Game Day Collingwood v Melbourne 7.20pm Thursday The G

[Maggie5]

Coaches have done their jobs, team/line meetings, identifying strength and weaknesses of opposition of players and training.

Now it is up to the players to leave it all out there.

I am quietly humming the Pointer Sisters song (1982), some poetic licence taken as I don't think they were singing about football.

Tonight's the night we're gonna make it happen
Tonight we'll put all other things aside
Give it time and show me speccys
We're goin' for those cheers tonight
I want to beat them
Cheer you
And wrap myself with excitement
I want to see you
Beat them
I just can't get enough
And if you move real fast
We're home

I'm so excited
And I just can't hide it
I'm about to lose control and I think I like it
I'm so excited
And I just can't hide it

 

[Bloben]

Most media outlets have the Dees as a cert. who cares. We stick Black & White. We know we’re doing good when everyone hates us again. F*ck ‘em! I hope we stick it right up ‘em tonight.

I've been listening to lots of so called expert analysts and the stats they are using are all recent stats where we have been just going through the motions waiting for finals.

They should be asking themselves if the recent stats are reflective of where we are right now or where we were when just treading water. I may be biased but I think it's the latter and if that's the case we should win this game easily

 

[whiskeytown]

I’m not as optimistic as others with the two rucks, ageing mids… plus Lipinski

All in the wet.

An overly tall, slower line up given the absence of Noble’s run and metres gained

Think they are worrying more about Melbourne’s contested strengths… than playing to Collingwood’s run and carry, quick ball movement etc

Either way just praying for the win

 

[gouki88]

I’m not as optimistic as others with the two rucks, ageing mids… plus Lipinski

All in the wet.

An overly tall, slower line up given the absence of Noble’s run and metres gained

Think they are worrying more about Melbourne’s contested strengths… than playing to Collingwood’s run and carry, quick ball movement etc

Either way just praying for the win

Why would the wet be a disadvantage for our midfield that has thus far done well in the wet?

 

[Cousin of Daicos]

Few too many people in this thread watched AFL360 and saw the highlights of Gawn clunking everything last time we played them. Don't forget we had a lot of genuine best 22 players out, illness supposedly quelling our run and spread, etc.

Not to mention just having a down day which happens to anyone.

All these factors influence the team's ability to avoid aerial threats like Gawn, May and Lever.

Cameron was also only 3-4 games back from a knee.

Anyway, let's get ******* excited (was gonna say pumped but that just sounds like I want us to lose )

Honestly I hope Melbourne is foolish enough to use King’s Birthday as some kind of reference.

I doubt they are.

But I hope.

 

[Big Bryza]

FFS just listening to Brenton Sanderson on SEN - if his analysis of our game is any indication of his tactical nous, no wonder he's been a failure.
'Melb have had the ability stop Coll in recent games" -
"Melb fwd line has the edge over Coll defence"

Constant reference to KB without any acknowledgment of our significant 'INS" tonight.
Not a single mention of the Coll strengths or ability to counter Melb consistently over recent years - despite Melb contest edge..

A seriously dumb review.

Sando is a genuine pleb of a football analyst. There's a reason he's stuck coaching local footy these days.

 

[gouki88]

Honestly I hope Melbourne is foolish enough to use King’s Birthday as some kind of reference.

I doubt they are.

But I hope.

Given they were foolish enough to try and bring in yet another primary ruck to play alongside Gawn, then there remains hope

 

[PIEWITHSAUCE]

Why would the wet be a disadvantage for our midfield that has thus far done well in the wet?

I'm more worried about our backs pressing up hard and getting done out the back with the wet ball skidding through to an open Melbourne forward line. It used to drive me nuts in Malthouse coached sides and I hope we take the conditions into account in that regard tonight.

 

[SuperSub17]

So, no work is getting done today

The wait is killing me.

 

[ElliottsMaggies]

Most media outlets have the Dees as a cert. who cares. We stick Black & White. We know we’re doing good when everyone hates us again. F*ck ‘em! I hope we stick it right up ‘em tonight.

Oh yeah for sure, they've all jumped off and I prefer it that way. I hate being the favourite. And most are only talking about our last month of footy, which is fair enough, I guess. But to talk about the KB game specifically and not mention all the changes for tonight, is just laughable.

 

[gouki88]

I'm more worried about our backs pressing up hard and getting done out the back with the wet ball skidding through to an open Melbourne forward line. It used to drive me nuts in Malthouse coached sides and I hope we take the conditions into account in that regard tonight.

That would be my only worry too, but I think if we can wrestle control away from Melbourne's stoppage and intercept play (which I think the wet would aid) then I think it offsets.

 

[peter9789]

Going to be interesting tonight. When we played them last time on KB, we reportedly had some unwell players in the lead up. They beat us by 4pts but we were really lucky to have gotten that close with Melb kicking 8.18.

Viney and Petracca got hold of us, and Fritch kicked 3, whilst Grundy probably had his best game of the year.

The wet conditions in my view wont bother us so much but just make for an ugly spectacle and a tight, edge of seat contest.

Absolutely gutted for Noble to miss out tonight - just love his endeavour even if he coughs it up from time to time.

In these conditions we need Cameron / Cox to give great service to Mitchell / Adams / Degoey out of the middle.

Hoping and praying for a PIES win, but I'm feeling Melbourne can edge us out in a close one

 

[Apex36]

Bayley Fritsch, however, is an apex dickhead.

Bruh… I thought we were friends

 

[shizzle]

It could end up being a real ugly game. Melbourne will want to keep it low scoring, block the corridor etc. Feel that plays into their hands as they have stronger marking options, the only question is if rain affects that.

I think they're traveling slightly better than us and should start favorites. If I had to pick then it's Dees by 11 pts.

 

[Apex36]

Anyone think we're going in too tall ?

On SM-S901E using BigFooty.com mobile app

We’re literally only playing 3 players over 195cm. The too tall rhetoric is a myth.

 

[Big Bryza]

Pies by 69 points.

 

[gouki88]

We’re literally only playing 3 players over 195cm. The too tall rhetoric is a myth.

But they're a lot over 195!

 

[sam_e]

How Collingwood uses space better than anyone in the AFL

Much of modern footy is dense, often with little regard for pace and coverage. The Magpies are the team bucking the trend, write Cody Atkinson and Sean Lawson.

www.abc.net.au

 

[No SPIN]

I’m not as optimistic as others with the two rucks, ageing mids… plus Lipinski

All in the wet.

An overly tall, slower line up given the absence of Noble’s run and metres gained

Think they are worrying more about Melbourne’s contested strengths… than playing to Collingwood’s run and carry, quick ball movement etc

Either way just praying for the win

How else do you counter Gawn effectively than with 2 Rucks? Is he really going to be more concerned with Frampton as a pinch hitter than Cox/Cameron combo?

Lipinski had 12 contested possessions against Geel and was great in that game.

The depth of our mid rotations will ensure the ages of Sidey and Pendles are inconsequential.

Melb fans fear the wet because most of their losses have been in wet conditions.

In RD 22 last year we learnt an important lesson - after being dominated at the contest in the 1st half, we turned it around in the 2nd half and won. Its the key to beating Melb and therefore a sensible focus. If we match them at contest then the game is ours, and run and carry is not comprised as you suggest, as performances early in the year proved.

 

[Kes1984]

season proper starts tonight.

Pies win:
Straight to prelim
Gives daicos the time he needs
Prelim against likely the weaker top 8 opponents

Get it done please pies!

A win is huge tonight.

 

[OfficialJordynRuffhead]

A few key aspects of the contest I have been thinking about:

- Melbourne's inside 50 kicking, haven't watched them so much recently but when I do watch them tends to be a weakness of theirs, wet conditions might help them in this aspect as it reduces our intercepting strength

- Our ability to bring ball to ground when forced to kick long down the line, the best teams force us to kick long down the line as much as they can and our ability to prevent Gawn, May and Lever from dominating this are will be a major focus of ours, two rucks help in this regard but obviously limit our strength once it does hit the ground

- Sticking tackles, maybe not spoken about so much but teams who have got on top of us for long periods have tended to be teams that are great at breaking or riding tackles, in particular Brisbane and Essendon (Anzac day not r23). Oliver is so dangerous in the way he absorbs tackles and releases progressive handballs, Crisp is probably our standout in this aspect.

 

[Go Pies!!!!!]

Bring it on, work day has been busy but I am pumped for this game. Think the boys have been waiting for Finals for a few weeks tonight and we will unleash our best game of the year!! Pies Comfy by 27pts
Sucks for Noble but there is always some hard luck stories but he still has a chance to get back!! i had a friend tell me we will lose cause the team moral will be destroyed due to noble getting dropped My answer to that was "have you been listening to Mcrae for the last 2 years"? Yes they were a Collingwood Supporter. Anyway Lets go Pies time to unleash the swooping magpies

 

[RGpies]

I feel like wet weather suits Mihochek, low centre of gravity for a key forward, a good battler that is good at ground level. So mcstay and a resting ruck in the fwd line feel like the only talks that may be affected by rain.

 

[BaliDemon]

Show and tell time boys.
May the best team win.
May we both still meet up
again in the Big One.
Let’s keep this thing in Victoria.

️️

 

[J Albert]

This isn't last yaer. We can't be satisfied with a gutsy loss. Win or die in 2023.