Pretty Black and White Wrap UP Collingwood V Fremantle AFL – MCG Saturday 1 June 2019 Sir Doug Nicolls Round

Collingwood started well with a point from Mihocek and a smother produced a goal from De Goey. Moore was fantastic with his spoils in defence and De Goey added another point. The Captain, Pendlebury intercepted a Fremantle kick for goal and send it back to the Pies 50 resulting in another point from Mihocek. Sidebottom was kept busy with his match up on Ed Langdon and Varcoe showed his skill under pressure with beautiful kick placement. A miss match of Aish on Hogan (Freo) gave them a goal. The Pies defence was relentless and great teamwork moved the ball out of Freo’s 50. Varcoe continued to work hard delivering and taking some hard knocks. The Pies were under siege in their 50 and struggled to convert. Roughead and Greenwood continued to be outstanding in defence making it difficult for Freo to execute their game plan. At this point Freo had more inside 50’s than Collingwood. Teamwork brought the ball down to the Pies 50 and Reid was given a free for a shepherding penalty against Freo and goaled. Fremantle scored a goal off the back of what should have been a free kick to Howe after a hand on the shoulder and a trip; accidental or otherwise, giving them the lead by a goal. Pendlebury tackled hard and got the free and a shot for goal which he delivered on. At the end of the first quarter the scores were level.

The start of the second quarter saw Collingwood working much harder to get the ball into their 50 but they were unable to convert with Brown adding a point. Mihocek had safe hands all game but struggled with his accuracy when kicking for goal. Things were looking up as Collingwood had won 10 of the previous 15 clearances. Fremantle struggled with their accuracy and added another point. Reid handed out a strong tackle after a kick to him went awry. De Goey crumbed beautifully and goaled. Maynard was strong all day and very effective in defence. Hoskin-Elliott gave a tidy kick to Treloar and then on to Stephenson for a shot at goal. It was a tight angle and this week his kick was perfect. Another goal for the Pies. The combination of Thomas, Varcoe and Beams gave the Pies a much-needed goal. Aish offered up tidy kicks and the Pies began to find their composure and space around the ground. Collingwood’s use of the middle corridor was shut down by Fremantle and the umpires argued over what was a mark by Grundy and a push in the back for Lobb (Freo). Mihocek had another shot at goal and added a point. The Pies had managed 61% of time in their 50 and Howe was sensational with his one-handed mark. Mayne placed a clever kick under pressure and Varcoe gave 2nd and 3rd efforts. The Pies led by 13 points at the main break.

The third term saw Fremantle come flying out of the blocks and score 2 quick goals; and another one of which was touched by Mayne and still paid. Insert angry emoji here! The Collingwood midfield struggled and Freo took advantage and scored another goal, their 4th in a row. As the Pies got into the quarter, they transitioned well from defence but were unable to convert. Brown added another point. Sidebottom was hard working and Hoskin-Elliott had a successful long shot at goal. Freo led by 9 points and the Pies decided it was time to tidy up their game. De Goey had eyes for the ball in front of goals which came off the back of a smother from Maynard. Teamwork from Beams, Varcoe, Brown and Reid saw another shot at goal, but they were beaten by the siren. Fremantle led by 4 points at the final break.

The start of the final quarter saw Collingwood determined to improve their game. Grundy won the centre bounce and kicked straight to the goal square. Pendlebury stepped up and kicked the first goal for the quarter giving the Pies the lead by 2 points. Stephenson used his speed to get the ball to Reid who was taken high and goaled for the Pies giving them the lead by 8 points. The Pies had 73% disposal efficiency to 70% of Fremantle. Freo responded with a goal and Roughead was good in defence again this week. Thomas had a shot at goal from 45 and was accurate. The Pies led by 8 points again. Aish hand balled with Mundy (Freo) all over him and delivered an accidental punch to the face and a blood nose. Varcoe applied excellent pressure and cause the player with the ball to run to far and almost dakked him in the process. Freo added another point to their tally and then a goal. The Pies led by 3 points. The final 5 minutes saw desperate footy from both sides and it became a goal for goal, point for point game. Unfortunately, the Pies were unable to pull off a successful last quarter as they had done in previous weeks and lost by 4 points.
 
Final Score:  Pies 11 9 75               Dockers 11 13 79   Freo by 4 points
My Take
OK. So, it was not the fairy tale game that fans hoped for and as a team it was a lacklustre performance. Some players performed well, and others performed well on and off. There was a heaviness about the team and from external appearances there was a lack of cohesion and the ‘go get ‘em’ mentality was not there. They also probably underestimated the opposition. For some reason all teams tend to bring their best against Collingwood and in doing so uncover the team weaknesses. That being said we still have some players out of the side with injuries and we had a few returning and possibly a lack of match fitness.

​The beauty of a game like this is that there is time to work out the kinks and do some team bonding prior to the finals. As a team they need to refocus and make sure that they (players, Coaches, admin etc) are all on the same page and go back to the drawing board and start again. They need to believe that they can win against any side and that they are, as individuals, very talented. After all, if they weren’t, they wouldn’t be playing AFL. I think this team has the skills and ability to win the Grand final this year they just need to play 4 full quarters of footy and believe that they can do it. 80k plus fans can’t be wrong. Looking forward to playing the Dees at the G next week.  Go Pies!
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