The Result
Collingwood 11.14 (80)
Essendon 11.13 (79)
Goals - Cloke 3, Swan 3, Blair 2, Sidebottom, Jolly, Beams
Disposals - Swan 42, Pendlebury 34, Beams 32. Sidebottom 28, Johnson 27
ANZAC Day. 86,932 people. A record television audience. And a one point win to Collingwood in the best game of the year so far.
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But that only scratches the surface. The Magpies and Bombers did justice to the big stage with a hotly contested match in which the margin never exceeded two goals at any of the quarter breaks. Although Collingwood held an 18-point advantage early in the final quarter, Essendon refused to be denied and snatched the lead with two minutes to play when Brent Stanton’s snap at the Punt Rd end bounced through. In what has already entered ANZAC Day football folklore, Collingwood’s Jarryd Blair soccered home the match winner from the goal square with only 80 seconds left on the clock.
Click here to watch the CTV highlights.
The inspirational Dane Swan played out of his tattooed skin, gathering 42 disposals, 13 clearances, six tackles and three goals to be a deserving ANZAC Medallist. Swan had been criticised by some in the media for his supposed slow start to the year (despite 130 disposals in the first month) but showed his true colours in an incredible display in wet conditions. Dependable backman Ben Johnson kept Collingwood steady across half back and key defenders Nathan Brown and Lachlan Keeffe shone brightly in the gloomy conditions.
Bucks’ take
“We've exposed ourselves to the level of football we're capable of despite the personnel that is out, or still to come back. We set ourselves a level for the rest of the season that we need to be able to reach. It's a great progression, but there's clearly plenty of work to do.” - Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley.
Hear more from Bucks in his post match press conference.
Over the fence
“I think we came up against a very good opposition. They're a terrific side and they came to play today, and at certain times played a lot better than us” - Essendon coach James Hird.
Read the match report here.
One-point wonders
As Mike Brady suggests in his song ‘One Day in September’, there’s nothing better than a nice good win. But Pies’ fans might like to amend that line to there being nothing better than a one-point win. There’s nothing sweeter than getting over the line by the barest possible margin. It was Collingwood’s first one-point victory since the round two nailbiter against Melbourne in 2010 that followed the round 15 win over the Western Bulldogs in 2009. It's only its third since it defeated Adelaide at Victoria Park in round six, 1997.
All he does is win
The back six welcomed back key defender Nathan Brown for his first senior match since he quelled St Kilda’s Nick Riewoldt in the 2010 Grand Final replay 18 months prior. He has now played only three losses from his last 20 starts. After three matches in the VFL, Brown was outstanding at full back against Essendon’s Stuart Crameri. He had 10 disposals but limited his opponent to seven and rendered him scoreless only five days after he had kicked 5.6 in the Bombers’ win over Carlton. Welcome back indeed.
View the best photos from the ANZAC Day win.
Swanny
What can you say? Dane Swan continues to find improvement at a point in his career when most would comfortably have peaked. The 28-year-old had 42 disposals, 13 clearances, six tackles and kicked three goals. His possession count was the fourth highest in his 180 game career and the mark he took floating across a pack in the third quarter smacked of Wayne Carey at his best.
The medical room
In further good news for the club, no new injuries were reported out of both the AFL and VFL matches in recent days. The four-day break didn’t appear to adversely affect any of the Magpies’ players who will enjoy a nine-day break until taking on the Western Bulldogs in round six. Ben Reid (quad), Heath Shaw (hamstring), Chris Tarrant (calf) and Dale Thomas (hamstring) are all still to return in the weeks to come.
Nearly the match winner
Twenty-year-old Ben Sinclair, he of only nine games experience, was very nearly the hero in the tense final quarter. Although he missed two shots at goal on the run, Sinclair was excellent in attack with a game-high nine tackles and a smother in the last quarter that forced a turnover after Essendon had been awarded a free kick. The boy from Scotch College is progressing nicely and continues to harass opponents big and small.
Watch the CTV highlights, including Blair's match winner, here.
Consider this
Darren Jolly, Tyson Goldsack, Paul Seedsman, Alan Toovey and Sinclair shared only 49 disposals between them but combined to lay 38 tackles to stop Essendon in its tracks time and time again. Jolly’s effort to compete at ground level as well as in the air (34 hitouts) and also drift forward for a goal equated to one of his best matches for the year. Although the one per centers aren’t always glamourous, they go a long way to winning a close match.
What does it mean?
- For all the early season talk of injuries, Collingwood enters a nine-day break at 3-2 and is one of five teams in the mid-ladder logjam.
- Marty Clarke is back. The Irishman had 13 disposals and impressed with his penetrating delivery into the forward line. More importantly, he restricted Bomber playmaker Brent Stanton to only 13 disposals less than a week after he scorched the Blues with 36.
- Lachlan Keeffe is looking increasingly assured across half back. He added another 12 disposals to his season count of 55 and hauled in three grabs. He’s building nicely.
VFL
Collingwood lost a seesawing match that lurched from Sandringham leading by 48-points at the long break to the Magpies kicking an eight goal third term to hold a six point advantage half an hour later. The Magpies eventually went down by 11-points but it wasn’t for a lack of effort against an early season leader. Jackson Paine responded well to his omission with 21 disposals and a goal at centre half forward while Jarrod Witts, Cameron Wood, Marley Williams and Jamie Elliott were among the others to be named in the best. Alan Didak had 18 disposals and kicked two in his third game for the VFL side since returning from injury.
Looking ahead…
After two games in five days, the Collingwood players will relish the opportunity to rest their bodies and minds before gearing up for an important clash with the Western Bulldogs on Friday night at Etihad Stadium. The Dogs have won their last two on the trot and will be eyeing off their first scalp against one of last year’s top eight sides. A win for Collingwood would catapult it to 4-2 ahead of its trip to face the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba. But this is footy we’re talking about. Let’s just take it one a week at a time…
The final word
Cartoon courtesy of Jack Chadwick. Click here for more of Jack's Collingwood cartoons.
