AFL NAB Cup Round 3 – Collingwood vs Brisbane Match Preview.

A NAB Cup Final spot is on the line on Saturday night in Melbourne as Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions go head to head in the third round of the AFL’s pre season competition. Both clubs come into this fixture undefeated so far, and the winner is all but guaranteed a spot in next week’s final, as they currently sit second and third on the AFL’s pre season ladder. While many may have expected Collingwood to be in contention for a NAB Cup final spot this early in the season, most didn’t have Brisbane on their radar, yet some impressive youngsters have carried them to three straight wins.  There is of course history between these two clubs, and the most relevant history dates back to the most dominant period in the Lions existence when they won three premierships in a row between 2001 and 2003, with two of those victories coming over Collingwood, so there is always some extra added feeling when these two clash, even if it’s only the pre season.

Claye Beams has impressed in the pre season so far.

 The Lions opened their 2013 campaign with easy wins over the Hawthorn and their hosts the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium, and the signs immediately pointed to a better showing from the team from up north this season. They then backed that form up with a come from behind win over the GWS Giants last weekend in Wagga Wagga in front of an impressive crowd of over 7,000. As mentioned the Lions trailed for most of the match after a promising start, and didn’t get the lead back until the dying minutes of the final quarter when Sam Michael kicked a goal to put Brisbane in front by 3 points, a margin that ultimately was the difference between the two sides. The stand-outs’ for the Lions in the win were Aaron Cornelius (5 goals, 4 behinds), Patrick Karnezis (26 p, 1 goal), Claye Beams (21 p), Dayne Zorko (17p, I goal, 2 behinds) and also youngster Billy Longer who did most of the ruck-work, ultimately gaining a team high 11 hitouts. The fact that most of those players are very young gives you a guide as to how impressive it has been for the Lions to notch up 3 wins in a row despite the absence of some of their superstars like Jonathan Brown and Simon Black.

Just like the Lions, the Magpies have started 2013 in form, also creating a perfect record on their run into this weekends’ final round of NAB Cup matches. And in a similar vein to the Lions, the Pies have also been able to achieve this mark without many of their top names, and that was never more evident than last weekend when Collingwood travelled to Perth without as many as 12 of it’s first choice 22 players against a strong Eagles line up, yet still managed to come away with a very impressive 20 point win in the West. The Collingwood youngsters shone on the big ground at Subiaco, with the likes of Seedsman, Elliott, Sinclair, Frost and Mooney all putting their hands up as possible inclusions for round 1 of the AFL premiership season in a months’ time. But if you’re being honest it was the handful of experienced players that the Magpies had on the park that influenced the game the most, with Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom leading the possession count, and Heath Shaw, Alan Toovey and Nick Maxwell running rings around most of the Eagles forwards in a rather dominant defensive display. There was some concern late in the game as Ben Reid hobbled off after hyper extending his knee, but the good news came through later that night that the All Australian centre half back had sustained no serious damage and would only miss a week or two.

Heath Shaw was at his very best last week against the Eagles.

An early look at the possible selection changes for this weekend seems to point towards plenty of rotations for both teams, as both travelled last week, and Collingwood are coming off a break of only 6 days. Possible stars to return for the Lions include Jonathan Brown, Daniel Rich, Daniel Merrett and Joel Patfull, while the Magpies are likely to include names such as Jolly, Young, Krakouer, Fasolo, Brown and Macaffer. Luke Ball was thought of as in contention this week but he may still be one more week away if reports are to be believed.

 

Opposition Analysis.

 

After disappointing results in the 2010 and 2011 AFL seasons, the Brisbane Lions bounced back in 2012 and showed they were on the right track, eventually winning 10 games and finishing a respectable 13^th on the AFL ladder after 23 rounds. The Lions started the season poorly, winning only two of their first 7 games, all but ruling them out of finals contention straight away, but they finished the season in style by winning their last 3 games to show they indeed had the potential to take that next step in 2013 and contest for a spot in the final eight. The youngsters will lean on a large group of promising young players to assist them in this push with only Jonathan Brown and Simon Black remaining out of the all conquering triple premiership from 10 years ago. The good news for the Lions at the moment is that unlike in previous seasons, they are relatively unscathed on the injury front with only Simon Black and Brent Staker likely to miss round one out of their senior players.

Brisbane’s midfield is one area that coach Michael Voss will be relying upon to lift their output in 2013, and with an extra year of development into the likes of Beams, Polec, Rich, Leuenberger, Longer, Zorko and Rockliff (among others) the Lions have the potential to possess one of the best midfield’s’ in the game within a few seasons if all their youngsters reach the potential they have shown in the past few seasons. The Lions saw a need though for a tough, hard bodied midfielder to assist their young group, and happened to be able to get ex Demon Brent Moloney via the new free agency rules, which has been a massive coup as in Moloney the Lions get a mature aged (28 years old) top level midfielder who has a knack for being a consistent performer even if his team is struggling, as Melbourne has in recent years. In the ruck department the Lions farewelled Ben Hudson after one season, but will rely on Matthew Leuenberger, youngster Billy Longer and another ex Melbourne player Stefan Martin shouldering the ruck duties in 2013, after the Lions could only manage a ranking of 16^th for total hitouts in 2012. The midfield has promise, but it will need to deliver this season for the Lions to push for a spot in the eight.

Matthew Leuenberger and Billy Longer are the future for the Lions in the ruck department.

The Brisbane Lion’s forward line has had one major problem for a while now, and that’s been finding a consistent tall forward to assist club superstar Jonathan Brown up forward. In the past few seasons they’ve even used Daniel Merrett at times, which most oppositions have smiled gleefully at as Merrett is one of the best key defenders in the AFL. This pre season though, the Lions have tried to fix this problem by gaining the services of ex Demon Stefan Martin, who as suggested above will share ruck duties with Leuenberger while playing down forward also, but they also used their first two picks in the draft on young forwards Sam Mayes (187cm) and Marco Paparone (194cm). What the Lions don’t lack is small forwards though, with names like Bewick, Green, McGrath, Cornelius, Banfield and Zorko all pushing for round 1 selection, which obviously means some will miss out. The Lions were one of the lowest scoring sides of 2012, with an average of only 10.4 goals a game leaving them only marginally ahead of cross town rivals the Suns in the lower rungs of that stats category. With the names the Lions have added to the forward line though, and with some further development into some of their youngsters, the Lions long term may be able to replace the hole left by Mitch Clark.

Daniel Merrett will return to the backline in 2013.

If the Lions do possess an area that needs very little work, it is their defensive structure. The probable starting six for Brisbane in 2013 is Adcock, Mcguire, Patfull, Hanley, Golby and of course Daniel Merrett, who should return to the backline full time this season. That’s a very solid back six, and while injuries and form may mean they have to dig into their depth in this area at times, if the Lions can maintain this starting six, and some of their developing midfielders learn to assist the backline just a little more, Brisbane will start the season with confidence that the defensive end of the ground will not be the area responsible for the loss of games. The Lions do have some depth in this area too though, with Docherty and Polkinghorne still in consideration for round 1 in this area. All those players mentioned still have plenty of football in them, and with Merrett returning full time to the backline the Lions should improve on their 7^th placing for most points against this season.

That’s obviously a preview of the Lions squad in terms of who they may pick for round 1, and while I still fully expect them to select a strong squad for this weekends matchup with Collingwood, like all teams this time of year they won’t select their best 22 (or 24 as allowed in the NAB Cup) this weekend. The Lions however will welcome back among others Jonathan Brown and Daniel Rich who straight away will make them a better side than the one that struggled to defeat the Giants last Saturday in rural NSW. But when you do assess the Lions list as I did above, you see they do have that buzz word “potential” and could well be one of the surprise challengers for a spot in the bottom of the final eight in 2013.

Teams;

 COLLINGWOOD

2. Jordan Russell, 3. Brent Macaffer, 5. Nick Maxwell, 6. Tyson Goldsack, 8. Harry O’Brien, 9. Martin Clarke, 11. Jarryd Blair, 14. Clinton Young, 15. Jarrod Witts, 16. Nathan Brown, 17. Dayne Beams, 18. Darren Jolly, 21. Quinten Lynch, 22. Steele Sidebottom, 24. Josh Thomas, 26. Ben Johnson, 27. Ben Kennedy, 28. Ben Sinclair, 37. Kyle Martin, 38. Peter Yagmoor, 39. Heath Shaw, 40. Paul Seedsman, 41. Sam Dwyer, 43. Adam Oxley, 45. Jack Frost, 46. Marley Williams, 48. Caolan Mooney.

BRISBANE LIONS

1. Sam Docherty, 3. Brent Moloney, 5. Billy Longer, 6. Josh Green, 7. Jed Adcock, 8. Rohan Bewick, 9. Ash McGrath, 10. Daniel Rich, 11. Pearce Hanley, 12. Stefan Martin, 15. Dayne Zorko, 16. Jonathan Brown, 17. Claye Beams, 18. Todd Banfield, 21. Daniel Merrett, 22. Marco Paparone, 23. Matthew Leuenberger, 24. Joel Patfull, 26. Elliot Yeo, 28. Patrick Karnezis, 29. Andrew Raines, 31. James Polkinghorne, 38. Tom Rockliff, 41. Mitch Golby, 42. Justin Clarke, 44. Aaron Cornelius, 46. Sam Michael.

 

Tip.

Nathan Brown (pictured with Harry O’Brien) is likely to make his season debut this weekend.

No matter what you here out of the coaches respective press conferences this week, with a NAB cup final position all but guaranteed for the winner, both clubs will be eyeing off a win and the cash bonus that comes with it, which means the teams will approach this game with just a little more fervour than they have so far this pre season. Having said that both participants will still rotate their squads heavily, especially given the conditions leading into this game, with the Pies coming off a 6 day break and an interstate trip, and the Lions forced to travel for the second week in a row. The likely line ups favour the Pies though, as there’s no question at all that Collingwood has by far the stronger list, and if both teams leave several key players out it won’t change that advantage too much.

The return of Darren Jolly, along with the likes of Macaffer, Beams, Young and Brown  will be a boost although that has been offset by the resting of stars like Swan, Pendlebury and Cloke. The Magpies list is now about as strong as any other teams in the competition, and of course they will have the home ground advantage and a very passionate group of fans behind them. The Lions will counter that though with a strong side, and with Brown and Rich back they will make this game a contest, but I just can’t go past the Pies continuing on their way as they qualify for yet another NAB Cup final.

Pies by 17 points.

AFL NAB Cup Round 2 Preview – Collingwood vs West Coast

This Sunday afternoon in Perth, two genuine premiership contenders will meet in round two of the AFL’s pre season competition, the NAB Cup, as the West Coast Eagles welcome Collingwood to Subiaco. These clubs have clashed on many vital occasions in the comparatively short history of the Eagles, with some of the most epic finals in recent times being part of their head to head record. Whether it be the drawn Qualifying Final of 1990, and the subsequent replay the next weekend, or the 2007 extra time final at Subiaco, these monster clubs have a record that really only has one thing missing off it’s resume, and that’s a grand final matchup.

Mark LeCras made a promising return from a knee injury in round 1 of the NAB Cup.

First there’s the NAB Cup, and with both clubs having last week off due a split opening round, they will be raring to go this Sunday to ramp up their preparations for round 1 of the premiership season. In round one of the NAB Cup, the Eagles stayed at home as they took on cross town rivals Fremantle and welcomed Geelong. All 3 teams on the night notched up a win while heavily rotating their squads through each of their round robin fixtures.. The Eagles opened their 2013 campaign with a loss against Geelong, all be it a game they should have won after leading by 15 points with only minutes remaining, but slack marking of Joel Selwood allowed the Geelong hard man to kick a nine pointer to give the Cats the win by 2 points. As always though in pre season matches you look for the positives, and there were plenty for the Eagles, as 2010 club champion Mark LeCras returned from a knee injury to show glimpses of the talent that he has, and the talent that the Eagles missed so dearly last year. Another good sign for the Eagles in the first game was Scott Lycett who showed in the absence of Cox and Natanui that he has a future as a ruckman/forward in the AFL.

In their second matchup of the night (the third fixture) the Eagles took on a weakened Fremantle outfit and promptly bought up their first win of 2013 with a four goal victory over their cross town rivals. The Eagles strong midfield ran rampant, with Priddis, Selwood , Masten and their new recruit Sharrod Wellingham starring in the final game of the night.

It’s a new season now though, and a new look Magpies took to the field against the Bombers and Dogs, and while there was still a lot of experimentation going on, the signs were good that this black and white outfit is back to it’s best and with a good run with injuries it will be a major contender once again. The usual suspects dominated in patches, with Swan, Pendlebury, Beams, Shaw and Cloke all lighting up Etihad Stadium at different stages, but the performance of ex Eagle Quinten Lynch, and his ability to work in tandem with Travis Cloke has probably been the best sight of the pre season for die hard Magpie fans. In Lynch, the Magpies get a replacement for the departed Chris Dawes, but they also gain a player with the physical presence that only belonged to the likes of their 2010 premiership cult hero Leigh Brown, someone who can use his muscle and aggressiveness to make an impact on big games, which was severely missing from just about anyone in the black and white stripes last season. One of the best sights of the evening was the return of Brent Macaffer who missed all of last season after suffering an ACL knee injury in last years pre season competition, and the 2010 premiership player showed glimpses of just how talented he is.

Brent Macaffer returned last week, seen here with his new number 3, in tribute to good mate John McCarthy.

Collingwood will take a slightly weakened squad to Perth, as travel and a subsequent 6 day break to the next match against Brisbane requires the club to manage it’s players carefully, especially this time of year. The list of players who definitely won’t be making the trip due to injury includes Luke Ball, Dale Thomas, Alan Didak and Lachlan Keefe and it has been revealed Krakouer, Johnson, Young and Macaffer won’t make the trip West this weekend.

Opposition Analysis.

The West Coast Eagles are a genuine premiership contender in 2013, anyone who thinks otherwise is kidding themselves. The Eagles have maybe the most well rounded senior group in the AFL, with very few apparent weaknesses if their best 22 are all fit and in form. Last year, not unlike Collingwood, they suffered a poor run with injuries that ultimately saw them just miss the top four after the home and away rounds before finally being eliminated at the hands of the Magpies in a close semi final at the MCG. That semi final showed where both sides were at, it wasn’t a great final by any means and it proved that to be real contenders in 2013 the Eagles had to improve just that little bit to move into the top 4 this season, but more than anything they need a luckier run with injuries. The Eagles have strength on every line, and if there is a weakness it may not be in their personnel, but in their mindset in terms of winning enough games interstate to ensure they finish in that vital top four section.

The Eagles forward line on paper may well look like their greatest strength, and yet at times last year it let them down in big occasions, but that may well have had to do more with who wasn’t there than who was. In 2011, Mark Nicoski and Marc LeCras were stars on the Eagles forward line, yet in 2012 they both missed the entire home and away season, and the Eagles forward line just never looked as dangerous without them. Also missing for most of 2012 was Josh Kennedy, who only managed 9 games after a stellar 2011 also. There were still good signs in 2012 up forward though, with Jack Darling taking that next step and establishing himself as a classy AFL forward with 53 goals in his second season in the AFL. Ex Bulldog Josh Hill also made an immediate impact adding 36 goals to the Eagles goal tally and he looked to thrive on being given some confidence and responsibility by coach John Worsfold. The forward set-up was also ably assisted by their two superstar ruckmen in Nic Natanui an Dean Cox who between them contributed 52 goals, which is a stunning return in modern football.

The Eagles forward line is strong, but it’s effectiveness in 2013 will rely on which players they can keep on the park, because 2012 showed no matter how much depth you have, you can’t replace the likes of Kennedy or LeCras and remain a force in the competition.

West Coast’s defense is one that is greatly under rated it seems, with one of the most reliable and steady set-ups in the AFL, with depth and youth that looks likely to keep it strong for a long time to come. Their defense is lead by the Eagles captain Darren Glass, who was selected for the fourth time last year in the All Australian team and thus proven that he is the front runner as the current number one full back in the AFL. Joining Glass down back is fellow 2012 All Australian Beau Waters, who showed last year that when he is injury free he is as good of an attacking half back as anyone in the AFL. The rest of the backline is usually made up of the likes of Hurn, McKenzie, Butler and Schofield, and with Nathan Brown’s twin brother Mitch unable to break into the side most weeks, the strength of the Eagles backline can not be underestimated.

Darren Glass leads by example in the Eagles backline.

When previewing the Eagles for 2013 though, it’s apparent their greatest on field strength is their midfield, and that includes the best ruck duo in the game at the moment, Nic Natanui and Dean Cox, and although NicNat won’t play this weekend against the Pies, if he does return in time for round one as expected this Eagles midfield is scary to say the least. The Eagles midfield roll call is familiar to all football fans, with Schuey, Priddis, Kerr, Gaff, Selwood (times 2), Rosa and Embley probably making up the deepest and most talented midfield in the AFL, and that’s before the Eagles picked up Collingwood’s 2010 premiership star Sharrod Wellingham. In Wellingham West Coast picked up a mature, senior ready AFL midfielder who will only compliment and assist the already stacked midfield that they possess, although Sharrod did have a set back during the week when he badly injured his ankle on of all things a trampoline. If the Eagles can keep the majority of this group on the field in 2013, it will go along way towards assisting them in becoming the premiership threat I believe they can be.

This weekend however, it’s only round 2 of the NAB Cup and like all teams they are looking towards round 1 of the home and away season and preparing as best as they can for that. Natanui and Wellingham won’t play, we know that, and it’s also likely that anyone who has any slight injury concern won’t be risked, although the AFL did help all teams out by allowing 3 interchange and 2 subs for this weeks round of matches which at least allows some leeway in what is likely to be warm conditions. West Coast will look to give game time to the likes of Lycett and maybe a few more youngsters just to give them some more exposure in front of their home fans. I’m expecting a fairly strong Eagles team to take the field though, which at least will give the rest of the competition a look at how strong they may well be in 2013.

Teams;

COLLINGWOOD
2. Jordan Russell, 5. Nick Maxwell, 8. Heritier O’Brien, 9. Martin Clarke, 10. Scott Pendlebury, 11. Jarryd Blair, 15. Jarrod Witts, 19. Jamie Elliott, 20. Ben Reid, 21. Quinten Lynch, 22. Steele Sidebottom,  24. Josh Thomas, 25. Ben Hudson, 27. Ben Kennedy, 28. Ben Sinclair, 32. Travis Cloke, 34. Alan Toovey, 36. Dane Swan, 37. Kyle Martin, 38. Peter Yagmoor, 39. Heath Shaw, 40. Paul Seedsman, 41. Sam Dwyer, 43. Adam Oxley, 45. Jack Frost, 46. Marley Williams, 48. Caolan Mooney – See more at: http://www.afl.com.au/news/teams#sthash.p9Z9ynE6.dpuf

Tip.

The early betting markets have the Eagles as slight favourites for this matchup, and that makes perfect sense seeing as West Coast are playing at home and are likely to field the stronger side of the two competing teams. But the 3 and 3 interchange system means there will be a ton of experimentation by both clubs, even if they are slightly restricted by the 20 interchanges per quarter cap that will be trialled for the first time this weekend. That new rules in itself may actually bring the Magpies into the game, with some of their midfielders and running defenders having amazing endurance that will be suited to the new interchange cap rules. Both teams will bring some big names back, with Dean Cox making his season debut for the Eagles while a good news story for the Pies is the return of injury plagued youngster Josh Thomas, and also Alan Toovey is likely to get a run for the Magpies in his home state.

 

Alan Toovey will enjoy returning home this weekend.

The Eagles should win, but until the final teams are released close to the game it’s hard to judge just how strong the black and white boys will be, so as always I’ll tip the Pies, as I still consider them to be the better overall side, and their depth is probably just a little superior to that of the Eagles.

Pies by 5 points.

NAB Cup Round 1 Preview – Collingwood, Western Bulldogs, Essendon

FOOTY’S BACK, and not a moment too soon either, as the AFL has had to endure one of the worst off season’s in the codes history, with everything from tanking to systematic use of performance enhancing drugs being investigated since that epic Grand Final back in September. Rather than focus on what has gone wrong in the off season, I’ll choose to move forward here and look at what is coming up, and that is the first fixture of the NAB Cup for 2013 involving Collingwood, Essendon and the Western Bulldogs on Friday Night. Yep, that’s right, the AFL has chosen once again to bring back the three team round robin fixture, although football fans will only have to sit through one split round of weird fixtures before somewhat normal football returns in the pre season competition. Once again though there are plenty of experimental and rules that can only be explained as there for entertainment value, such as the nine pointer for a goal outside 50, but it’s the NAB Cup and that’s what fans have come to expect, and accept.

Collingwood and Essendon have faced off on a few occasions in recent NAB Cup matches.

 On Friday Night at Etihad Stadium, the season begins with the Dogs, Bombers and Pies going head to head against each other in the pre season opener, and if you ignore all the off season problems associated with at least two of the clubs involved, the three scheduled games actually have a rather enticing look to them. In one corner you have the young and precocious Bulldogs, a side that has struggled since sacking long time coach Rodney Eade, but who most agree is building up a very good young list that could fight for premiership contention in a few years time. The Dogs don’t have much of a choice, they really can’t afford to entice big name free agents to the club, they have to build their future up the hard way through the draft and through smart recruiting, and with some of the most talented young players in the AFL on their list, they seem to be on the right track, long term at least.

In the other corner we have Essendon, a side who at once stage last year looked like a top four, and therefore a premiership threat, before a plethora of soft tissue injuries made them uncompetitive against just about any side in the second half of the 2012 home and away season, as they fell away to miss the finals and have yet another early end to their season. The 2012 Bombers showed the talent they have when they have close to their best 22 on the park, but also showed their unhealthy reliance on just a few players, and thus there was the necessity to recruit at least one big name, and that big name came in the form of St Kilda’s drawn Grand Final hero Brendan Goddard, who made the move from the Saints to the Bombers in the free agency period last year.

And last, but not least we have Collingwood, the biggest club in the land, who after the 2010 premiership win and the 2011 Grand Final loss, had a year they’d like to forget as just about everything that could go wrong did, with long term injuries and in house suspensions and the sad death of an ex team mate derailing their chances of premiership glory. The Magpies season ended away from home in the Preliminary Final with a loss to eventual premiers Sydney, and they will be wanting to improve on that in 2013. After a thorough review, the club’s football department knew that the current list wasn’t going to win them another premiership, so the Magpies approached the trade and free agency period with gusto, in the process losing two premiership players (Sharrod Wellingham and Chris Dawes), but somehow managing to pick up two other premiership players (Clinton Young and Quinten Lynch), as well as another experienced footballer (Jordan Russell) and three first round draft picks which if early results are any example have been put to sensational use.

Ben Hudson has come out of semi retirement to assist the Pies.

Magpie fans are obviously looking forward to getting their first look at the mature aged recruits from other clubs, including a group of VFL rookie listed players, but one youngster has caught the eye of those that have watched pre season training and the intra club matches, and that is Tim Broomhead. Recruited with pick 20 in the National Draft the Port Adelaide native wasn’t expected to go as high as he did, but Collingwood recruiting chief Derek Hine has a knack for drafting players who turn out to be stars despite not being rated too highly by the experts, and already Broomhead looks like one of those ‘Hine Specials’. One player I haven’t mentioned yet is Ben Hudson, who at the ripe old age of 33 has come out of semi retirement to be rookie listed as experienced backup for Darren Jolly, and to assist the development of the young rucks at Collingwood. He has impressed in the pre season, even matching Jolly in the ruck and dominating the youngsters on several occasions. All of these moves added depth to the list and has been seen as a deliberate attempt to enable the coaching staff to rotate up to and over 30 players in and out of the AFL season throughout the home and away rounds, which in turn will maximising the chance of the best 22 being available in September. Each side can play up to 34 players on the weekend and you’d expect Collingwood to take full advantage of that, with just about every fit player making an appearance.

Nathan Buckley and the leadership group at a recent promotion.

There’s also been talk in the last few days that the Magpies will make a dramatic change to their famous ‘around the boundary’ ball movement style and instead endeavour to use the corridor more when attacking. This will be a massive change to the successful gameplan that Mick Malthouse implemented and used for his 12 seasons with the club, but in his second season head coach Nathan Buckley has always wanted to put his stamp on this team, and this may be the beginning of that branding. Out of all the three teams to take to Etihad Stadium on Friday Night, the rest of the competition will be watching the Magpies the closest just to see how the likely premiership contenders are looking after 5 months of soul searching and redevelopment.

Players who will be missing for the Pies include Dale Thomas, Tyson Goldsack, Lachlan Keefe, Luke Ball and young ruck Brodie Grundy.

Opposition Analysis.

Western Bulldogs

Going into this season the Western Bulldogs have been written off by just about every media outlet that has conducted a pre season preview, yet apart from last season when they fell down the ladder to 15^th this club has managed to punch above it’s weight in just about every season for as far back as I can remember. Last year was a horror year for the Dogs though, injuries and form problems hit them hard, and while they’ve lost a supposed top line player in Brian Lake to the Hawks, one may argue that the club’s harmony may well now be better after his departure.

 The Bulldogs are in the middle of a rebuild, there’s no secret in that, but what they do possess is some of the best young talent in the AFL, and they topped that talent up very well via the most recent national draft, picking up names like Stringer, Macrae and Hrovat to add to an already impressive list that includes Wallis, Liberatore, Wood, Jones, Cordy and Dalhaus, with all showing last year that the Dogs are heading in the right direction. Although for the Bulldogs to be competitive in 2013 they will rely on their more experienced players to lead the way, and two players that are as vital to them as anyone is Adam Cooney and Ryan Griffen, who at their best are elite standard midfielders who can take control of a game and make a real impact on the scoreboard as well.

One of the main strengths of the Dogs is their ability to win the hard ball as they were ranked 5^th for clearances last year, mainly due to the tough work done by stalwarts Matthew Boyd and Daniel Cross, who have formed a partnership that is as tough at the contested ball as just about any in football at the moment. But if you were to point out their biggest weakness, it may actually have been in their game plan in 2012, as despite gather the 3^rd most total possessions in the home and away rounds they were ranked 13^th for total kicks, which led them to being ranked 16^th for goals per game, something which their supporters who have been used to a high scoring side found hard to swallow in 2012.

Whether or not the Western Bulldogs can improve enough in the areas of greatest concern won’t be determined during this Friday night’s fixture, but it may just give us a glimpse into what the Dogs of 2013 can do on the field to start their rise up the ladder once again.

Essendon

Take away the last few weeks and the chaos that has ensued and Essendon fans were looking forward towards the 2013 season with hope and promise after a good pre season, both in terms or recruitment and preparation for the new season. How the problems the club faces over the coming weeks and months will effect their 2013 season can not be fully estimated, so it may be wise to just assess what they have at the moment, rather than what they might face down the road.

The Essendon side of 2012 showed that when near it’s full capacity it could be a threat to anyone in the competition, and in 2013 they should only improve due to an increase in depth and the recruitment of the big two, in Brendan Goddard and Joe Daniher. In Daniher they have a player that every Essendon supporter wants to speak about, at 201cm and with the ability to cover ground like a player in the low 190’s height range, Daniher surely would have gone to GWS in the first three picks if the Dons had not had first crack at him under the father/son rule. The club will look to take the pressure of the youngster in 2013 and beyond but the club needs a key forward to hang it’s hat on, and surely the son of Anthony will be that man.

 At the moment though, the Bombers starting midfield looks on paper to be one of their strengths, with reigning Brownlow medallist Jobe Watson ably assisted by the likes of Stanton, Heppell and now Goddard. But as strong as those names are, they do lack to depth to support them, with the Bombers only ranked 14^th for clearances and 13^th for overall disposals last year. Their greatest strength may be their ruck stocks, with choice again between Patrick Ryder, Tom Bellchambers and David Hille Essendon could lay claim to one of the best ruck departments in the AFL, and that showed last year as 5^th in hitouts for and 2^nd in allowed hitouts against.

Football these days relies on the strength of your midfield as much, if not more than any other area so Essendon will have to hope some of their youngsters can take that next step and assist the big names in the middle.

Teams;

COLLINGWOOD
2. Jordan Russell, 3. Brent Macaffer, 5. Nick Maxwell, 7. Andrew Krakouer, 8. Heritier O’Brien, 9. Martin Clarke, 10. Scott Pendlebury, 11. Jarryd Blair, 14. Clinton Young, 15. Jarrod Witts, 16. Nathan Brown, 17. Dayne Beams, 18. Darren Jolly, 19. Jamie Elliott, 20. Ben Reid, 21. Quinten Lynch, 22. Steele Sidebottom, 25. Ben Hudson, 26. Ben Johnson, 28. Ben Sinclair, 32. Travis Cloke, 36. Dane Swan, 37. Kyle Martin, 38. Peter Yagmoor, 39. Heath Shaw, 40. Paul Seedsman, 41. Sam Dwyer, 45. Jack Frost, 46. Marley Williams, 48. Caolan Mooney

WESTERN BULLDOGS
1. Jarrad Grant, 2. Robert Murphy, 3. Mitch Wallis, 4. Daniel Cross, 5. Matthew Boyd, 6. Luke Dahlhaus, 7. Shaun Higgins, 10. Easton Wood, 11. Jack Macrae, 13. Daniel Giansiracusa, 14. Clay Smith, 15. Jason Tutt, 16. Ryan Griffen, 17. Adam Cooney, 19. Liam Jones, 20. Daniel Pearce, 21. Tom Liberatore, 22. Dylan Addison, 27. Will Minson, 29. Tory Dickson, 30. Christian Howard, 31. Tom Young, 32. Michael Talia, 33. Nick Lower, 37. Lukas Markovic, 38. Dale Morris, 39. Jason Johannisen, 42. Liam Picken, 43. Jack Redpath, 44. Brett Goodes, 45. Tom Campbell, 46. Lin Jong, 47. Mark Austin, 49. Ayce Cordy

ESSENDON
1. Michael Hibberd, 2. Tom Bellchambers, 5. Brent Stanton, 7. Leroy Jetta, 9. Brendon Goddard, 10. Nick O’Brien,
12. Stewart Crameri, 14. Jason Ashby, 15. Courtenay Dempsey, 16. Tayte Pears, 18. Michael Hurley, 19. David Hille, 20. Jackson Merrett, 21. Dyson Heppell, 22. Jake Carlisle, 23. David Myers, 24. Alex Browne, 25. Ariel Steinberg, 26. Cale Hooker, 27. Luke Davis, 28. Elliott Kavanagh, 29. Alwyn Davey, 30. Paddy Ryder, 31. Dustin Fletcher, 33. Dylan Van Unen, 34. Kyle Hardingham, 35. Martin Gleeson, 46. Lachlan Dalgleish, 38. Nick Kommer
39. Heath Hocking, 42. Nathan Lovett-Murray, 45. Hal Hunter, 46. Mark Baguley, 47. Cory Dell’Olio

 

TIP;

In the first match Essendon faces the Western Bulldogs in a matchup between two young lists that is very likely to be closely fought out. How the Bombers players react after the last two weeks of off field upheaval is unpredictable, but I believe it may just tip the scales to the Dogs who will want to make an impression first up. Dogs by 8 points.

The second match sees the Bulldogs back up to take on Collingwood as the Bombers get a rest. Collingwood are probably the worst hit of the teams for injuries, but will still go in as favourites against a Bulldogs outfit that might tire towards the end of the second half, their fourth quarter. Basically for that reason I’ll tip Collingwood by 11 points.

Last year’s ANZAC day match was yet another thriller.

The third match and obviously the final one of the evening sees an ANZAC day preview of sorts and a rematch of the 2011 NAB Cup Grand Final as heavyweights Collingwood and Essendon go head to head. One would suspect the Bombers may actually play better in their second match as they’ll of had the time to get all nerves and tension out of their bodies in the first hitout versus the Dogs. I expect this game to be very close, but just suspect that the superior Collingwood midfield and backline will be the difference in a tight game, Collingwood by 4 points.

AFL NAB Cup Round 4 Preview.

 Finally, we come to the last round of the AFL’s pre season competition, the NAB Cup, the final round of what has seemed like the longest pre season in AFL history, especially for the Collingwood Football Club. It was almost a month to this day that Collingwood started it’s pre season campaign in Western Sydney, against the new Greater Western Sydney team and the Western Bulldogs, and against both teams the Pies came out on top. Although the night was soured by a year ending knee injury to Brent MaCaffer, which undid any progress that was made on the night. Between that night and the next match up for the senior team, Collingwood’s VFL team traveled to Geelong, and this is only relevant due to yet another shocking knee injury, this time to live wire forward Andrew Krakouer. The pre season was going from bad to worse it seemed, as plenty of other players at the club were coming down with injuries, while less severe then the ones listed above, they were still setbacks so close to the season start.

Then there was the match up against Melbourne, and it just seemed as if the wind had been taken out of the Collingwood sails, there was no emotion, no intensity, and the team fell by 9 points to an outfit that in itself didn’t perform that well really, as later results would show. Last weekend, the club traveled to Adelaide, well when I say the club, I should probably say a skeleton crew of players, because the team that was sent over to Adelaide had at least 10 best 22 players missing, and the result because of this, and the lack of intensity late was a 77 point drubbing by the fired up, keen to impress Crows.

Now that’s in the past, and that’s what the pre season is, something to forget, as we move on to the last matchup of the pre season, against another February/March struggler, St Kilda. At Visy Park on Friday Afternoon, the ground will play host to two sides desperate for one last serious hit out before the season begins. This week, Collingwood welcome back some big names, with the likes of Thomas, Shaw, Ball and Toovey returning, with Travis Cloke the only big name not playing who played last week, as he was a late withdrawal on Thursday Morning.

But it’s more the players who are still missing that is the lead story at Collingwood, with so little game time having been given to Tarrant, Didak, Wellingham, Johnson, N.Brown, Wood and Beams that it has become a major concern as to whether or not any of them will be ready to play the Hawks in 2 weeks time at the MCG in the clubs season opener.

Most have only had minor injuries, some being quite bizarre, like Tarrant who severely cut his foot at home, although details of how this happened have not been revealed, maybe to not embarrass the big defender. Most fans and media experts expected at least a few of these players to make an appearance this week, as they have been training strongly at the club, yet none have been named in the senior side, and with a trip down to Geelong for the VFL team, it’s unlikely they’ll play there either.

On to this game though, and the Pies will still field a very good side against St Kilda. The youngsters selected will see an opportunity to push for round one inclusion and will want to impress, as this is really the last chance they will get before the AFL and VFL seasons’ start. Names like Young, Rounds, Sinclair, Young, Keefe, Paine, Elliot, Seedsman and the impressive Yagmoor will still give the side a youthful look this weekend, although it is without doubt the strongest line-up the pies have fielded this pre season. The club will be treating this game more seriously then any before it, from both a strategic and physical standpoint, it’s time to cut the crap basically, and start playing some football at the level we expect the side wearing black and white to play at.

Opposition Analysis.

St Kilda must win the award for the strangest pre season so far, with their major problem arising from the debacle that was the round 2 fixture at Wangaratta. We all know the story now, how Essendon though they could get their players to and from the regional town quicker using two tiny private aircraft, only for the inclement weather that had covered the state all week forcing their pilots to turn the planes around and land back in Melbourne.

While Essendon were the laughing stock, St Kilda suffered just as badly, maybe worse, as they were forced to have no match that weekend, while the other 16 teams went head to head. Then they had the problem of a game in Western Australia last week versus the Eagles, and despite sending a strong squad, they were never in the hunt, looking scrappy and out of touch as they went down to the NAB Cup finalists by 33 points.

New St Kilda coach Scott Watters

Therefore St Kilda see this match as a massive opportunity for them, it’s their first chance to perform at or near their best in a full match practice scenario, and thus they have named as full a strength of a squad as they possibly can. New coach Scott Watters head must be spinning with the way this pre season has gone, but with an experienced group of players to assist him through the early stages, St Kilda will be looking to right the ship this week. The St Kilda side will be looking to play a little more of an attacking game plan in 2012, that is almost certain, and even though we haven’t had much of an opportunity to see it this pre season, they actually have a fairly healthy list when it is compared to some others, for example Collingwood. But St Kilda’s main focus will be to introduce plenty of new players during the season, which was the major criticism of Ross Lyon in his final year at St Kilda, as the team started the 2011 season with only one win from nine games, effectively ending any premiership dreams for that Saints last year.

This Friday, St Kilda will play as strong of a team as it can, yet there are still plenty of young faces in the squad. Jack Steven showed he could play last year, and with his pace and skill, may even become part of the midfield rotation in 2012. Aaryn Siposs is one player who made a brief appearance or two last year, but he has showed enough to suggest he can push his way into that star studded forward line also. And then there’s the likes of Ledger, Simpkin, Stanley, Milera and Cripps, who are all in the coaches minds eye for round one. The most interesting post season recruit for mine was Ahmed Saad, the mature aged VFL recruit who anyone who has ever seen him play at VFL level has though “Why isn’t he at an AFL club?”. Well now he is, and straight away he has impressed, and the little man from Melbourne’s Northern Suburbs might just be a bargain buy for the Saints.

Ahmed Saad

 Teams;

COLLINGWOOD
1. Alex Fasolo, 5. Nick Maxwell, 6. Tyson Goldsack, 8. Heritier O’Brien, 9. Martin Clarke, 10. Scott Pendlebury, 11. Jarryd Blair, 12. Luke Ball, 13. Dale Thomas, 14. Luke Rounds, 18. Darren Jolly, 20. Ben Reid, 22. Steele Sidebottom, 23. Lachlan Keeffe, 25. Tom Young, 28. Ben Sinclair, 29. Jonathan Ceglar, 32. Chris Dawes, 33. Jackson Paine, 34. Alan Toovey, 35. Jamie Elliott, 36. Dane Swan, 38. Peter Yagmoor, 39. Heath Shaw, 40. Paul Seedsman

ST KILDA
2. Arryn Siposs, 3. Jack Steven, 4. Clint Jones, 5. Ben McEvoy, 7. Lenny Hayes, 11. Leigh Montagna, 12. Nick Riewoldt, 13. Adam Schneider, 14. Jarryn Geary, 15. Tom Ledger, 18. Brendon Goddard, 19. Sam Gilbert, 20. David Armitage, 21. Ahmed Saad, 23. Justin Koschitzke, 24. Sean Dempster, 25. Sam Fisher, 26. Nick Dal Santo, 27. Jason Blake, 28. Rhys Stanley, 30. Brett Peake, 31. Tom Simpkin 32. Terry Milera, 35. Jamie Cripps, 44. Stephen Milne

Form;

Collingwood;

NAB Cup Round One – Wins over Western Bulldogs and GWS

NAB Cup Round Two – 9 point loss to Melbourne

NAB Cup Round Three – 77 point loss to Adelaide

St Kilda

NAB Cup Round One – Loss to Sydney by 30 points. Win over Geelong by 21 points

NAB Cup Round Three – Loss to West Coast by 33 points

Player Focus

Heath Shaw

We all know the Shaw name is as synonymous with the Collingwood Football Club as any name in the modern era, and the pressure on anyone carrying that name must be immense, but you’ve never got the feeling that has been a major concern for Heath Shaw. Yes, he has had some very high profile off field problems, but at the heart of it is a man who bleeds black and white, and like his Uncle Tony has achieved the ultimate success with a club that doesn’t achieve that too often.

In 2010 Heath came of age, and was a major part of the Collingwood steamroller that took the AFL by storm, and in 2011 it seemed as if that form would continue. Then came the infamous betting scandal, where Heath was suspended for 8 matches for giving money to a friend to place on Nick Maxwell for first goal. While most saw the penalty as harsh, the real penalty to the side was that Heath never got back to the All Australian form he was in prior to the debacle.

In 2012 however, Shaw looks like he will take the competition by storm once again. When most articles mention and preview Collingwood’s hopes, they hardly ever mention the man who gives the side as much drive off half back as anyone in the competition, and for once, it’s great that a Collingwood player is flying a little under the radar. Heath Shaw will be an All Australian in 2012, of that I have no doubt, he has matured into a better player, and a better person, and it will show.

Tip.

Both teams have fielded their strongest line-ups of the season so far, yet it’s St Kilda, through luck with injuries that seem to have the stronger line up. Add that the St Kilda team is absolutely desperately in need of a 4 quarter hit out at a high intensity, and they have to be the favourites leading into this one. Collingwood will also fight this game out though, there will be no drop in intensity like there has been in all 4 games so far, so this will still be a tight contest. Saints to prevail in a tight one though.

St Kilda by 14 points.

VFL

The Collingwood VFL team travels down to Geelong (again) for it’s last practice match at Simmonds Stadium (Kardinia Park) at 11am on Saturday.

TWO + TWO = ZERO

At the start of the 2011 AFL home and away premiership season, the AFL introduced a dramatic change to the rules of the game in regards to the interchange bench. They made it mandatory for each team to only have 3 unlimited interchange players, but the biggest shock was the substitute. The substitute was to be the player who initially started in a green vest, and similarly to soccer could only come on when you wanted to take another player off for good. No one saw it coming, it had not even been trialled in that format, yet the AFL introduced into the proper season without consultation of the then 17 AFL clubs, it’s players, coaches or medical/fitness staff. Immediately each club had to figure out an approach to use their current list of players in a manner that would make the sub rule advantageous to them, and by seasons end very few clubs had really made any in roads in this area, or really fully understood the toll that it was taking on their players.

 The AFL at the end of the season (led by AFL operations manger Adrian Anderson) defended it’s decision by holding press conference after press conference to explain the virtue and advantages to the game that the new rule had made, but no one was buying it. Yes, the number of soft tissue injuries was down, widely regarded as a sign of over use of players in burst situations, but over all the number of games missed by players at the 17 clubs actually increased. And the most alarming statistic showed that impact and year ending injuries, such as ACL’s and shoulder reconstructions actually increased. Some say this was just a coincidence, but the AFL had no explanation to explain this, and with the only dramatic off season change to the game being the sub rules introduction, a direct correlation was drawn between the the new rule and the increase in injuries by the majority of the public, and the clubs.

 Yet, come the NAB Cup pre season competition to begin the 2012 season, instead of considering a remedy to make the injury situation better in the long term, the stubborn heads at the AFL decided to introduce a 2 and 2 sub rule, that is 2 normal, unlimited interchange players and 2 vest wearing, limited substitutes. At first, the clubs thought, let’s give this a try, but after the first weekend of proper four quarter football (round 2 of the NAB Cup), it was clear the clubs, the players, the coaches and the fans were out raged at the rule, and were calling for it scrapped and for it to be never considered for the regular season. Now, the rumours are that the 2 and 2 sub rule is almost a certainty to be introduced for the 2013 AFL home and away season, despite all the evidence pointing to the fact that it will change the game in a way that may never be repaired.

For those not fully familiar with the game of Australian Rules at the top level, a recent medical report suggested it was the most physically taxing team elite team sport on the planet. It’s midfielders cover up to and beyond 20 kilometres a game, and the pace and physicality of the game at the highest level have it compared to ice hockey and the NFL, all without major protective equipment. The game has evolved over the years to encompass more of a run and carry brand, where the faster, burst players have become as important to a side as the taller, physically strong players who usually inhabit the forward or backline of the sport. And yet, as absurd as it seems the AFL in all their wisdom want to make it harder.

 You see, the AFL are obsessed with the speed of the game, they want less interchanges because they believe in essence this will slow the game down, and lessen the amount of injuries that occur due to over exertion. Yet the essence of our game has always been that you get the ball and you try and move it as quickly as you can forward, and the AFL know this, and for some reason want to slow that down. The AFL were the organisation that introduced only a few short seasons ago the ability for players to play on after a behind is kicked, even before the goal umpire had finished waving his flags, yet they blame the natural development of the interchange system for the speed of the game, no one knows why.

So, back to the 2 and 2 rule, and the consequences it will have the game of Australian Rules football at the highest level, in the AFL. The coaches and recruiters in the AFL have openly stated that they believe a 2 and 2 sub rule would change not only the nature of our game, but also the nature of the recruits we bring into the game. They believe, and with strong medical evidence from the pre season to back up their case, that players without high levels of natural stamina will struggle to be recruited, when in the past some of these stamina lacking players have actually been the players the fans, the ones who keep the game going, have paid big money to see. The argument from the coaches, players and medical staff at the clubs is that if the AFL further reduce the interchange system, that players will spend greater time on the field, yet the pace of the game will not change too much, meaning their ability to reproduce physical efforts will have to be greater.Many believe that the greatest downside to an introduction of a 2 and 2 sub rule would be the reduction in recruits from an indigenous background, who traditionally have arrived at football clubs with a far lower stamina base then others. And this would be a shame, because with major problems already associated with recruiting and retaining indigenous players from remote areas of the nation, this may lead to a large reduction in the percentage of indigenous players recruited to AFL clubs.

The AFL has to also consider the fans, who in a large majority have called for a 2 year moratorium on the rules to the game, so that we can see how the game develops naturally. You just have to look at the major team sports of the world, Soccer, NFL, Baseball, Basketball and Rugby, and see that minimal changes to a sports rules at the highest level actually make it easier to grow the game on a global level, heck, even on a local level. The AFL are trying to grow the game into 2 new areas, Gold Coast in Queensland, and the Western Suburbs of Sydney through the introduction of the two new expansion teams, yet they want to dramatically change the game, and make it less appealing to a certain percentage of the population to partake in, simply because they do not like the speed of the sport at the highest level.

 It’s because of all this, I simply say, TWO PLUS TWO EQUALS ZERO. It will be a large step backwards if this new rule is introduced for the 2013 AFL season, and as a result it may actually lose some of the fringe supporters who may find the constant rule changes not only confusing, but also a detraction from the game itself. Leave the game alone please, just for a year or two, and see how it develops.

 

AFL NAB Cup Round 3 Preview

After a rare loss, the Collingwood Football Club head to Adelaide this Friday Night. When the team arrives in Adelaide, the Magpies will take on an in form Adelaide Crows in what is almost certain to be the last game of the NAB Cup tournament for 2012 for the men in Black and White, and in keeping with this years pre season philosophy, they are taking a skeleton crew. Not only has Collingwood decided to only take 26 players (maximum of 29 allowed), but it has also decided to leave as many as 12 of their best 22 players at home in Victoria, although some of those aren’t available for selection, as they continue to overcome injuries they have suffered during pre season training.

Many will argue that Collingwood are being somewhat ignorant and petulant towards this competition, and for once, I hope they/we are. The season proper doesn’t start for another 3 weeks, and the club is struggling to get many of it’s players onto the training track, let alone the playing field. Also, for a club that travels as rarely as the Pies do, this will be their second pre season trip in 3 rounds (4 weeks), and this game also occurs only 6 days after the last fixture against Melbourne last Saturday Night. So it would seem to the educated AFL follower that Collingwood are in fact being very smart when planning their pre season, especially given the high injury rate throughout the AFL this pre season (just don’t tell the AFL that though).

Last weekend against Melbourne, at Etihad Stadium on Saturday Night, Collingwood went down by 9 points in an effort that many criticised for it’s intensity and overall effort, but to base your criticism on that alone would have been misleading. In the first half, the Pies were neck and neck with the Demons the entire way, and at times looked like the better team, and at half time they actually held a 5 point lead. But at half time, Collingwood made the most of the new rule allowing teams to make up to 7 changes by taking off stars like Cloke, Reid, Jolly and Maxwell and replacing them with inexperienced and developing players. From there on, the output was never going to be the same, and Melbourne opened up a lead over 4 goals before Collingwood got a few late in the final quarter.

But it wasn’t all bad for the Pies, as the fans got to see a glimpse of the return of Irish favourite Marty Clarke, the debut of Caolan Mooney (also an Irishman), and the season’s first showing of the 2011 All Australian centre half back, Ben Reid, who despite only playing the first half seemed to have improved on his form of 2011 if anything, which is a scary thought for the opposing 17 teams in the AFL.

Overall it was probably a good result for the AFL, Melbourne needs positives desperately to help rebuild it’s brand and image, while the Pies got out of it what they wanted, an injury free weekend.

Collingwood has all but played their hand for this 3^rd round of the NAB Cup in selection, but there’s still some quality that will be representing the black and white army in Adelaide on Friday Night. Premiership captain Nick Maxwell, and reigning All Australian half back Harry O’Brien make the trip, as do the likes of Swan, Jolly, Pendlebury, Cloke, and Reid, meaning the magpie outfit will still put up a fight.

 

Opposition Analysis.

 It could be argued that Collingwood’s opponents this week, the Adelaide Crows are the in from team of the NAB Cup and by association the AFL pre season. Adelaide began their NAB Cup campaign with close wins over Carlton and cross time rival Port Adelaide in round one, before they travelled to Alice Springs last Saturday Night and subsequently disposed of the Brisbane Lions by a margin of 51 points.

The stand out performance of that match came from the stand in skipper, Patrick Dangerfield, with a best on ground 33 possession display that may have even improved upon the great form he showed towards the end of the 2011 home and away season. In Dangerfield, the Crows have found just about the perfect midfielder. He’s tough, quick, strong, evasive, intelligent, has a long accurate boot and has obvious leadership qualities. Yes, he still has some flaws, with consistency being one of them, but for a midfielder of his age and experience, he’s about as good as it gets.

 Talking about the Crows midfield, you would think this is the area that they will need to dominate in if they are to match it with the best sides in 2012. Their back line has been weakened significantly by the loss of Nathan Bock to the Suns, and then Phil Davis to the Giants, while their forward line, while having potential, has still failed to perform for an entire season recently, although injuries are as much of a reason as that as anything. But it’s their midfield where Crow fans, and the club itself would believe it has the potential and quality to really give them an advantage by wining the battle for the contested ball most weekends.

The names and depth in this area is impressive, with the likes of Van Berlo, the aforementioned Dangerfield, the ever reliable Scott Thompson and Bernie Vince making up a fearsome foursome that leads the central brigade with the help of plenty of young and promising midfielders. Adelaide fans would have held their breath in hope as both Chris Knights and Jason Porplyzia also got through the game last week.

 While Adelaide have made some changes to their playing personnel in the off season, the biggest change is quite obviously in the coaches box, with former Geelong Assistant Brenton Sanderson taking over the reins as head coach for the foreseeable future. In Sanderson, the Crows welcome back a South Australian (which may appease the fans) while they also get a coach who has been to the very top, 3 times, with the all conquering Geelong Football Club. Sanderson will bring a tactical advantage to the Crows that seemed to be desperately missing over the past few seasons under outgoing coach Neil Craig, and the ex Geelong assistant will surely implement some parts of the Geelong game plan into the Adelaide system. This has already become apparent in the first few games for the new Crows, with an obvious instruction to move the ball quicker, and to rely more on long attacking kicks then the short and slow movement of the ball that some sides, including the Crows of past years were using. Ironically, Sanderson started his playing career with Adelaide, and also represented Collingwood before finding a home at Geelong. He is great friends with new Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, and there is sure to be a friendly handshake shared between the two before this Friday’s game.

Teams;

ADELAIDE
3. Brent Reilly, 4. Kurt Tippett, 5. Scott Thompson, 6. Luke Thompson, 7. Nathan Van Berlo, 9. Rory Sloane, 10. Matthew Jaensch, 11. Michael Doughty, 12. Daniel Talia, 13. Taylor Walker, 14. David Mackay, 17. Bernie Vince, 18. Graham Johncock, 20. Joshua Jenkins, 21. Chris Knights, 22. Andrew Otten, 23. Jared Petrenko, 24. Sam Jacobs, 27. Tom Lynch, 29. Sam Kerridge, 32. Patrick Dangerfield, 33. Brodie Smith, 34. Sam Shaw, 35. Shaun McKernan, 36. Brodie Martin, 37. Ian Callinan, 40. Jason Porplyzia, 45. Ricky Henderson, 47. Matthew Wright

COLLINGWOOD
1. Alex Fasolo, 5. Nick Maxwell, 8. Heritier O’Brien, 9. Martin Clarke, 10. Scott Pendlebury, 11. Jarryd Blair, 14. Luke Rounds, 18. Darren Jolly, 20. Ben Reid, 22. Steele Sidebottom, 23. Lachlan Keeffe, 25. Tom Young, 27. Simon Buckley, 28. Ben Sinclair, 29. Jonathan Ceglar, 31. Chris Dawes, 32. Travis Cloke, 33. Jackson Paine, 35. Jamie Elliott, 36. Dane Swan, 37. Kirk Ugle, 38. Peter Yagmoor, 40. Paul Seedsman, 46. Marley Williams, 47. Michael Hartley, 48. Caolan Mooney

Form;

Collingwood;

NAB Cup Round One – Wins over Western Bulldogs and GWS

NAB Cup Round Two – 9 point loss to Melbourne

Adelaide;

NAB Cup Round One – Wins over Carlton and Port Adelaide

NAB Cup Round two – 51 point win over Brisbane

Obviously, based on last weeks results, Adelaide are the in form team coming into this game, and they have also showed a higher intensity and more willingness to play as close to their best 22 as they possibly can.

Player Focus

Ben Reid

At the end of the 2009 season, many footballing experts had all but written off the career of young Collingwood key position player Ben Reid. He had been tried as a forward in the seniors, only to have some moments that could only be describes as embarrassing, yet the club decided to make a bold move and use almost an entire season of VFL football to build him into a key defender. Fast forward to the end of 2011, and Reid is quite possibly the best mobile tall defender in the game. He was acknowledged by the AFL for his remarkable improvement with selection as the All Australia centre half back in September of last year, and there were few who could argue that he deserved the accolade.

Reid is the perfect modern day defender. He’s tall, standing at 195cms, he has the build for a ke position player (weighing in at just over 100kgs), yet he has the mobility of a half back flanker. But it’s Reid’s deadly left foot that separates him from the majority of defenders in the AFL. Reid has the ability to pin point a pass over 50 metres with astounding accuracy, and with the current fashion of the defensive and forward presses in the AFL, the ability to dissect any zone is as important as any skill in the game. He is also an excellent on on one defender, as he showed in 2011 playing on some of the best forwards in the league. Reid is now as vital a cog to the Collingwood machine as any other player, a huge compliment in itself.

Tip.

If you take into account the depth of the selected squads, and also the fact that Adelaide need a win here to secure a place in the NAB cup final, there seems very little reason to pick Collingwood to win. But it could be argued that Collingwood still have the best 5 players on the ground, so a close result would not surprise. Adelaide should win though, based more on their desperation to have a great start to the season after several poor years by their supporters expectations.

Crows by 16.

VFL

This week sees the VFL side travel to the home of the enemy, Carlton’s Princes Park to face the Northern Blues at 11am on Saturday.

AFL NAB Cup Round 2 Preview

After a successful start to the NAB Cup pre season competition, Collingwood gets a rare pre season home game this weekend, against the Melbourne Demons at Etihad Stadium on Saturday Night (7.40pm start time). Two weeks ago Collingwood won two tight battles against the Western Bulldogs and the Western Sydney Giants in the West of Sydney to come out of round one of the NAB Cup as one of only 3 undefeated teams. And this week they field their strongest team yet of the competition, with many returning stars to beef up the young talent that was on show in Sydney a few weeks ago.

In that tri series matchup Collingwood debuted plenty of young talent, with the likes of Witts, Paine, Keefe, Ceglar, Mooney, Hartley, Seedsman, Williams and a few other showing plenty of promising signs for the future. This was shown no more then by Jackson Paine (pictured left) in the final game when he goaled from 45 metres out on the boundary, on the run, which would ultimately get the Pies home against the Giants. We will see plenty more young talent throughout the NAB cup wearing black and white, and a few of those will be on show this weekend, with each side able to make 7 changes to their playing squad at half time. That means if the clubs chooses to use both subs in the first half, they could play 29 players this weekend.

 This weekend, Collingwood welcomes back some very big names, with Travis Cloke debuting for the year, along with Nick Maxwell, Scott Pendlebury and the long awaited return of Irishman Marty Clarke. Clarke, after two seasons back home in Ireland playing for his beloved County Down, has returned to Australia, and by all reports still possesses the attributes that made his first stint in the AFL so successful, those being his amazing endurance and speed off the mark. Also making their first appearances for the pre season are Kirk Ugle, who won the game with 2 late quarter goals in the ill fated (re Krakouer Injury) VFL practice match last weekend down in Geelong, another Irishman in Paul Cribbin, who is now in his second season at the club, and Luke Rounds, who has had a bad run with injuries over the past few years, but when fit has been around the edges of senior selection.

 How seriously Collingwood treat this match depends a lot on the draw that the AFL have seen fit to grant the Pies this pre season. After a first up interstate trip, all be it with a break afterwards, we are now expected to back up again in just six days after this weekends matchup and travel to Adelaide to take on the Crows in what is looming as a semi final type clash to see who qualifies for the NAB Cup final the following week. Now opposition fans will cry foul about the supposed fact that Collingwood don’t travel as often as other sides, but this is the pre season and the draw just seems to be a bit harsh, especially for a premiership contending team. Anyway, it is what it is, and Rodney Eade stated during the week that the club had prepared it’s selection policy with one eye on this weekends game against Melbourne, and one eye on the game 6 days later in Adelaide.

Opposition Analysis.

The opposition this week is the Melbourne Football Club, who are always talked up by the press to be the big improver, but unluckily for them they seem to be going through a Collingwood like run of injuries leading into this weekend. Last weekend, on a wet Saturday Night at the Gold Coast Suns home ground, the Demons narrowly lost to the Suns in their opening game, before keeping their pre season final hopes alive by defeating Brisbane in a low scoring battle. It wasn’t a bad result at all for Melbourne, and Mark Neeld coaching the Dees for the first time would have been happy with their attack on the ball, as to judges skills on a night like that would have been a futile exercise. You would think this might become a trademark of the new Demons under Neeld, effort before execution, at least in the short term until they get their full compliment of players back on the park. The biggest joy that Melbourne fans would have got out of last weekends matches was Mitch Clark showing that he will finally give them that contested marking tall forward that they have been crying out for so long. No matter how he arrived at Melbourne during trade week, he will be a great pick up for the Demons to compliment their young and developing forward line.

The big news around Melbourne this week though happened on the training track, when during a full on physical session, new captain Jack Grimes went down clutching his shoulder. At first glance, there were worries that the new skipper had broken a collarbone or done significant damage to his shoulder, but after scans were completed over the following days, the news wasn’t as bad as first expected, and Grimes will be back at training in 2-3 weeks time. That would be music to Dees fans ears, as they’re run of injuries at the moment would put any clubs list in a shadow, and some of the names on that list include Trengove, Spencer, Gawn, Tapscott, Jurrah, Moloney, Morton and Strauss, and that’s not even the total of it.

Teams;

COLLINGWOOD
1. Alex Fasolo,  5. Nick Maxwell, 9. Martin Clarke, 10. Scott Pendlebury, 12.    Luke Ball, 13. Dale Thomas, 14. Luke Rounds, 18. Darren Jolly, 20. Ben Reid, 21. Sharrod Wellingham, 22. Steele Sidebottom, 23. Lachlan Keeffe, 25. Tom Young, 27. Simon Buckley, 28. Ben Sinclair, 29. Jonathan Ceglar, 31. Chris Dawes, 32. Travis Cloke, 33. Jackson Paine, 34. Alan Toovey, 36. Dane Swan, 37. Kirk Ugle, 38. Peter Yagmoor. 39. Heath Shaw, 46. Marley Williams, 47. Michael Hartley, 48. Caolan Mooney, 49. Paul Cribbin, 50. Shae McNamara

MELBOURNE
2. Nathan Jones, 4. Jack Watts, 5. Jordan Gysberts, 6. Matthew Bate, 7. Jamie Bennell, 8. James Frawley, 12. Colin Sylvia, 14. Lynden Dunn, 15. Ricky Petterd, 17. Sam Blease, 18. Brad Green, 20. Colin Garland, 21. Lucas Cook, 25.Tom McDonald, 26. Daniel Nicholson, 28. Joel MacDonald, 30. James Sellar, 34. Stefan Martin, 36. Aaron Davey, 38. JeremyHowe, 40. Mark Jamar, 41. Troy Davis, 44. Rohan Bail, 45. Kelvin Lawrence, 46. Josh Tynan, 47. Tom Couch, 48. Jack Fitzpatrick, 49. James Magner, 50. Jai Sheahan

Form;

NAB CUP ROUND ONE

Collingwood 4.2.26 defeated Western Bulldogs 3.1.19

Collingwood 5.5.35 defeated GWS Giants 5.2.32

Melbourne 3.5.23 lost to Gold Coast Suns 4.2.26

Melbourne 2.1.13 defeated Brisbane 1.4.10

You can’t read much into the first round form, but both teams would have been relatively happy with their performances and endeavour considering the rather weak lists both teams fielded interstate.

Player Focus

Kirk Ugle

When Kirk Ugle was recruited with pick 60 in the 2010 AFL national draft by Collingwood, many experts looked at each other and said “who”. But Derek Hine rarely misses the mark, even with his later picks, and in Ugle he saw a player, who despite being one of the smallest on an AFL list at 172cm, had an x factor about him that could not be ignored. His pace at the pre draft state screening was one of the main reasons why he was selected, but also he showed plenty playing for WA in the under 18 national championships.

In Kirk’s first season at Collingwood, he showed plenty of promise early, debuting in the NAB Cup where he kicked several miraculous goals, but when the VFL season started a small injury setback seemed to slightly derail his season, although he fought back well playing 16 games for the VFL side, and also been picked as an emergency on at least one occasion for the strong senior side.

Come the first round of the NAB Cup and many Pies fans were disappointed not to see the man wearing 37 out there running around in Western Sydney, but he made up for any lack of on ground time by becoming the virtual match winner for the VFL side against Geelong last week, when he kicked 2 special last quarter goals to get the side up by a point. Kirk has something special, and it’s not beyond expectations that he will make his senior debut within the first half of the season, but for now Collingwood supporters will be happy to catch a glimpse of him this Saturday Night.

Tip.

With the injury list mounting at both teams, and with Collingwood leaving several fit players out in prepartion for a 6 day break, this game well be decided by who wants to go the hardest, for the longest. In the end though, the class of Collingwood’s midfield and forwards should see them prevail in a high scoring game at Etihad stadium on Saturday Night.

Pies by 22.

NAB CUP ROUND 1 PREVIEW.

 

 

 WELCOME BACK FOOTBALL!!! That’s the over whelming feeling for the first round of the NAB Cup this season, heck, it’s the feeling every year. Yes, it’s “only the NAB Cup”, and yes, round 1 is again this same rather silly triple team matchup, but it’s live AFL football, and we get to see the boys in Black and White go around for the first official time since that fateful day in early October last season. And to open it up we create history, it’s the first official game of the first official season of the GWS Giants (ignore their appearance last year, I’m sure they want to as well). And you can also throw in the Western Bulldogs, who no matter how they are going are an entertaining lot to watch. In fact in this series we have the last two winners of this competition, with Collingwood winning the 2011 version, and the Dogs winning in 2010.

Form is largely irrelevant, but what you can look at when discussing a NAB Cup game is the squads, and more importantly, the big names missing from those squads. Collingwood has had a shocking two weeks of soft tissue injuries (and a cut hand), as well as the situation developing regarding Andrew Krakouer, who may, or may not return in the short, and long term future. Collingwood has also decided to rest captain Nick Maxwell, gun Centre Half Forward Travis Cloke and Vice Captain Scott Pendlebury, and two key defenders in Ben Reid and Nathan Brown won’t make the trip either, as they continue their rehabilitation from injuries sustained in 2011. In all, you can count as many as 10 players missing from the Collingwood squad who the fans would have ideally liked to see.

With the absentees Collingwood has this week, plenty of younger players will represent the black and white in Sydney, and get their chance to push for inclusion in the team early in the home and away rounds. Of these youngsters, the two that have been the most hyped in pre season are Jarrod Witts (pictured on the right with Anthony Rocca) and Peter Yagmoor. Witts, the 208cm, 19 year old NSW scholarship player, was placed straight on the senior list when his time in the scholarship ended, and that is a sign in itself of how highly he is rated internally at Collingwood. Yagmoor, a Cairns native who was pre listed by the Suns before being traded to Collingwood, has impressed many with his raking left foot and speed off half back, and is sure to excite many of the Magpie Army over the next few years. Also included in the squad are two of the three International Rookies on the Collingwood list, with big American Shae McNamara set to play his second NAB Cup match, and young Irishman Caolon Mooney set to make his debut. Mooney arrived in Australia during the finals last season, and played in a few of the finals practice matches, and by all reports had jaws dropping to the ground with his athleticism and pace.

 Of course though, the biggest news of the off season at Collingwood didn’t occur on the field, it occurred in the coaches box, with so many changes to personnel, and the reigns of head coach being taken by club champion Nathan Buckley. Unfortunately, with the injuries Collingwood has at the moment, we may not get an accurate preview of how different the gameplan will be under Buckley’s guidance, but I’m sure there will still be some noticeable differences, even in this strange format in round one of the pre season. Buckley also had to virtually recreate the coaching staff structure at Collingwood, with only Matthew Lappin and Tarkyn Lockyer remaining in their positions from last season. The two big “ins” are ex Dogs coach Rodney Eade, and St Kilda champion Robert Harvey, who after years as an assistant at the Saints decided to join good friend Buckley’s coaching staff as the midfield coach.

 Whatever happens this weekend, it will be interesting to watch the development of this Collingwood list and coaching staff over the pre season, and into the home and away rounds.

 Opposition Analysis.

 For round one of the NAB cup, once again we have two opponents, and this time we get the added incentive of being one of the first teams, along with the Bulldogs, to play the GWS Giants at their Blacktown home base in their inaugural season in the AFL.

There’s not a lot of analysis that can be done on the Giants yet, as few have seen them play a competitive game with their first full senior list, and it’s unknown exactly how they will line up. Of course, during the week they announced their captaincy, well in fact their 3 captains, in a move only Kevin Sheedy could pull off without too much criticism. The players named as their first ever captains are Luke Power, Phil Davis and Callan Ward (pictured left). Many found it strange that Tom Scully wasn’t among that lot, but I guess they wanted the youngster to concentrate on his on field performance rather then having the added pressure of the captaincy also. The Giants obviously have a heap of young talent, led this week by the exciting Stephen Coniglio, although number one draft pick Jonathon Patton won’t be playing due to pre season knee surgery that received as much press as any injury over the off season.

As for the Bulldogs, they also have had a change at the head coaching position, with Brendan McCartney their choice, after a long stint at Geelong, and shorter stints at Richmond and Essendon, the highly rated assistant becomes one of the first AFL coaches to become a head coach without any experience playing at the top level. As for the Dogs on the field, after a terrible 2011 after being perennial premiership challengers, they will be looking to bounce back quickly. Their game plan changed a little in 2011, they went from a fast flowing, quick side to a team that won as much of the contested ball as anyone in the competition, but their weakness continually lied in the key position areas, with injuries to Lake and Morris, and Barry Hall winding down his career up forward, the Dogs struggled for most of 2011.

But in 2012 they will come out rejuvenated, with an emphasis on youth and development, and oh boy do they have a group of very good young players to develop. It begins with their two father son selections from the previous draft, Tom Liberatore and Mitch Wallis, who will look to cement their place in the midfield rotation alongside the likes of Cross, Boyd, Griffen and Cooney, and what a midfield that would make. But maybe their most under rated youngster is Liam Jones. In 2011, despite his side struggling, the soon to be 21 year old was in the top 5 in the league for contested marks, and is sure to try and form an effective forward relationship with the likes of Jarrad Grant, Matthew Panos and Jordan Roughead.

Most of how quickly the Dogs can recover from last season may well be down to the 2 players who aren’t in action this weekend though, those being Dale Morris and Brian Lake. At their best they are the equal of any defensive pairing in the AFL, yet injuries and form robbed them of the chance to show that in 2011. The game between Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs on Saturday Night (scheduled second up at 8.20pm) will clearly decide which club of this series comes out of round one of the NAB Cup undefeated .

Teams;

Round one, NAB Cup

COLLINGWOOD
1. Alex Fasolo, 6. Tyson Goldsack, 12. Luke Ball, 13. Dale Thomas, 15. Jarrod Witts, 18. Darren Jolly, 22. Steele Sidebottom, 23. Lachlan Keeffe, 25. Tom Young, 27. Simon Buckley, 28. Ben Sinclair, 29. Jonathan Ceglar, 30. Brent Macaffer, 31. Chris Dawes, 33. Jackson Paine, 34. Alan Toovey, 36. Dane Swan, 38. Peter Yagmoor, 39. Heath Shaw, 40. Paul Seedsman, 45. Lachlan Smith, 46.  Marley Williams, 47. Michael Hartley, 48. Caolan Mooney, 50. Shae McNamara

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
1. Phil Davis, 2. Curtly Hampton, 3. Stephen Coniglio, 4. Israel Folau, 6. Luke Power, 7. Rhys Palmer, 8. Callan Ward, 9. Tom Scully, 11. Chad Cornes, 13. Sam Darley, 14. Tomas Bugg, 15. Tim Golds, 16. Nathan Wilson, 18. Jeremy Cameron, 19. Nick Haynes, 20. Adam Tomlinson, 22. Shaun Edwards, 23. Sam Reid, 24. Steve Clifton, 25. Anthony Miles, 26. Jonathan Giles, 27. Andrew Phillips, 28. Liam Sumner, 29. Dom Tyson, 31. Jacob Townsend, 32. Gerald Ugle, 34. Devon Smith, 35. Toby Greene, 36. Jack Hombsch, 38. James McDonald, 39. Tim Mohr, 42. Mark Whiley, 44. Tom Downie, 47. Josh Bruce, 49. Rhys Cooyou

WESTERN BULLDOGS
1. Jarrad Grant, 2. Robert Murphy, 3. Mitch Wallis, 4. Daniel Cross, 5. Matthew Boyd, 8. Patrick Veszpremi, 10. Easton Ward, 12. Tom Williams, 13. Daniel Giansiracusa, 14. Clay Smith, 16. Ryan Griffen, 19. Liam Jones, 21. Tom Liberatore, 22. Dylan Addison, 23. Jordan Roughead, 25. Ryan Hargrave, 26. Zephaniah Skinner, 27. Will Minson, 29. Tory Dickson, 30. Christian Howard, 32, Michael Talia, 37. Lukas Markovic, 40. Luke Dahlhaus, 42, Liam Picken, 48. Matthew Panos, 49. Ayce Cordy

Player Focus

Brent Macaffer

In 2010, Brent Macaffer was as important a cog in the finals series, and Grand Finals, as anyone wearing black and white. He provided a 3^rd tall forward option, and was one of the standouts of the finals series and subsequent premiership win. In 2011, he may as well not have existed in the football world, as injuries ruined his season at every turn, only allowing him to make the 4 senior appearances.

So, in 2012, Brent Macaffer is like a new recruit to the Collingwood Football Club, and not unlike Nathan Brown’s return, is sure to add yet another dimension to the already powerful senior team at the club. Brent brings to the forward line what it seemed to be missing late in 2011, a third tall option as well as a work rate that is matched by no one. In 2010 only Leon Davis had more offensive 50 tackles in the side then Macaffer, and in 2012 if Brent can stay fit he is likely to lead the side in that category.

He also has the versatility of having played in the midfield at times, and also down back, both at VFL and AFL level. Brent Macaffer fit and firing makes the Collingwood senior team that much better, and that’s something that brings a smile to all the faces of the Magpie Army.

Tip:

While it’s hard to assess where each of the three clubs are at in terms of readiness, if you go by the playing lists then GWS are probably closest to full strength of the three teams. Having said that, I still can’t see them winning either of the two games they participate in here, so it may well come down to the middle game between Collingwood and the Western Bulldogs to see who comes out undefeated.

The Dogs are missing several stars of their own, but they aren’t missing as many as the Pies so I’d be expecting them to win in a tight one over Collingwood.

DOGS BY 8 over Collingwood

PIES BY 36 over GWS