layzie

Wouldn't mind him

Especially if it 'papers over the cracks' for Collingwood

Bang on, why he felt the need to do that is weird.

I'd buy the collectors edition

Some things never change and never should change.

Yeah sorry but if you hear any Collingwood fan blaming the loss on not having De Goey or any other injuries then tell them to get in the sea. They've had a brilliant system approach all year and won a ton of games with an injury list from another post code and next man up mentality. Sometimes you need to strip through the BS and have someone like me tell you the facts uncut and uncensored. There are no sorer losers than Collingwood fans. Apologies to the 3% who are actually good fans but the majority of your supporter base is full of it with enough bile to fill Sydney harbour 3 times over. It's not even close.

No-one has less shame than Pies fans when it comes to this stuff. Flocks of sheep.

Haha nice move jerk! These antisocial people need to be sorted out. I'm serious when I say this game is the only one where I feel I need to have my wits about me with opposition fans. Every other game is a walk in the park.

Yeah down the Punt Rd end in the Olympic stand pocket? Absolute beauty

We love you Fritta!

I've never listened to the Fox Footy podcast before but gee there are some healthy concessions being handed out to Collingwood on it today including a 5 minute segment on how the flu can play a part and even Covid! We might have got them at a good time but I think Collingwood got us at a good time too.

So what is better for hitting targets under pressure, ball retention rate? Where Gus is concerned I'm not worried about the number of his kicks are threatening or start scoring chains as much as I care about him hitting targets with composure. If ball retention rate is better for this then I wish it was more easily available as a stat.

Far from his best game and I agree he can do more, he would know it too. His effort is there, just needs to get back to basics a bit.

Smith is a great athlete but does anyone really have the aerobic tank that Nibbler has? I do think he offers more on the defensive side that Brown or T-mac though and he's got great closing speed.

Good to get the insight, I'd just assumed he wasn't into the game but this paints a good picture. Also sounds like he's from a family like mine with everyone different!

All I've taken away from this is that he does indeed watch footy on his own volition and may actually have an interest in the sport 🤪

Was this meant for me? I was also crediting his work rate when it was suggested he did very little. His 22 pressure acts helped to setup our intercept game in the front half. Not going to hear me say he did nothing!

Hitting targets regularly in defensive 50 shows good composure though.

Yeah saw that too. Hopefully it's in the paper version that I can peak at today.

On the plus side, 22 and 26 pressure acts from Kozzie and ANB. Also to only get 1 goal across Kozzie, ANB and Spargo yet still win is encouraging.

The more we missed chances in the last quarter the more I thought it may not be our day as I knew Collingwood were going to have their own opportunities and we'd seen them chase teams down over and over again. We hear the phrase 'bad kicking is bad football' all the time and teams lose games because of inaccuracy much more often than not, is it almost more impressive when you've missed chances but hold on for wins like these against quality opposition?

Should be a good show, have fun!

Well, what a day at the G yesterday! Went into this game more hopeful than confident. Went to the Tippler and Co for a nice lunch then off to the G for the action. Got there in time to see some of the Freeze festivities, I’ve never seen so many blue beanies, so proud of everyone that took part both Melb and Coll fans. In those first 10 minutes there was a sense of foreboding as Collingwood were skinning us on the outside and getting some brilliant overlap runs. It’s not just their ability to run all day with speed but the way they time their runs into space, I turned to my mate and said that it was like their team is full of track sprinters and have excellent reaction time to the gun. It looked great and I didn’t feel we had much of an answer as they got 3 goals ahead. However from that point on, the emphasis was on the inside and winning enough contested ball. The Carlton and Essendon game the night before was shaped similar and the Blues needed to keep things in close and not let Essendon get the uncontested marking game going, they obviously failed miserably. But the difference between them and us is that we are a better side that has the capability to execute a plan like this. We led clearances and contested footy for most of the day and this denied the Pies a chance to get their inside to outside game going enough. We also defended the corridor very well and kept play out to the wings unless it was extremely necessary, the influence of both Langdon and Hunter were crucial in this area. I felt that accuracy in front of goal was going to be our best shot at winning, if you told me that we would kick 18 behinds and essentially give Nick Daicos that many chances to create something that I’d have assumed that we lost, which actually makes this win even more impressive. We defended brilliantly all over the park. Clogging up the spaces and setting our structure up quicker than any team has been able to this year against Collingwood. It won’t win as much of the plaudits like great goalkicking or intense tackling pressure does but I’m so glad see us pressing higher again and forcing those dump kicks out of our 50. For so long it’s been Collingwood running and gunning, hitting teams on the break and piling their scoring on late. In this game I felt we physically intimidated the Pies a bit not just in the contest but by making them earn their possessions and getting in their face. The moment where McVee won there 50-50 which led to the brilliant bump from Hunter on Hoskin-Elliott typified this, had Grundy nailed the set shot it would have brought the house down, I had feelings of Neitz on McCabe or Whelan on Hird in that moment. We were not going to be hunted yesterday, we were the hunters (delicious pun). Looking on the Matter of Stats site last week it looked like both teams were highly ranked for quarter by quarter performance in 2023 except for 3rd quarters where we were ranked 8th and Collingwood 12th, I felt this was going to be a big one to perform in. We were inaccurate in front of goal, yes it is becoming a bit of a worry but I think the break will do us the world of good in this area. It gets said often that if you don’t take your chances you lose games and bad kicking is bad football but I said on here last night that if you’ve been dominating the balance of play and missing a lot of chances but still manage to pull out the win than that is actually a really impressive thing too. Especially against a side like Collingwood that can put you to the sword. I’m still sitting here marvelling at the fact that we hung on in this one and didn’t just become another one of those many teams that Collingwood have managed to mow down late because it was all setup for them to do that. I believe that makes this win even more impressive, we slayed the dragon and you need to be a good, disciplined side to do that. We needed a big one from Jack Viney and we got it, he did the work of at least 1.5 guys in the middle. Christian Salem showed just why we missed him so much, 10 marks and most of these intercept marks, hitting those targets as usual. The occasion was a big one for Brodie Grundy and I thought he handled it very well. It’s never easy playing against a club that moved you on but I thought he put on a good performance around the ground with some great hitouts to advantage, the set shot that he did kick was crucial as well. Trent Rivers continued his purple patch of form, making good decision and putting his body on the line. And this praise deserves it’s own paragraph. Our backline was simply outstanding yesterday. To hold a team who is averaging around 90 points a game to 62 points (their lowest for the season) I think you have to give them a lot of credit. Steven May is back, his last 3 games have been exceptional. I’m seeing some people here suggest that this could have been Adam Tomlinson’s best game for the club and I don’t think that is too far wide of the mark. Judd McVee going from strength to strength and Michael Hibberd as solid as ever. The score really did flatter the Pies in the end, don’t let your Collingwood friends rib you saying it was only 4 points, don’t let them use injuries as an excuse – Steele + De Goey vs Oliver + Petty is a wash as far as I’m concerned. This was just a pure good win with excellent coaching and a reminder to the competition that they are gettable and it’s a marathon not a sprint. Lets go into the bye and have a good rest, it’s not even 2 x weeks and before we know it we’ll be down in cesspool city on a Thurs night, Go Dees!

I get that he's not always perfect with 1 V 1 defending but I feel his mistakes do get scrutinised a bit much. For every error there's usually 2 or 3 amazing acts that prevent a goal or start a play for us.

The blueprint has been there for a while but executing it is another thing. The wingers did a brilliant job of holding the width and our mids towelled them up in contested ball all day which didn't allow the Pies to get their 'inside to outside' game going. They're a hard side to play against and they're gonna win a lot more than they lose.