HOW BUCKS GOT THE PIES LAUGHING AGAIN
THE smiles are back at the Holden Centre.
I’m not just talking about this week — everyone is smiling when you’re about to play in a Grand Final.
But this season has been totally different for Collingwood off the field and it’s pretty clear to see the Magpies are reaping the rewards.
One former Magpie champion was telling me over lunch that the smiles had gone from the club last year.
He said he walked back into the club a while after he retired and he said it was like a morgue.
No one was allowed to laugh, you had to be dead serious. Now he walks back in and everyone is having fun.
Last year’s on-field performance led to an external review by businessman Peter Murphy and it has paid dividends this season.
The changes have worked. Nathan Buckley looks like a coach under a lot less pressure and that’s feeding back down to the playing group.
Like Mark Thompson in 2007 after his review in 2006 and Damien Hardwick last year, you can see how much their personality changes.
The environment at Collingwood is now fun, but still with the intensity needed to get results.
All of a sudden the players become a lot more lighthearted, jovial and have fun. They feel like the pressure is slightly off because they are allowing other people to do their jobs.
Things could not be any better for Collingwood going into Saturday’s Grand Final.
The past two seasons have proven that if you go into September with momentum then you are a big chance of winning the flag.
You don’t have to be the best team across the season. You just need to get your run right.
Richmond and the Western Bulldogs peaked at the right time and there is no better team in form than Collingwood when you look back at its past four to six weeks.
What we saw the Pies do to Richmond on Friday night was what the Tigers did to GWS in last year’s preliminary final.
Collingwood is playing a brand of football it wasn’t playing at the start of the year and, like all great teams, you evolve and you learn throughout the season.
When it does come together and it does click, you get the result that Collingwood is getting at the moment.
People will say that the Magpies played their grand final a week early by scoring such a big upset of Richmond. But there’s no chance of that at all.
The biggest questionmark hangs over West Coast.
We saw what happened a few years ago when they got belted in a grand final. A lot of those players will be playing again on Saturday.
The wet weather also won’t help the Eagles. Their key forwards are one of their biggest strengths and wet day will limit their output.
And those slippery conditions play into Collingwood’s hands, too, with Jordan de Goey in the goal square, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Jaidyn Stephenson and Josh Thomas getting the crumbs.
There’s a lot to like about the Magpies heading into Saturday. They’re the deserved favourites.