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That is a very hard question to answer, but looking at some of Collingwood’s lacklusture efforts in recent times – especially Staurday evening’s bad loss to Port Adelaide – the answer at times could be yes.
There’s been talk of a simmering standoff between coach Nathan Buckley and the so-called Brat Pack group of players, Dane Swan, Heath Shaw, Alan Didak and Ben Johnson.
All four are among the Magpies most experienced but appear to have had their differences in recent times with the coach, who was also a former teammate.
Shaw, in particular, has been seen deep in conversation during matches with Buckley and the chats haven’t looked as friendly as they should if everything was really going swimmingly.
The ‘Pies have a season defining game against their arch rivals Carlton this week, with both teams eying off a spot in the bottom part of the 8.
As well as an apparent cold war between the coach and some players, Collingwood also has to deal with a long injury list, which means their depth is being exposed.
The Magpies have established a reputation in recent seasons for having excellent player depth, but it doesn’t matter how solid or good or depth is. If the injury list continues to mount, teams will struggle on the field.
As well as including mature age rookies from the VFL, like Kyle Martin and Sam Dwyer, who look the part, the ‘Pies have had to blood many of their teenagers, such as Josh Thomas, Adam Oxley and Ben Kennedy, all at once instead of gradually, which they have been able to do during the previous three seasons or so.
All of these youngsters look the goods, but as the rebuilding clubs like the Bulldogs, St Kilda and Melbourne are finding out, if you have too many in together, you are going to have up and down performances.
Saturday’s display against Port Adelaide was an example of that.
Collingwood needed their experienced and established stars, such as Scott Pendelbury, Dane Swan, Steele Sidebottom and Luke Ball, to dominate and for Travis Cloke to mark everything up forward.
Unfortunately for Nathan Buckley’s men, that didn’t happen, with all bar Pendelbury struggling to make an impact against Port’s manic pressure.
Too much responsibility was placed on that group of young players and they were not able to deliver at the level required.
This made players frustrated and no doubt helped contribute to Shaw’s ‘interesting’ discussions with Buckley.
The Magpies have a golden opportunity to knock the Blues out of the finals race this weekend and that should be a big enough incentive for their stars to be on the same page, lead by example, and drag the younger ones with them to get the job done and ensure that their top four aspirations are still flickering away.
They would need to improve dramatically for mine to make the top four and be a premiership contender.
Getting some of their injured stars back, such as Dale Thomas and Dayne Beams, as well as ruckman Darren Jolly and a focused Andrew Krakouer, will help them become more competitive and consistent.
After the Blues clash, the ‘Pies have a chance to set their season up and launch a legitimate crack at decent September action as they will start favourites against Adelaide, the Gold Coast and GWS.
However, more performances like that dished up against Port and Collingwood won’t deserve to be in the finals.
The AFL competition is the most brutal of team sports. It’s a cliche, but there’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’.
Does everyone know that at Collingwood?
The next few weeks should reveal plenty.
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