VFL Second Semi Final – Collingwood vs Sandringham Match Preview.

Season 2015 hasn’t turned out the way it was planned for the Collingwood Football Club but there is a silver lining and many do not know much about it. The VFL Magpies, Collingwood’s Victorian Football League affiliate last week achieved something that hadn’t been done for 6 years, a win in a VFL final. In fact if the VFL Pies can pull of an upset win this weekend they will have gone as far as any Collingwood team has in the modern version of the VFL.

The VFL Pies started the season a little slowly with two straight losses to begin the season. After that though they got on a roll and with 4 rounds to go in the season actually looked like securing a coveted top 4 spot and earning the double chance. A surprise loss to North Ballarat at Victoria Park though ended the Pies top 4 chances and they had to settle for 5^th with a 12-6 win/loss record. In hindsight that might have been a blessing in disguise, as it meant the Magpies avoided a clash with the rampaging Box Hill Hawks last week and instead got to sing the song after their elimination win over Werribee. The Pies made the finals last season also but due to an extended senior injury list they lost the first final to this week’s opponent, Sandringham. The Pies and Zebras met once this season with Collingwood grabbing a 10 point win in a hard fought match at Victoria Park.

PREVIOUS FORM

The VFL Magpies come into this game in good form off the back of three wins in a row. After that shock loss to North Ballarat the Pies got back on track with a strong win over Richmond in a game highlighted by 5 goals from the big American, Mason Cox, in the last 35 minutes of the game. In the final home and away game Collingwood scraped out an 8 point win over Port Melbourne to end their regular season in 5^th spot. That meant that the Pies were matched with Werribee in their elimination final and the Magpies got a few favours before the game even began. North Melbourne, who are aligned both Werribee and North Ballarat decided to rest numerous senior players meaning that the Werribee side was weakened considerably. And it showed, with the Magpies dominating most of the game and running away with a 29 point win.

Sandringham had a remarkable finish to the VFL home and away season. After that loss to the Magpies out at Victoria Park in round 12 the Zebras went undefeated for the rest of the regular season and ended up in 2^nd spot on the ladder with a 14-4 win/loss record. Sandy got on a real run towards the end of the year and those 7 straight wins earned the St Kilda aligned VFL side a double chance leading into the finals. On Sunday they matched up against Williamstown at Trevor Barker Beach Oval in the second qualifying final. The Zebras started terribly, kicking against the wind they failed to register a single point and because of this they faced an 8 goal deficit at three quarter time. Suddenly they came to live though, keeping the opposition scoreless in a tense final term. Ultimately though Sandringham came up short and lost the game by 7 points. That’s the advantage of earning a second chance though, if you do have an off day in the first final you can bounce back and that’s exactly what they’ll be trying to do on Sunday versus the Magpies.

COLLINGWOOD PREVIEW

The story of the 2015 VFL Magpies has been an enjoyable one to watch unfold. After the first two losses to North Ballarat and Essendon came one of the more remarkable victories of the VFL season. Facing an 0-3 start to the season the Pies ran into reigning premiers Footscray at Victoria Park. The home team got off to an amazing start kicking 6 goals and 2 behinds in the first quarter to lead by 37 points at the first change. The Bulldogs, as expected came roaring back in the second half The Dogs even took the lead late in the game before 2 goals from the Pies saw them get home by 4 points in one of the games of the VFL season. From there the VFL Pies never looked back as they won 12 of their final 16 games to finish the season in 5^th spot.

This weekend against Sandringham the Pies will have plenty more selection options then they had in last year’s finals defeat to the Zebras. Last year the Magpies went into the elimination final with only 4 AFL listed or rookie listed players. This Sunday they will go in with as many as 16. Amongst that list of eligible AFL aligned players are Sam Dwyer, Brent Macaffer, Ben Kennedy, Jarrod Witts, Ben Reid, Patrick Karnezis and Paul Seedsman, all who have plenty of senior AFL experience under their wings. Reid is unlikely to play though. Also eligible is a bunch of youngsters that represent the future of the Collingwood Football Club. Darcy Moore, Brayden Maynard, Jonathan Marsh, Matthew Scharenberg and Matthew Goodyear are all available for selection this Sunday.

It presents a tough task for VFL Magpies coach Dale Tapping and his selection crew though, even if it’s a nice problem to have. Some of the improvement in this VFL Magpies outfit in 2015 has come about due to a better VFL listed representation. This was shown no better then on Monday night when Ryan Pendlebury and Brent Moloney were named in the VFL team of the year. Add the likes of captain Jack Hellier, the dangerous Michael Still, Lachlan Wallace, Ash Close and Jake Williams and the depth of the VFL list is one of the reasons why they have made it this far. No matter what the final 23 selected to run out on Sunday this VFL Magpies outfit will give a good account of itself for sure.

OPPOSITION ANALYSIS

Sandringham were the form team of the competition coming into the finals. That’s why their first and third terms against Williamstown came as such a shock. On the back of a strong midfield and a very effective forward line the Zebras had finished the season with that 7 game winning streak and looked a a genuine premiership threat. Worse still was that they earned the right to host the qualifying final yet they blew it. Surely there would have been some soul searching down at Trevor Barker Beach Oval this week and this Zebras team will come out firing on Sunday. Sandringham also has the option to include several St Kilda listed players who played in the final game for the Saints last weekend. How many of those are selected is up for debate though.

The Zebras forward line is a very dangerous unit indeed. Ahmed Saad excels at this level and is as hard to restrict as any other VFL forward. He kicked 29 goals in the 14 games he played in his first season back after a long suspension. Trent Dennis-Lane, Mitch Brown and the possible selection of a few high draftees such as Goddard and McCartin make this one of the areas of strength for Sandy for sure. They face off against a Magpies defense which has stood up well under pressure this season. Pendlebury, Marsh, Scharenberg, Manteit, Seedsman, Wallace and Goodyear are the probable lineup for the Pies down back.

Clinton Jones leads the way for Sandy in the middle. The long time Saints and now Sandrignham listed player almost got an early prize on Monday night too when he fell just short of securing the JJ Liston Trophy, the VFL’s best and fairest award. Along with Jones in the middle there’s a strong mix of Saints and VFL listed players that drive this side forward. The likes of Templeton, Acres, Verma, Weickhardt and Markworth will compete strongly against a Pies midfield that has been inconsistent at times this year. The addition of Ben Kennedy will help that of course as he joins Dwyer, Moloney, Macaffer and Williams in trying to match the Zebras at clearances. The ruck contest should be interesting too, with Mason Cox and Jarrod Witts from the Pies likely to match up with Tom Hickey and Jason Holmes. That means that at times the two American recruits, Holmes and Cox will face off in a VFL final. All four big men don’t gather many possessions as such but they are hard at the contest in the ruck.

The Sandringham backline is up there with the most effective in the league. Tom Simpkin and Luke Delaney are likely to be the main key defenders this week and Mitch Brown able to play at both ends and give assistance if required. There should be plenty of run out of the backline too with Myke Cook, Cameron Shenton and Elliott Le Grice all able to move the ball quickly. They come head to head with a Pies forward line that got stronger last week with the addition of Michael Still. Still along with Ash Close, Patrick Karnezis and Ben Kennedy will provide plenty of worries for this strong Zebras backline.

No matter how many St Kilda listed players Sandringham are allocated for this Sunday’s game they will go win with a very strong squad. The addition of even a few Saints players such as Goddard, Holmes and Murdoch will help but they’ve made it this far with as much a reliance on their VFL listed players as the ones linked with St Kilda. Clint Jones will be the most difficult to stop and should he dominate like he did in the last few rounds of the season it will go a long way to Sandy winning this final. There’s no more second chance for the Zebras this week so you’d expect a much fiercer effort at the contest then the one they showed at times last week.

TIP

Sandringham will go into this game as favourites and rightfully so after a stellar finish to the home and away season. Last week’s loss to Williamstown though showed up a few frailties in the Zebras lineup and with the Magpies coming off a morale boosting win this should be an epic battle. Both teams are certain to field stronger lineups then the ones that played in their respective first finals which makes this an even more mouth watering clash.

In the end I believe the quality of the Magpies backline might be the difference here with the addition of Marsh, Scharenberg, Moore and Maynard strengthening an already effective outfit. That should restrict the Sandringham forward line enough to give the Pies a shot. The VFL Magpies will win through to the preliminary final in a close, hard fought game.

MAGPIES BY 8 POINTS

AFL Round 3 – Collingwood vs Carlton match preview

The crowd are packed in tight for the 1910 VFL Grand Final

ONE HUNDRED AND TWO YEARS AGO, on October the 1^st, 1910, Collingwood and Carlton faced off for the first time in a VFL/AFL Grand Final, and to put it lightly, all hell broke loose. Early in the last quarter of the 1910 VFL Grand Final a fight broke out, with over 30 of the competing players involved. It was brutal, it was ugly, but the aftermath was where the rivalry really began to get heated. After the Grand Final (which Collingwood won by 14 points) the four players reported for starting the fight were given suspensions ranging from 12 to 18 months. But it was after this that the real ignition point of the rivalry occurred, Tom Baxter had been a star in Collingwood’s premiership season, yet he had been accused of being one of the four instigators and was suspended for 12 months, but fellow Magpies player Richard Daykin stepped forward, signing a declaration that he was the fourth instigator, and not Baxter, and the VFL accepted this version of events. Baxters suspension was quashed, and Daykin received the 12 months penalty instead. Days later, Daykin announced his retirement from the VFL, while Baxter continued on to represent Collingwood in it’s premiership defense. This infuriated Cartlon mainly due to the report from the officiating umpire that stated the fourth instigator had dark hair, when Daykin actually had red hair.

It was the beginning of a rivalry that to this day is considered by most to be the most ardent, passionate and fierce between two sporting clubs in Australia, and one of the most competitive in the world of sport for that matter.

The two clubs have faced off in 243 games in the VFA/VFL/AFL since 1892 (the year Collingwood began it’s life) of which Carlton have won 123 and Collingwood have won 116, with only the 4 draws. Included in those matchups have been 22 finals (Carlton lead 14-8) and most importantly 6 Grand Finals, with the only Collingwood victory in a Grand Final versus Carlton coming in that 1910 VFL Grand Final. There have been many fabled matches since, we all know the stories of the 1970 VFL Grand Final comeback in front of a record crowd, and the Wayne Harmes tap in, supposedly from out of bounds in the 1979 VFL Grand Final, and all of them have added extra spice and meaning to this intense rivalry that has endured the test of time.

This Friday Night, in front of an expected crowd of over 80,000 people, Round Three of the 2012 AFL Premiership Season begins with a clash between these two great rivals, and for the first time in many a year, both teams are genuine premiership contenders. Carlton has started the season on fire, easily winning it’s games against the lowly Tigers and Lions, while Collingwood has had to settle for one win and one loss, after a tough first up match against premiership favourites Hawthorn ended in a loss, followed by a gutsy, hard fought win over the Tigers in tough conditions.

Carlton last played on Thursday Night, while Collingwood had to wait until Saturday Night to get it’s round two game completed, and straight away this grants a favourable advantage to Carlton going into Friday Night’s clash. It was easy to see that the Collingwood coaching staff took the shorter break into consideration both in selection and in the way the team played on Saturday Night.

In the last quarter against the Tigers, with the Pies lead approaching the 50 point mark, the likes of Pendlebury, Thomas, Ball and Sidebottom were noticeably absent from the midfield, especially at the centre bounces. It was obvious new coach Nathan Buckley and his coaching staff were already planning for next week.

Chris Dawes takes a strong mark last week

But the coaching staff didn’t plan on one thing, that being star full back Chris Tarrant going down with a calf injury that will keep him out for the best part of a month, and with fellow tall defender Nathan Brown still a few weeks away from returning to the seniors, the Magpies will be weakened down back once again.

There are positives for Collingwood though, with the likely return of the suspended Sharrod Wellingham, inspirational captain Nick Maxwell and also the season debut of club stalwart Ben Johnson, the latter two from injuries and a lack of match practice respectively.

Nick Maxwell and Sharrod Wellingham return for the Magpies this week

One of the biggest selection questions for Nathan Buckley and the Collingwood match committee was what to do with the secondary ruck position. For most of the pre season and the first two regular season games Chris Dawes has been given the role, as a straight forward replacement for the retired Leigh Brown, but even Buckley himself has admitted that Dawes’ output has been less then what has been expected. With the selected teams now released, we can see that Collingwood has decided to go with genuine ruckman Cameron Wood, at the expense of young forward Jackson Paine. Also out for Collingwood is Paul Seedsman, who showed a bit inn his first two games, and the injured Chris Tarrant. The three inclusions are as expected, Wood, captain Nick Maxwell and small midfielder Sharrod Wellingham have returned.

Opposition Analysis.

Carlton got a dream start to the season thanks to the AFL fixture, with games against likely bottom six teams Richmond and Brisbane, and the Blues took full advantage of this with victories by 44 and 91 points, giving them their best start to a season in years. Carlton fans are rightly excited by the mix of players they now have, and for the first time in over a decade Carlton may actually be a genuine premiership contender.

Carlton’s much vaunted midfield is as strong as it has ever been, in fact it may even be stronger, led by 2 superstars in Judd and Murphy, and ably supported by the very under rated Caraazzo, the consistent Kade Simpson, the experienced Heath Scotland and their own personal tough nut, Mitch Robinson, it is indeed as deep as any other midfield in the leagus. Carlton will also look to rotate several more players through that midfield, with the likes of Gibbs, Armfield, Lucas, Tuohy and Curnow at times playing roles through that midfield.

Since the disastrous departure of Brendan Fevola the Carlton forward line has been disjointed and unproductive against the very best sides, yet it now seems that the Blues may finally be getting the mix right inside their offensive zone. In the first two rounds the Blues have used 3 main talls, Jarrad Waite, Shaun Hampson and the very fit Matthew Kreuzer, and they have been ably supported by experienced small forward Eddie Betts, the enigmatic Jeffrey Gartlett and more then able assistance from the above mentioned midfielders, with Judd leading the way with 3 goals last week. Carlton’s forward line does look more potent than ever, and with Collingwood’s problems down back due to injury, Carlton will see this area as one they can exploit.

If there has been a major problem for Carlton against the premiership contending teams over the past few seasons it has been their backline. For many a year, Michael Jamison has been the only top class tall defender at the club, and due to injury has missed plenty of games, and exposed the rest of the Carlton defenders as not up to elite standard. This season though, Carlton have tried Lachlan Henderson down back, and he has performed admirably against Jack Riewoldt and Daniel Merrett. Carlton’s backline does have an area of strength though, with Bryce Gibbs spending the majority of his time back there in recent times, and Chris Yarran one of the clear best running defenders in the game now, the offensive attack off Carlton’s backline is what they may use to hide their most obvious weakness. Carlton are likely to bring in both Jamison and also Nick Duigan for their first games this season, which will bolster that defense to no end.

While Collingwood may be having trouble figuring out it’s ruck setup, Carlton have a settled on theirs for the time being, with Matthew Kruezer and Shaun Hampson already forming a tough tandem that has destroyed it’s opposition in the first two rounds, more so around the ground then anywhere else.

Carlton look to be finally finding the correct mix to fight to finish in the vital top four, and this game is a massive occasion for the developing Carlton team to show the AFL world if they can match it with the best teams.

But for all the improvement and hype from the media, simply put, if Carlton can not beat their arch rival this week, they may well never reach the heights that the clubs history expects it to.

 

Teams;

 COLLINGWOOD

B: Harry O’Brien, Lachlan Keeffe, Heath Shaw
HB: Nick Maxwell, Ben Reid, Tyson Goldsack
C: Dane Swan, Luke Ball, Sharrod Wellingham
HF: Dale Thomas, Chris Dawes, Ben Sinclair
F: Dayne Beams, Travis Cloke, Alex Fasolo
Foll: Darren Jolly, Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom
Int: Martin Clarke, Jarryd Blair, Alan Toovey, Cameron Wood
Emg: Tom Young, Jackson Paine, Paul Seedsman

In: Nick Maxwell, Sharrod Wellingham, Cameron Wood
Out: Chris Tarrant (calf), Jackson Paine (omitted), Paul Seedsman (omitted)

CARLTON

B: J.Laidler L.Henderson C.Yarran
HB: N.Duigan P.Bower Z.Tuohy
C: H.Scotland C.Judd K.Simpson
HF: J.Garlett J.Waite M.Murphy
F: M.Jamison M.Kreuzer E.Betts
Foll: S.Hampson A.Carrazzo B.Gibbs
Int: D.Armfield, E.Curnow, K.Lucas, M.Robinson

Emg: B.McLean J.Russell B.Thornton

IN: N.Duigan, M.Jamison
OUT: B.Thornton, J.Russell

 

Tip.

The returning Sharrod Wellingham in action

While all of the hype around this game seems to be favouring Carlton, they are still yet to prove they can match it with the big two, Collingwood and Geelong, and until they do, I find it had to take tip them. The truth is this is Carlton’s first real test of the season, and while Collingwood may well be a few players short of their best team, it will be the best side the Magpies have put on the field in 2012, and that can not be under estimated. Many factors do favour Carlton though, the six day versus eight day break, the relative health of the lists, and the current form of both teams does lead you towards thinking Carlton are a real chance this week.

But the Pies are filled with stars, in their midfield it will be hard for Carlton to contain all of Pendlebury, Swan, Thomas, Ball, Wellingham, Beams, Sidebottom and Blair, while the Magpies will still have the highest quality ruckman on the ground, Darren Jolly, who is back in top form. The Pies forward line is also dangerous to any side, let alone against one with tall defender problems like Carlton. Travis Cloke is the best power forward in the game at the moment, and he looks as if he’s about to have his break out performance for 2012, which doesn’t bode well for the Blues.

Ultimately though, this will be a close game till the end, with both teams desperate to grab those four points to give them a better then expected start to the season. I favour Collingwood based on midfield depth, and a willingness to do the right things for longer then the lesser experienced Carlton side. Collingwood will outlast, outfight and basically outplay Carlton in a thriller.

PIES by 11 points.

VFL

This weekend the Collingwood VFL side ventures out to Preston to play Carlton’s VFL side, the Northern Blues. The game is on Saturday, and starts at 2pm, with Alan Didak and Nathan Brown likely to be the two most important players for Pie fans to keep an eye on.

WEEKLY COLLINGWOOD QUOTE

Each week from now on, I will add a famous quote from the greats who helped form this club, through to the modern day fans and players. This weeks quote (actually it’s a poem) comes from a fan after our first premiership win, in 1896.

“Hurrah for the lads of lusty legs….

Football they play the orthodox way

And kick t’others teeth out.

Hurray for the lads with biceps so strong,

With arms so brawny and bare.

May they trample and pound all their foes on the ground,

And make merry at their despair.”

(Source – “Kill for Collingwood” – R.Stremski –  1986)