MATCH PREVIEW

Collingwood vs West Coast: Match Preview - By Johnson#26

My Team vs West Coast:
B: Clement, Prestigiacomo, Wakelin.
HB: Johnson, J.Cloke, Lonie.
C: Woewodin, Buckley, Licuria.
HF: Didak, Rocca, Fraser.
F: C.Cloke, Tarrant, O’Bree.
R: Richards, Burns, McGough.
INTER: Lockyer, Swan, Cole, Lokan.
EMERG: Maxwell, Davis, Walker.

IN: Buckley, Prestigiacomo, O’Bree.
Out: Shaw, Maxwell, Davis.

Past 5:
Collingwood: 2
West Coast: 3

Last time: West Coast scored the 1st six goals for the match before Collingwood got their 1st major. The Pies slowly pegged them back in the 2nd and 3rd quarters until taking the lead early in the last. The Eagles came back through Embley to win by 16 points. Embley and Gardiner were best for the Eagles while Rocca was best for the Pies in his 150th match.

It was only two weeks ago that the football world was writing off Collingwood’s season, saying they were too far behind to catch up in the race to the final eight. But in the past two matches, Collingwood have proved to everyone that they still have what it takes to play in finals football. In a grinding win over Adelaide and a policed victory over North Melbourne, Collingwood have moved up to 14th position and only two games out of the eight. With a favourable draw, the Pies are a real chance to advance a long way up the ladder. Now they play a struggling West Coast, finding it difficult to regain the form that saw them a force in previous seasons. Collingwood’s big guns are beginning to fire; West Coast’s guns are shooting blanks. Collingwood will win easily. Here’s how:

In defence, Simon Prestigiacomo is a welcome return to the Collingwood defence. He’s first job will be to cover Brent Staker. Staker has been in good form this season, and Presti will have to be on his game. Jason Cloke has looked good in recent weeks and will be the man assigned to big man Adam McDougall. McDougall was the man that towelled us up in the Wizard Cup earlier on this year and Cloke is the man to stop him. If Travis Gasper plays up forward, he will be followed by Shane Wakelin. Gasper hasn’t cemented his position at West Coast so far in his short career and will be on the look out for a strong showing. At ground level, Phil Matera booted six goals in a match winning performance against the Tigers. James Clement has done well on him in the past and will be the player who will be assigned to the pocket dynamo. Also Ashley Sampi will have to be kept an eye on. Matthew Lokan was excellent on Brent Harvey last week, and has excellent tagging credentials. He is the man to stop the dangerous Sampi.

In the midfield, the possible return of captain Nathan Buckley will inspire the Magpies midfield to bigger and better things. Buckley will be tagged by the out of form Daniel Chick. Chick has proved in the past that he is a disciplined tagger and Worsfold may look to run him into form by making him run with the 2003 Brownlow Medallist. In the other midfield match ups, Scott Burns, Paul Licuria, Shane Woewodin, Shane O’Bree and Mark McGough will run head to head with the powerful Eagles midfield including Chris Judd, Ben Cousins, Chad Flecher, Daniel Kerr, Michael Braun and Andrew Embley. Both midfields will run head to head in a battle which will ultimately decide the game. The only tag Collingwood my run with is Ben Johnson running with gun Eagle Chris Judd. Judd can turn a game in a matter of minutes, and Johnson is just the man for the job. If it fails, Matthew Lokan can also be called up to lend a hand. In the ruck, Guy Richards has been a stand out all season in the ruck and will be facing Dean Cox. Without Michael Gardiner, the Eagles have struggled and Richards may have the upper hand on the Eagles ruckman.

Up forward, superstars Chris Tarrant, Anthony Rocca and Josh Fraser could be the key factors in victory. Mark Nicoski has looked good in his debut season and could be assigned to Tarrant while Mark Seaby could be the man to drop back and fill the hole in front of Rocca and Fraser, who can also take a turn in the ruck. Trent Carroll will take on Fraser while Anthony Rocca will face off with the ever improving Quentin Lynch. At ground level, David Wirrapunda will be the man assigned to the dangerous Alan Didak. Dids was excellent last week against the Roos and Wirrapunda is just the man for the job.

In the wash up, Collingwood’s big guns up forward will be too strong for the Eagles defence, suffering from the retirements of Ashley McIntosh and Glen Jacovich. They also will have a struggle trying score goals if Matera is quiet. Final prediction: Collingwood by 38 points.

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