Alan Richardson spoke to CTV about some of the positives and negatives from Saturday’s clash with the Cats.
The Collingwood development manager, like senior coach Mick Malthouse, said Geelong’s pressure was one of the main reasons the Magpies were unable to execute their game plan effectively, but also said it was encouraging that Collingwood was still in the game deep into the final term despite not playing at its best.
“The fact that we didn’t play well but we still gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game, because of the way we go about our footy… was one of the positives,” Richardson said on CTV’s weekly match review show The Weekend That Was.
But there were obviously areas the club will need to improve on ahead of Saturday’s round 16 battle with the Bombers.
“There’s no doubt, in the areas we like to measure ourselves, we really did let ourselves down.
“Our inability to get space for our forwards versus their (Geelong’s) ability to get space for their forwards was a reflection of that.
“Whether it was either the defenders or the midfielders, once they’d considered that their direct opponent was irrelevant, and, particularly our deep forwards in Paul Medhurst, Anthony Rocca, not so much Trav because he was a bit higher, but they just weren’t able to find any space, and that’s a real testament to Geelong.
“We just weren’t proactive enough to get off our opponents at the right times, and go back and help Wakes and the like. So that was probably one of the biggest areas we felt we let ourselves down in.”
On the positive side of things, the four-goal performance of young centre-half forward Travis Cloke, on a quality opponent, was without doubt a highlight.
“(Matthew) Egan’s probably been one of the in-form defenders of the competition and has turned into a very good player, and Trav, not only was he able to win the footy and convert, and that’s been a little bit of an issue for Trav and he’s worked really hard with Brian Taylor, and that’s starting to pay dividends.”
Also a positive was the fact the the Collingwood players were again exposed to the pressure of a finals-like atmosphere against a quality opponent, something they will benefit from when they are called upon to perform in future finals.
“In terms of when we do get the opportunity to play in finals, we’re probably in pretty good stead, there’s no doubt about that.
“We get the opportunities throughout the season because of our massive supporter base to be able to play in front of finals-like environments.”
Richardson also too a close look at the performances of Tarkyn Lockyer, Paul Licuria and Nick Maxwell, so make sure you don’t miss the latest edition of CTV’s The Weekend That Was, including match highlights.
