Reid to move up in attack
MOGULS skier Britt Cox has bounced back to her best form with victory in the first World Cup event of the year in Canada. Cox, who wasn’t at her best in the past two events where she finished off the podium, took out the super final in Calgary yesterday.
It was a successful day for the Australian contingent with Matt Graham finishing third.
Victorian Cox, who grew up in Falls Creek, has shined since the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games when she became the Australia’s youngest winter Olympian since 1960. STEPHEN Curry erupted for 45 points to propel the Golden State Warriors to a 121- 105 NBA victory over the Clippers in Los Angeles yesterday.
Curry, who has dazzled since returning from an 11- game injury absence, connected on eight of his 16 three- point attempts and made a careerhigh 15 of his 16 free- throws.
He sat out the entire fourth quarter, but his 45 points in 29 minutes on the floor marked the fifth time in NBA history that a player scored 45 or more in 30 minutes or less. BEN Reid will spearhead Collingwood’s finals aspirations in a permanent forward position next season, allowing Darcy Moore to start a new chapter in defence.
Reid, 28, has averaged only five goals a season playing mostly in defence across his 11 AFL seasons.
But after a late switch into attack last year, Collingwood plans to make Reid the centrepiece of its reshaped forward structure when the Pies kickstart the new season in the Round 1 blockbuster against Hawthorn at the MCG.
The positional switch is a crucial cog in Collingwood’s plans to make finals for the first time in five years in 2018 and also help the out- of- contract pair lock- in lucrative new deals.
Collingwood has begun talks with Darcy’s manager, his father and former Collingwood great Peter Moore, about a potential new long- term deal for the 201cm linchpin.
Reid is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season but is determined to repay Collingwood for the faith it showed in him during his repeated soft tissue injuries in 2014- 15.
Reid’s move into a key forward post looms as one of the most important of the 2018 season and will allow Moore, 21, to resume his career in a key defensive position where he shone in his draft year for Oakleigh in the TAC Cup.
Moore carried a heavy burden in his third season in attack last year but Collingwood is confident his athleticism will help the swingman flourish in the back half after Carlton’s Liam Jones saved his career with an unexpected shift into defence last year.
Reid has trained with the forwards and Moore with the defenders before Christmas. The pair will continue to work on their craft when training resumes today.
However, crucial goal kickers Jamie Elliott ( ankle) and Alex Fasolo ( shoulder) are in doubt for the JLT preseason games against Greater Western Sydney ( Canberra) and Western Bulldogs ( Moe) after preseason setbacks which required surgery.
Elliott, who has led the Pies’ goal kicking in two of the past three years despite his repeated injury setbacks, is set to resume full training later this month.
Elliott, 25, and fourth- year midfielder and No. 5 draft pick Jordan De Goey, 21, are also priority signings in the first half of next season for Collingwood’s new list chief Ned Guy.