Round 16 - Williamstown v Collingwood at Norm Minns Oval

[MagpieBat]

1:30pm this Sunday at Norm Minns Oval, Wangaratta.

Collingwood: 11th place (3 wins, 10 losses, 2 byes)
Williamstown: 2nd place (10 wins, 2 losses, 3 byes)

With our chances of September action seemingly over bar some mathematical phenomenon, this match would appear to be a dead rubber, with Williamstown sailing merrily towards the finals and Collingwood rotating players through the VFL side to assemble a squad capable of contesting the AFL finals. However, there is a little more to it than that.

As mentioned previously, our chances of making the finals would appear over, but the run home for the teams competing for the last spot in the eight is not generous. Collingwood, meanwhile, would have to score successive victories, with rather large margins, to steal the final spot. It might mean elimination in the first week of the finals, but I would like to see Collingwood make it to September just to give our fringe players one more week of match fitness for the purposes of the AFL team’s run at the flag.

On to selections.

Williamstown will almost certainly be without Barry Hall, who kicked four goals last time the two sides met, which made up the bulk of their winning margin. Collingwood, meanwhile, will almost certainly get back Kris Pendlebury, after he missed last week’s clash with Port Melbourne following a knock to the head sustained against Box Hill a fortnight ago. When Pendlebury and Hall matched-up, K. Pendles got a lot of praise for the job he did on the Bulldogs veteran full-forward, and he has been the anchor of the Collingwood VFL backline. He was sorely missed last week against the Borough.

For Collingwood, several players could make a return to the VFL. Alex Fasolo and Luke Rounds could make way for Ben Johnson and Brent Macaffer to return to the seniors, as could Lachlan Keefe. In terms of injured players, is it possible that Alan Didak might make the trip to Wangaratta as part of his return from injury? The VFL seems to be the route that the older players on the list take back to senior football, and I wonder if Didak might go the same way. I suspect, though, that he is another week or so away from playing.

Among our second stringers, Josh Thomas and Ben Sinclair continue to improve after returning from long-term injury. Are they a possibility to debut at AFL level at the end of the season? John McCarthy will be looking to bounce back after what I’ve heard was an average game last week, in spite of his numbers, as too would Tom Sundberg, Tyson Goldsack and Cameron Wood. And here’s hoping for another great performance from the big Shae Mac, after unexpectedly earning best on ground against Port!

It looks like a mis-match on paper, but I’ve got a feeling that the Pies might finally cause an upset this week and break their losing streak. Can it be done?

Go Pies!

[Dave The Man]

I wonder if Witts will Play?

[Presti35]

Collingwood will win this game.

[MagpieBat]

Teams are in:

Collingwood

B Farmer Reilly K. Pendlebury

HB McCarthy Goldsack J. Thomas

C Bolton MacAffer Young

HF Buckley Reed Seedsman

F Sinclair Wood Hartley

R McNamara Stubbs Ugle

Int: Ceglar Couch Liston Sundberg Condy Wearden* Gordon Hayes Perham

No Witts this week, but I direct your attention to a player by the name of Hartley in the forward pocket...

[MagpieBat]

Williamstown

B Howard Mulligan Stack

HB Reid Addison J. Hill

C Sherman Johnson Wallis

HF Higgins Hahn Djerrkura

F Veszpremi Roughead Hooper

R Minson Jolley Liberatore

Int: Panos Tutt Smith Carr McCallum Davies Kennedy* Cravino Cordy Rampe Goodes Schofield Stretton

[perthmagpie]

I'm going to this one. Anyone else?

Will be interesting to watch Josh Thomas and also Hartley in his first game.

[Dave The Man]

[MagpieBat]

Change to the fixtured starting time. Game commences at 2:00pm, not 1:30pm.

[Proud Pies]

nah, bit far to go for this one.

[MagpieBat]

Norm Minns Oval is, interestingly enough, the home ground of the Wangaratta Magpies.

Hopefully the black and white conection will bring some good luck for the boys tomorrow...

[MagpieBat]

From the post-match report...

Final score
Williamstown: 4.4 4.8 10.12 13.17 (95)
Collingwood: 1.1 6.5 7.5 9.9 (63)

Goals
Collingwood: 2 Farmer, Bolton, Buckley, Ceglar, Wood, Young, Ugle, Weardon

Final side
Collingwood
B: Daniel Farmer, Declan Reilly, Kris Pendlebury
HB: Tom Couch, Tyson Goldsack, Josh Thomas
C: Jye Bolton, Brent Macaffer, Tom Young
HF: Simon Buckley, Scott Reed, Paul Seedsman
F: Sinclair, Cameron Wood, Michael Hartley
R: Shae McNamara, Trent Stubbs, Kirk Ugle
Int: John Ceglar, Rob Condy, Wearden*, Tom Gordon, Jack Perham

Sundberg didn't play today, interestingly...

[tommo]

Couldn't go down with the team today as I had other work.

Disappointing result, but at least we weren't blown away. Getting back Sinclair and Thomas and a few others has definitely made us a more competitive VFL unit.

[Dave The Man]

How did Hartley Go?

[Dave The Man]

How did Hartley Go?

[Angry Anvil]

Any word on Macaffer's game? I'd love to see him in the seniors next week.