Age journalist Michael Gleeson this week releases his new book, Cakewalk, celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the 1990 Collingwood premiership. In a series of excerpts, Gleeson recounts the memorable path to one of the most revered flag successes in club history.
Click here to read the first excerpt about the Gippsland bush camp.
Drawing strength
As much as the spectre of the Colliwobbles was raised by opponents, the media and fans, the reality was that the term only applied to Grand Finals, as Collingwood’s real September problems had not been getting to Grand Finals; it had been winning them.
As September dawned, this 1990 edition would be delighted to simply confront the final hurdle, for it would mean success in a final, something that had so far eluded the Magpies since coach Leigh Matthews arrived. Under Matthews, Collingwood had lost two finals in 1988 and one in 1989, thus were eliminated from finals campaigns in inglorious “straight sets” in consecutive years. The reality was they had to confront a suspicion they were over-cooked frauds more than chokers.
“In the media the talk was that Collingwood haven't won a premiership in 32 years and had lost 10 grand finals, blah, blah, blah,” noted Michael Christian. “But Leigh said, ‘Forget all that, what we’ve got to worry about is the fact that in ’88 we lost two and in ’89 we lost. We just want to win a final. This group hasn’t won a final in the last three years. We’ve lost three, so let’s win one.’ I think that the pressure probably told on us a little bit in that first game against West Coast,” said Michael Christian.
Matthews himself was focussed on the idea that the side needed to just concentrate on winning a final before worrying about a flag. He also knew that, as a young coach - even one with a significant reputation as a player - repeated failure in finals would have only one consequence for his future as a coach, and it was not an attractive one.
Click here to purchase the book through the club's online superstore.
Collingwood played that first final as if it feared losing more than desired winning. The Pies were messy and tentative. Mick McGuane was battling sore groins that he knew would restrict him in the second half of games; he began that day superbly but flagged terribly in the second half. Tony Shaw tried to run with Chris Lewis but the talented Eagles midfielder soundly beat the Collingwood captain in the second half, arguably the prime reason West Coast climbed back into the game after trailing by two goals at half-time. Plus, Damian Monkhorst had a poor game in the ruck and Craig Starcevich was beaten on the day.
Collingwood had wasted opportunities to score early. Full-forward Brian Taylor missed three “gettable” shots at goal and spent almost half the game sitting on the bench, only to return in the final term when the game felt like it was slipping away. The powerful forward kicked two of the most important goals of his career - one from a mark, the other a free kick - keeping his team’s hopes alive.
With exactly five minutes remaining, Peter Daicos kicked a goal to put the Pies eight points to the better and seemingly through to the second round of the finals. Daicos’s fourth goal of the day, it is the only one that lingers in the memory because, like many of his finest moments, he reinvented the way the game was played.
