Round 12 - Collingwood vs Richmond at Victoria Park

[MagpieBat]

Some Richmond schmuck arses a kick over his shoulder that sees Callum Moore out-mark Frost deep.

And goal...

96-69

[MagpieBat]

Behind to them...

96-70

[MagpieBat]

Siren.

Full Time.

Collingwood 14.12.96
Richmond 10.10.70

GOALS - Howe 3, Hellier 2, Moloney 2, Ferguson, Wills, Gault, Oxley, Rambaldi, Borthwick, Gray

Collingwood win their fifth game in a row and remain unbeaten against Richmond.

Over to you!

[stui magpie]

Game over 26 point win in the end

[thompsoc]

Reasonable game.
Wills a good game but a few issues to work on.
Does he deserve a game in the AFL ....maybe.
Would be good to blood him.
Look forward to him move up next year.
Witts dominated the ruck and at times looked really good.
But I am not sure whether he will ever be more than an average ruckman.
I liked Oxley's game. Looks a cut above VFL level.
Caff and the Sack did well so they seem to be over any injury niggles.
Goodyear and Golds only so so.
Some good VFL players on our list.
I wonder about Howe. Has potential although Witts is much better at the hit outs.

[stui magpie]

Thanks to Magpie Bat for allowing me into the cave to provide special comments. I really like that ginormous penny in the corner but dude, Alfred really needs to do some dusting down here.

Overall, my take on it was we put the cue in the rack in the last which allowed the Tiggers to get some cheapies.

I like the look of Howe, he could be worth an upgrade.

As I said earlier, Goldsack, Wills and Oxley were all very good.

Caff played well, but I'd put a line through him unless we're utterly screwed by injuries, I don't think he has it at AFL level anymore.

Hardly sighted Frost and Toovey.

Witts was good, but I reckon his stats slightly over state the case.

[MatthewBoydFanClub]

Very impressed by Howe. Maybe he's worth a rookie spot at the end of the season.
Witts is too good at VFL level and not quite good enough at this stage at AFL so it's difficult to place him on the list.
Goldsack was very impressive but it's difficult to find a spot for him in the senior side.
Frost has gone backwards in the last two years. Difficult to see a future for him.
I thought Goodyear was very good. Each time he took the ground something happened. He has a future but he needs to prove it by playing seniors.
Gault looks a player but he needs to prove he can stay fit.
Wills needs a personal trainer at the end of the year to prove he can keep up at AFL level. Otherwise he has the skills and physique to succeed at AFL.

[courtza]

Very impressive commentary today, really enjoyed the Bat/Stui combo, not taking anything away from Bat's fine work, just added a little bit to a great service.

[MagpieBat]

I concur.

I've always taken the view that the more voices in here for matches the better. I enjoyed stui's thoughts too, and I was there!

[Jezza]

Thanks for the commentary MagpieBat, and I thoroughly enjoyed Stui's special comments.

We deserved to win by more than 26 points, but it's obvious we stopped playing to the best of our ability in the last ten minutes that allowed the Tigers to kick some junk time goals but being on a five match winning streak is excellent.

Wills has all the footy smarts to make it to the top level, but he needs to keep working on his endurance. However, it's clear the recruiters obviously rate him hence drafting him last year.

Howe might be worth a look on the rookie list at the end of the year. Witts was good but he will not break into the senior side until Grundy or Cox lose form. No one really stood out from the AFL boys that would be demanding selection next week.

We're in fourth now, but we need a big percentage boost as everyone else in the top 10 has a percentage of at least 100 or more. Overall, excellent to see us win again!

[thompsoc]

Magpiebat how many last quarters have we won?
And it might be worth a look at the scores for and against in the last quarters this year.
Jezza said the tiges got a lot of junk goals.
But I wonder if it was something else.

[stui magpie]

[Jezza]

[MagpieBat]

Last time I looked at the competition quarter-by-quarter stats (which was admittedly when they were last updated about a month ago), we were ranked dead stone motherless last for final quarters in the comp. Yes, below even the likes of Frankston.

Today's tail off doesn't surprise me in one sense, yet it tees me off in another, because that was valuable percentage we let slip by trying to be too fancy, by missing simple set-shots and by getting sucked into Richmond's biffo bravado.

Injuries play a role, but there's also a mindset factor as well. This is, after all, by and large the same team which defended grimly to hold on against Williamstown and which kicked things up another gear to trounce Casey and Port in those respective final quarters. I suspect a few players out there today just went into cue-in-the-rack mode, which is not what you want to see at the best of times. Coming off a bye, when they should be freshened up, even less so...

A pathway to the top 4 (even the top 2) still exists for us, and it is a pathway in which the acquisition of 4 premiership points at the end of each week is the litmus test for success. On the other hand, we need to prove that we can really go on with it and trounce a team when they're on the ropes. Not for nothing, but what happens the day we squander opportunities in front of goal for the first 3 quarters and have to defend a small lead in the last stanza?

Then again, maybe I'm just as impossible a taskmaster as my avatar...

Thanks for the running tally, Jez. I suspect that when the quarter-by-quarters are updated again soon, we'll still be ranked dead last. I just hope the returns of some semi-experienced seniors from injury can hold part of the answer to turning this tide around...

[thompsoc]

thanks Jezza and MB