Posted by Mick O'Kane on 19 June, 1998 at 09:38:44:
In Reply to: Team selection - Collingwood v Adelaide - MCG Saturday 20th June posted by Nick on 18 June, 1998 at 23:10:33:
This week's selection isn't too radical. It seems the policy at Collingwood for senior selection is to hang around in the reserves long enough and you'll get a game by the time we've fallen from finals calculations in June.
On the ins and outs :
Monkhorst - did he run out the game in the twos, did he present himself so that players would pass the ball to him with confidence
Curran - been very disappointing -has his form been that good in the reserves (he should be getting 25-30 quality touches each week) - from what I saw last week he was atrocious - slow with poor disposal
Mangin - again what has he done in the reserves - could he be the next Alex McDonald ?
Patterson/McDonald - could you honestly see them coming straight back from injury into any other team except Collingwood ?
Burns - quality player but needs to overcome annual injury/suspension problems that see him miss approx. 6 games per year
Wasley - no pre-season, two reserves games - the last propped in a forward pocket and we pick him on the wing - should benchmark his performance against Nick Stevens
Richardson - despite the constant bagging he cops (a syndrome of being the son of a former player) he has been our most consistent big man for two years - loss will be felt
T Francis - about time - for such a fast player he uses his pace very poorly, runs into packs, kicks left foot too often (and poorly) , for a rover doesn't get the ball enough, when up forward doesn't pose a threat - has given the worst return over his career than many in a long time - you watch he'll spend a week in the magoos and come back with all the same flaws in his game - why not he's had 8 pre-seasons and hasn't improved in any of these areas - touted as a trade but in reality what would we get ?
Fuller - showed some promise with attacking forward crumbing however for his development should have been dropped weeks ago
A Rocca - is he fit enough ? do we have a forward coach ? doesn't provide enough leads/chest marks - stats which give Grant/Loewe /Carey 6 marks/10 kicks on their worst days. Shouldn't be moved - if we want him to play CHF put him there and teach him how to play it just as Grant etc did in their early years
M Francis - not more than a battler - enjoying a good run because of our lack of talent in the big man department
Wild - if he really improved each area of his game 100% he'd be as good as Daniels (St Kilda) - no more said
Mahoney - never gets a great run in the seniors but actually deserves it on his twos' performances
We need to look around and see how other clubs bring their young players through to senior football. Simply giving them early exposure to senior footy will not make them good players (see Schauble, Presta and the countless draft picks for the last few years now off the list).
Some examples :
Matthew Lloyd - played a season in the reserves before coming into the seniors
Brent Harvey - late inclusion against Adelaide - kicked 5 goals in the wet If a player kicked 5 goals in the magoos for the Pies he'd be hailed the next Peter McKenna and plonked straiught into the seniors.
Unfortunately this is a catch 22 situation - we shouldn't promote most of the players we do because of their age/skill but if we don't then there is no pressure on the guys in the seniors to perform and they settle for near enough. That is a the logical dilemna with a poor list
- what hurts the most is to see the standard of performance drop at both levels such that players now get to wear the jumper when they really don't deserve it.
The gap between Buckley and the rest is widening each week into a chasm. He will be very hard to keep next time he's contract is up - make him captain now and we may have a chance.