Phillips sick of Pies’ honourable losses and near misses
RUNNING machine Tom Phillips has insisted near enough is no longer good enough for Collingwood as it prepares for its must-win clash with Carlton at the MCG tonight.
While the 21-year-old Magpie acknowledged the team was brave in narrowly going down to the Giants last week, despite losing two players before halftime, Phillips is honest enough to say he is sick of the honourable losses and the near misses.
“We have just got to be a team that gets to the next level,” Phillips said.
“Near enough isn’t good enough ... it can’t be any more. We can’t keep losing by 10 points or something like that, because it has been happening too much in the past two or three years.
“We really are better than that when we are up and about, and when everyone is contributing. It is a matter of getting the mix of everyone playing their role, and not having too many individuals floating in and out of the game.”
Phillips makes no apologies for his impatience — he says everyone at the club feels the same, including the fans.
Having played 26 games for the Magpies since his Queen’s Birthday debut in 2016, only 10 of them have resulted in wins.
He knows a win tonight won’t take the pressure off the club, including coach Nathan Buckley, who is only two games into a new two-year deal, but a loss will intensify the external heat.
“Bucks is an easy target, and that’s stupid because internally we know what he is about,” Phillips said. “We play for him. He has got the most passion and guts in this footy club that any individual could have.”
Phillips has no fear in taking part of the responsibility for Collingwood’s poor performance against Hawthorn in Round 1, saying he needed to “reinvigorate” himself after the loss.
“I was a bit off, I was just a bit scratchy and not as polished or as clean as I should have been,” he said. “It wasn’t the way that I have been playing.
“The whole team embarrassed ourselves a little bit (against Hawthorn). We were really clumsy with the footy, even if the effort was there, to an extent.
“We were much better (against Greater Western Sydney), even if it is hard with the injuries and with guys not being available. Still, there are no more excuses any more.”
After struggling to have an impact against the Hawks in week one, Phillips more than made up for it against the Giants.
He had a career-high 32 possessions, kicked a goal, and even polled two votes in the AFL Coaches’ Association.
That effort was more meritorious when taking into consideration Phillips was only rotated twice during the game, due to the early losses of Tim Broomhead (broken tibia and fibula) and Darcy Moore (hamstring).
He played a total of 125 minutes — the most any Magpie player has been out on the field in a game since 2011.