Pies hot, coach stays cool - Sunday Age

[Dale61]

By Mark Fuller
June 2 2002


Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse warned of the difficulties of maintaining winning form as his side rolled to its sixth win from its past seven matches with victory over Sydney at Colonial Stadium last night.

Malthouse said his young side was not getting carried away with its 14.11 (95) to 12.12 (84) success, despite sitting near the top of the ladder with more favoured teams.

The Pies bounced back from last week's defeat to Port Adelaide through a four-goal fourth-quarter performance from key forward Chris Tarrant. Sydney had 10 scoring shots to three in the third quarter but managed only a 12-point lead at the final break after scores were even at half-time.

But Tarrant, who had been held goalless by Jason Saddington, found space and marked strongly to inspire an 11-point victory.

The win took the Pies to 7-3, but a wary Malthouse said form could be a fleeting thing in such a tightly contested, testing competition. "You can't lower your guard," he said.

"I don't think any side, no matter how many wins they've had - Brisbane included from last year - can honestly say they've been up for that whole period. There is always going to an emotional letdown, there's going to be a physical letdown."

Asked whether the Pies players considered themselves to be among the best in the league, Malthouse suggested such thoughts were not being entertained. "I think there's a few players out there tonight who would be very disappointed with their performances, and they probably haven't thought beyond the fact that they played poorly," he said.

"I don't think they'd be carried away with what's happened or what the ladder looks like."

The Magpie coach cited last night's loss by competition leader Brisbane to Adelaide as an indication of how the competition had tightened. Malthouse said the result did not indicate a drop in form by the Lions but an improvement in the way other teams were playing each week. "Your team almost has to be a thinking team on their feet all the time," he said. "They can't take anything for granted."

Adelaide last night grabbed a share of top spot by holding off a fast-finishing Brisbane in a physical and high-class match at Football Park.

The Crows won 15.11 (101) to 14.10 (94), withstanding a strong comeback by the Lions, who trailed by 34 points midway through the third quarter and then fell from 15 to 21 points behind when Adelaide kicked the first goal of the last quarter.

Brisbane, Adelaide and Collingwood all have seven wins and three losses, with the Lions on 132 per cent, the Crows 115 and the Pies 114.


"Racetracks are for racing, roads are for getting there."

[This message has been edited by Dale61 (edited 02 June 2002).]