Home and away review
The 2011 version of the Collingwood Magpies has the chance to produce one of the greatest season performances in AFL history.
The Magpie juggernaut has tasted defeat only twice, and if not for a contentious decision in the dying moments of round eight, and last weekend’s blow out, they would have an unblemished record. If you include the NAB Cup, Collingwood has an astonishing record of 25 wins from 27 starts.
But the brilliance of this squad goes far beyond wins and losses.
Collingwood has become the AFL’s apex predator. It boasts both the league’s most prolific attacking lineup, and the stingiest defence. In numbers terms, the Pies have scored 2592 points, and have only conceded 1546 points – 73 points fewer than their nearest rivals, Geelong. That equates to a massive percentage of 167.66 points.
The modern Collingwood has ditched the traditional ‘blue-collar’ tendencies that dominated the club’s culture for so long, instead becoming a highly tuned machine, with the capacity to obliterate teams in sharp, precise bursts.
Amazingly, Collingwood has managed to cover the absences of several key premiership players. Darren Jolly, Chris Dawes, Nick Maxwell, Nathan Brown, Dale Thomas and Heath Shaw have all missed large chunks of the season, due to injury or suspension. The ability to plug these gaps is a testament to Collingwood’s depth.
Yet, as great as the home-and-away season has been, without another premiership in October, it will have all been for nothing.
Key finals player
The obvious option would be to choose a player from Collingwood’s ‘engine room’, either Swan, Pendlebury, Ball or Thomas, but the tattooed forward is the most irreplaceable player in the line-up.
This year Cloke has made the jump from a potentially great player, to an out-and-out great player. Cloke has overcome his kicking jitters this season, booting 62 goals – his highest career tally. He’s also shattered the previous record for contested marks in a single season, and laid 61 tackles, exemplifying just how hard the forward works all over the ground.
Cloke gives Collingwood something they haven’t had for a while; a true key forward that can be counted on, week in, week out.
The Magpies will be very hard to beat if Cloke can find his best form during the finals.
Why Collingwood can win the flag
Where to start? Just look at the Magpies season to date – it is full of reasons why Collingwood has a great chance of winning consecutive premierships.
Most pundits agree that Collingwood is the team to beat in this year’s finals series. The Magpies have hardly put a foot wrong for the entire season, and, if anything, seem to be getting better each week.
They have, arguably, the best coach, the best list and some the best off-field facilities at their disposal. The combination of those three factors mean the Magpies are favoured to be the last team standing once the dust settles on the 2011 finals series.
Why Collingwood can’t win
Geelong, the main challenger to the Magpies throne, cannot be written off as potential premiers. The Cats are seemingly at the opposite end of the premiership scale to Collingwood, having been the ‘top-dog’ for the last five years. When the Magpies thumped Geelong in the preliminary finals in 2010, some said the torch had been passed, and Geelong’s time was over. But 2011 has proven that the Cats aren’t quite ready to surrender the crown.
If the two sides square off in the Grand Final, the Cats are in with a chance to knock off the Pies in what would certainly be a classic encounter.
The Magpies’ back six is another potential stumbling block. On paper, Collingwood boast one of the league’s premier defensive units, but injuries have prevented all of them getting on the field at the same time.
Nathan Brown suffered a knee injury before the season started, and since then Tarrant, Johnson, Davis, Shaw, Maxwell and Toovey have all missed games.
While it’s a testament to the Pies depth that they have been able to cover for these injuries throughout the year, if they can’t get their integral defenders on the park, it could cost them a premiership.
Best possible result
A resounding, 10-goal triumph in the Grand Final, establishing a new era in Magpie history. Another premiership would mean that Collingwood would equal Carlton and Essendon as the sides with the most premierships. With the core of the Magpies current outfit still relatively young, a black-and-white dynasty could be in the making.
Collingwood will face West Coast this Saturday from 2.20pm at the MCG.
Check out the rest of upstart‘s AFL team previews here.
Liam Quinn is a first-year Bachelor of Journalism student at La Trobe University and a devout Collingwood fan. You can follow him on Twitter: @liamquinn23
