Pies v Hawks prelim final

[rustyg70]

Can we just get back to talking about the game please?

 

[paulcar]

Of course, all Hawks supporters are Rhodes Scholars and contributing 50% of Australia's tax take. We are so indebted to them, the einstein's that they are all. Fyi, I'm a medical doctor and follow the pies and happen to live in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. But yes, I'm stereotypical Collingwood supporter as I don't work and am a dole cheat. Having said that, I live very well off your hard earned taxes and even manage to send my kids to some of Melbourne's best independent schools and fly overseas first class. You see, I'm one of the smarter Collingwood dole bludgers.

 

[Dangerwooodlett]

IMHO, the Pies are ripe for the picking.

They are tired:
- 12 weeks without a rest. 1 week off now might help but they are definitely tired. Game against the cats and eagles showed.

- Sub rule and 24 round season.

- Top spot sewn up for best part of a month prior to finals. Hard to motivate the players to stay "up" all year - the longer the season, the less likely the much talked about "switch" can be "flicked" when required.

- Their game style revolves around structure, pressure, intensity and discipline. Saints 2009 v2.0. Its taxing and tiring on the mind and body. Saints couldn't keep it up for more than 2 seasons - are the pies feeling the same fatigue?

They are out of form.

They are playing hurt.

Their best 22 is unsettled with a number of key players only just returning to the team with question marks over their fitness and form.

Of course, I'm playing devils advocate and only focusing on the negatives for the pies. Hawks by 10.

 

[Kurtley Beale]

Of course, all Hawks supporters are Rhodes Scholars and contributing 50% of Australia's tax take. We are so indebted to them, the einstein's that they are all. Fyi, I'm a medical doctor and follow the pies and happen to live in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. But yes, I'm stereotypical Collingwood supporter as I don't work and am a dole cheat. Having said that, I live very well off your hard earned taxes and even manage to send my kids to some of Melbourne's best independent schools and fly overseas first class. You see, I'm one of the smarter Collingwood dole bludgers.

It's a Stereotype every club has bad supporter's, But the pies have the most supporters so of course it will seem like they have the wort they do have posters like rose jam and captain peanut though...

 

[Twenty 11 Pies]

IMHO, the Pies are ripe for the picking.

They are tired:
- 12 weeks without a rest. 1 week off now might help but they are definitely tired. Game against the cats and eagles showed.

- Sub rule and 24 round season.

- Top spot sewn up for best part of a month prior to finals. Hard to motivate the players to stay "up" all year - the longer the season, the less likely the much talked about "switch" can be "flicked" when required.

- Their game style revolves around structure, pressure, intensity and discipline. Saints 2009 v2.0. Its taxing and tiring on the mind and body. Saints couldn't keep it up for more than 2 seasons - are the pies feeling the same fatigue?

They are out of form.

They are playing hurt.

Their best 22 is unsettled with a number of key players only just returning to the team with question marks over their fitness and form.

Of course, I'm playing devils advocate and only focusing on the negatives for the pies. Hawks by 10.

BS
Pies didn't have top spot sewn up until they beat freo in round 23. They took their foot off the accelerator at 3qtr time. They then started preparing for the finals by taking it easy.

In round one of the finals the eagles were awesome. I went to the game and have watched it twice on replay. Eagles were brilliant all day, applied so much pressure.
I thought the pies were good, they just put the foot off the accelerator for the start of the last quarter. Remember we were missing 2 all Australian players as well.

Geelong took their foot off the accelerator as well - prob should have won by 7 or 8 goals but only won by 5 goals.

I don't think they will require much motivation for this elimination final. The week off will help them. Regaining thomas and Reid are massive ins.

Pies have a huge amount of finals experience now, Esp. with 90k crowds.

I expect them to come out firing and win comfortably in the second half.

Pies by 6 or 7 goals

 

[Twenty 11 Pies]

It's a Stereotype every club has bad supporter's, But the pies have the most supporters so of course it will seem like they have the wort they do have posters like rose jam and captain peanut though...

Yep and it has always been that way.
The first year that collingwood put a team together in the vfa, we ended up having the most supporters of any club - in their first year!

 

[feathers]

Yep and it has always been that way.
The first year that collingwood put a team together in the vfa, we ended up having the most supporters of any club - in their first year!

how boring!

 

[SA HAWK]

So much hot air in this thread.

The best team on the day will win friday.

End of story.

 

[KissStephanie]

IMHO, the Pies are ripe for the picking.

Didn't you do enough anti-Collingwood bashing and trolling in the 'Collingwood is Overrated' thread? You were loose with your 'facts' and comparisons in that thread, and it seems you are here as well. Is your name really 'Steve from Mitcham?'

They are tired:- 12 weeks without a rest. 1 week off now might help but they are definitely tired. Game against the cats and eagles showed.

That's an oxymoron that doesn't make sense. Which is it? Collingwood are definitely tired, or the week off might help? I don't think Collingwood would be tired now after a week off because that is longer than the body needs to recover between matches, and certainly longer than the mind needs as well.

Sub rule and 24 round season.

You really are selective in your 'opinion' aren't you? I see how you mentioned the sub rule and 24 rounds, but you left out there were also two byes because that doesn't suit your argument.

Top spot sewn up for best part of a month prior to finals.

Still incorrect with your 'facts' it seems. Collingwood had top spot secured after beating Fremantle in Round 23.

Hard to motivate the players to stay "up" all year - the longer the season, the less likely the much talked about "switch" can be "flicked" when required.

What rubbish. In Round 21 last year, Collingwood were pretty terrible in an ugly 3 point win against 12th placed Adelaide. The following week, we actually lost to Hawthorn by 3 points even though it was a dead rubber. It wasn't great form, but it didn't stop Collingwood from winning the premiership.

Their game style revolves around structure, pressure, intensity and discipline. Saints 2009 v2.0. Its taxing and tiring on the mind and body. Saints couldn't keep it up for more than 2 seasons - are the pies feeling the same fatigue?

Firstly, it isn't really that taxing and tiring. That is an unproven wives tale. Collingwood have averaged 76 tackles per matches this season, which is fourth most, whilst Geelong have averaged 70 tackles per match this year. The body would barely be able to tell the difference. Secondly, Collingwood have rarely needed to use the full press this year, and David Buttifant is perfectly aware of how many minutes the players have needed to play to maintain it. Thirdly, it's simply unproven that St.Kilda couldn't maintain it for more than two years.

St.Kilda dropped away for other reasons, such as they relied too much on their few stars, but they fell away quickly after their top six or seven players. They also lost Luke Ball for nothing after the 2009 season, which was a terrible loss for them, and they threw away pick #16 in 2009 on Andrew Lovett instead of recruiting quality new players that could have helped them. None of that is the case with Collingwood though. So, not only is Collingwood's depth within our best team much greater than St.Kilda's was, but they were a much older team too.

Also, in 2010, Collingwood brought in Darren Jolly and Luke Ball into the team. St.Kilda didn't do that with any players of equal quality. Then this year, Collingwood brought in Chris Tarrant and Andrew Krakouer, who have also had a great impact, and St.Kilda didn't do that with any new players either. Instead, they've recruited rubbish like Zac Dawson, Sean Dempster, Dean Polo, Brett Peake and Ryan Gamble over the past few years, and none of those players were capable of taking a team to a premiership.

Finally, the training facilities between the two clubs are different as well. Collingwood are much fitter than St.Kilda were in 2009-10 when they were still at Moorabbin, which cannot be compared to what the Collingwood players have at Westpac Centre. A lot of people were giving Collingwood shit for high altitude training a few years ago, but now most clubs want to do it. St.Kilda weren't though, and their lack of fitness is just another reason they have fallen away, and not because their press was too taxing and tiring at all, so it's ridiculous to compare the two teams.

They are out of form.

Not at all. They just needed a bye after twelve weeks, which any team would. The bye would have helped that now. Collingwood had a bad match against Geelong, but it was a dead rubber, and they obviously were playing bruise-free, self-preservation footy because it had been so long since the previous bye. Geelong on the other hand were trying to make a statement, and they had their most recent bye only two weeks earlier in Round 22. It was a loss that I think will help more than it will hurt.

In the Qualifying Final though, West Coast were great! When a team lays 100 tackles as they did that day, they usually win. Collingwood were able to win though which was a great effort with key players missing. If the Eagles can reproduce that effort this week against a Geelong team that has had two byes in only five weeks, which is far from ideal, then they're definitely a fair dinkum chance to win!

They are playing hurt.

There were a few in the Qualifying Final, so it was a must win match to earn the bye, which was desperately needed. The players that were playing injured are no longer an issue now with that week off, and if any players are still carrying some niggles, it is no worse than the other three finalists.

Their best 22 is unsettled with a number of key players only just returning to the team with question marks over their fitness and form.

Collingwood will play their best team of the season this week with Dale Thomas and Ben Reid back in the team, and most importantly, more of the players needed last week off than the few that may not have as much, so Collingwood will be much better this week. It's a terrific position to be reigning premiers, in a preliminary final, yet still have question marks. Geelong in 2008 were reigning premiers, but maybe they needed to have some question marks then too. They didn't though, and instead they played an absolute shocker in a Grand Final they were expected to win and should have won.

Of course, I'm playing devils advocate and only focusing on the negatives for the pies.

That's the only thing you've said that I agree with, because it is all you ever do. You don't ever mention the oppositions issues, and all you do is focus on Collingwood's negatives, when all teams have negatives. That is the reason your opinion is completely irrelevant. You're biased and you've just admitted as much. Your facts are off too, and the comparisons you make aren't accurate or applicable either. I do understand though that you definitely do not want to see Collingwood win the back-to-back premierships that Geelong weren't able to achieve.

 

[big_bird_84]

Didn't you do enough anti-Collingwood bashing and trolling in the 'Collingwood is Overrated' thread? You were loose with your 'facts' and comparisons in that thread, and it seems you are here as well. Is your name really 'Steve from Mitcham?' That's an oxymoron that doesn't make sense. Which is it? Collingwood are definitely tired, or the week off might help? I don't think Collingwood would be tired now after a week off because that is longer than the body needs to recover between matches, and certainly longer than the mind needs as well.You really are selective in your 'opinion' aren't you? I see how you mentioned the sub rule and 24 rounds, but you left out there were also two byes because that doesn't suit your argument. Still incorrect with your 'facts' it seems. Collingwood had top spot secured after beating Fremantle in Round 23.What rubbish. In Round 21 last year, Collingwood were pretty terrible in an ugly 3 point win against 12th placed Adelaide. The following week, we actually lost to Hawthorn by 3 points even though it was a dead rubber. It wasn't great form, but it didn't stop Collingwood from winning the premiership.Firstly, it isn't really that taxing and tiring. That is an unproven wives tale. Collingwood have averaged 76 tackles per matches this season, which is fourth most, whilst Geelong have averaged 70 tackles per match this year. The body would barely be able to tell the difference. Secondly, Collingwood have rarely needed to use the full press this year, and David Buttifant is perfectly aware of how many minutes the players have needed to play to maintain it. Thirdly, it's simply unproven that St.Kilda couldn't maintain it for more than two years.

St.Kilda dropped away for other reasons, such as they relied too much on their few stars, but they fell away quickly after their top six or seven players. They also lost Luke Ball for nothing after the 2009 season, which was a terrible loss for them, and they threw away pick #16 in 2009 on Andrew Lovett instead of recruiting quality new players that could have helped them. None of that is the case with Collingwood though. So, not only is Collingwood's depth within our best team much greater than St.Kilda's was, but they were a much older team too.

Also, in 2010, Collingwood brought in Darren Jolly and Luke Ball into the team. St.Kilda didn't do that with any players of equal quality. Then this year, Collingwood brought in Chris Tarrant and Andrew Krakouer, who have also had a great impact, and St.Kilda didn't do that with any new players either. Instead, they've recruited rubbish like Zac Dawson, Sean Dempster, Dean Polo, Brett Peake and Ryan Gamble over the past few years, and none of those players were capable of taking a team to a premiership.

Finally, the training facilities between the two clubs are different as well. Collingwood are much fitter than St.Kilda were in 2009-10 when they were still at Moorabbin, which cannot be compared to what the Collingwood players have at Westpac Centre. A lot of people were giving Collingwood shit for high altitude training a few years ago, but now most clubs want to do it. St.Kilda weren't though, and their lack of fitness is just another reason they have fallen away, and not because their press was too taxing and tiring at all, so it's ridiculous to compare the two teams.Not at all. They just needed a bye after twelve weeks, which any team would. The bye would have helped that now. Collingwood had a bad match against Geelong, but it was a dead rubber, and they obviously were playing bruise-free, self-preservation footy because it had been so long since the previous bye. Geelong on the other hand were trying to make a statement, and they had their most recent bye only two weeks earlier in Round 22. It was a loss that I think will help more than it will hurt.

In the Qualifying Final though, West Coast were great! When a team lays 100 tackles as they did that day, they usually win. Collingwood were able to win though which was a great effort with key players missing. If the Eagles can reproduce that effort this week against a Geelong team that has had two byes in only five weeks, which is far from ideal, then they're definitely a fair dinkum chance to win!There were a few in the Qualifying Final, so it was a must win match to earn the bye, which was desperately needed. The players that were playing injured are no longer an issue now with that week off, and if any players are still carrying some niggles, it is no worse than the other three finalists.Collingwood will play their best team of the season this week with Dale Thomas and Ben Reid back in the team, and most importantly, more of the players needed last week off than the few that may not have as much, so Collingwood will be much better this week. It's a terrific position to be reigning premiers, in a preliminary final, yet still have question marks. Geelong in 2008 were reigning premiers, but maybe they needed to have some question marks then too. They didn't though, and instead they played an absolute shocker in a Grand Final they were expected to win and should have won.That's the only thing you've said that I agree with, because it is all you ever do. You don't ever mention the oppositions issues, and all you do is focus on Collingwood's negatives, when all teams have negatives. That is the reason your opinion is completely irrelevant. You're biased and you've just admitted as much. Your facts are off too, and the comparisons you make aren't accurate or applicable either. I do understand though that you definitely do not want to see Collingwood win the back-to-back premierships that Geelong weren't able to achieve.

Bet u had to have a beer after that effort..

 

[lozza63]

The thing I find really interesting about the qualifying final was this:

Disposals:
Swan 43
Pendlebury 37
Davis 33
Shaw 30
O Brian 30

Collingwood: 20 point win.

Now normally you'd expect with those kind of numbers that Collingwood would absolutely smash their opposition. HBFs obviously untagged and left to do what they want, Swan and Pendlebury (2 of Collingwood's best 3) obviously got plenty of it .

But the eagles got so damn close.

The eagles didn't have a player get more than 24 touches.

So what did WCE do right?
Obviously they didn't win - so they didn't do everything right, but the football world seems to agree that WCE are a rung below the top 3, but they damn near got the pies.

I only saw parts of the game, so I don't actually know how they got so close, and I'd guess that the 100 tackles might have something to do with it, but given those stats above I would have expected an absolute mauling.

Did this game reveal any cracks that the hawks might be able to exploit better than West Coast did?

LP - the Eagles back six were fantastic all day - especially Glass and McKenzie on Dawes and Cloke, Hurn, Waters and Butler also contributed solidly.

At three quarter time the Eagles looked cooked with Cox down and out and trailing by over 4 goals.

Naitanui ignited the Coast with the first clearance out of the centre - Lynch (finally over powered Toovey) and Darling had decent impact with 3 goals between them. Tarrant went off for an extended period at a crucial period of the Eagle resurgence.

We won with goals from our midfield - Wellers, Swan, Ball contributed 5 telling goals. A crumbing goal settled the issue - Ball.

We started slowly - perhaps this would be an area for the Hawks to get ascendancy early.
We tired badly - hope the rest will sort that.
S. Selwood went to Pendles after half time and quelled his influence (12 touches). Pendles did take a clutch defensive contested mark in the last.
Gibson and co will be watching the tapes of Glass and McKenzie - no doubt - if you hold Cloke and Dawes to a couple of goals total could be the key.
Where Collingwood are fortunate, is the large amount of goals our mids have contributed this year. Cant wait to see Daisy back!

All i hope for is that we can play well enough to win.

 

[TheLip]

IMHO, the Pies are ripe for the picking.

They are tired:
- 12 weeks without a rest. 1 week off now might help but they are definitely tired. Game against the cats and eagles showed.

- Sub rule and 24 round season.

- Top spot sewn up for best part of a month prior to finals. Hard to motivate the players to stay "up" all year - the longer the season, the less likely the much talked about "switch" can be "flicked" when required.

- Their game style revolves around structure, pressure, intensity and discipline. Saints 2009 v2.0. Its taxing and tiring on the mind and body. Saints couldn't keep it up for more than 2 seasons - are the pies feeling the same fatigue?

They are out of form.

They are playing hurt.

Their best 22 is unsettled with a number of key players only just returning to the team with question marks over their fitness and form.

Of course, I'm playing devils advocate and only focusing on the negatives for the pies. Hawks by 10.

You are surely taking the piss. If you add up all the weeks off for all of our players over the last 8 weeks I reckon there's a fair bet that Collingwood would go close to being the most rested side of the remaining 4 with the possible exception of byes. Add the week off last week for all players to the time out that Daisy, Reid, Shaw, Davis, Maxwell etc have had recently and I'd say they'd be pretty damned fresh. Only Reid and Daisy have been untested since their layoffs and both were relatively short stints. I'd definitely be more inclined to see that as upside!

 

[doppleganger]

Hodge Shiels Mitchell Burgoyne Rioli Buddy occasionally Whitecross that leaves to go head to head with your beloved 3

Burgoyne has been playing across HB for most of the latter part of the season.
Rioli is a forward pocket who you need to impact the scoreboard.
Buddy as a midfielder....gee that would be brilliant, then you guys have nobody to kick your goals.

Pies have a deeper midfield, and it is where we should win the game.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

LP - the Eagles back six were fantastic all day - especially Glass and McKenzie on Dawes and Cloke, Hurn, Waters and Butler also contributed solidly.

At three quarter time the Eagles looked cooked with Cox down and out and trailing by over 4 goals.

Naitanui ignited the Coast with the first clearance out of the centre - Lynch (finally over powered Toovey) and Darling had decent impact with 3 goals between them. Tarrant went off for an extended period at a crucial period of the Eagle resurgence.

We won with goals from our midfield - Wellers, Swan, Ball contributed 5 telling goals. A crumbing goal settled the issue - Ball.

We started slowly - perhaps this would be an area for the Hawks to get ascendancy early.
We tired badly - hope the rest will sort that.
S. Selwood went to Pendles after half time and quelled his influence (12 touches). Pendles did take a clutch defensive contested mark in the last.
Gibson and co will be watching the tapes of Glass and McKenzie - no doubt - if you hold Cloke and Dawes to a couple of goals total could be the key.
Where Collingwood are fortunate, is the large amount of goals our mids have contributed this year. Cant wait to see Daisy back!

All i hope for is that we can play well enough to win.

First let me just say thanks for a sensible, decent post - annoyingly rare in these parts.

I'll be pretty impressed if we can curtail Cloke.

The week off will definitely help Collingwood. If there are any ill effects we'll need to capitalise in the first quarter - after that Collingwood will have woken up.

From memory the hawks got the first 5 or so shots at goal against Collingwood last time, but it resulted in 1.4 and Collingwood went into the first break 4 goals up. We've been wasteful in first quarters for our last two matches - don't know how we're going to adjust that, but it's important.


TheCollingwood QF stats make it look like West Coast were stacking the backline. They've come thsi far on the back of the forward press, yet Leon, O Brian and Shaw got 30 touches each, so they obviously set up differently.

Their low possession count for the midfielders also says that they were trying to go long and direct, which makes sense given their forward targets. Just couldn't get the job done - I wonder if the scoreline flattered the eagles or not?

Anyway, we're a different kettle of fish, we do some things better and some things worse. I'm fairly confident that the hawks have put away the 'chip-chip' game plan. (Which we only used for patches of games anyway). Didn't see it once last week. Will be very interesting to see what happens.

As always, it's not about individuals and match-ups, it's about teams and systems and unified effort. Luck will come in to it if the game is close: injuries, the bounce of the ball, snap shots from tight angles, dare I say it: umpires. Would love a little lady luck to come the hawks way!

 

[Off The Couch]

You are surely taking the piss. If you add up all the weeks off for all of our players over the last 8 weeks I reckon there's a fair bet that Collingwood would go close to being the most rested side of the remaining 4 with the possible exception of byes. Add the week off last week for all players to the time out that Daisy, Reid, Shaw, Davis, Maxwell etc have had recently and I'd say they'd be pretty damned fresh. Only Reid and Daisy have been untested since their layoffs and both were relatively short stints. I'd definitely be more inclined to see that as upside!

BUT KissStephanie has said adnauseaum that the reaosn for the drop off in the pies form over the last month is that they were DESPERATELY needing the bye - that unlike every other club they had gone TWELVE WEEKS without respite for players and they were starting to feel the effects of that.

 

[jonbe54]

BUT KissStephanie has said adnauseaum that the reaosn for the drop off in the pies form over the last month is that they were DESPERATELY needing the bye - that unlike every other club they had gone TWELVE WEEKS without respite for players and they were starting to feel the effects of that.

If you can't see the connection there then it's simply hopeless pointing it out to you

 

[TheLip]

BUT KissStephanie has said adnauseaum that the reaosn for the drop off in the pies form over the last month is that they were DESPERATELY needing the bye - that unlike every other club they had gone TWELVE WEEKS without respite for players and they were starting to feel the effects of that.

The simple fact is that over the last 12 weeks Collingwood has consistently been short a number of key personnel. That is no longer the case and if any players were tired they will surely be refreshed and rested by now!

 

[upnsmoke]

IMHO, the Pies are ripe for the picking.

They are tired:
- 12 weeks without a rest. 1 week off now might help but they are definitely tired. Game against the cats and eagles showed.

- Sub rule and 24 round season.

- Top spot sewn up for best part of a month prior to finals. Hard to motivate the players to stay "up" all year - the longer the season, the less likely the much talked about "switch" can be "flicked" when required.

- Their game style revolves around structure, pressure, intensity and discipline. Saints 2009 v2.0. Its taxing and tiring on the mind and body. Saints couldn't keep it up for more than 2 seasons - are the pies feeling the same fatigue?

They are out of form.

They are playing hurt.

Their best 22 is unsettled with a number of key players only just returning to the team with question marks over their fitness and form.

Of course, I'm playing devils advocate and only focusing on the negatives for the pies. Hawks by 10.

(1) The Sub rule have affected Malthouse's strategy somewhat I think, along with every coach I suppose. But injuries also played a big factor. Pies played a few "new" guys throughout the season, thats rare for a team in contention with players in their mid 20s.
I think player preservation is a key coach/team management skill.

(2) As stated, Sub rule is going to wear out players quicker. They need to revert back to the previous interchange numbers.

(3) Round 23 win over Dockers and Cats lost to Swans SEALED the top spot.

(4) Saints of 2009 and 2010, were never high scoring, high pressure chaise/swarm midfield-oriented like the Pies.
Saints play their unique style, they crave stoppages and slowing the game down as much as possible.

Pies play high pressure, fast pace style... unique in their own way. In addition to the structure and players discouraged from being "heroes" and taking their opponents head on without using team mates.

Pies also averages most goals per game in 2011.... whilst keeping their teams around the 10-11 goal figure....Saints were known to hold their opponents down to under 10 goals.


(5) Hurt, tired, underdone, lack of team chemistry etc.
All reasonable arguments... but evidence against eagles showed other wise.
And Malthouse will never play a player who he thinks is underdone or has shown to be hurt.

Example: Buddy Franklin after the Cats injury would of not suited up the next week, if he was coached by Malthouse.




As I said...
If Pies lose this game, it would be because Hawks played better football for more quarters than them.

Pies are too deep and structure dependent to lose base on 1-2 players under performing.

 

[Off The Couch]

If you can't see the connection there then it's simply hopeless pointing it out to you

Very much tongue in cheek - the repetitiveness was mind numbing

You are surely taking the piss. If you add up all the weeks off for all of our players over the last 8 weeks I reckon there's a fair bet that Collingwood would go close to being the most rested side of the remaining 4 with the possible exception of byes. Add the week off last week for all players to the time out that Daisy, Reid, Shaw, Davis, Maxwell etc have had recently and I'd say they'd be pretty damned fresh. Only Reid and Daisy have been untested since their layoffs and both were relatively short stints. I'd definitely be more inclined to see that as upside!

The simple fact is that over the last 12 weeks Collingwood has consistently been short a number of key personnel. That is no longer the case and if any players were tired they will surely be refreshed and rested by now!

So much contradictory crap throughout this thread from both sides
Apparently Daisy, Reid, Shaw, Maxwell after weeks out of the game come back refreshed and raring to go but Buddy and a couple of other hawks have interrupted weeks and they are going to struggle because they haven't had quality game time.

The quicker Friday comes and the game is done and dusted the better. These are two good sides and hopefully the game is a cracker and not a blow out and the team that wins on the night will be the most deserving as the h&a season and the number of games won and last now amounts to sfa.

 

[TheLip]

So much contradictory crap throughout this thread from both sides
Apparently Daisy, Reid, Shaw, Maxwell after weeks out of the game come back refreshed and raring to go but Buddy and a couple of other hawks have interrupted weeks and they are going to struggle because they haven't had quality game time.

The quicker Friday comes and the game is done and dusted the better. These are two good sides and hopefully the game is a cracker and not a blow out and the team that wins on the night will be the most deserving as the h&a season and the number of games won and last now amounts to sfa.

WTF? Buddy playing injured is a bit different from players having interrupted preparations don't you think? There's no contradiction at all. Buddy played with obvious difficulty last week and based on the footage available will most likely do so again this week albeit with the addition of interrupted preparation due to gastro.

 

[Phil McCreviss]

WTF? Buddy playing injured is a bit different from players having interrupted preparations don't you think? There's no contradiction at all. Buddy played with obvious difficulty last week and based on the footage available will most likely do so again this week albeit with the addition of interrupted preparation due to gastro.

The Hawks will be wearing brown shorts tomorrow night. No problems even if a bit of gastro escapes.

 

[TheLip]

The Hawks will be wearing brown shorts tomorrow night. No problems even if a bit of gastro escapes.

I don't think the gastro will hamper him half as much as the knee obviously is.

 

[Off The Couch]

WTF? Buddy playing injured is a bit different from players having interrupted preparations don't you think? There's no contradiction at all. Buddy played with obvious difficulty last week and based on the footage available will most likely do so again this week albeit with the addition of interrupted preparation due to gastro.

I actually wasn't referring to that - it was when Clarko decided to rest 8 players and the opinion was that it wasn't a good idea because that came with not having enough game time going into a final and if playing with obvious difficulty results in another 17 possessions, strong marking and tackling with four goals/three from Buddy, then bring it on.

 

[TheLip]

I actually wasn't referring to that - it was when Clarko decided to rest 8 players and the opinion was that it wasn't a good idea because that came with not having enough game time going into a final and if playing with obvious difficulty results in another 17 possessions, strong marking and tackling with four goals/three from Buddy, then bring it on.

lol. Not sure what Clarko resting 8 players has to do with anything. Anyway, if Collingwood play Buddy the way Sydney did I'd expect him to be just as effective as he was last week which IMO was... not very. By the same token it's pretty clear Buddy can't jump at the moment and he's seriously protecting that knee. Blind freddy can see he either played with pain killers last week or that he reinjured it. Either way I'd expect him to play but I certainly wouldn't expect Collingwood to allow him the latitude Sydney did.

 

[Squeenther]

Very much tongue in cheek - the repetitiveness was mind numbing








So much contradictory crap throughout this thread from both sides
Apparently Daisy, Reid, Shaw, Maxwell after weeks out of the game come back refreshed and raring to go but Buddy and a couple of other hawks have interrupted weeks and they are going to struggle because they haven't had quality game time.

The quicker Friday comes and the game is done and dusted the better. These are two good sides and hopefully the game is a cracker and not a blow out and the team that wins on the night will be the most deserving as the h&a season and the number of games won and last now amounts to sfa.

Amen to that, bring it on. May the best team win; no excuses, no justifications. I can't wait.