MCG
Pre Match:
• Playing the game on Monday meant that it was a long week. Important that we didn’t get too excited about the game too early. Left it until Friday to focus on Collingwood so that our build up was gradual.
• The bonus about this game is that it is the closest thing we get as a club to playing finals football during the season. Big crowd against a highly respected and in form opponent, national stage and only game in the country. The focus would be on us and our opponent. What a great opportunity!
• Statistically we are a team strong at winning the contested ball and applying fierce defensive pressure to our opponent. We wanted to make sure as a team that we continued this trend against the Magpies. They are a skilful team that can cut you to pieces if given time and space to use the ball so pressuring their disposal & forcing turn overs would be a high priority.
• Collingwood had a number of players whose influence we needed to minimise. These include Buckley, O’Bree & Ben Johnson in the midfield plus Tarrant, Rocca, Davis & Didak up forward. Their backline has also been solid which meant that our forwards would need to be on the job offensively & defensively.
• A real key to the outcome of the game would be our ball use. We could not afford to bang the ball long inside 50 to packs as Collingwood are great at launching counter attacks from this situation. We had to control the tempo and be composed with our decisions going forward.
During the Game:
• Positive start. We played with good energy and had the Magpies under pressure. We forced a number of turnovers. Aaron Davey’s tackle on Shaw at the end of the quarter epitomised our efforts. His goal after the siren a real team lifter.
• This pattern continued in the second quarter with Aaron Davey again a prime motivator in most of our forward thrusts. Very pleased with our ball use going forward and we controlled the tempo of the game very well. A six goal to three quarter meant that we held a handy lead at the half time break. A highlight of the quarter was Phil Read’s courage to jump backwards into a pack with Tarrant bearing down on him. That sort of effort is inspirational.
• Third quarters haven’t been our forte in 2006 so obviously keen to break this trend if we could. Collingwood have been the 3rd quarter kings this season winning 9/10 by big margins. All that was required was a maintenance of our first half hardness and work rate and the result would look after itself. The boys seemed very keen to take on the challenge and I was confident they would deliver.
• The Pies threatened early with consecutive goals to creep within 23 points. We responded well kicking the next 4 goals. Again our pressure was forcing the normally assured Collingwood into skill errors and we were able to capitalise on the opportunities that we created. Highlights of the quarter were special goals to Neita & Adem Yze. Dunn’s third up tap to Aaron Davey for the first goal of the quarter was also a terrific piece of team play. We won the quarter 7 goals to 3 and put ourselves into a great position to win the game.
• A team goal coming into this game was to put 4 quarters of sustained effort together. That was the challenge at ¾ time – we’d won 3 quarters but could we go all the way.
• Managed to put together another solid quarter although there were a couple of occasions where we played too fancy and brought ourselves unstuck. Collingwood capitalised on these opportunities and managed to kick 5 goals for the quarter, the same amount that we kicked ourselves. Jared Rivers second goal for the game was a highlight and a good example of the smart way that we used the ball going inside 50.
Post Match:
• Overall it was an excellent 4 quarter, team effort. Every player contributed. Evidence of this is the fact that we had 10 players with 20+ possessions and 11 goalkickers.
• Our aims of pushing hard in to win the contested ball and putting Collingwood disposals under pressure were achieved. They weren’t their usual free flowing selves and credit for this must go to our team. Our tackling and hardness was outstanding!
• Managed to limit the influence of Buckley [Bruce & Carroll], O’Bree [Read] & Ben Johnson [Green]. Our backs also did well to keep Tarrant [Bruce & Carroll], Rocca [Holland] and the dangerous Davis [Bartram] under wraps. Our team defence assisted them in their efforts.
• Very pleased with the contribution of our team leaders.
• Phil Read & Daniel Ward our two inclusions played strongly and won plenty of the ball. They made the most of their opportunity.
• We used the ball very well – 16 marks inside 50 is a great effort against the Magpies. Our accuracy in front of goal meant that we made the most of our entries.
• Great experience for our young players to perform in front of 80,000 people in a finals like environment. They all contributed positively.
• The game showcased the brilliant skills of Johnstone, Davey & Pickett. Their efforts were outstanding both offensively & defensively.
• Jeff White & Mark Jamar dominated in the ruck and were a big reason for the edge we had in clearances.
• Great that the club was able to honour Shane Woewodin before the game. Everybody admires Woewy for the manner in which he was able to get the best out of himself during his time at both Melbourne & Collingwood. He is still playing great footy with East Fremantle and we wish him all the best in his attempts to get another crack at AFL football.
• We move on now to Essendon a club we respect and have learnt a lot from in the past. In the 2000 Grand Final they taught us the meaning of ruthlessness and what is required to achieve success at the highest level. We’ll be looking to apply what we have learned in our clash next Sunday at the Dome.
• One thing is for certain we will be approaching this game with real purpose because the stakes are high. As a group we have learned the lesson many times that “things get difficult the minute you think things are going to be easy”.
