Media Release                                                                                                                3 June 2005

Magpies wake up to new game

So soporific had watching Collingwood become earlier this season that even Magpie coach Mick Malthouse was moved to apologise for the eyesore.

Malthouse lamented his team's inability to play "pretty football" after its 38-point loss to St Kilda in round six. "You probably have to apologise because we haven't got the footballers who are going to be Nathan Buckleys," he conceded.

He wasn't wrong. With the exception of a blistering second half against Carlton, for two months the Magpies were not only losing, but sending their support base to sleep with a frustrating and slow possession-based game that seemed to go every-which direction but goalwards.

In the end, it seems even Malthouse could not take it any more. Before the Magpies played West Coast a fortnight ago, the dual premiership coach signalled Collingwood's intent to take the Eagles on at their own game rather than the anticipated "dogfight" that surely would have ended with the Magpies being overwhelmed by talent anyway.

His team duly delivered the upset of the season, the first time for eight years that 16th on the ladder had beaten the top team. And it did it as promised, the Magpies going more direct, fiddling less and racking up 18 goals, only the second time all season they had passed 100 points.

The new attacking bent continued last week against Hawthorn, when the Magpies managed 17 goals. Smaller forwards Blake Caracella and Alan Didak were the beneficiaries of the quicker and straighter delivery, booting nine goals between them.

Suddenly, it's as if we are watching a different team. Collingwood in the past fortnight has been bold and confident, prepared to take risks, more prepared to back its own ability instead of being preoccupied with stopping opposition sides exhibiting theirs. And the statistics underline just how dramatic has been the transformation.

Collingwood, since its apparent change of philosophy, is doing far more with the ball with fewer possessions. Prowess statistics show the Magpies have slipped from an AFL ranking of seventh for disposals over the first eight rounds to 10th in the past two, dropping from eighth to 13th for handballs.

But the Magpies are putting those possessions they have to much better use. The quicker delivery to the forward line is underlined starkly. Over the first eight rounds, Collingwood kept possession at all costs, the Magpies ranked only eighth for kicks to a contest. But they have ranked first over the past two weeks, with the midfielders now more prepared to back the marking power of Chris Tarrant and other talls one-out.

That has meant more scoring chances. Collingwood is sixth in the league for inside 50s over the past two rounds compared with a previous 12th, its goal-a-game average soaring from 11.5 to 17.5.

And quicker delivery from the middle also has meant straighter delivery. The Magpies were only 13th for accuracy after eight games; they have been No. 1 the past fortnight. Until the West Coast game, Collingwood was kicking only 58 per cent of its goals from positions in front of goal.

Against the Eagles and Hawks, the figure was 80 per cent, 28 of an aggregate 35 goals in the two games coming from relatively easy shots, unlike the sort of impossible boundary-line snaps Tarrant was taking earlier in the season, when the Magpies' glacier-like movement of the ball made for an overcrowded forward line, with the spearhead continually forced to lead into the deepest of pockets.

Two of the biggest factors in the turnaround have been midfield pair Brodie Holland and Shane O'Bree. Over the first two months, they averaged 18 and 16 disposals respectively, but over the past fortnight 25 and 24, the Magpies' leading ball-winners in those past two victories.

Those extra contributions have not only relieved some of the burden upon the likes of Paul Licuria, Ben Johnson and Rhyce Shaw and given Collingwood more running power, but seemingly have given the Magpies some extra "grunt" as well. Their ranking for effective tackles has soared from 15th to second in the AFL over the past two games.

It's not rocket science, just a greater commitment to some fundamental football truths about movement and use of the ball. And the impact has been obvious in all respects. Not only is Collingwood winning, but it's also now possible to watch the Magpies play without having to pop a No-Doz to stay awake.

COLLINGWOOD'S TWO-WEEK REVOLUTION
(Figures are rankings)
Rounds 1-8 Rounds 9-10
Disposals 7th 10th
Handballs 8th 13th
Contested marks 14th 2nd
Effective tackles 15th 2nd
Centre clearances 6th 1st
Kicks to contest 8th 1st
Disposals per goal 16th 2nd
Inside 50s 12th 6th
Accuracy 13th 1st
Goals kicked from in front 12 (58%) 2 (80%)
SOURCE: PROWESS

Rohan Connolly
The Age

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