When Nathan Buckley took over in 2012, Collingwood had just been in a grand final. Fast forward five years and the Pies have only played in two finals series, with embarrassing exits both times.
This season shapes a make-or-break year for Nathan Buckley’s coaching reign and a huge test for this Collingwood list.
Has the ‘mini rebuild’ worked or failed at the biggest club in the land?
Defence
The Collingwood defence has been a big talking point of the pre-season, brought on by losing senior defender Nathan Brown, who played 16 games last year, and Jack Frost, who looked promising before stagnating in 2016.
Another issue is star Ben Reid’s injuries. He has only managed 26 games in his last three seasons, although 17 of those came last year, so he may finally be getting his body right. Regardless, the fact that their defensive set up depends on an injury prone, soon to be 28-year-old, is a major issue.
The team welcome back Lachie Keeffe, who returns from a two-year hiatus for performance-enhancing drugs. He should slot straight back into a weakened defensive six considering how much promise he showed prior to the ban.
One would think the Pies’ defence will be exposed and taken advantage of, which will hold them back in 2017.
Midfield
The strength of this football team, the Pies have one of the deepest midfields in the game.
However, as good as they look on paper, Collingwood ranked 15th in clearances per game last year. And it doesn’t seem they’ve addressed this in the offseason when you consider that their only recruit in the midfield, Daniel Wells, is an outside runner.
Collingwood will be hoping that young players like Jordan De Goey and James Aish, who were both taken in the top ten in their respective draft years, will help improve their ability around the contest.
They also ranked 14th in uncontested possessions per game last season, which is a sign of either a lack of fitness or desire. Frankly, they go hand in hand.
Buckley needs to solve these two problems or else his midfield will again look good on paper but not on the field in 2017.
Forward
Another big point of discussion for this team is their attack and whether they have enough weapons to consistently kick winning scores.
The injury curse hit the Pies forward line last year, with Jamie Elliot – their best forward in 2014 and 2015 – sidelined for the entire season.
The talented but injury-plagued Alex Fasolo only managed 12 games and former star forward Travis Cloke lost all form and found himself traded to the Bulldogs. Chris Mayne was brought into the club to fill the void left by Cloke, however he isn’t a number one or even number two forward for any finals team, which leaves us to ponder exactly why he was recruited.
Key forward Jesse White is too inconsistent to be a focal point for a finals team, meaning the majority of scoring will rely on small forwards like Elliot, Fasolo and Jarryd Blair.
For Collingwood to be successful on the scoreboard their midfielders need to contribute as well. If the team can play to the small forwards strength, then they are more than capable of kicking winning totals most weeks.
Summary
Collingwood are one of the most interesting teams this season, but the hype, much like the last four seasons, is overdone. The midfield is talented and also bats deep, however their defence makes it highly unlikely that they will play finals in 2017.
To make the eight, the midfield needs to dominate pretty much every game. That’s a tough ask when you consider there are a lot of other good midfields in the league, and that they struggled to defend when the ball went the other way last year.
This season could be Nathan Buckley’s last as the head coach of the Collingwood Football Club.
Collingwood Magpies
Best 22:
FB: Brayden Maynard, Lachie Keefe, Lynden Dunn
CHB: Jeremy Howe, Ben Reid, Travis Varcoe
C: Steele Sidebottom, Scott Pendlebury, James Aish
CHF: Daniel Wells, Jesse White, Alex Fasolo
FF: Jamie Elliot, Darcy Moore, Chris Mayne
F: Brodie Grundy, Adam Treloar, Taylor Adams
IC: Jack Crisp, Jordan De Goey, Levi Greenwood, Josh Smith
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