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Collingwood heads into 2017 without brand synonymous stars Dane Swan and Travis Cloke, having left behind them a hole of on-field aggression, off-field personality and a whole lot of clear skin ready to be tattooed.
The Pies, who have been sitting neither here nor there in regards to finals contention, will be looking to reinvigorate a flat squad, while carefully reintroducing key players from a pointedly unlucky string of injuries last year.
What the Pies need, and what their midfield guns like Scott Pendlebury thrive off of is a genuinely aggressive attack that can turn corridor pressure into numbers on the board.
Forward-line youngsters Jamie Elliott and Darcy Moore will be relied upon to start to generate heat in the forward fifty and to justify the work of Levi Greenwood and Adam Treloar – who were largely responsible for the Pies finishing second in the league for tackle pressure last season.
Elliott, the Pies’ enigmatic small forward, was beginning to make a name for himself as a game-driving goal sneak before an aggravated back injury put an end to his 2016 season, with surgery ensuing.
Elliott returns to the 2017 preseason showing no signs of such a significant injury, demonstrating the twist-and-turn agility defenders have come to fear.
The leading goal-kicker for the Pies in 2015, Elliott will be looking to fast-track his return to the top especially in light of the space left by Cloke.
His stop-start speed, combined with the seriously freakish option creation of Alex Fasolo will provide the Pies with a genuine X-factor moving into 2017, having re-signed with the club until the end of 2018.
Then, there’s nothing quite like the thrill of a genuinely talented father-son pick to get a supporter’s heart racing. So much pressure is placed on the shoulders of young men like Darcy Moore (son of two-time Brownlow medallist Peter) that when you start to see something special grow out of the same blood, excitement abounds.
While starting out as a defender for the Club’s VFL squad, it was his move to the AFL forward line that saw him burst onto punters’ radars with a five-goal haul against the Western Bulldogs in July 2015.
Standing at 200cm, Moore continued his sustained form in 2016, finishing the year with 24 goals under a whole lot more attention from opposition defenders. Celebrating his 21st birthday later this month, the young forward will benefit substantially from getting another pre-season under his belt.
With the inclusion of these two young men, Buckley has the opportunity to refresh the brand of footy the Pies play, with a matured Fasolo as the lynchpin.
If all goes to plan, a new set of stars for the land’s biggest and baddest club will emerge.
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