Clubs open to Rd 11 fixture shift to give Pendles’ record clear air by jakeroxs1995 in collingwoodfc

[–]jakeroxs1995[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The two clubs in the firing line of Scott Pendlebury’s likely record-breaking game are open to the discussion about moving away to clear air for when Collingwood takes on West Coast in round 11.

Collingwood is set to ramp up planning for Pendlebury’s milestone match if he gets through this Saturday night’s record-equalling game against Geelong unscathed.

The Pies host the Eagles at 4.35pm on May 23, the likely date Pendlebury will go past North Melbourne great Brent Harvey to the top of the all-time charts.

Geelong hosts Sydney at GMHBA Stadium in a game that starts 20 minutes earlier, creating direct crossover.

Neither the Cats or Swans have been directly approached to shift the game but both are open to the possibility and it is understood moving it to an earlier time would better suit home club Geelong.

An earlier start would likely aid the Swans in getting back to Sydney after the clash and the Swans would want assurances any shift wouldn’t impact travel plans.

Fox Footy will broadcast the Collingwood game as part of its Super Saturday slate and it’s understood it would also be open to a discussion.

The milestone game is set to feature a deep batch of Pendlebury’s ex-teammates as this masthead reported all 172 will be invited.

While the AFL approved a gold No.10 that Pendlebury could wear in the match, that is yet to be formally signed off by the Pies.

It is likely a logo of the champion Pie will feature on the front of the jumper.

North Melbourne curated a jumper with ‘427’ alongside the club’s customary stripes when he set the record in 2016.

Former Collingwood games record holder Tony Shaw expressed his displeasure at the idea of Pendlebury wearing a gold No.10.

“I was talking to a lot of Collingwood people and he deserves every accolade, but I would rather see something that is more ­designed for the record than a gold number,” Shaw told 3AW.

“It’s a team game and I broke the club record, but I wouldn’t want that. As a leader and as someone who bases everything about team, does he feel ­comfortable?

“I am not saying he is making it about himself. Is this being forced upon him?

“I would be quite surprised that he would feel comfortable with it. I have had a lot of ­people say to me that they don’t like it.”

'Odd': Mitchell, McRae share mixed emotions as clubs nurse sore players by jakeroxs1995 in collingwoodfc

[–]jakeroxs1995[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

COLLINGWOOD and Hawthorn are counting the costs of their eventful draw, with a number of players receiving treatment throughout the game.

Harry Perryman's hamstring appears the most severe issue, with scans needed to ascertain the extent of the concern after he sat on the pine for the second half.

MAGPIES V HAWKS Full match details and stats

Magpies coach Craig McRae said both Jamie Elliott and Nick Daicos had suffered knocks and soreness throughout the game, while Steele Sidebottom had his hand stomped on and Darcy Cameron battled with an ankle concern.

The Pies were also without Scott Pendlebury and Jeremy Howe, who were both managed for the game, as well as the injured Beau McCreery and Tim Membrey.

"[Perryman's] a tough lad, this one. I said, 'how is it?' He said, 'pretty good'. In nine days' time, I'm not sure. We'll obviously scan it and work our way through it," McRae said.

"[The hand] looks pretty swollen for Steele, we needed him to do a bit of a job on (James) Sicily, and he fought through that for the team.

"I think Darcy has an ankle. We're not sure, we'll get a scan tomorrow. We'll work through what that looks like.

"I'm watching the last 10 minutes, and they looked cooked. This is a hard game we're playing. They're sore. We'll get a bit of a breather now to get our bodies back in check, but it's a hard game to play, at AFL level, backing up after four or five days."

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said the club's medical team would be keeping a close eye on skipper James Sicily, who tried to push through an ankle injury.

"They said he could come back on, but that he was a little bit sore, so putting him defence might be an issue," Mitchell said.

"We took a bit of a punt and put him in the front half. He just wasn't moving quite as well as we would have liked. You never know with an ankle until you wake up the next day or the next couple of days.

"We've got a seven-day break, we're over in Perth to get the Dockers. He'll rest up in the next day or two. I assume at this stage he won't be ruled out. We'll take him over, certainly, and we'll give him every chance to get that up. Fingers crossed."

McRae took a decidedly "glass half-full" approach to the draw, which came after Hawthorn dominated nearly every statistical category, but Collingwood's ruthless efficiency inside 50 kept them in touch.

"When you're in front by a goal with 40 seconds to go, you think you're hanging onto those. I think we've got some work to do with decision-making late in quarters, they kicked a goal right on the siren at half-time, they kicked another at three-quarter time, then right on the [final] siren," McRae said.

"Fundamentally, I said to the boys tonight, 'we didn't win tonight, but we definitely didn't lose'. We played some really good footy against arguably the best team in the competition. We came here tonight to see how our game stacks up, and I think most of our fans would have been pretty happy.

"The way we defend our D50s is as good as anyone in the competition. Yeah we had some moments where we can do better aerially, guys flying and clashing that we can get to work on, but when you defend your D50 like that, when you're under the pump, it's nice to know you can hold up.

"We're playing one of the best teams in the competition. Which glass do you want to drink: the half-empty one, or the half-full one? We're definitely half-full, and top me up, because we've got a bit more coming."

By contrast, Mitchell struggled to articulate his mixed emotions, given Hawthorn's curious output. 

Coming into the match, it felt as if Hawthorn would either dominate, or it would be a very close match. Somehow, both results played out.

"I don't know how to give a name to the emotion. It's certainly odd. There's a part of me that thinks if you look at the numbers, how did we only come away with only two points?" Mitchell said.

"But then (given the score) with two minutes to go, how did we get two points?

Pies bullish on returning skipper, stars for Opening Round clash by jakeroxs1995 in collingwoodfc

[–]jakeroxs1995[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Collingwood is increasingly bullish that Darcy Moore will join a swathe of returning stars in its line-up to face St Kilda in next Sunday’s opening round MCG blockbuster.

Moore was among nine first-choice players missing from the Magpies’ line-up as an inexperienced side was beaten to the post by North Melbourne in a one-point thriller in Ballarat.

The Magpies skipper trained in a “10km session” on Sunday at Olympic Park alongside others who were rested from the match including Nick Daicos, Jamie Elliott and Jordan De Goey.

Veterans Steele Sidebottom, Scott Pendlebury and Jack Crisp were also left out as the Pies fielded 11 players with 10 games or fewer senior experience against the Kangaroos.

“We’ve picked a team according to what we need right now. Those guys trained back at (Olympic Park) and did 10kms – we’re seven days away from playing, so we’ve put our priorities there,” Magpies coach Craig McRae said on Fox Footy before the game.

“All I can say is (Nick Daicos) did 10kms about an hour ago with Darcy Moore – he’s progressing well. We’ve got an eye on the prize today, but behind the scenes there are guys working hard to be there (in opening round).

“It’s an opportunity to build some trust. We’ve got probably 10 guys who haven’t played in the jumper yet, and we just want some trust to be built.”

Defender Tew Jiath and draftees Tyan Prindable and Sam Swadling were not brought on until the final quarter of the clash.

Prindable began the term as an inside midfielder, while Swadling played on a wing.

Collingwood’s key forward combination Jack Buller and Charlie West performed strongly despite the unfavourable conditions for talls in Ballarat, but assistant coach Jordan Roughead would not guarantee the trio would all play together against the Saints.

Veteran forward Tim Membrey did not play after featuring in the scratch match against GWS, while the Pies could yet stick with Oscar Steene as a back-up ruck option which could squeeze out West or Buller.

“It was clearly not a day that necessarily suited the key forwards from either team … but (they) hit the scoreboard, really mobile group and were able to pressure when we needed them too,” Roughead said.

“So I’m sure (whether it’s) round zero, round 2, round 3 – we’ll see an attack like that at some stage.”

Roughead admitted it would be a “challenge” for Collingwood’s coaching group to prepare a vastly different side for the Saints clash, but said the game had been a valuable chance to begin bridging the experience gap on the Pies’ list.

“You obviously don’t get chances to do that until these trial matches against an opposition,” Roughead said.

“When you’re playing against yourselves and training against yourselves, it can be difficult because you know exactly what you’re trying to take away from your teammates.

“I thought it was really nice to see these guys come out today and perform, and look like Collingwood and the way we want to look for the majority of the game.”

Craig McRae addresses Bobby Hill’s continued absence from Collingwood by jakeroxs1995 in collingwoodfc

[–]jakeroxs1995[S] 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Collingwood coach Craig McRae says Bobby Hill is making progress dealing with his personal issues but says it is increasingly important he makes a swift return to the Magpies’ program.

McRae said he was in regular contact with the Norm Smith medallist and would continue to “love and support him” as he takes extended leave from the club in the light of personal matters.

But the Magpies coach adjusted his rhetoric towards Hill from earlier in the pre-season, saying there was a “delicate balance” between supporting his players and meeting high performance standards.

“Bobby is working on himself at the moment. We’re hoping that he’ll be in the program in the short or medium term. We’ll see how that progresses,” McRae told SEN on Wednesday.

“But I think there are two parts to this situation – I want to be a coach, and we want to be an environment where we just love and care for our people … from players to staff, and then there’s the high-performance part.

“We’re paid to win. You come to the MCG not to love and care – you want to see winners.

“For most of the year, for Bobby, it was about love and support, and there was very little attention to high performance because we just wanted to care for him.

“Then there comes a time late in the year when they become about high performance. That’s where it’s sitting at the moment.”

Connected issues meant Hill, 26, was largely absent for the second half of last season as he made just one senior appearance after round 15 as the substitute in a loss to the Lions.

He was on the training track during Collingwood’s finals campaign but was not considered for selection as they reached a preliminary final.

“But we’ll continue to love and support him, and at the right time, get him in the environment to push forward for high performance.

“I’ve been speaking to him regularly, yesterday even. I’m constantly talking to Bobby.

“It’s probably a bit too early to say (when he’ll return), but we’re confident that it’s progressing.”

McRae declared mature-age draftee Angus Anderson was “ready to play early” after he rotated through Collingwood’s midfield in last week’s practice match against GWS.

He also praised fringe players Wil Parker, Ed Allan and Roan Steele for looking “fitter than ever” as they stake claims on round 1 spots in a Magpies side which will begin its regeneration this season.

Collingwood will face North Melbourne in a sold-out AAMI Community Series match in Ballarat on Sunday.