At the start of the year, if you told people that it would be a do-or-die clash for Collingwood in Round 20 most people would have laughed at you. And yet here we are.
With a few teams finally starting to get some separation from the pack fighting for the top 8, Collingwood had to win this one against the bottom-of-the-table Tigers to keep their season alive.
Collingwood burst out of the blocks with the first goal of the game within the first minute and looked like they were full of energy, but Richmond proved to be up for the challenge. The Tigers dominated inside 50 entries for the next several minutes but kept letting themselves down with their kicking. It allowed Collingwood to build run out of half-back, and after an early arm wrestle the Pies were well on top with five of the last six goals for the term.
Collingwood kept control in the second and were able to enjoy the luxury of slow, controlled build ups as they continued to poke holes in the Richmond defence and cut off their attack. Yet, for all their dominance, they couldn’t make the most of their chances and Richmond refused to give up. The longer the term went, the more dangerous the TIgers looked and thanks to the last two goals of the quarter they were able to equalise scores for the term and went into the second half with a touch of momentum.
The third quarter was similar to the second, with both sides having their turns with the momentum, however, Collingwood made the most of it. Richmond struggled to stop the Pies when they ran with the ball, but similarly they couldn’t stop the Tigers when they replied in kind. The difference was that the Collingwood forwards stood tall and slotted goals when they needed them, whereas the Tigers weren’t able to do the same. For all their efforts, Richmond were 41 points behind at the last break and staring down another big defeat.
With the game all but over, the heat left the game as did much of the pressure. The ball bounced between the two arcs for much of the term, with all the goals scored at the start and end of the quarter. A late burst saw Richmond pull the margin back to 26 points, but it was still a solid win for Collingwood who keep their finals hopes alive for another week.
The Collingwood response
Last week’s loss was Collingwood’s lowest point for a long time. They were thoroughly out-played by the rising Hawks, and were criticised for being unorganised and not prepared to fight. It was also the first time they’ve lost four in a row under Craig McRae, but rather than raising the alarm, McRae said it was an opportunity to improve.
And it was an improvement.
The Pies kicked more goals from defence in the first quarter than they did all game last week as they returned to their usual springboard from half-back, and the pressure was way up laying 53 tackles to Richmond’s 34. Darcy Moore looked more like his usual self taking intercept marks down back, while the inclusion of Lachie Schultz helped bolster the forward line, which had too much firepower for Richmond to cover.
But there’s still plenty that needs work.
When Richmond were able to use their run, the Pies were no better at stopping them than they were Hawthorn, and there were periods of play where the ball was locked in Richmond’s forward 50 because the Pies continued to blast the ball out of defence without looking. They were also often forced wide going inside 50 and missed more than a few goal opportunities (although this they might be able to blame on the conditions).
It was a start, but with their hard run home and plenty of ground still to cover, the Pies need to do a lot more if they want to play finals.
Their own worst enemies
As is usually the case with a young side, Richmond had no one to blame but themselves for this loss. They had periods where they looked dangerous, but their terrible kicking into the forward 50 meant they were getting no reward for their efforts, with several kicks going out on the full and even more being easily picked off by Collingwood defenders. Their desire to play on quickly often saw them running right into a black-and-white wall, and it took until the second half before the defenders were able to start holding their own in the air and took some intercept marks.
The day was typified by a passage in the third term when Kamdyn McIntosh was awarded a free kick within goal-scoring distance, but rather than going for the shot he passed off to Dion Prestia who played on and put himself under pressure. Collingwood were able to rip the ball away and ran it down the other end for another goal to kill off any hopes of a comeback.
That’s not to say it was a particularly bad day for the Tigers. Their never-give-up attitude was commendable, and their final quarter efforts brought the margin to something more respectable, while also stopping Collingwood from reaching triple figures. They were also able to match Collingwood in centre clearances while having fewer turnovers.
Another three votes for N.Daicos
I know we’re all sick of hearing about him, but there’s no denying Nick Daicos was once again best on ground. In the first quarter alone he had 18 disposals, five clearances, and seven score involvements, to set Collingwood up to stay ahead of Richmond for the rest of the game. The impact reduced across the rest of the game, but he still ended up 42 disposals and twice as many clearances as the next two players, with 12. If I wanted to nitpick, ten of his possessions ended up in turnovers which put a dampener on his day.
Not too far behind him as usual was brother Josh, who was one of the few Collingwood players who kept fighting it out until the final siren. He finished up with 32 disposals, and just shy of 800 meters gained while Bobby Hill also had a good game with 16 disposals, two goals, and four tackles including a great rundown of Shai Bolton.
For Richmond, Nathan Broad was the standout with 27 disposals, a game high 15 marks, and ten intercepts, while Nick Vlastuin had a good return with 23 disposals, 12 marks, and nine intercepts.
A new find
Adam Yze has been trying a few new things with his young players and may have found a gem in Tom Brown. The defender looked right at home up forward and had a memorable first goal with his big bomb from outside 50.
He held his own on a day when the forward line was lacking composure and took two strong contested marks and followed them up by kicking true to be the Tigers’ leading goal kicker for the day. His day could have been better if not for a couple of kicks out-on-the-full, but he has the potential to be a great forward weapon for the Tigers.
Fellow defender Kaleb Smith also kicked his first goal for his career to start off the fourth term.
Score review…there’s insufficient evidence
It feels like the AFL’s new in-ball technology can’t come soon enough after another couple of pointless score reviews. Play was paused while the ARC reviewed very blurred footage to try to see if a McIntosh kick had been touched before deciding they couldn’t tell. Then only minutes later it took even longer to decide that once again the footage was too blurry to tell if Will Hoskin-Elliot’s kick had been touched and the call was inconclusive.
There’s no point endlessly rocking the footage back and forth if it’s too blurry to tell where a player’s hand starts and where the ball ends. Just call it inconclusive and let’s get on with it.
Next week will be a huge one for Collingwood when they not only come up against their greatest rival, Carlton but will also celebrate veteran star Scott Pendlebury’s 400th game. The last clash between the two was a thrilling six-point win to the Pies, and they are looking a good chance of stealing the win again thanks to Carlton’s recent slump in form. The motivation to celebrate Pendlebury’s milestone in style might be enough to just get them over line again.
Richmond will come up against North in what looks like to be the battle for the wooden spoon. Both sides are in different phases of rebuilding and would love to get the win to get some reward for their improvement. Given the game is at Marvel Stadium rather than the MCG this gives North the slight advantage, but it’s really anyone’s guess who will come out on top.
