Long, hot summer bedevils Magpies
Continuing our series of AFL previews ahead of the 2018 season, we look at Collingwood and St Kilda
COLLINGWOOD will need to overcome a troubled pre-season if it is to play finals for the first time since 2013.
Six of Nathan Buckley’s best 22 had their preparations interrupted by injuries.
Jeremy Howe (calf), Darcy Moore (achilles), Jamie Elliott (ankle), Daniel Wells (achilles), Levi Greenwood (knee) and Alex Fasolo (shoulder) have all been hampered to varying degrees.
Irrelevant on the field but still not ideal, Elliott was arrested after he relieved himself in a rubbish bin in November and Jordan De Goey was exiled last month after he had his driver’s licence suspended for drink driving. Then Greater Western Sydney dealt out a 60-point thrashing in the Magpies’ first pre- season outing in Canberra.
But there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Those injured stars are slowly returning to competitive work — most are on track for Round 1 — and with a bit of luck the summer woes will soon be forgotten.
“Our program has given each and every one of our players the opportunity to be at or somewhere near their best,” Collingwood football chief Geoff Walsh said. “That’s all we can hope for because I think at or near our best we’ll acquit ourselves well.”
The Magpies were competitive in 2017 — their highest losing margin was 37 points (against Essendon) — and their average losing margin was three goals. Still, a 13th-placed finish with nine wins, 12 losses and a draw, and a fourth season without finals, did not sit well with the black-and-white faithful.
“Like all clubs, we want to keep our best players on the park because they largely decide your destiny,” Walsh said when asked where the team’s improvement would come from.
“If we can manage to do that, then I think we’ll be a competitive side.
“It’s folly to say that we think we’re going to ‘top X’ or ‘top Y’ because so many things can change.
“But we’ve got enough flexibility throughout our list, enough talent, that we can be a really competitive side whoever the opposition.”
Fielding his best side — or close to it — would be a rare luxury for Buckley, who has been handicapped by lengthy injury lists over the past few seasons.
But even with the enforced absences of the likes of Scott Pendlebury, Wells, Travis Varcoe and Greenwood last year, Collingwood’s midfield remained a strength.
It should continue to be the case in 2018, making improvement at either end of the ground the key.
Giant American Mason Cox looks set for more game time in attack after signing a three-year deal in the off-season.
Cox has worked on building his chemistry with first-choice ruckman Brodie Grundy and Buckley sees the tandem as a potentially potent weapon.
In an intriguing change-up, Ben Reid and Darcy Moore have switched positions, with Reid taking up a key forward post and Moore moving back.
“Certainly it’s been a focus this summer, particularly with ‘Coxy’ and Grundy working together,” Walsh said of the new-look inside attacking 50. “Reidy’s had a good summer as well, so we think that those boys can provide us with some really strong aerial strike power.
“I’m sure Moore will play forward and back, as will Reidy, but he’s spent the summer training months as a defender.”
The Pies were uncharacteristically quiet in the trade period, but there is considerable excitement about No.6 draft pick Jaidyn Stephenson.
A heart condition that scared some clubs off has not affected the linebreaking midfielder-forward’s pre-season, which Walsh said had put him the frame for an early season AFL debut.