Collingwood was made to pay for ‘shooting itself in the foot’ during a disappointing loss to Geelong on Friday night, with coach Nathan Buckley pinpointing costly connection issues as the major crease that his side will have to iron out on the training track this week.
The Pies were sloppy by foot throughout the narrow seven-point defeat to the Cats at the MCG, particularly in their defensive side of the ground, with Buckley blaming a lack of cohesion for a series of crucial errors in the dying stages of the game.
Jeremy Howe's late turnover on the last line of defence, which gifted Patrick Dangerfield a pivotal score to stretch the margin beyond a kick with just 90 seconds remaining, was reflective of a forgettable night for last year's Grand Finalists.
But it was hardly the only mistake that Buckley believes hurt Collingwood throughout its round one loss, which he hopes will be reversed against Richmond in six days' time.
"A consistent theme across our pre-season has been too many turnovers in our back half," Buckley told reporters after the game.
"That was consistent again tonight. We had 32, most of them in the second half. There was actually a lot in the first quarter, but a lot in the second half as well.
"We're shooting ourselves in the foot. If we can't work the ball out of our back half as effectively as we'd like to, then we allow the opposition to build pressure.
"That's an issue from our pre-season and we've carried it into round one."
Collingwood had a number of major ball winners in its back half, with Jack Crisp (26 disposals) leading the way and teammates Chris Mayne (22 disposals) and James Aish (19 disposals) following suit, but not enough unity in its decision making.
Buckley refused to blame personnel for the issues that plagued his team, instead suggesting it was the lack of a natural link from the defensive side of the ground to the forwards.
"It's a bit of connection," Buckley said.
"Sometimes it's the decision of the ball carrier, sometimes it's the work rate around him.
"You are going to have to kick long out of those contests at times, but sometimes it's the aerial at the other end or the ground level at the other end.
"We've just found ways of giving the opposition the ball back with access to either an inside 50 or a shot on goal. When we're playing our best, we don't give the ball back as often.
"We've worked on it over the last couple of weeks and we worked on it over the pre-season, so we need to continue to do that if we want to play the game on our terms."
Other issues covered by Nathan Buckley:
- The second quarter "standing out" in terms of Collingwood's profligacy.
- Jamie Elliott's return was the "real positive" from the Magpies’ performance.
- Darcy Moore's aerial work behind the ball was the other major plus for the Pies.
- Collingwood will not be "hanging" Jordan De Goey for a late error in front of goal.
- Pies "just didn't jell well enough" to overcome the test of the Cats.
