The game marks Collingwood's first appearance in an AFL fixture at Kardinia Park since 1999, meaning that there are plenty of statistical and factual odds and ends that are worth pointing out.
Match Details
Geelong v Collingwood
Practice Match
Friday 15 March 2013
Simonds Stadium (Kardinia Park)?
?Start time
Local: 4pm
Squads
Collingwood: Jordan Russell, Brent Macaffer, Nick Maxwell, Tyson Goldsack, Harry O'Brien, Marty Clarke, Scott Pendlebury, Jarryd Blair, Clinton Young, Jarrod Witts, Nathan Brown, Dayne Beams, Darren Jolly, Jamie Elliott, Quinten Lynch, Steele Sidebottom, Ben Johnson, Ben Sinclair, Travis Cloke, Alan Toovey, Dane Swan, Heath Shaw, Paul Seedsman, Sam Dwyer, Jack Frost, Caolan Mooney
Geelong: Mitch Brown, Billie Smedts, Jimmy Bartel, Andrew Mackie, Travis Varcoe, Harry Taylor, Joel Corey, Tom Lonergan, Joel Selwood, Taylor Hunt, Jordan Murdoch, Mitch Duncan, Josh Caddy, Jared Rivers, Tom Hawkins, Matthew Stokes, Allen Christensen, Cameron Guthrie, James Podsiadly, Steven Motlop, George Horlin-Smith, Josh Walker, Paul Chapman, Cameron Eardley, Jackson Sheringham, Jesse Stringer, Corey Enright, Mark Blicavs
Collingwood at Kardinia Park
Played: 41
Won: 22
Lost: 19
Drawn: 0
The last time at Kardinia Park
Round 15 1999
Collingwood 19.11 (125)
Geelong 19.14 (128)
Crowd: 24,395 at Kardinia Park
Goals - Collingwood: S.Rocca 7, A.Rocca 3, Brown 3, Buckley 2, Freeborn, Tarrant, Richardson, King
Geelong: Snell 4, Houlihan 3, Riccardi 3, Mensch 2, Graham 2, Barnes, King, Corrigan, Stoneham, Burns
Disposals - Collingwood: Buckley 37, King 22, Lockyer 22, Brown 17, Lane 17
Geelong: Arnott 36, Milburn 24, Riccardi, Stoneham 21, Sholl 20
It has been a long, long time since Collingwood travelled down the Princes Highway to tackle Geelong in an official AFL match.
The last time it happened, the opposing coaches were Tony Shaw and Gary Ayres, future NFL punters Sav Rocca and Ben Graham were stationed in either goal square and Steele Sidebottom was only eight years old.
And it wasn't too bad for a game between two of the competition's strugglers.
Collingwood, in its first match at the venue in four years, increased its lead at every change but still managed to lose. Geelong came home like a V-Line train, bagging five goals to one in the final term to clinch its first win since round five. It was key forward David Mensch who put the Cats in front late in the last quarter. Ironically, Mensch was said to have been close to packing his bags and heading for Victoria Park at the end of 1998 but opted to stay at Geelong where ended up playing 158 senior games.
Stars for Collingwood included the skipper Buckley who helped himself to 37 possessions and two goals but still ended the match without a Brownlow vote. Sav Rocca held up his end of the bargain with seven goals at full forward. Gavin Brown was his ideal foil in the pocket, kicking three amongst his 17 possessions.
Not one player from that Collingwood team remains on an AFL list. Chris Tarrant (who retired at the end of 2012) was the final player to depart the scene. Interestingly, despite representing the team that won the wooden spoon, eight players would go on to play for Collingwood in the 2002 Grand Final against Mal Michael's Brisbane Lions.
The last Collingwood team to visit Kardinia Park read as follows:
B: Lockyer, Michael, Prestigiacomo
HB: Buckley, A.Rocca, Godden
C: Betheras, Burns, Wasley
HF: Lane, Richardson, Tarrant
F: Brown, S.Rocca, Freeborn
R: Monkhorst, Crosisca, Jacotine
Int: Fuller, King, Tuckey, Raso
Emg: Schauble, Scotland, Smith
The first clash at Kardinia Park
Round 11 1941
Collingwood 14.12 (96)
Geelong 7.16 (58)
Goals - Collingwood: Green 4, Richards 3, Kyne 2, Swenson 2, Williams, Murphy, Unwin
Geelong: Arklay 3, White, Taylor, Heard, Harwood
Crowd: 7500 at Kardinia Park
The last win at Kardinia Park
Round 11 1988
Collingwood 16.7 (103)
Geelong 9.10 (64)
Crowd: 35,322 at Kardinia Park
Goals - Collingwood: Wright 4, Taylor 3, Starcevich 3, Barwick 2, Banks 2, Millane, Daicos
Geelong: Ablett 3, Turner 2, Scott, Brownless, Denham, Bairstow
Disposals - Collingwood: Shaw 36, Millane 34, Cloke 30, Brown 29, Daicos 23, Wright 23
Geelong: Bruns 37, Denham 30, Bairstow 28, Bews 27, Troy 27
Did you know that…
- Collingwood won 11 of its first 14 matches at Kardinia Park? The golden run began in the first match at the venue back in 1941 and continued until round 18, 1959. Geelong then won 12 of the next 17 meetings between the two sides at the ground.
- Darren Millane played his final game of league football at Kardinia Park? There was plenty at stake when the two sides ran out onto Kardinia Park in round 24, 1991, with Collingwood needing a win to secure a finals berth less than 12 months after winning the 1990 premiership. The Pies started well but ran out of steam in the second half with the Cats nearly doubling Collingwood's score to run out 41-point winners. Tragically, Millane (who gathered 17 possessions and kicked two behinds in the loss) was killed in a car accident only five weeks later.
- Kardinia Park has had four separate sponsors since 1998? The ground was known as Shell Stadium from 1998-2001, Skilled Stadium from 2002-2011 and Simonds Stadium since the start of last year. Its fourth name was Baytec Stadium, albeit for only two months in 2002.
- Collingwood's VFL team has played several matches at the ground in recent years? Since 2008, the VFL Magpies have won three of their five games at Kardinia Park.
There are a few interesting oddities that arose from one of the aforementioned VFL games that are worth noting.
For a start, the one-point win in 2008 launched Chris Dawes and John McCarthy's senior careers. In heavy rain, Dawes kicked six at full forward while McCarthy won a stack of the ball at ground level giving the coaches good reason to blood them against St Kilda the following week.
"Dawes was fantastic, when you're playing footy like that, you're never far away, and his defensive efforts early were just fantastic," - VFL coach Gavin Brown on Chris Dawes' performance.
The match also provided one of the great individual quarters by a Collingwood player at VFL level. Justin Crow staved off several Geelong attempts at full back with some desperate tackles and smothers when all seemed lost.
The win also heralded the arrival of Lachlan Keeffe. The lanky teenager played mostly in the ruck his first game of any description after arriving from Queensland in late 2007. Brown told collingwoodfc.com.au that Keeffe "applied himself really well and he didn't let himself down at all".
Collingwood last played a VFL match at Kardinia Park last March. The team that afternoon included Dayne Beams, Ben Johnson and Chris Tarrant. Only a month earlier, Andrew Krakouer's season went pear shaped when he tore his anterior cruciate ligament on the outer wing in the second quarter of Collingwood's first VFL practice match of the year.
What oddities does Kardinia Park have in store for us this year?
Last time they met this early in the year
Wizard Cup Semi Final 2003
Collingwood 5.8.0.10 (103)
Geelong 1.8.0.9 (66)
Crowd: 24,728 at Telstra Dome?
Supergoals - Collingwood: Buckley 2, Fraser, Woewodin, Didak
Geelong: Mooney
Goals - Collingwood: Buckley 2, Lockyer 2, Fraser, Tarrant, Davis, Woewodin
Geelong: Ablett 2, Mooney, McCarthy, Riccardi, Kelly, Graham, Chapman
Best - Collingwood: Buckley, Woewodin, Lockyer, Fraser, Didak, Clement
Geelong: Corey, Riccardi, Sanderson, Scarlett
Collingwood won through to its first pre-season Grand Final since 190 with a comprehensive 37-point win over Geelong under the Telstra Dome roof. Nathan Buckley was by far the best afield, kicking four goals for the night, two of which registered nine-points, and Shane Woewodin played his best game in his new colours after crossing from Melbourne during the off-season. Unfortunately the Grand Final didn't go to plan, with the Magpies beaten by an Adelaide side buoyed by the inclusion of new recruit Wayne Carey.
As a matter of interest, collingwoodfc.com.au has published the two squads from the match. Ten years on (almost to the day), Ben Johnson is the only player set to take to the field for the Magpies, while for Geelong, Jimmy Bartel, Joel Corey, Paul Chapman and Corey Enright are the four remaining survivors.
Collingwood Squad: Rupert Betheras, Scott Burns, Nathan Buckley (capt), James Clement, Jason Cloke, Richard Cole, Leon Davis, Alan Didak, Josh Fraser, Brodie Holland, Ben Johnson, Paul Licuria, Tarkyn Lockyer, Matthew Lokan, Ryan Lonie, Mark McGough, Steve McKee, Jarrod Molloy, Shane O'Bree, Simon Prestigiacomo, Anthony Rocca, Heath Scotland, Rhyce Shaw, Chris Tarrant, Shane Wakelin, Tristen Walker, Andrew Williams, Shane Woewodin.
Geelong Squad: Steven King, Tom Harley, James Bartel, David Spriggs, Ben Graham, James Kelly, Joel Corey, Will Slade, Peter Riccardi, Charlie Gardiner, Kent Kingsley, Steven Johnson, Cameron Mooney, Aaron Lord, Brent Grgic, Matthew McCarthy, Brenton Sanderson, David Johnson, Gary Ablett, Matthew Scarlett, Jarad Rooke, James Rahilly, Paul Chapman, Peter Street, Darren Milburn, David Wojcinski, Josh Hunt, Corey Enright.
The rules
There won't be any interchange restrictions, nor will there be any nine-point supergoals. The two teams will be playing under the rules of the 2013 home and away season, meaning that all rules unique to the NAB Cup will not apply. Both sides will be able to select three normal interchange players and one substitute as they have during the past two home and away seasons.
Injuries
Collingwood
Ben Reid (knee) – 1-2 weeks
Alan Didak (hamstring) – 2-3 weeks
Luke Ball (knee) – 3 weeks
Dale Thomas (ankle) – 3-4 weeks
Tim Broomhead (Glandular Fever) – 4 weeks
Michael Hartley (shoulder) – 4-6 weeks
Corey Gault (groin) – 6 weeks
Lachlan Keeffe (knee) – 6-8 weeks
Brodie Grundy (back) – 8 weeks
Geelong
Josh Cowan (Achillies) - indefinite
Lincoln McCarthy (navicular) - indefinite
Dawson Simpson (back) - indefinite
Broadcast Guide
Collingwoodfc.com.au will be covering the match with a live chat from 3.45pm direct from Kardinia Park. Match highlights will also be viewable on CTV, while our official Twitter account @CollingwoodFC will post regular score updates.
Then what?
The Collingwood players will have one final week off before getting set for the match against North Melbourne on Easter Sunday. The club's VFL team will play against Geelong at Kardinia Park on Saturday at 1pm before taking on the Northern Blues at Visy Park the following Friday at 4pm. Both matches will represent the final opportunities for any senior players to get some match fitness under their belts before the season proper commences.
