The Collingwood Football Club has reached the halfway point of the 2013 AFL Premiership season and despite a plethora of injuries and undulating form the Magpies finds themselves still in reach of a vital top four position. Collingwood was seen to be struggling with a 5-4 record just two weeks ago but with two percentage boosting wins it seems the Pies are now back in contention. This weekend the Pies will face off against another lowly team, the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon. It’s an important game for both teams with the Dogs finding some decent form recently and the Magpies needing to notch another win before they have the bye the following round. Both clubs have had their fair share of injuries and setbacks to star players but the positive side of this is that plenty of youngsters have been given games that they may well have not played in otherwise. The Bulldogs have one of the most impressive young lists in the competition and play the Docklands stadium as well as anyone when in form.
PREVIOUS FORM
Will Minson is in career best form.
Both teams are coming into this game with two consecutive wins which is a nice change compared to what has occurred so far this season. After a round 8 defeat on the Gold Coast to the Suns the Bulldogs found themselves in a mini crisis with their 7th loss in a row after winning their first game of the 2013 season. In the last two games though the Dogs have found something with a gutsy win over fellow Etihad Stadium tenants St Kilda followed by a very impressive win in Darwin over Port Adelaide. Those two wins have seen the Dogs improve their record to 3 wins and 7 losses and has given the clubs fans hope for the rest of the season, and the future. Leading the way for most of the season, but especially during these two wins has been ruckman Will Minson, who is in career best form and star midfielder Ryan Griffen who is back to the form that saw him ranked in the top echelon of AFL midfielders previously. It’s a promising sign for the future when a side finds a way to fight their way out of a form slump.
A little like the Bulldogs the Magpies found themselves at a crossroads a few rounds back after a soul destroying defeat to the all conquering Swans by 47 points at the MCG. That loss left the Magpies in a precarious position as their win/loss record stood at 5-4 and outside the top eight. The Magpies though have finally run into some easier teams though and over the past fortnight have notched up two much needed wins as well as pushing their percentage over 100. Both wins haven’t been anything special with a 49 point win in Brisbane against the Lions followed by a rather easy 83 point win over the hapless Melbourne last Monday. While the Pies were still missing key players during these two wins the performance of some of their youngsters, as well as the return to form of Brownlow medallist Dane Swan gives the biggest club in the AFL something to build upon going forward as their draw gets gradually harder.
COLLINGWOOD PREVIEW
Finally there is some light at the end of the tunnel for Collingwood as their injury list seems to be getting smaller every week. While the likes of Dale Thomas, Alex Fasolo and Alan Toovey will probably not be seen again this year there are some players on the verge of returning and they should give the Pies some ammunition over the coming few weeks. Clinton Young is tipped to make his return to the VFL this week after injuring his hamstring almost two months ago. Sam Dwyer, Jordan Russell, Jamie Elliott and Andrew Krakouer should also be in senior contention after missing Monday’s game against Melbourne. The big one though is Dayne Beams who hasn’t played a game so far this season and for the first time in a long time he is joining in training and may only be a few weeks away from returning in the VFL. In that league on the weekend the Collingwood reserves fielded what is probably their weakest team of the year and were subsequently smashed by Casey although the performance of Jarrod Witts, Tim Broomhead and Caolon Mooney would have them at least in consideration for selection this week.
If the Magpies need to improve in one area it has to be their forward accuracy and efficiency as so far this year the Pies have managed to score 150 goals and 153 behinds which isn’t even a 50% accuracy rate and isn’t acceptable as this level. The big men at the club seem to be the biggest problems with Travis Cloke and Quinten Lynch spraying the ball in all directions while having shots at goal so far this season. The solution to this may be a third tall forward or maybe a change in system when moving the ball forward is needed but whatever the coaching staff decide to do they have to try and fix this problem soon.
Collingwood will go into this game against the Bulldogs as short priced favourites, just like they have the last two weeks but the Dogs are in better form, and possess more talent that the Lions or Demons do at the moment. The Pies will be hoping to get a few players back to boost their chances of increasing their percentage yet again although a win by any margin will be a plus leading into the bye.
OPPOSITION ANALYSIS
The Western Bulldogs are in a rebuilding phase, there’s no other way of saying it but while getting as many games as possible into young players is a priority winnings game and being competitive can never be forgotten. For a while there in the middle of that 7 game losing streak it seemed as if the Dogs were going to be in for a long hard season but the recent two wins leading into their bye would have rejuvenated the place noticeably. Yes the Bulldogs have a very young and talented list but they still rely on their experienced players to keep them competitive most weeks and Will Minson, Robert Murphy and Ryan Griffin have definitely done that this season. But at the same time the youngsters are making their mark as shown by the fact that they have also won the last two games without club stalwarts Matthew Boyd and Daniel Cross which is a great sign for the future.
The Western Bulldogs forward line, just like most of this line up is a work in progress and a solid forward 6-7 players are yet to be determined. The Dogs do have talent in this area though with Liam Jones as the most likely long term number one target and Ayce Cordy showing that he enough natural talent to be an AFL forward too. The loss of Shaun Higgins for the season is a blow of course but the ever reliable pairing of Daniel Giansiracusa and Robert Murphy have added 22 goals between them so far this year to cover his absence. Of course with any team they also rely on their midfielders to impact the scoreboard and Adam Cooney and Ryan Griffen are more than capable of doing this. Then come the young smalls and medium forwards with the likes of Dalhaus, Hrovat, Grant and Smith all adding their own abilities to a forward set up that is becoming dangerous. The forward line will have to be on form this week though as the Magpies defense has been back to it’s restrictive best over the past two weeks.
Ryan Griffen has been in top form the past few weeks.
The Bulldogs midfield is the current strength of this side and when you look at the names that line up in there most weeks you can see why. Led from the front by Griffen, Boyd, Griffen and the league’s most in form ruckman Will Minson this midfield has the ability to contest against any opposition midfield in the AFL. Add the father son due of Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis and the tagging types in Addison and Picken and it’s no shock that this midfield worries it’s opponents. Minson has been maybe the most improved ruckman in the AFL this year going from a player who was in and out of the side last season to now being mentioned as the likely All Australian ruckman. Minson’s form has seen the Dogs win the ruck contest most weeks and they currently sit third for total/average hit outs for the entire league. This week they face a weakened Magpies midfield but one that still possesses some of the absolute best ball winners in the competition and this match up alone may well be worth the price of admission.
The backline has been a problem at times for the Dogs this year with some big scores kicked against them and the loss of Tom Williams will make it even more difficult for them moving forward. The return of Dale Morris has been a massive boost for the young defense though and it’s Morris that usually takes the most dangerous tall forward of the opposition. Youngsters Roughead and Talia have also been given some big tasks so far this season and with Matthew Scarlett guiding them there is massive potential for this backline to develop into one of the best in the competition long term. Adding to the backline has been one of the mature aged finds of the year in Brett Goodes who after years in the VFL was given his opportunity and he has grabbed it with both hands. Goodes will worry the Magpies forward line this week as keeping the ball inside forward 50 has been a weakness of the Pies so far in 2013. Just how well the Dogs backline can restrict the Collingwood forward line may well decide if this game will be competitive or a blow out in the Magpies favour,
The Dogs injury list isn’t as severe as Collingwood’s but it still has a few big names on it although this week Matthew Boyd should be available to return from a calf injury that saw him miss the last few games before the bye. Coming off the bye can be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on how a respective team copes and this week coach Brendan McCartney has to ensure the intensity is high early on. Apart from Boyd other players that will push for senior selection include Cross, Cordy, Grant and Markovic as well as a few youngsters who have impressed recently in the VFL. One would suspect the Dogs would go with an experienced line up versus the Pies but selection on Thursday night will give us a better idea as to how strong the Bulldogs will be on Sunday.
TEAMS
Collingwood
B: Nathan Brown, Ben Reid, Heritier O’Brien
HB: Heath Shaw, Nick Maxwell, Marley Williams
C: Steele Sidebottom, Brent Macaffer, Luke Ball
HF: Jamie Elliott, Quinten Lynch, Dane Swan
F: Ben Kennedy, Travis Cloke, Josh Thomas
Foll: Darren Jolly, Scott Pendlebury, Jarryd Blair
Int (from): Kyle Martin, Tim Broomhead, Ben Sinclair, Alan Didak, Paul Seedsman, Sam Dwyer, Adam Oxley
In: S.Dwyer, T.Broomhead, J.Elliott
Out: nil
Western Bulldogs
B: Brett Goodes, Jordan Roughead, Michael Talia
HB: Jason Johannisen, Dale Morris, Dylan Addison
C: Adam Cooney, Matthew Boyd, Jack Macrae
HF: Robert Murphy, Liam Jones, Ryan Griffen
F: Daniel Giansiracusa, Jake Stringer, Luke Dahlhaus
Foll: Will Minson, Tom Liberatore, Nick Lower
Int (from): Lukas Markovic, Liam Picken, Mitch Wallis, Koby Stevens, Clay Smith, Nathan Hrovat, Tom Campbell
In: M.Boyd, A.Cooney, L.Markovic, T.Campbell
Out: T.Williams (shoulder)
TIP
Collingwood will start this game as short priced favourites but based on the last few weeks the Western Bulldogs will believe they can be highly competitive here. The likely inclusion of the inspirational Matthew Boyd and the continued absence from the Collingwood line up of several of it’s stars has to give the Dogs some hope leading into this game. The Magpies however may just be about to hit their best form of 2013 so far and even though their opponent this week is a step up from the past two weeks the Pies should be able to get away with a comfortable win here. The fact the Pies have the bye after this game also means they can leave everything on the field with little concern for recovery the following week.
PIES BY 28 POINTS.
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