.realfooty.com.au/news

"Malthouse comes in from the cold
By JAKE NIALL
This wasn't anything like Mick Malthouse's past few visits to Victoria Park as coach. On those wintry afternoons, he was West Coast coach and received the mandatory hostile reception. After one trip to the Magpies' cauldron, in 1997, Malthouse said that, regardless of the weather, opposition coaches were wise to wear raincoats at the home of the Pies.
Yesterday was different in almost every respect. First and most obviously, he was coaching Collingwood and was, therefore, showered with applause and encouragement.
No need for raincoats, not only because of his allegiance, but due to the non-winter weather. It was too hot to play cricket, let alone football, and Malthouse was among many officials to opt for a T-shirt and shorts.
Unlike those other recent trips, this was a practice match, which meant that there were 4000 or 5000, rather than 25,000 feral faithful. And, most importantly for Malthouse, the Pies, who made a habit of losing to Malthouse's West Coast in recent years, even at Victoria Park, won the match by 28points.
Malthouse's first encounter with his old team was so friendly that he and his West Coast friends struck a pre-match agreement to exchange information about their line-ups. ``They know exactly who they're playing and they know exactly where we're playing,'' he said the day before the game. This frank exchange meant Malthouse (below) and Ken Judge would have the chance to trial players in various positions, knowing their likely opponents and saving them time at the opening bounce.
``All it does is cuts your workload,'' said Malthouse of the pre-game discussion. ``You're discussing probable changes before the match, who you know you're playing on, as opposed to who you may be playing on and then probable changes ... Let me say that that went out the window, the gloves were off at the first bounce.''
Collingwood's first half, in which it kicked 10goals to four, was impressive; its second - in which both teams were slowed by the heat - was ordinary, although the match was over at the main break.
The fans, though, will remember only the opening half, in which Glenn Freeborn booted four goals (three in four minutes in the second term), Paul Licuria was prominent and lightly-built youngster Damien Adkins showed an instinct for clearing the ball from ruck contests.
``The first half, I thought we moved the ball the way you would like to move the ball and we had multiple options,'' said Malthouse, who will regain Paul Williams next weekend, having put Sav Rocca through his paces in the reserves yesterday.
Rocca appeared badly in need of a run and did little in his comeback from knee surgery, but suffered no setbacks. His brother Anthony showed signs of regaining touch, kicking two goals from centre half-forward.
Perhaps most encouragingly for Malthouse, for the second time in seven days, his young team won comfortably without receiving the usual massive contribution from skipper Nathan Buckley. Aside from Licuria and Freeborn, defenders Andrew Ukovic, Scott Burns and Simon Prestigiacomo were consistent contributors on a day when many players were shuffled on and off to protect them from heat exhaustion.
That he was coaching against his former players meant Malthouse didn't have to look for the opposition numbers. ``I know the faces."




------------------
Tony_Clemente@hotmail.com
www.netspace.net.au/~clemo