The Result
Collingwood 26.18 (174)
Greater Western Sydney 7.12 (54)
Goals - Cloke 6, Swan 5, Beams 2, Elliott 2, Goldsack 2, Dawes 2, Sinclair, Blair, Mooney, Maxwell, Shaw, Fasolo, Tarrant
Disposals - Swan 37, Pendlebury 33, Beams 30, Reid 25, Young 25
It was a night of firsts for Collingwood. Its first game at Skoda Stadium. Its first game against Greater Western Sydney. Its first meeting with Kevin Sheedy since round 16, 2007. Dane Swan’s first bag of five goals in a match. Caolan Mooney’s first of (we hope) many goals at AFL level.
Click here to watch the CTV highlights.
History will record Collingwood’s 120-point win as a routine victory over the fledging Giants who, given time, will one day climb the league’s beanstalk. But, as ever, there were several notable achievements and points to ponder to arise from the first of the Pies’ two NSW missions for the season.
Bucks’ take
“There was a fair bit of supply with 60 inside 50s, but he (Travis Cloke) was coming to meet the ball at its highest point tonight. It was encouraging to see, and he was kicking straight, which helps as a forward. Twenty-one touches is pretty good and his endeavour to play his role and take grabs helps as well. If you have been struggling, any good form is positive for the individual and clearly for the side. When Clokey's taking marks against an opposition and kicking goals, we're a better side, and it was good to see tonight” - Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley.
Hear more from Bucks in his post match press conference.
Over the fence
“Our performance early was pretty good except for turnovers that hurt us in that first quarter. That's our best performance against a top four side in the last five weeks we’ve played. We just don't get the scores on the board for the amount of work that we do. Most of the shots we missed were set shots so that's another area that we need to look at. I think when I balance that out I think rather than being beaten by over 100 points we probably could have been beaten by maybe 40.” - Greater Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy.
Read the match report here.
Swan watch
Tracking the extraordinary graph of Dane Swan’s season is becoming a regular feature of this segment. But the 28-year-old continues to give us no reason to ignore him. In his inaugural outing against the Giants, he made his mark in the midfield and inside 50. When the final siren sounded, he had added another 37 possessions to his kitbag as well kicking a career-high five goals. In his previous 189 games, Swan had kicked four goals on three occasions. One came in his breakout game against Geelong in round eight, 2006, and two were recorded during his Brownlow Medal season last year against Richmond and St Kilda.
Finding his touch
Travis Cloke. The name had been on everyone’s lips all week but he let his big hands and powerful left boot do the talking in Saturday’s clash with the Giants. Six times he unloaded in search of the big sticks and six times he converted full points. It was a commanding performance from a player who has struggled to assert his usual dominance in recent weeks. In a sure-fire sign that he is back to his best, Cloke, who only took three marks in his previous two games combined, held a season-high 11 grabs against the Giants. The last time he achieved the same feat was in last year’s Preliminary Final win over Hawthorn.
View the best photos from Collingwood's 120-point win.
That’s a first
Jamie Elliott made his mark on Saturday’s game with two clever first quarter goals including one which saw him smother Luke Power’s kick-in before snapping quickly back over his head. The teenager also recorded his highest disposal count (22) in his nine senior games. He also went without a tackle for the first time in his short career. For most players, this wouldn’t be worth highlighting, but in Elliott’s case it stands out, as he averaged 5.5 tackles per game leading into the weekend.
The medical room
No injuries of note were recorded by the Magpie camp, although senior quartet Darren Jolly (general soreness), Harry O’Brien (groin), Steele Sidebottom (thigh) and Dale Thomas (ankle) were all absentees from Thursday’s selected side.
Feeling right at home
Saturday’s match must have felt like something of a homecoming for 20-year-old Magpie Tom Young. The rangy flanker is originally from Bowral, about an hour and a half south of Sydney, and was signed by Collingwood as a NSW-ACT Scholarship holder in 2007. It was no surprise that he played the most productive match of his career, gathering 25-possessions and taking seven marks at half back. A quirk of his career so far is that he has played against six of the eight interstate teams but has only played against two Victorian-based sides in his eight games.
Watch the CTV highlights, including Cloke and Swan’s goal glut, here.
Consider this
It’s a rare occurrence for a Collingwood team to play in front of a small crowd. Skoda Stadium, boasting a capacity of 25,000, drew only 8,102 fans - 32 per cent of its current capacity. The AFL’s statisticians tweeted that Saturday night was the first time Collingwood had played in front of a crowd of less than 20,000 since 2001, and that prior to Saturday, the last sub-10,000 crowd the Pies had been a part of was the win over the Brisbane Bears at Carrara in round 20, 1991. It was the Giants’ second highest crowd at Skoda Stadium, with its largest crowd recorded in round nine when they hosted Essendon in their first match at the venue.
What does it mean?
- The win was a welcome boost to Collingwood’s percentage. It rose from 115.8 to 123.8 after the Magpies kicked 23 goals for the night and restricted Greater Western Sydney to only seven in what looms as an important game in the context of the club’s finals aspirations.
- Ben Reid is well and truly back to his best. The Magpies also look a lot safer when last year’s All-Australian centre half back is in peak form and Saturday night’s match hinted at some of his finest touch. He held a career-high 13 marks and won 25 possessions, which was his third highest tally in 65 senior games.
- Lightly built wingman Paul Seedsman played the most complete game of his career as he swept up 24 disposals and laid three tackles in only his seventh match. Debuting in round one against Hawthorn, Seedsman has been involved as a substitute in four of his seven senior games in his short career.
VFL
Collingwood’s VFL team had an extra week to lick its wounds after the 116-point loss to the Box Hill Hawks in round 17. The Magpies had a bye in round 18 and now have only four matches remaining before the season ends. Their next mission takes them to Queen Elizabeth Oval to take on the Essendon-affiliated Bendigo on Saturday at 2pm.
Looking ahead…
Two interstate trips and matches against four top eight sides make for a challenging final five rounds for the black and white. It’s not an easy start, either, with St Kilda presenting the next challenge on Saturday night at the MCG. The Saints are in great form, rolling the Western Bulldogs by 76 points last week and pushing the Sydney Swans all the way a fortnight ago. It’s sure to be a huge test in front of a big crowd, but with plenty to play for, Collingwood will be up for the challenge.
