manicmagpie
A slice of fried gold
Collingwood (14th) vs West Coast (6th)
Head to head:
Played: 56
Won: 26
Lost: 29
Draws: 1
In WA:
Played: 23
Won: 6
Lost: 17
Draw: 0
At Perth Stadium:
Played: 4
Won: 2
Lost: 2
Draw: 0
Form:
West Coast (2-2)
The Eagles have been seriously up and down in 2021, both in the season overall and within the same game last week against the Saints.
Their embarrassing capitulation in the last quarter and a half won’t sit well with them and they are bound to come out firing this week. Sigh.
Prior to the Saints they had a very impressive win against Port, a credible loss against the Dogs and a so-so win against the Suns. They are 2 from 2 at home and 0 from 2 away.
Collingwood (1-3)
I think we’re all aware of our form. Watching the match last week from the top deck of the Southern Stand made our issues stand out even more than usual. Namely, our complete and utter stagnation when we have the ball. The lack of movement and intent was terrible to see. Players stood stock still in position instead of moving into space, or moving to create that space. You could almost forgive it if we were at least capable of locking the ball in once it hit our forward line but again we seemed unable to keep that pressure on (with the notable exception of first timer McCreery). With our lack of quality forwards, getting the ball in quick should be our top priority but it seems like it is anything but at the moment.
The other major issue is with our midfield at stoppages, particularly the centre bounce. There is an amazing lack of cohesion between the players in there (most of them very good players) and we are prone to giving up extremely damaging clearances. In contrast when we do get our hands on it in there they tend to be reasonable ineffective. It's been a problem for some time, and it's not improving. In fact it seems to be getting worse.
Teams:
Collingwood:
Ins: - F Macrae, M Keane, D Cameron (+ Greenwood promoted from sub)
Outs: T Adams, M Cox, B Sier and W Hoskin-Elliott
Going to guess that Ruscoe will be the sub.
Live footage of the Collingwood BigFooty board when news came through that WHE would not be playing.
Collingwood have given a debut to Finlay Macrae but have lost the reigning Copeland Trophy winner in Adams. Cox, Sier and Hoskin-Elliott have been omitted in a small shake up of the side. Cameron will have to provide a target up forward in the absence of Cox while the inclusion of Keane might signal a willingness to throw Moore forward or perhaps is just a reflection of the height of the WC forward line.
West Coast:
Ins: Witherden, Langdon, O’Neill, Vardy
Outs: Hurn, Ryan, Petruccelle, Winder, Jones
Hurn, Ryan and Petruccelle are significant outs for the Eagles. They’ve brought in yet another tall in in Vardy and swapped out some players I don't know much about for some others I don’t know much about. Apologies for those reading this expecting in depth knowledge of fringe WC players.
Key Matchups:
Kennedy/Darling/Allen v Moore/Roughead/Keane
When we lose to the Eagles their big forwards have done a lot of the damage, including a 7 goal haul to Kennedy last year. With Oscar Allen growing in confidence and importance they will be even harder to contain. The KPDs are going to have to be on song.
NicNat/Vardy v Grundy/Cameron
However good the backline is won’t really help us unless our centre square work and stoppage work is up to scratch. Missing our best mid makes it an even tougher prospect, although in fairness WC will also be missing Shuey. It’s imperative that Grundy can at least nullify NicNat in the centre square, as well as getting back to his best around the ground.
Our forwards v McGovern/Barrass
The full forward line as named is about the weakest I've ever seen at Collingwood (C Brown - Cameron - Thomas). So it's vitally important that the effort put in is at the highest level. It’s non negotiable this week, our forwards have to compete in the air to stop WC’s intercept marking game, and tackle and harass to keep the ball from being rebounded at the speed of light, or we have no chance at all.
I was kind of looking forward to another duel between Maynard and Ryan, but I am relieved that the playing field is ever so slightly more level with Ryan out.
Tip
There is absolutely no logical reason why Collingwood wins this week. We’re not looking good, we’ve lost our best player, WC don’t lose at home very often etc.
However, I am an optimist by nature when it comes to each game. I’m never in denial about how the team is travelling or anything like that but no matter what the situation is, almost every week I still go in feeling like we’re going to pull off a win. If we're having a bad year roughly once every year though I lose all hope and can’t see a way for us to win.
The last two times I’ve felt like this were the Elimination Final last year and Round 17, 2019. Both of those just happened to be against WC in Perth. Both of those ended up with the Pies winning by a point.
So, Pies by 1 point it is.
Collingwood at the Oscars
In the spirit of doing something different with these previews, and with the Oscars only a week away I’m going to combine my 2 biggest loves – footy and films - and link all the Best Picture nominees to Collingwood.
The Father – A man refuses all assistance from his family as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality. Stars Nathan Buckley.
Judas & the Black Messiah – let’s change it to Judas & the Black & White Messiah and cast Nick Daicos. For a lot of us on here he’s definitely the chosen one who will fix all our woes once he arrives next year. He’s also reportedly a Carlton supporter, so he can play Judas as well, which should help us with ourbudget salary cap.
Promising Young Woman - there’s no shortage of these in our AFLW team who had a brilliant season. If we can forget the actual subject matter of the film, I’ll give the lead role to Tarni Brown as our most promising rookie this season. If we have to stay true to the subject matter, we better hope that we don’t find out in court this year that De Goey is suitable for any of the main male roles.
Sound of Metal – To me, the sound of metal is the grinding I hear whenever I see our 4 hopelessly incompatible cogs in the centre square for every bounce. Each part might be perfectly serviceable on their own, but put together as badly as they are at the moment the whole mechanism seems to splutter and break down constantly.
The actual film is about a man who suffers a debilitating injury due to his work which takes away his career and passion in life. So, absolutely no way to link that to Collingwood, then.
Mank – an alcoholic writer tries and fails to stay sober while writing a scathing attack on a powerful media figure and former colleague. Stars Mark Robinson and Eddie McGuire.
Minari – A man believes that he can corner the market and that success will come by cultivating a foreign import. Stars Derek Hine and Mason Cox.
Nomadland – A moving portrait of a worker cut adrift from ‘normal’ society and forced into roaming from place to place doing itinerant work, never truly finding a home. Stars James Aish and beautifully filmed on location in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.
The Trial of the Chicago Seven – Seven individuals are singled out and made scapegoats for a system that’s irretrievably broken. Stars Will Hoskin-Elliott, Callum Brown, Josh Thomas, Jack Madgen, Mason Cox, Chris Mayne and Brayden Sier.
Head to head:
Played: 56
Won: 26
Lost: 29
Draws: 1
In WA:
Played: 23
Won: 6
Lost: 17
Draw: 0
At Perth Stadium:
Played: 4
Won: 2
Lost: 2
Draw: 0
Form:
West Coast (2-2)
The Eagles have been seriously up and down in 2021, both in the season overall and within the same game last week against the Saints.
Their embarrassing capitulation in the last quarter and a half won’t sit well with them and they are bound to come out firing this week. Sigh.
Prior to the Saints they had a very impressive win against Port, a credible loss against the Dogs and a so-so win against the Suns. They are 2 from 2 at home and 0 from 2 away.
Collingwood (1-3)
I think we’re all aware of our form. Watching the match last week from the top deck of the Southern Stand made our issues stand out even more than usual. Namely, our complete and utter stagnation when we have the ball. The lack of movement and intent was terrible to see. Players stood stock still in position instead of moving into space, or moving to create that space. You could almost forgive it if we were at least capable of locking the ball in once it hit our forward line but again we seemed unable to keep that pressure on (with the notable exception of first timer McCreery). With our lack of quality forwards, getting the ball in quick should be our top priority but it seems like it is anything but at the moment.
The other major issue is with our midfield at stoppages, particularly the centre bounce. There is an amazing lack of cohesion between the players in there (most of them very good players) and we are prone to giving up extremely damaging clearances. In contrast when we do get our hands on it in there they tend to be reasonable ineffective. It's been a problem for some time, and it's not improving. In fact it seems to be getting worse.
Teams:
Collingwood:
Ins: - F Macrae, M Keane, D Cameron (+ Greenwood promoted from sub)
Outs: T Adams, M Cox, B Sier and W Hoskin-Elliott
Going to guess that Ruscoe will be the sub.
Live footage of the Collingwood BigFooty board when news came through that WHE would not be playing.
Collingwood have given a debut to Finlay Macrae but have lost the reigning Copeland Trophy winner in Adams. Cox, Sier and Hoskin-Elliott have been omitted in a small shake up of the side. Cameron will have to provide a target up forward in the absence of Cox while the inclusion of Keane might signal a willingness to throw Moore forward or perhaps is just a reflection of the height of the WC forward line.
West Coast:
Ins: Witherden, Langdon, O’Neill, Vardy
Outs: Hurn, Ryan, Petruccelle, Winder, Jones
Hurn, Ryan and Petruccelle are significant outs for the Eagles. They’ve brought in yet another tall in in Vardy and swapped out some players I don't know much about for some others I don’t know much about. Apologies for those reading this expecting in depth knowledge of fringe WC players.
Key Matchups:
Kennedy/Darling/Allen v Moore/Roughead/Keane
When we lose to the Eagles their big forwards have done a lot of the damage, including a 7 goal haul to Kennedy last year. With Oscar Allen growing in confidence and importance they will be even harder to contain. The KPDs are going to have to be on song.
NicNat/Vardy v Grundy/Cameron
However good the backline is won’t really help us unless our centre square work and stoppage work is up to scratch. Missing our best mid makes it an even tougher prospect, although in fairness WC will also be missing Shuey. It’s imperative that Grundy can at least nullify NicNat in the centre square, as well as getting back to his best around the ground.
Our forwards v McGovern/Barrass
The full forward line as named is about the weakest I've ever seen at Collingwood (C Brown - Cameron - Thomas). So it's vitally important that the effort put in is at the highest level. It’s non negotiable this week, our forwards have to compete in the air to stop WC’s intercept marking game, and tackle and harass to keep the ball from being rebounded at the speed of light, or we have no chance at all.
I was kind of looking forward to another duel between Maynard and Ryan, but I am relieved that the playing field is ever so slightly more level with Ryan out.
Tip
There is absolutely no logical reason why Collingwood wins this week. We’re not looking good, we’ve lost our best player, WC don’t lose at home very often etc.
However, I am an optimist by nature when it comes to each game. I’m never in denial about how the team is travelling or anything like that but no matter what the situation is, almost every week I still go in feeling like we’re going to pull off a win. If we're having a bad year roughly once every year though I lose all hope and can’t see a way for us to win.
The last two times I’ve felt like this were the Elimination Final last year and Round 17, 2019. Both of those just happened to be against WC in Perth. Both of those ended up with the Pies winning by a point.
So, Pies by 1 point it is.
Collingwood at the Oscars
In the spirit of doing something different with these previews, and with the Oscars only a week away I’m going to combine my 2 biggest loves – footy and films - and link all the Best Picture nominees to Collingwood.
The Father – A man refuses all assistance from his family as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality. Stars Nathan Buckley.
Judas & the Black Messiah – let’s change it to Judas & the Black & White Messiah and cast Nick Daicos. For a lot of us on here he’s definitely the chosen one who will fix all our woes once he arrives next year. He’s also reportedly a Carlton supporter, so he can play Judas as well, which should help us with our
Promising Young Woman - there’s no shortage of these in our AFLW team who had a brilliant season. If we can forget the actual subject matter of the film, I’ll give the lead role to Tarni Brown as our most promising rookie this season. If we have to stay true to the subject matter, we better hope that we don’t find out in court this year that De Goey is suitable for any of the main male roles.
Sound of Metal – To me, the sound of metal is the grinding I hear whenever I see our 4 hopelessly incompatible cogs in the centre square for every bounce. Each part might be perfectly serviceable on their own, but put together as badly as they are at the moment the whole mechanism seems to splutter and break down constantly.
The actual film is about a man who suffers a debilitating injury due to his work which takes away his career and passion in life. So, absolutely no way to link that to Collingwood, then.
Mank – an alcoholic writer tries and fails to stay sober while writing a scathing attack on a powerful media figure and former colleague. Stars Mark Robinson and Eddie McGuire.
Minari – A man believes that he can corner the market and that success will come by cultivating a foreign import. Stars Derek Hine and Mason Cox.
Nomadland – A moving portrait of a worker cut adrift from ‘normal’ society and forced into roaming from place to place doing itinerant work, never truly finding a home. Stars James Aish and beautifully filmed on location in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.
The Trial of the Chicago Seven – Seven individuals are singled out and made scapegoats for a system that’s irretrievably broken. Stars Will Hoskin-Elliott, Callum Brown, Josh Thomas, Jack Madgen, Mason Cox, Chris Mayne and Brayden Sier.
Well done 
