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Following his trade to Collingwood in 2015, Adam Treloar famously stated that the Pies had “a better list” than fellow suitor Richmond.
The remark has been requoted countless times, and has meant that the current Tigers and Magpies sides will continue to be compared.
The two teams meet this Sunday, and while few would doubt the inaccuracy of the comment, the Pies are in much better shape than expected.
They enter the round fifth on the ladder, with a 3-2 record, after comfortable victories over Carlton, Adelaide, and Essendon. While many anticipated a difficult season for last year’s 13th placed side, they are an outside chance to feature in September.
Something has clearly changed in the past three weeks at the Holden Centre.
Given current form, beating Carlton was a minimal achievement, but one which has been backed up by commanding victories. Granted, Adelaide was undermanned, but they’re still a force to be reckoned with at home, and a 48-point win is an annihilation.
Then came Anzac Day, and a demolition of the Bombers. Collingwood won the contested ball 141-117, and led at every change, with Essendon kicking just four goals before three-quarter time.
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The Magpies have a strong midfield with Treloar (averaging 30.6 disposals), Scott Pendlebury (26.8), and Steele Sidebottom (27.5) all highly capable. Ruckman Brodie Grundy has improved his work around the ground, and has averaged a staggering 22.4 disposals in 2018. The problem has never been between the arcs.
It is their forward and defensive stocks that are limited, and undermine Treloar’s assertion. As such, these are the areas of the ground that the recent turn of form can be attributed to.
On paper, the back six that lined up for the Pies on Anzac day wasn’t strong: Sam Murray, Lynden Dunn, Brayden Maynard, Travis Varcoe, Matt Scharenberg, and Jeremy Howe, while Tom Langdon started on the bench and spent significant time in defence.
There are some inexperienced players in defence, with Murray and Scharenberg having played a combined total of 23 games. There is also a lack of height, with Lynden Dunn the tallest, at 192cm.
Despite these clear barriers, grit and determination kept them competitive. They’re playing together and showing courage, epitomised best by Murray’s desperate defending, with two minutes left in the third term, to beat two Bombers forwards and spoil the ball out of play.
Remarkably, only Richmond, Greater Western Sydney, and North Melbourne have conceded fewer points than Collingwood (382) this season. Last season they conceded an average of 89 points per game. This season, that number has fallen to 76.
However, their attack hasn’t been much more productive, averaging 91 points per game, as opposed to 88 last season.
Clearly their improved defence is allowing their undersized forward line to kick a winning score – which is exactly what Richmond did last season.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
Jack Reiwoldt was the sole tall forward, with smalls Daniel Rioli, Jason Castagna, and Dan Butler applying pressure. They could rely on a less productive attack (91 points per game – eighth in competition), because the rock-solid defence (conceding 77 points per game – third lowest in competition) allowed them to kick a lower winning total.
The Pies are similar. They can scrap goals, and find them from unlikely sources. Jordan De Goey’s soccer off the ground and Steele Sidebottom’s opportune snap both demonstrate their ability to find goals from unlikely situations. It’s blue-collar football, and it’s the way to score with a forward line lacking a focal point.
Will Hoskin-Elliot and Josh Thomas are the equal-leading goal scorers for the club this season, with nine each. Jaidyn Stephenson and Sidebottom are next, with seven. None of these players could be described as a dominant key forward.
They have compensated for this lack of size with intensity, effort, and goal sense. They average 11 tackles inside 50 per game. Richmond, the pioneers of this game plan, average 11.2.
So, while Treloar may have been mistaken in his judgement, he has ensured that the two sides are intrinsically linked.
The Pies have channelled many elements of the Tigers game plan, and despite the tough task that awaits, they have clearly worked out how to compensate for the deficiencies of their list.
The main question on everyone’s lips is: how long can it last?
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