Cameron Mooney of Geelong celebrates a goal while Shane O'Bree of Collingwood looks on during the AFL Round 09 match between the Collingwood Magpies and the Geelong Cats at the MCG, Melbourne.
It was a genuine blockbuster with almost 90,000 crammed into the MCG and it was an arm-wrestle of game between two in-form teams, yet last night the Magpies went home with their tails between their legs again after losing to another of last year’s Grand Finalists.
For the record, Collingwood have been beaten by last season’s Grand Finalists, Geelong and St Kilda (who have been so strong for the last two years and remain the favourites to face off on the final weekend in September) in their last seven AFL encounters.
It’s a record which will worry Pies fans.
Last night’s 36-point loss to Geelong wasn’t without its similarities to Collingwood’s Round Three loss to the Saints either.
The Pies controlled long periods of the game, matched their opponent, got themselves in a winning position, only to let their wayward finishing kick them out of it.
The reason for Collingwood’s inaccuracy is difficult to explain. Sure, good sides like the Cats or the Saints absorb opposition pressure well and force them into tough shots but some of the Pies misses came from relatively simple set-shots.
Of course, Collingwood have beaten good sides this season like Carlton, Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs, but as the example of the Grand Finals of the last two seasons shows, putting the footy through the big sticks is pretty important when it comes to winning the big games.
Pies coach Mick Malthouse rued his side’s inaccuracy and those wasted opportunities post-game.
“We didn’t have control of the match (in the third quarter), but we certainly had control of the ball and control of the period of play,” Malthouse lamented. “You’ve just got to put the score on the board.
“And if it’s a shot on goal, a set shot at goal, you have to kick the goal.”
After a tight and low-scoring first half, the Pies grabbed the first two goals of the third term (following on from two very late Dayne Beams’ six-pointers in the second quarter) to grab hold of the game’s the momentum.
Even with roughly seven minutes of time to play in the third quarter, the Pies still enjoyed a 10-point buffer, before the premiers switched it up a gear, kicking five goals on the trot to grab a 22-point advantage going into the final quarter. I guess that’s why it’s called the premiership quarter.
The Cats, though, for the first time in the game took control of the contest in the third term with better movement creating more measured inside 50s and better scoring opportunities.
Geelong coach Mark Thompson commented: “They pretty-much dominated the first half of that third quarter, their margin probably wasn’t big enough. We got a couple of goals and got a bit of momentum.”
Nevertheless, the Pies wrestled it back and a lot of the final term was played in their attacking third, but Collingwood – as Malthouse explained – wasted their chances in front of goal ala Round Three versus the Saints.
When the game was there to be won in the first ten minutes of the final term on Friday, they could only boot five behinds. It cost them.
In the end, the Pies kicked just six goals on Friday night, while when you look back to Round Three they managed only four against the Saints. That makes you wonder about their forward structure.
There were other concerns for the Collingwood, with Leon Davis struggling again against decent opposition, while Cameron Wood, Chris Dawes, Brent Macaffer and Sharrod Wellingham were found out on the big stage but we do know the Pies have good squad depth.
And – as I pointed out in an article midweek in the build-up to the blockbuster – Malthouse knows there’s still a long way to go before September, meaning there’s time for the Pies to learn from Friday night and improve.
The Pies coach added: “We’ve come up against a side who has shown us up in certain areas in Round Nine, which is better now than Round 19 or 20.”
You get the sense, the Magpies will be back for another crack at the Cats later this season.
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