Pies to win the Premiership....a Shaw thing

[Clemo]

Now... who's back on the bandwagon ?
http://www.sundaytimes.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,4518030%255E2762,00.html
"Mick finds right recipe for Pies
By KIM HAGDORN
16jun02
COLLINGWOOD fans are calling Mick Malthouse the "Messiah" – the man to lead the club to premiership glory.
And according to Magpies legend Tony Shaw, the Pies' last premiership captain, club games recordholder (313) and coach before Malthouse, that flag could come this year.
It's a rapid rise to the top after the Pies claimed the wooden spoon in 1999, Shaw's last year at the helm before high-profile president Eddie McGuire pulled off a coup, luring the contracted Malthouse from the West Coast Eagles.
"They certainly can win a premiership this year," Shaw said.
"Brisbane is still probably the benchmark of the competition but, on any given day, when things go right for Collingwood, they definitely could beat any side."
Love or hate Collingwood, love or hate Malthouse, these snarling Magpies are carrying the hopes of many Victorians that the dismantling of their cherished game doesn't continue.
The demise of Hawthorn and Richmond, and the decline of an injury-ravaged Essendon as genuine 2002 flag contenders, and the expectation that Brisbane, Port Adelaide and Adelaide could fight out the premiership race, has the Vics in a dither.
But some things never change with Malthouse, the face of football in WA during his decorated 10-year reign as coach of the Eagles, highlighted by premierships in 1992 and '94 and finals appearances in each year.
Premiership talk is touchy business, despite a refreshingly new media-friendly attitude from the hard-edged coach.
So it's nothing that he takes a deep breath and casts a piercing eyeball-to-eyeball glare in response to talk of Collingwood's revival bringing premiership glory.
It is the same intimidating reaction, albeit friendlier these days, when quizzed if he is a better coach now than when he started with the Eagles.
"I would certainly hope I am a better coach now than 10 years ago," Malthouse said. "If you don't improve the longer you are in this coaching game, you won't survive."
The brutal honesty of Malthouse was in full swing when he inherited a battling and underachieving Magpies list at the end of 1999.
Malthouse conducted a savage assessment and within two years had cleaned out almost the entire playing list.
"Look, put simply, when I came to Collingwood we were the worst side in the competition, " he said.
"There's no escaping that fact. I thought to myself, this list isn't going anywhere. Brisbane finished on the bottom four years ago but they definitely were not the worst team going around."
Among the casualties were stalwarts Damian Monkhorst, Gavin Crosisca and Saverio Rocca. An aggressive recruiting campaign snared some of the nation's most exciting young talent, such as big man Josh Fraser, and a wave of discarded or disgruntled players from other clubs.
Former Fremantle pair James Clement and Brodie Holland, ex-Lions Jarrod Molloy and Shane O'Bree, and Richmond discard Steve McKee are all now fully fledged Magpies and firmly entrenched in what Malthouse calls a "changing culture" around Collingwood.
"I told the board, and they fully supported me, that I'd rather finish 15th with a kid like Josh Fraser leading our ruck than Damian Monkhorst," Malthouse said.
"I can't answer for our supporters or the media. We're not talking about premierships. It's about developing a new culture within an already deep culture that is the Collingwood Football Club."
McGuire claims Malthouse is now doing more for the game than ever in his distinguished past.
"When I went and got Mick Malthouse to come and coach us, I said to him he was to make a distinct mark on football, something that would be etched into history forever," McGuire said.
"He is now equal to Kevin Sheedy in his global view of the game. There could be no higher praise than that, in my book."
McGuire, too, is shameless in declaring his plans to make a mark on the game with his beloved Magpies.
He inherited the once mighty outfit with a debt of more than $1 million and sitting last on the ladder in 1999, with just four wins. The Dockers were just one win better off, in 15th spot.
The Pies are now flushed with cash reserves in excess of $1 million and are about to embark on building training and social club facilities near the MCG on the banks of the Yarra River.
Luring Malthouse away from the Eagles, with a year of his contract to run, was a major coup in McGuire's elaborate scheme.
The Malthouse blueprint for success meant recruiting quality players of great character and building a completely new team and playing style.
Hard decisions were called for and changes made. Of his original 46-man squad, only 14 survive.
Only a revered and proven senior coach could have orchestrated the upheaval needed to launch a successful premiership drive, according to McGuire.
"Our people, from the board to members, through our supporters and sponsors, were prepared to back Malthouse in," McGuire said.
"If I had gotten a first-year coach, the pressure of finishing 15th in his first year might have killed that guy's career."



_____________________
Collingwood Forever !
clemo@magpies.net
http://www.dodo.net.au/~clemo