COLLINGWOOD has emerged as one of the powerhouses of the AFLW in recent seasons, reaching finals in the last two years and currently sitting fifth on the ladder after four matches. 

The Magpies finished third on the ladder in 2021, winning the first six games of the season and in contention for top spot until a round nine loss to eventual grand finalists Adelaide. They also got off to a strong start this year, winning their first three matches by a combined 57 points, but a tough night against Fremantle has exposed some vulnerabilities. 

Relying on a solid defence, the Pies' concerns appear in front of the ball.  

An inaugural side, Collingwood is one of just four teams yet to kick 60+ points in a match. In comparison, Adelaide has broken the barrier 11 times, and North Melbourne has done so five times since joining the competition in 2019. 

Since the club lost the bulk of its key forward stocks to expansion prior to 2019, it has struggled to rebuild its attack in a way that really puts opponents to the sword like we have seen teams like Adelaide and Fremantle do regularly. 

The club's average score has broached 40 points just once—throughout the 2021 season—and has fallen to 31.8 points this year. This is largely off the back of poorer forward ball movement. 

Collingwood is averaging the fewest inside 50s in its history with just 20.3 per match, getting the ball forward the equal-fewest times each game in 2022, on par with West Coast who average the lowest score in the competition to date. This includes a club low of just ten inside 50s in round four, for the side's lowest score in its history. 

The loss of Brianna Davey hasn't helped with Collingwood's attempts to attack. There was a marginal shift from the Pies in 2020 upon Davey's arrival, finding more attack directly out of the midfield rather than a slingshotting transition from defence. Because of this, during 2020 and 2021 they found a more balanced attack between relying on those efficient shots from inside 30 and hitting those longer range shots. 

Unfortunately, this balance and midfield offence has fallen away in 2022 as the Pies' attack more closely mirrors their 2019 numbers, which has seen their average scores fall away. Generating 10.1 per cent of their inside 50s from defence, they have been less proficient in hitting the scoreboard from outside 30m. 

Davey averaged 3.4 inside 50s in her best-and-fairest winning season last year, while also kicking six goals of her own. Brittany Bonnici and Jaimee Lambert work incredibly hard around the ball, and do create a dominance, but Davey's delivery forward is particularly hard to replace. 

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Direct, quick attack through the corridor is typically a highly desirable method of going forward, but relying on the middle of the ground too often can make a side predictable to defences. In their highest scoring season of 2021, the Pies found an even balance between corridor attack (39.6 per cent of inside 50s), wing (35.3 per cent) and boundary (25.1 per cent). This saw them mix it up between speed from the midfield, and considered movement around the arc before going forward. 

In 2022, however, they are attacking via the corridor more than 50 per cent of the time, peaking in round three with 61.9 per cent of their inside 50s coming from the corridor. 

This predictability has impacted Collingwood's ability to mark inside 50 and take set shots on goal. They are finding a mark inside 50 just 17.3 per cent of the time the ball is sent in, and have taken just one contested mark inside 50 for the season to date, compared to an average of 1.8 per game last year. 

Added to this, their scoring concerns are also somewhat masked by 44.4 per cent of the side's points coming from free kicks and 50m penalties, including 66.6 per cent of their round one score coming from a lack of discipline from the opposition. While scores from free kicks are certainly handy, it's not a sustainable method of attack. 

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A positive for Collingwood is an increased efficiency once getting the ball inside 50 this year, creating a score 48.6 per cent of the time, which sits third in the competition to date. This suggests that if the Pies can find more territory control, they can become a really damaging side, but this relies on them becoming less predictable in attack. And all without Brianna Davey. 

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