A better effort, but not enough on Friday night against the Eagles. 

Here are some of the learnings we took from the match: 

Consistent contest required

It was a fantastic first quarter from Collingwood, and there was a key statistic that contributed to a 15 point lead at quarter time. In the first quarter the Pies were +9 in contested possessions, and had 8 more inside 50’s than the Eagles.

After quarter time it was a different story. In the second quarter Collingwood were -11 in contested possessions, and had 16 less inside 50’s. When your opposition has the likes of Jack Darling, Oscar Allen and Josh Kennedy clunking marks up forward, it becomes inevitable that the Eagles were going to start putting on scoreboard pressure.

Collingwood eventually went on to win the inside 50’s for the night (50-42), but the way the Pies went inside was significantly less efficient to the Eagles, and that showed on the scoreboard.

Bucks willing to throw the magnets around

With 3 changes from last week’s side, Pies fans were anticipating a shift in structure for this week’s game against the Eagles, and that is exactly what eventuated. Criticised in the past for a lack of creativity, it was positive to see the inclusions of Mark Keane and Darcy Cameron as a way of varying how the Pies shaped up on paper.

This allowed Darcy Moore to ply his trade down forward. Moore kicked 3 goals on the night, and despite only 9 disposals he was crucial in providing balance to the forward line. With both Mihocek and Moore creating a contest up forward, the likes of Beau Mccreery and Cal Brown had opportunities to hit the scoreboard once the ball hit the deck.

Did the experiment work? Should Bucks continue with Moore up forward?

The kids look comfortable

It was a solid debut run for the young Fin Macrae. What was most impressive was his ability to consistently found targets inside forward 50, including a nice kick to find the captain to start off the last quarter.

For a first gamer, it’s great to see that the Pies have a player who has the confidence to hit a leading forward - in particular when the opposition has the likes of Jeremy McGovern and Tom Barrass floating around in defence.

In addition to Macrae, it was a great performance from Beau Mccreery who slotted 2 goals on the night. One fantastic set shot in the first quarter got the pressure forward off to a great start. He kicked his second running past the Eagle’s midfielder Tim Kelly, putting it through from about 45 meters out. If Beau can consistently hit the scoreboard in addition to his great tackling and forward pressure, he will find himself in the senior side for many years to come.

Have to be able to stem momentum

Taking chances in front of goal is vital to stemming your opponent’s scoring momentum. Unfortunately for the Pies, there were a couple of occasions where the forwards weren’t able to get goal to allow the team to reset structurally and start to peg back the Eagles.

Particularly through the middle half of the match, when the Eagles kicked 10 goals to 2, the Pies had to find a way to stem the flow of the momentum. Once the Eagles were able to get into their marking game, it became very hard for the Collingwood players to apply the same pressure as the first half.

The Eagles had 414 disposals on the night, 75 more than the Pies, and 54 more than their average for the season so far. They also had 136 marks, 55 more than Collingwood. Simply unable to get their hands on the ball, it was a tough task for the players.

Injuries hurt

Injuries to key players were detrimental to the Collingwood performance on Friday night. Jordan De Goey copped a hip to the face mid-way through the first quarter, he was joined on the bench by Jeremy Howe who pinged his hammy in a marking contest. After throwing his body at everything all night, a collision found Brodie Mihocek with a sore shoulder.

Although injuries are a part of the game, and the Pies are expected to carry on regardless of who’s on the field, it definitely didn’t make things easier against a tough Eagles outfit.

Collingwood 11.10.76
West Coast 16.7.103

Goals Moore 3, Mccreery 2, Grundy 2, Mihocek 2, Brown, Cameron

Best Crisp, Grundy, Moore, Maynard, Pendlebury, Sidebottom