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CTV in South Africa > Intra-Club Match Highlights

Assistant coach Brad Scott was "really happy" with how the boys performed in Saturday's intra-club practice match in Potchefstroom.

Played in 20-minute quarters, the match took place on an oval field at the army barracks in Potchefstroom, where Collingnwood has held a number of its training sessions during the first two weeks of its high-altitude training camp in South Africa.

Local groundsmen installed AFL goal posts for the club and also painted a centre square, 50-metre lines, goal squares and a boundary line.

The surface was firm but even and the contest kicked off just after 10am with the temperature hovering around 30 degrees celsius, and given the conditions, Scott emphasised he was impressed with how the players went about it.

"I was really happy with how the boys played today under trying conditions," Scott told collingwoodfc.com.au after the match.

"Obviously we're at a fairly high altitude here and the weather's been quite warm, hot and humid, very similar to the northern states of Australia at this time of the year.

"When you combine that with the altitude, the conditions are quite oppressive. So the way the boys have acquitted themselves has been fantastic, and the intensity of the game was pleasing."

It was clear from the outset that the players were eager to exert plenty of energy and impress the coaching staff ahead of next Saturday's opening pre-season cup match against Adelaide in Dubai.

Despite the heat it was a high-pressure contest, with players running hard all match and pushing themselves to exhaustion.

"It was a willing game, and that's to be expected. I think anytime you go from a training environment to a competitive environment, whether that's intra-club or against another AFL opposition, those competitive juices will always start flowing, and that's what we need.

"We're going into a game next week against a well drilled, disciplined, hard-running side in the Adelaide Crows, and I think we're ready for the challenge."

Scott nominated a handful of players who stood out in the contest.

"I thought both teams were really impressive, but the Shaw boys in particular. Rhyce playing on-ball and Heath in his usual role off half back, were very impressive and added to our run, and we're looking to increase that this year, and those two boys were excellent.

"I'm really pleased with the way Anthony Rocca's progressing. We didn't expect him to be playing at this time of year (following post-season groin surgery), but he played pretty much a full game and got through well, that was exciting for him.

"Scott Pendlebury and Alan Toovey played very well. Even though Pendles had a great season last year, we're hoping both those players will go to another level, and put Dale Thomas in that category as well, while some of the more seasoned veterans, like Tarkyn Lockyer, performed really well, so I'm really happy with the level the boys are at at this time of year."

Scott also heaped praise on the quality of Collingwood's emerging list, with the club's first pick in last November's AFL Draft having done everything right in his first pre-season.

"I'm very excited about a couple of the young boys... yet again. I'm very pleased with the way John McCarthy's been progressing so far, he's obviously a first-year player and new to the system.

"That's one of the benefits of these camps, that we get first-year players to come away with us, and experience the Collingwood environment in a really saturated environment, you get them every day for three weeks, so that's a really pleasing aspect of this camp.

Magpie fans will also be pleased to know young players Danny Stanley, Ben Reid and Nathan Brown all impressed, while Ben Johnson, Dane Swan and Alan Didak showed their customary class and poise.

Irish rookie Kevin Dyas at times looked like he's been in the system for years, and in a three-minute patch in the third quarter streamed forward on two occasions for two excellent running goals.

While the players have been working hard to prepare themselves for the gruelling season ahead, the off-season has also seen Scott take on a new role after one productive year at the Lexus Centre, having moved from development coach working mainly with young players to assistant coach with his main area analysing the opposition.

"I'm really enjoying the challenge. Obviously working so closely with the younger players last year, I've moved a little bit into the strategic side of the coaching staff, and really enjoying that so far. It's definitely going to be a challenge, and it's exciting with the young, elite group that we've got.

"We had a really good year last year in terms of developing the players, but those players have to go to another level. This group is as good a group as I've seen, so we're expecting big things.

"High expectations are a good thing."