Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has a major headache leading into the 2014 premiership season. What should he do with Ben Reid?
Last year, the All-Australian defender was a revelation in the forward line for the second half of the season.
Reid kicked a staggering 22 goals in the last nine games of the season, allowing Collingwood to have another option other than the heavily relied upon Travis Cloke.
But, as the 2014 season draws closer the debate rolls on about where Reid should play.
Although, Collingwood gains another key forward option to kick to, the reality is they lose a very valuable and irreplaceable key defender from its already brittle and inexperienced backline.
Without Reid in the backline, the Magpies are left with solid defender Nathan Brown, inexperienced and injury-prone Lachlan Keefe and rookie Jack Frost as their key tall defenders.
Nick Maxwell and Heritier Lumumba (Harry O’Brien) are others that have the capability of playing on key forwards but both are far undersized.
A Reid-less defence puts Collingwood under enormous pressure and risk in succumbing goals against power forwards.
Especially considering some of the dangerous forwards the Magpies have to take on in the first three rounds alone.
Barring injury, Collingwood will have to deal with the likes of Matthew Pavlich, Scott Gumbleton (if fit), ‘Buddy’ Franklin, Kurt Tippett, Sam Reid and Ben Reid’s 2011 nightmare, Tom Hawkins, all in the opening three games.
The risk outweighs the reward.
When Reid went up forward in 2013, opposition key forwards had a picnic as they slaughtered Collingwood’s defence.
Tom Lynch scored four, Jeremy Cameron seven, Kurt Tippett six, Lance Franklin four and Jay Schulz scored three in the elimination final.
The beauty of Ben Reid in defence is he is able to read the play so well he can generally be one step ahead of his opponent and position himself to mark the ball.
Reid averaged 6.1 marks in 2013 showing his ability to out mark his powerful opponents.
Buckley’s offseason strategy suggests that Reid may not be required up in the forward line.
New recruit Jesse White has shown a lot of promise and excitement and could prove the Leigh Brown-esque player that Buckley has been dreaming of after two seasons of failed attempts.
If White can establish himself as the part-time ruckman, then it allows almost-forgotten veteran Quinten Lynch to focus on being the powerful full-forward he once was back in his heyday at West Coast.
White, Cloke and Lynch provide the Collingwood forwards a sense of sheer power, athleticism and mobility. It could be a deadly combination.
If these three fail there is always new recruit Patrick Karnezis, 208cm giant Jarrod Witts, Tyson Goldsack and draftee Jonathan Marsh.
There are options galore for Collingwood’s forward line, but its key defender positions remain scarcely thin.
Collingwood’s 2010 premiership and 2011 dominance was built upon its defensive pressure.
Ben Reid was a major part of that defence for those two years, using his freakishly long arms to intercept opposition kicks inside 50 and then using his bullet like kick to rebound.
For Collingwood to repeat its 2010 success, which to many people’s surprise is very much a possibility, Reid must be used predominantly as a key defender.
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