Each week a Collingwood star (Darren Jolly, Heath Shaw, Steele Sidebottom and Dayne Beams) will be sharing their weekly insight with the Magpie Army through Collingwoodfc.com.au’s ‘Week at Westpac’.
Thursday 10 June - Steele Sidebottom
I am really looking forward to the World Cup kicking off on Friday night.
I have watched a few of Australia’s warm-up matches and while they haven’t been overly impressive, I still think they can have an impact on the world stage. It’s tough to rate the Aussies at the moment because they still have a few players to come back from injury so we probably won’t know how strong they are until their first match.
They are in group D up against the Germans who should have a pretty good tournament. We will also face Serbia and Ghana.
The Germans should enjoy a fairly long tournament so if we are able to sneak into second spot and qualify for the knockout stage that would be huge. If that was to happen we would face England. Imagine that?
I won’t be able to watch the opening match against Germany because they play the morning of the Queen’s Birthday clash. It should make for a pretty good sporting day for Magpie supporters with a bit of soccer to kick things off before watching our game against Melbourne.
Australia’s next match pits them up against Ghana on Saturday night at 11:30 pm. This works well for me because it’s our weekend off so I should be at home in Shepparton relaxing on the couch enjoying the contest.
I think the player who could step up for us is Brett Emerton. I have watched him play for Blackburn this year and I hope he comes back to the A-league to finish off his career.
With so many big names out for the World Cup like Nani for Portugal, Essien for Ghana, Ballack for Germany and Ferdinand for England I think there might be one or two surprises in store for this year’s tournament.
Good luck to the Aussies over the next couple of weeks and hopefully we can see them advance through the later stages of the tourney.
Friday 4 June - Heath Shaw
For my monthly ‘Week at Westpac’ instalment I want to take Collingwood supporters through a salivating sensory experience.
On Sunday night a large group of us including Alan paid a visit to the fine dining establishment, Cecconis, located on Flinders lane.
It is a very classy and well set out establishment with lots of tables (which are usually full).
We were greeted by a fine Italian friend of ours, Georgie, who has looked after us on previous occasions.
The menu boasts Italian classic cuisine with modern influences.
For starters we indulged in several shared antipasti platters which Georgie organised. My favourite was the Charcuterie which features San Daniele prosciutto, house made beef sausage, bresaola & grissini.
For the main it was the duck which is smoked and served with a beetroot salad. I highly recommend this if you are planning on visiting the venue.
For dessert, my sweet tooth kicked in and thus was forced to order a warm soft-centred chocolate pudding with milk ice cream. Unreal.
I like to rate restaurants on the following categories.
Service, value, food, ambiance, experience.
Service: 9 (Georgie does everything for us so you only have to select your main. He always knows what I like)
Value: 7 (Depends on what you order. If you are thinking of a steak you will be up for 40 bucks.)
Food: 8 (This category is the key one. It’s pretty bloody good.)
Ambiance: 8 (It’s dark enough to get that intimacy but at the same time light enough so you can see your dish)
Experience: 8 (One of my favourites in the city. Look forward to seeing Georgie again.)
Overall: 40/50 which in my ranking system is very good but there is always room for improvement (free meals always help!).
Monday 24 May - Darren Jolly
Monday recovery
I was down at the beach in Port Melbourne at 6:30 AM for a Monday morning recovery session. You never look forward to those as a player, especially in winter.
It was an interesting morning down in the water. The boys were confronted with dark, murky water at the end of the pier. It wasn’t the coldness which was the issue but the darkness. That got me thinking a little bit. We had to swim 150 metres from the end of the pier to the shoreline and it’s safe to say we were all slightly relieved when we returned to dry land.
After the session we drove to the club and went through Mick’s weekly meeting which recaps the match. He generally reiterates the same messages which are presented in the club rooms directly after the match.
From there the boys have divisional meetings and I met with assistant coach Mark Neeld and the midfielders. Neeldy highlighted the areas we needed to work on after the loss to the Cats.
We spoke about how our structures fell away in the second half. We dropped off and became exposed and Geelong capitalised.
From there a training session was held at Gosch’s Paddock. I elected to stay inside and do some work in the altitude room. I pulled up strongly after the Geelong match which is really important when you are faced with a travelling week.
Finally the day concluded with a 30 minute meeting on the topic of cyber security. The boys received information on how to prevent people ripping off your image and identity on various online mediums including Facebook and Twitter.
Now we are faced with the task at hand which is Brisbane. Personally I have a really good history against the Lions. Last year I was up against Mitch Clark, who was in ripping form. This time it will be a little different with Matthew Leuenberger returning from injury this season.
It’s always a good atmosphere because they can pull a big crowd.
I am looking forward to the contest.
Wednesday 12 May - Steele Sidebottom
I was very rapt with kicking five majors. I found myself in the right position on the ground and was fortunate to be on the end of a few good plays.
I ended up winning the TV (Channel Ten's prize for the player deemed best on ground).
I think my family was more pumped about me winning the tele than kicking five goals.
It was my first TV that I ever won. Toovs has already asked me if he could buy it off me.
I didn’t know I won the TV until I was doing recovery at the Westpac Centre and checked my messages and Mum sent me a text to say well done and congrats on winning the tele.
On Sunday I went home to see Mum for Mother’s Day. I didn’t bring a gift, just myself.
My brother had just concreted his shed so I went out back and caught up with a few mates.
I had to do SEN radio on the way home and pulled over to have a chat. I am not a great speaker but I am happy to do my bit. The more I do in the media the more I will improve.
On to this week and there won’t be as much training this week due to the shorter time frame to get ready for the Freo match.
During the flight we have to make sure we walk and stretch and stay hydrated.
I am looking forward to returning to Subiaco, a ground where I kicked my first goal in only my third game at the club. I have some good memories there.
Fremantle has surprised many people this year including me. I look forward to watching Michael Barlow up close. He is a great story to come out of the VFL.
A guy from Werribee to be now considered one of the top midfielders of the league is pretty impressive. I played against Barlow last year in the VFL. I knew he was a good player and I thought we might have been a chance to grab him but he has done a superb job at Fremantle and it will be a great contest.
Wednesday 5 May - Heath Shaw
Dinners
This week my life is revolving around dinners.
Monday night: I went out for dinner with Dids, his girlfriend, Did’s housemate David King (former Collingwood player), a friend named Ben Tobacco and one of Jacinta’s friend Kity Kat. Location: Panama Dining Room, Smith Street. I enjoyed a wagu steak and a couple of games of billiards.
Tuesday night: I made the journey out to South Morang to visit a school mate I had been neglecting. I enjoyed a nice rice dish which he cooked and the best bit about the meal was I didn’t have to do the dishes afterwards.
Wednesday night: It’s club night for H. Shaw this week. We have a prearranged healthy meal which has been given the all clear by the club and I look forward to catching up with some of the fans.
Thursday night: I will be going on a date with a female friend. This will be our third date and if she is lucky she might get a fourth.
Friday night: Pregame meal night. This involves a visit to the Bownds (head trainer) household at around 5pm for a catch up. Then I order my takeaway dinner which comprises of a large lasagne and large chunky chicken pizza with BBQ sauce. Amazing! Followed by a light walk afterwards to settle the stomach.
I am a man who loves his dinners.
Wednesday 28 April - Darren Jolly
It’s been an interesting week for sport in Australia.
I was shocked as most people were to find out about the salary cap saga at the Melbourne Storm.
It’s sad to see such a successful club be tarnished by the actions of only a select group of individuals.
Melbourne storm have done something wrong with the salary cap. I don’t think any of the players have any had anything to do with it.
The punishment is probably a little bit too hard to not be able to play for any premiership points this year.
But as we saw with Carlton several years ago, the league has to but a stamp on it and make an example of it. At the end of the day it was a serious breach of the league code and the correct ramifications need to be handed down.
If I was stripped of my premiership it would be very tough. All would be not lost however as they can’t take away those memories.
At the end of the day, the only thing you take away with winning a premiership is the medal. It’s the memories you have forever. The players will have those fond memories forever.
Wednesday 21 April - Dayne Beams
I feel a lot more comfortable in my second year of footy. The game has picked up in pace just a little bit.
I have put six kilograms on over the offseason and I feel more settled playing through the midfield.
I had a bit of a hiccup during the preseason campaign which forced me to miss round one. The experience has proved as a learning curve. I have had to learn pretty quickly and move on from it.
I have been fortunate to work back into the side and hopefully with continued hard work I will stay in.
I wasn’t happy with my performance against St Kilda so it was important to respond in the manner that I did against the Hawks.
My delivery inside 50 is something I have been working on and to register six inside 50s was pleasing.
ANZAC Days awaits. Everyone wants to play in the big game and so do I. Essendon can be a danger side to us as we have seen in the past so we will be prepared for anything.
Wednesday 14 April - Steele Sidebottom
I have really enjoyed my start to the year. The team has been in some good form and I have managed to play the first three matches of the season.
It was disappointing to drop off like we did against St Kilda.
It’s always an interesting situation when a side losses a key member early on in the game. You tend to see his teammates rally and play inspired football.
I am not sure if that happened against the Saints but it could be true.
Thankfully in footy you can always look to next week and the challenge will be as equally tough against the 2008 premiers.
We have a bad record against the Hawks and Saturday night’s test will be a good challenge for our side.
Wednesday 7 April - Heath Shaw
We snuck home with a win which was the main thing. The playing group didn’t perform in certain areas which we have already addressed and will continue to do so.
It was a terrific effort by Steele to get back there and help disrupt the contest. The kid highlighted his speed.
Wednesday 31 April - Darren Jolly
It was great to get my first game over as a Magpie.
As a team we have put in a serious amount of work during the preseason and we felt very prepared for our contest with the Dogs.
It's been a fairly smooth transition to returning home with my wife and kids. While we were settled in Sydney it’s really important to have the support network that a family provides, especially with young kids.
I would have to say the most surprising thing since I have arrived at the club is the amount of talent we have. It's quiet a young list and there is a lot of talent here. The professionalism is very high. I know I harp on it but from the players to the coaches it’s amazing.
It was my third time playing my first game for a new club and it’s always a relief.
Now I will have to practice the team song a few more times.
