It was no cakewalk against the Eagles, but good old Collingwood keep standing up when it matters

The Age

14 hours ago

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11.16pm 'Four points, not style points': McRae
10.37pm Daicos says tagging not an issue for him
10.35pm Analysis from Marvel: This was far from a cakewalk for Collingwood
10.18pm Pendlebury combines celebrations to keep his kids happy
10.10pm FT: Collingwood 12.10 (82) d West Coast 8.11 (59)
8.15pm West kicks his first goal
7.38pm Injury saga goes from bad to worse at Bomberland
7.29pm Sensational seven for Gunston on a dirty day for North in Tasmania
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Pinned post from yesterday 10.35pm
Analysis from Marvel: This was far from a cakewalk for Collingwood
The black and white army came expecting a cakewalk, yet it was anything but for Collingwood.
It took until midway through the final quarter for the overwhelming majority of the partisan crowd of 38,126 to be certain they would be singing the song after the final siren.
Craig McRae's men took another step to securing a top-two finish but there was little else for the Magpies to get carried away with after their 29-point win – 13.10 (88) to 8.11 (59) – over the bottom-placed West Coast at Marvel Stadium.
'We come here for four points, we didn't come here for style points,' McRae said.
'We got the job done but we've got work to do.'
The Eagles were undaunted and played with dare, perhaps providing rival coaches another clue as to how to beat the flag favourites, but the Pies won because they were smarter when it mattered and took their chances.
With wins on the board, Collingwood have the luxury of taking half an eye off the here and now to plan for the medium-term, not that the coach would admit to that.
Barring a disastrous injury list, there is little chance they will field a forward line with the quartet of talls in Dan McStay, Tim Membrey, Brody Mihocek and Charlie West in September.
But West deserved a debut after sustained strong form in the VFL and it's better to give him an appetiser in a game they are expected to win in June than a winner-takes-all game in September.
The pressure provided by the injured Beau McCreery, Lachie Schultz, and Bobby Hill – a late withdrawal due to personal reasons – was missing for significant stretches. It was a factor.
West booted a goal with his first kick but did little else, though the experience will hold him in good stead.
'Not sure,' McRae said when asked if he would persist with four tall forwards.
'We thought there was an opportunity to reward behaviour, in particular Charlie West.'
Collingwood's game was clunky. Seldom were they able to generate the breathtaking run and carry from defence that has been a feature of their play under McRae.
Part of this was due to the Eagles' pressure, a much-improved facet of their game, but the Pies did not help themselves by not taking territory when it presented.
'Clearly, they owned the corridor at times,' McRae said. 'It wasn't taken away from us, I just didn't think we used the ball that well. We had a lot more turnovers in this game than we have throughout the year.'
When the Eagles were at their best, in the second and third terms when they responded after four-goal runs, it was the run and bounce they generated off half-back that made them dangerous.
'I just think we were trying to be too cute for a lot of the game,' Pies ruckman Darcy Cameron said.
'We had so many opportunities to give our forwards a chance one-on-one, and we gave that one extra handball and messed around with it a bit too much. They brought the pressure, we invited it in a sense. We didn't help ourselves.'
The Magpies did not pay the price against the bottom team, but better teams will punish them if they reproduce a similar effort.
Nick Daicos enjoyed the luxury of playing without a close tag, amassing 34 disposals, though he was not dominant.
He will face a challenge for the three votes on Brownlow night from Scott Pendlebury and Liam Baker. Pendlebury, with nine clearances among his 28 possessions, was pivotal to the Pies' charge with his deft work in close and his pressure.
Jeremy Howe was rock-solid in a miserly defence that absorbed more traffic than expected.
The Eagles had their chances to put the Pies under supreme pressure but a goal conceded seconds before the three-quarter time siren by Jack Williams to Dan Houston, and one missed from 30 metres out directly in front early in the last quarter by the same player, cruelled them.
12.23am
That's all for tonight
Thanks so much for joining us for three cracking Saturday games.
We will have plenty of AFL coverage on our sport websites in the days to come, so please keep visiting and we will have more footy blogs next round so keep an eye out for them.
Have a lovely evening and bye for now.
yesterday 11.16pm
'Four points, not style points': McRae
Magpies coach Craig McRae said his side wasn't at their best but they handled business and found a way to beat a much-improved West Coast side.
McRae wasn't happy with his side's turnovers and ball movement in the first half, but they were better after that, with the Pies coach pointing out that his side won the second half by 37 points and kept the Eagles to just 59 points overall.
He said people made too much of ladder positions.
'One of the last things I said to the boys was that we come here for four points, not style points,' McRae said.
'We got the job done, but we have work to do.'
McRae reiterated that Bobby Hill's personal issues were just that – personal, and private – and he would keep them that way. Hill was a late withdrawal from the Marvel Stadium clash.
yesterday 11.04pm
'That's the team we want to be': McQualter
Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said the way his side played against Collingwood tonight was exactly how he wants them to play in the years to come.
The Eagles led until early in the third quarter but just couldn't stick with them when it mattered most. They ran the ball, were brave and creative with their handballs, and set up a number of shots at goal.
'We are never happy with losing, but the performance we got tonight was the type of team we want to be,' McQualter said.
'I thought we challenged the best team in the comp until the last few minutes of the game.
'Some parts of the game we need to improve on, but there was a lot to like.'
McQualter added that key forward Jobe Shanahan, who impressed on debut, was an exciting player for the club.
'He's a really classy player and the more he plays, the better he will get,' McQualter said.
yesterday 10.37pm
Daicos says tagging not an issue for him
The tagging issue has followed Collingwood and Nick Daicos around the past few weeks, but the man himself says facing a tag doesn't change his game.
The Eagles didn't send a stopper to him tonight and he finished with 34 disposals and a goal but he had similar numbers against St Kilda when Marcus Windhager followed him everywhere.
'It doesn't change my game a whole heap – my instructions from the coach are to go hunt the ball and get to as many contests as I can,' Daicos told Fox Footy.
'We actually think it helps us if teams tag us.'
Magpies coach Craig 'Fly' McRae met with Daicos during the mid-season break to see how they can do things better.
'He's amazing, Fly. We have a great relationship, and it was a mid-season review on how we were going as a team,' Daicos said.
'It was also about how I was handling having a bit more attention [defensively], and how I could handle it.
'Fly is a humble guy who has been around a long time, and he has a lot of experience to share.
'Fly gives me licence to make reads as a midfielder. This one went my way – there are ones that won't go my way and I have to own that one.'
yesterday 10.35pm
Analysis from Marvel: This was far from a cakewalk for Collingwood
The black and white army came expecting a cakewalk, yet it was anything but for Collingwood.
It took until midway through the final quarter for the overwhelming majority of the partisan crowd of 38,126 to be certain they would be singing the song after the final siren.
Craig McRae's men took another step to securing a top-two finish but there was little else for the Magpies to get carried away with after their 29-point win – 13.10 (88) to 8.11 (59) – over the bottom-placed West Coast at Marvel Stadium.
'We come here for four points, we didn't come here for style points,' McRae said.
'We got the job done but we've got work to do.'
The Eagles were undaunted and played with dare, perhaps providing rival coaches another clue as to how to beat the flag favourites, but the Pies won because they were smarter when it mattered and took their chances.
With wins on the board, Collingwood have the luxury of taking half an eye off the here and now to plan for the medium-term, not that the coach would admit to that.
Barring a disastrous injury list, there is little chance they will field a forward line with the quartet of talls in Dan McStay, Tim Membrey, Brody Mihocek and Charlie West in September.
But West deserved a debut after sustained strong form in the VFL and it's better to give him an appetiser in a game they are expected to win in June than a winner-takes-all game in September.
The pressure provided by the injured Beau McCreery, Lachie Schultz, and Bobby Hill – a late withdrawal due to personal reasons – was missing for significant stretches. It was a factor.
West booted a goal with his first kick but did little else, though the experience will hold him in good stead.
'Not sure,' McRae said when asked if he would persist with four tall forwards.
'We thought there was an opportunity to reward behaviour, in particular Charlie West.'
Collingwood's game was clunky. Seldom were they able to generate the breathtaking run and carry from defence that has been a feature of their play under McRae.
Part of this was due to the Eagles' pressure, a much-improved facet of their game, but the Pies did not help themselves by not taking territory when it presented.
'Clearly, they owned the corridor at times,' McRae said. 'It wasn't taken away from us, I just didn't think we used the ball that well. We had a lot more turnovers in this game than we have throughout the year.'
When the Eagles were at their best, in the second and third terms when they responded after four-goal runs, it was the run and bounce they generated off half-back that made them dangerous.
'I just think we were trying to be too cute for a lot of the game,' Pies ruckman Darcy Cameron said.
'We had so many opportunities to give our forwards a chance one-on-one, and we gave that one extra handball and messed around with it a bit too much. They brought the pressure, we invited it in a sense. We didn't help ourselves.'
The Magpies did not pay the price against the bottom team, but better teams will punish them if they reproduce a similar effort.
Nick Daicos enjoyed the luxury of playing without a close tag, amassing 34 disposals, though he was not dominant.
He will face a challenge for the three votes on Brownlow night from Scott Pendlebury and Liam Baker. Pendlebury, with nine clearances among his 28 possessions, was pivotal to the Pies' charge with his deft work in close and his pressure.
Jeremy Howe was rock-solid in a miserly defence that absorbed more traffic than expected.
The Eagles had their chances to put the Pies under supreme pressure but a goal conceded seconds before the three-quarter time siren by Jack Williams to Dan Houston, and one missed from 30 metres out directly in front early in the last quarter by the same player, cruelled them.
yesterday 10.19pm
Full-time stats
yesterday 10.18pm
Pendlebury combines celebrations to keep his kids happy
Evergreen Magpies star Scott Pendlebury spoke to Fox Footy post-game.
On the game...
We knew they'd been really competitive in games. Early on we got a bit too cute – it's a credit to them as their defence is good and they took a lot of intercept marks.
You never like a scare. You won't play perfect offensive footy every week. Tonight was a bit ugly, but we kept them to 59 points and walk away with a very nice win.
On his goal celebration of putting a helmet on his head and swinging some kind of sword
[My kids] Jax got a lightsaber, is that what it is called from Star Wars? And Darcy wanted me to put a helmet on, so I combined the two so they are both happy tomorrow morning.
On first-gamer Charlie West
He's so infectious – he's been playing good footy in the VFL the whole season. He's got a taste of what it is ike to be an AFL player, and he has got a long career ahead of him.
On whether he will rest any time before the finals
My body feels the best it has in the last five seasons and continuity is a good thing, but we will trust in the coaching staff and what they want to do with me.
yesterday 10.10pm
FT: Collingwood 12.10 (82) d West Coast 8.11 (59)
It wasn't pretty but Collingwood over-ran a brave West Coast Eagles side to win the top versus bottom clash at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.
The Eagles led until the third term when the Magpies burst clear, and then held on to their modest lead for the rest of the match.
Nick and Josh Daicos were both excellent, as was Scott Pendlebury, while West Coast ran hard, defended bravely and challenged Collingwood at every turn.
Liam Baker and Brady Hough showed plenty for the Eagles, while both Charlie West (Magpies) and Jobe Shanahan (West Coast) kicked goals on debut.
yesterday 9.54pm
Both clubs use their subs
Both clubs have made what looks to be tactical subs.
Debutant Charlie West and Jamie Cripps have been subbed out, with Oleg Markov and Jayden Hunt entering the action on.
Pies 78, Eagles 58 with 11 mins to play.