Round 1 - Collingwood vs North Ballarat at Victoria Park

[Dave The Man]

[swoop42]

Thanks Bat!

Hopefully people appreciate the huge effort you put in when you travel to games and supply us with a running update.

Bat comes from my part of the world and we aren't talking about the leafy suburbs of Melbourne.

It would at a guess take him close to a 2 hr drive one way to make it to a game at Vic park.

As much as I'm a big enough Collingwood supporter to frequent these boards I sure couldn't be buggered doing what the Bat does throughout a season.

Kudos to him and others who go to great lengths to follow the might pies.

[John Wren]

[jessfootball]

[MagpieBat]

[swoop42]

^My pleasure mate.

Who were your best?

[die4pies]

The candyman can...thrice

[woftam]

Nice Shane - Well captured.

Didn't use the camera much. Was enjoying the game. Here is a few from yesterday.

[Dave The Man]

^^^

Thanks Again Shane

[thompsoc]

Magpie bat can you put up your comments on players!
i enjoy reading your analysis

[3rd degree]

Thanks for the updates on saturday ,very enjoyable win!

[Pies4shaw]

[MagpieBat]

Here we are folks, my thoughts on players. My apologies for the tardiness in getting it up...

1. Alex Fasolo
Played the first 3 quarters in defence and did reasonably well. Hit up targets and gave an accountable performance as a defender. Was switched forward for the final quarter and it showed. Took a couple of very nice contested marks and kicked a crucial goal. The forward line became much more dangerous unit with Fasolo in it.

That being said, I wouldn’t be junking the Fasolo as a defender experiment just yet, for we need his class down there. Fas also needs to round out his game more if he is to eventually graduate full-time into the midfield.

7. Ben Kennedy
Was probably our best, for mine. Started in uninspiring fashion, but absolutely dominated in the second term. Won plenty of contested ball and used it very well for the most part (though let loose a couple of facepalm-worthy kicks). Had we of kicked straighter, we would have cashed in on the kid’s dominance and the game would have been won at half time. Fitness still a concern, but should being playing seniors primarily as a forward. Has put his hand up, just needs to work on that tank.

9. Martin Clarke
One of our better players, I thought. Used the ball much better than he has in recent times and provided a fair bit of rebound out of defence. I still think he is better utilised on a wing, making use of his endurance running, or even forward, but he provides reasonable depth. Good as he was, he wouldn’t be getting a game at this stage unless injuries demand. Given Sinclair’s hamstring injury, we might need to use him.

21. Quentin Lynch
Played primarily as out centre half forward and went goaless. Was crucified by the delivery he was getting (yet again), but was still a tireless worker. Played more minutes in the ruck after half time and did reasonably well to nullify Eric Wallace, who I think played a decent game on debut. Executed some crucial taps for us in the final quarter and really helped lift his teammates when the Roosters were coming for us.

23. Lachlan Keeffe
Wasn't the best of game for Lachlan. Didn't do anything special as a key defender and when he was switched forward in the final term, he didn't improve. Best bit of play was where he was able to apply pressure to lock the ball in the forward arc at one point, which saw him get a holding the ball free kick and a shot on goal. Certainly wasn't a contested marking presence.

It seems as though Buckley wants to make Keeffe into another swingman, but why can't we just let the kid develop in the position where he has shown good signs it? It's Keeffe, after all, who holds the key to releasing Reid forward.

24. Josh Thomas
Got to say, I was a little disappointed in JT. Won plenty of ball and clearances in the middle, which was good, but he struggled to run the game out. I’m sure we were all hoping for him to put his hand up for senior selection, but he still looks a ways off. VFL for the next couple of weeks, I think.

25. Ben Hudson
An average game. Worked the American recruit over and eventually wore him down. Noticed there at one point he took the ball out of the air and went the clearing kick at 4 or 5 successive ruck contests, which was interesting; normally Huddo uses this sparingly as a surprise tactic. Kicked a goal when resting forward, but didn’t do much else that was notciable.

Given we have a practice match on Friday, he should be rested and allow Witts a full game as #1 ruck.

27. Tony Armstrong
Yes, it is true, I am not a fan. But even by my harsh standards, he was shocking. Continually played 20 metres off his man, which was Ben Jacobs. Given the final margin, we dodged a bullet with Jacobs not making us pay a higher price on the scoreboard. His only half-decent action for the game was delivering a lace-out pass to Mooney on the final siren to set up the Irishman’s last shot on goal. With Sinclair now confirmed as injured, he’ll probably be considered by the match committee, but if he plays, I will go bat-sh*t crazy.

31. Jackson Ramsay
Was beaten by Robin Nahas, which necessitated a switch. Had a decent final quarter, where he chopped off a few North Ballarat forward entries with some nice intercept marks. Disposal, supposed to be an asset, is still iffy. Wouldn’t get a game on that performance, but with Sinclair out, we might have to bite the bullet.

37. Kyle Martin
Took a good while to build into the game. Could have kicked a bag, had the ball been kind enough in some of its bounces. Was tagged for the first three quarters, which is a compliment to how dangerous he is in the VFL midfield. Had a huge final term, when the Roosters’ coaching panel for some reason decided to shift the hard tag to Kennedy. Not to downplay Kennedy’s game in the last, but they had probably our most damaging VFL player clamped, why mess with what was working.

Not that I care, because Marto got off the leash and almost won the game himself with some of his efforts. Just needs to keep working on his defensive game.

38. Peter Yagmoor
Again, another tale of two games in the one match from Yagmoor. Soft and timid in the first half, with just a touch of unaccountability, but good in the second half. And in particular, an excellent game in the final quarter, where he won his own ball, executed some exquisite passes and defended pretty well. But again, it was another case of him playing better in the last stanza, so that you might walk away thinking he had a blinder.

I suppose he does deserve some credit, though, for standing up and not wilting in the heat when the game was on the line in the last quarter. Needs to go on with it, though. Too often he has a good quarter, then regresses back to Mediocrityland the next week. Third year at the club. Time to stand up.

46. Jonathon Marsh
Best game for us yet. Loved his repeat efforts when not in possession in the first half. Took a ripper of a contested mark in the goal square in the second term, only for the maggots to strip him of it (for what, I do not know; all I saw was the ump point our way for an infringement and primal instincts took over. Oops…)

Was a little clumsy to encroach on the mark and give away THREE 50m penalties, but the umps were handing the 50m penalties out like lollies all game, so he’s partially forgiven. Disposal by foot was ordinary for the most part, so he’s not as easily forgiven for that.

The very definition of raw with a capital ‘R’, but all in all, a good game.

47. Caolan Mooney
Continued playing a sizeable amount of minutes behind the ball, which is good. Kicked two goals, one of which was a ripper at where he gathered at centre half forward, took the man covering the mark on, wheeled around in a big arc, slammed on the afterburners and made the rest look easy. Were it not for Ferguson, it might have been goal of the day.

Does still have that annoying tendency to disappear for sizeable chunks of the game, but on the other hand, he bobbed up when needed and still remains a handy, if unorthodox, avenue to goal, even when playing as a defender.

From the VFL boys…
- Corr is a powerful unit for his undersized height. Played as our second key forward and competed well, though often had to deal with multiple opponents deep in the forward arc on the end of a long high ball (sound familiar?) Got his goal through clever crumbing, but good ground level work in a tall forward is very desirable, so nice to see.

- Nick Riddle did well as our #2 key defender, becoming the primary tall back when Keeffe was switched forward in the last.

- Nick Gray got a fair bit of the ball and could have ended up our leading goal scorer barring some bad kicking.

- I like Jake Williams. Decent user of the footy in a team that all-too-often
butchers the damn thing. Has also become a another handy avenue to goal over the pre-season. No screaming hangers this week for Shane to capture, unfortunately…

And finally, for good measure…

62. Lachlan “Sir Alex” Ferguson
Deserves a separate entry just for that ripper of a match-winning goal, but is a good player in his own right. Provides some nice speed and is probably our best crumber at this level. Always has a knack for either kicking clinch goals or setting them up (see Witts’ match-winner against the Scum last year).

But the goal deserves more than just a mention.

It was such a brilliant piece of play, I just have to explain it better than my rushed commentary of it actually did. The ball was pumped long to the square, where it came off hands and spilled towards the behind line. Normally, you wouldn’t bust a too much of a gut to stop your own team from scoring a rushed behind, but deep in red time, protecting a lead under a goal, if there’s half a chance to get an extra 6 points worth of breathing space, you go for it.

Ferguson slaps it away from the behind line, towards the boundary. He has a man on his hammer. It becomes a foot-race. Ferguson gets there first, protects the loose ball, gathers, looks to twist left, then turns right. He gets past the man, only to be beset by another defender. Fergie sells the candy, then sells it again to a third Rooster.

For a terrible moment he looks like he might have run his full measure and might get pinged for it, but he gets the ball to his boot and kicks one of the most remarkable goals I have ever seen.

Please, Collingwood, put this one up on the website. The kid deserves it. (EDIT, they have. Good work!)

Played a decent game for the rest of the match as well…

[MagpieBat]

http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2014-03-29/vfl-pies-hold-on-in-a-thriller

[John Wren]

mb, thoughts on pendlebury, moloney, tyquin, strachan?