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Opinion
The Thursday night clash of the titans saw Collingwood emerge as victors over an undermanned Geelong by 22 points.
With Mitch Duncan failing a fitness test, the Cats lost Joel Selwood early in the game and Jordan Clark to a dislocated shoulder later in the game to be left to take on the classy Magpies in the energy-sapping heavy rain with two rotations less available.
From the time Jordan de Goey kicked his first goal less than two minutes into the game until he kicked his fifth goal less than two minutes before the end, Geelong were never in front. And while they showed their usual fight, they did not have enough talent to outgun the Pies.
The five ins for the night were Jack, Jordan, John, Jordan and Josh and they joined Jake, Jack, Jed, Joel, Jack, Jordan, Jaidyn and Jordan who were already in the teams to make it a smorgasbord of Js for Clay to contemplate (although he works on surnames).
De Goey’s five goals saw him climb higher up the Magpies’ top 100 goal scorers, then Will Hoskin-Elliott climbed above Jake Kolodjashnij to take the mark of the night. Kolodjashnij completed his 97th game without scoring a goal and is heading for AFL glory as one of only 32 players who played 100 games and never scored a goal.
De Goey moved into 58th position on the Collingwood goal scoring list, passing Horrie Edmonds, Dayne Beams, Vin Doherty, Dale Thomas, Craig Stewart, Frank Murphy and Jarryd Blair. This list of seven players ranges from Edmonds, who started at Collingwood in 1925, through to current player Dayne Beams, who is currently on leave indefinitely.
Will Hoskin-Elliott appears likely to reach top 100 status as a goal scorer for the Magpies before the end of the season.
None of the Geelong goal scorers were in their top 100 list, but Gary Rowan deserves a mention for his consistency in scoring 33 goals in his 26 games for the club since leaving Sydney.
Umpire Nick Foot also deserves a mention for umpiring his 142nd game and joining 1950s and 1960s umpire Bob Nunn on this number.
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has now built a two-game advantage in his head-to-head battles with Chris Scott. It appears likely that these two teams could meet again in the finals this year.
The Friday night game also featured two of the teams that make up the eight currently: Essendon and the Western Bulldogs at the Gold Coast’s home stadium, Metricon.
The Bulldogs blitzed the Bombers in the third quarter and put the game beyond doubt, making Luke Beveridge 5-0 in the head-to-head contests between the two coaches.
(Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)
In the same round that Gary Ablett Junior matched the game tally of Gary Ablett Senior, Bulldog Lachie Hunter matched the game total of his dad Mark and now sits equal 82nd with Mark and Herb Henderson on the Bulldogs’ top 100 game players list.
Recruited from Melton, Hunter Senior had a low-key career compared to the Abletts but served the Bulldogs well between 1988 and 1996.
The main goal scorer in the game was Mitch Wallis, who moved past Jarrad Grant to join Graham Ion and Merv Laffey (born 95 years ago) on the Bulldogs’ goal kicking list.
Both teams introduced some new blood. For Essendon, Ned Cahill played his first game and for the Western Bulldogs, Cody Weightman has an impressive debut, scoring two goals.
New recruits have been an outstanding feature of the 2020 season so far. Forty-three first timers will have taken the AFL field for the first time by the end of this round as well as another 39 recycled players wearing their new colours for the first time.
There have been some outstanding performers in both of those categories and we can look forward to some exciting performances in the future.
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