Brody Mihocek and Taylor Adams celebrate a big goal in the Round 14 win over Carlton last season. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
COLLINGWOOD
2020 record: 10 wins, 8 losses, 1 draw (6th)
THE INS
Oliver Henry (Geelong Falcons), Finlay Macrae (Oakleigh Chargers), Reef McInnes (Oakleigh Chargers), Caleb Poulter (Woodville-West Torrens), Liam McMahon (Northern Knights), Beau McCreery (South Adelaide), Jack Ginnivan (Bendigo Pioneers), Isaac Chugg (Launceston)
THE OUTS
Adam Treloar (Western Bulldogs), Dayne Beams (retired), Travis Varcoe (retired), Tom Langdon (retired), Jaidyn Stephenson (North Melbourne), Ben Reid (retired), Tom Phillips (Hawthorn), Lynden Dunn (retired), Atu Bosenavulagi (North Melbourne), Tim Broomhead (delisted), Matthew Scharenberg (delisted), Rupert Wills (delisted), Flynn Appleby (delisted)
THE STRENGTHS
It’s hard to go past evergreen captain Scott Pendlebury as the Magpies’ biggest strength. At 33, the champion midfielder is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down and is still his team’s best player. Last year, he finished second in Collingwood’s best-and-fairest for the fifth time, which means in 15 years, he has finished on the podium 12 times, including five wins. He also led the Pies for Brownlow Medal votes (13) in 2020 and is the club’s all-time leader in that category with 207. He’s the club’s games record-holder (316) and longest-serving skipper (164), too. If he isn’t Collingwood’s greatest player, he’s certainly in the discussion. In Steele Sidebottom and Taylor Adams, Pendlebury has two superb midfield lieutenants, and if Brodie Grundy can put his underwhelming 2020 behind him, the Pies are already looking a lot better on the ball, despite the loss of Treloar. Their backline will look a lot stronger this year as well, with Jeremy Howe back, and up forward they have one of the competition’s most electrifying talents in Jordan De Goey. The Magpies also showed how good they still are at playing in hostile territory, with their epic one-point victory against West Coast at Optus Stadium in the elimination final clearly their best performance of the year. And in victories against Geelong, St Kilda and the Bulldogs, they looked like the Magpies of 2018 and 2019.
THE WEAKNESSES
After having one of the most tumultuous off-seasons in their recent history, the morale and culture at the club could suffer badly this year. And if that happens, it wouldn’t matter if you had talent on par with Brisbane of 2001-03 at your disposal, it’s almost impossible to function properly on the field. A bomb went off at the Holden Centre during the trade period as salary cap mismanagement came back to bite Collingwood in the backside, with Treloar, Stephenson, Phillips and Bosenavulagi all traded out in sensational fashion. In the past, we’ve seen how destructive losing so many players in one hit can be for a club, and it runs the risk of ripping the heart out of the place. Has Essendon ever truly recovered since losing Damien Hardwick, Justin Blumfield, Blake Caracella and Chris Heffernan in 2001-02? Not long after the Collingwood quartet was shipped off, long-time president Eddie McGuire announced he would be stepping down from his role at the end of 2021. In turn, his imminent departure has turned the heat up on coach Nathan Buckley. McGuire is clearly Buckley’s biggest supporter at board level, and ensured he held on to his job when most others would probably have been sent packing. However, Buckley now becomes just the third coach in history to enter his 10th year at a club not having won a flag – the other two were Neale Daniher (Melbourne) and Brad Scott (North Melbourne), both of whom lost their jobs before their 10th seasons ended. On top of all the tumult that has already occurred at Collingwood, can you imagine the headlines about Buckley if the Pies start the season, say, 2-5? There just seems to be a lot going wrong off the field at the Holden Centre, and a domino effect of disharmony appears as though it has already been set in motion. To top everything off, De Goey has indecent assault charges hanging over his head and is due to appear before court on April 22. What doesn’t get spoken about too much is the sheer quality of players Collingwood has lost to retirement as well – Beams, Varcoe, Langdon, Reid and Dunn have all hung up the boots. Granted, some of those guys hadn’t played much footy in a while, but it still leaves a massive hole of leadership and experience on the list. The Magpies
PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.
would also be hoping that Grundy’s poor showing in 2020 was just down to hub life, because if that form is now the rule and not the exception as he begins his new seven-year contract this season worth $7 million, then Collingwood’s salary cap headaches are only going to get worse down the track. The Pies’ lack of key forwards is also a concern, with Mason Cox the only recognised, established tall target in attack, having missed out on yet another key forward’s signature – this time Jeremy Cameron, who opted to go to Geelong. Collingwood was the only top-eight team not to be in the eight best attacks in the AFL last year, ranked 13th. The Pies averaged 27.8 more disposals than their opponents each week (second in the AFL) and were eighth for total inside 50s, but dropped all the way down to 15th for total scores per inside 50 – now that is not the hallmark of a properly functioning forward line. And, yes, they had to contend with injuries, with Pendlebury (four games), Howe (15), Sidebottom (10), Treloar (nine), De Goey (nine), Phillips (four) and Levi Greenwood (13) all missing big chunks, but at times, particularly against Melbourne and West Coast in round eight, their game plan looked downright confusing. Their lack of edge and ferocity was also highlighted by the fact that they were ranked 12th both for clearances and tackles on differentials. And they couldn’t have produced two more contrasting finals performances – as good as they were against West Coast in week one, they were absolutely abysmal in week two, trailing Geelong 80-7 at one stage in the final quarter before losing by a flattering 68-point margin.
ONE TO WATCH
Isaac Quaynor might only have 15 games under his belt, but he already looks the goods. The speedy, rebounding defender has quickly cemented his spot in the Magpies’ backline, and looks set to take it up another notch in 2021. With plenty of pace to burn, a beautiful kick and sound decision-making, the 21-year-old is poised to provide plenty of excitement for the black-and-white faithful for years to come.
UNDER THE PUMP
Will Hoskin-Elliott had a year he would rather forget in 2020. He averaged just 11 disposals per game and could only manage 11 goals from 18 matches – well down on his output since crossing to the Magpies in 2017. He mustered just three touches in the semi-final against Geelong, and of course he wasn’t alone that night, but it really capped off a dirty year for the former Giant in symbolic fashion. The Pies need a huge lift from the 27-year-old this year.
BEST 22
B: Jeremy Howe, Jordan Roughead, Brayden Maynard
HB: Jack Crisp, Darcy Moore, Isaac Quaynor
C: Steele Sidebottom, Taylor Adams, Chris Mayne
HF: Josh Daicos, Brody Mihocek, Will Hoskin-Elliott
F: Jordan De Goey, Mason Cox, Jamie Elliott
R: Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Levi Greenwood
Inter: John Noble, Josh Thomas, Tyler Brown, Darcy Cameron
Emerg: Callum Brown, Brayden Sier, Will Kelly, Jack Madgen
Howe is a massive inclusion after a knee injury restricted him to just four games in 2020, while Cameron earns a place on the bench to provide support to both Cox up forward and Grundy in the ruck. Madgen is stiff not to be in the 22 after playing 13 games last year, but gets squeezed out to accommodate Howe. And a bit of a family feud has occurred with the younger Brown brother Tyler getting the nod ahead of Callum. Callum has proven to be a reliable player, but Tyler looks to have some real star qualities about him after just nine games. One-gamer Kelly will be thereabouts, with Buckley publicly declaring how big a fan he is of the father-son selection. Meanwhile, the challenge for Sier in 2021 is to break back into the best 22. He’s been curiously out of favour since his impressive debut season in 2018, which almost finished with a premiership medallion.
