- Mar 16, 2014
- 8,793
- 8,987
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
- Thread starter
- #39
And there you go -- in the preview last week, I suggested there were lots of questions to be answered about the Mighty Magpies. The game against Geelong has answered almost all of them. Our clearance work is better thanks to Mitchell. Bobby Hill will make an impact. Our game plan holds up and is well suited to our players, and it holds up even under severe pressure. Jordan DeGoey is likely to to rise to his talent level and dominate the competition. Most importantly -- we are one of the best teams in the comp. Yes, yes, it's only one game in a long season, but it was enough evidence for me. Let's bask in the glory a little.
Still, there was one huge downer during the stellar night. The greatest mark the game has seen, Jeremy Howe, flew kamikaze-style into a spoil. He shot through the air horizontally, like a missile, and when he crashed do the ground he shattered his arm. This is a heavy blow. Howe has defied age. He leaps like a cat, he possesses incredible pace, he intercepts to start shredding counterattacks with his two-sided elite disposal. He helps organise us with his onfield leadership. We can only hope he's back before too long.
Which means.... step up Billy Frampton (sorry Kelly, I've given up on you for the moment). Murphy takes Howe's more intercepting role and Frampton takes Murphy's more lockdown one.
We still have enviable depth which will hold us in good stead for a while yet.
Opponents: The Power
The Power are a strange team. A newcomer to the competition, there's no traditional hate between us. I don't harbour long-held vendettas against them for rodent-like, deceitful, morally repugnant, behaviour (yes Carlton, I'm pointing the bone at you). But they do seem to possess some odious personalities. Kane Cornes is a professional stirrer, a kind of shock jock of football, minus the politics. I hated him as a player, but now he's more like an annoyance, the buzzing of a mosquito in my ear at night. And their President, the loathsome, middle-brow, out-of-touch, egotistical Koshi.? A morning TV presenter as President? I feel sorry for Port's coach.
What about the current team? They have a great interceptor in Alir, a good key forward in Dixon, wild-cards in Georgiades and Rioli, some inside bulls in Wines and Powell-Pepper, some elite young talent with Butters, Rozee and Horne-Francis. They were excellent at home against a highly-touted Brisbane, doing the Lions down and by doing so, proving their upper level is elite. And yet, and yet, I still don't quite know what they are. I suppose another way of looking at it is that they're pretty good at everything. They look like they'll be battling with a bunch of teams for a top-four spot.
This game then is going to ask a few more questions of us: Will McStay actually be the player we hope? He was great in the pre-season but his performance against Geelong was disappointing. Will the Cox/Cameron duo continue to fight the good fight? They were solid against Geelong but here they should be better, before the real tests come. How will the backline go without Howe? Will our better clearance work hold steady?
The Washup
The game's at the MCG, we're in stellar form, and the Power are surging but can we trust them? About as much as we can trust Kreepy Koshi and Shock-Jock Kane.
The Pies by 13 points!
Still, there was one huge downer during the stellar night. The greatest mark the game has seen, Jeremy Howe, flew kamikaze-style into a spoil. He shot through the air horizontally, like a missile, and when he crashed do the ground he shattered his arm. This is a heavy blow. Howe has defied age. He leaps like a cat, he possesses incredible pace, he intercepts to start shredding counterattacks with his two-sided elite disposal. He helps organise us with his onfield leadership. We can only hope he's back before too long.
Which means.... step up Billy Frampton (sorry Kelly, I've given up on you for the moment). Murphy takes Howe's more intercepting role and Frampton takes Murphy's more lockdown one.
We still have enviable depth which will hold us in good stead for a while yet.
Opponents: The Power
The Power are a strange team. A newcomer to the competition, there's no traditional hate between us. I don't harbour long-held vendettas against them for rodent-like, deceitful, morally repugnant, behaviour (yes Carlton, I'm pointing the bone at you). But they do seem to possess some odious personalities. Kane Cornes is a professional stirrer, a kind of shock jock of football, minus the politics. I hated him as a player, but now he's more like an annoyance, the buzzing of a mosquito in my ear at night. And their President, the loathsome, middle-brow, out-of-touch, egotistical Koshi.? A morning TV presenter as President? I feel sorry for Port's coach.
What about the current team? They have a great interceptor in Alir, a good key forward in Dixon, wild-cards in Georgiades and Rioli, some inside bulls in Wines and Powell-Pepper, some elite young talent with Butters, Rozee and Horne-Francis. They were excellent at home against a highly-touted Brisbane, doing the Lions down and by doing so, proving their upper level is elite. And yet, and yet, I still don't quite know what they are. I suppose another way of looking at it is that they're pretty good at everything. They look like they'll be battling with a bunch of teams for a top-four spot.
This game then is going to ask a few more questions of us: Will McStay actually be the player we hope? He was great in the pre-season but his performance against Geelong was disappointing. Will the Cox/Cameron duo continue to fight the good fight? They were solid against Geelong but here they should be better, before the real tests come. How will the backline go without Howe? Will our better clearance work hold steady?
The Washup
The game's at the MCG, we're in stellar form, and the Power are surging but can we trust them? About as much as we can trust Kreepy Koshi and Shock-Jock Kane.
The Pies by 13 points!
