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Opinion
Welcome to my first Collingwood game review.
I am committing to this after each game, even if it’s while enduring rage and heartache. I will go off on tangents and you may even wonder if you are reading a game review.
Fortunately, my first is after a win against the Blues on Thursday night. I wanted to start last week but what I wrote down was what some would call a tantrum. But Round 2 was a game that warmed my heart.
How good are crowds? There is nothing quite like feeling raw emotion, the roar of goals and tackles, the boos after a questionable umpiring call, the shiver down your spine as chaos breaks into beautiful silence as tens of thousands of people collectively witness a moment of greatness, and just as that moment passes, the crowd lets out its most impressive noise, a symphony of minds all playing the same orchestra.
(Photo by Michael Dodge/AFL Media/Getty Images)
I don’t think there is an adequate English word that describes it, but if I were to try make one I guess, it would be unlonley.
Like many, I told myself last year that I loved the game, not the crowd. I watched and told myself I got the same out of a game.
I was lying to myself. The crowd matters. Thank God crowds are back. If you love your sport, do yourself a favour, get a ticket. The crowd must never die.
From a Pies point of view, it was great to see some intent from the word go. Collingwood’s back line is seriously good.
Darcy Moore can become the best back man in the AFL. If Moore plays more then 20 games this year, he will win Collingwood’s best and fairest. Finding somewhere to bet on it is on my to-do list.
Jeremy Howe is a marvel. I can watch the two of them take to the skies in defence like Goose and Maverick all night.
John Noble keeps getting better. Brayden Maynard is a bull. Isaac Quaynor seems to be a fitting addition. If Collingwood are at all good this year, it will be from that base and improvement in the team’s other lines.
Speaking of other lines, Jordan de Goey found a good mix, spending more time forward than Round 1. A day may come when he spends the majority of his time in the midfield but his ability to will a result in the forward line is something Collingwood don’t possess in another forward player. Collingwood need him there. I love his bursts in the middle but that’s what they should be.
Jack Crisp is Collingwood’s answer to losing Adam Treloar, and he is doing a fine job so far. He has done everything Treloar did in the middle but with a more defensive mind.
Instead of leaning more towards having a ping from 55 and ignoring leads, he leans more towards hard defensive running. It sounds perfect to me so far.
The Brown boys have ‘you know what’ in them. They are fantastic in the contest. As is Josh Daicos, whose development has been on a stunning path. When younger brother Nick comes in next year, Collingwood will be looking at four mainstays for the next decade.
Scott Pendlebury is the uncrowned king. He is robotically consistent. He has not lost a step. Some might say you can’t lose speed if you never had it. Pendlebury has never needed it. He continues to cast spells on his opponents, slowing down time as he glides around the field.
It wasn’t all great. Collingwood’s forward line is broken. Mason Cox is not getting better.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Josh Thomas is absent and Will Hoskin-Elliott is good enough to produce eye-catching moments that keep him in the team to then play 90 per cent of game time with five touches.
Jamie Elliott, on the other hand, is a gun and the new rule could seriously suit his lead-up style. Here’s hoping that ankle isn’t too bad.
Oh, and one final thought: well done, AFL. That new rule looks to be a master stroke. It is opening up the game in a way no one would have thought it would. Genius.
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