John Longmire cunningly used Robbie Fox as a defensive ahead on Isaac Quaynor – one in every of Collingwood’s few good gamers in spherical one and a harmful intercept defender and distributor of the ball. Fox was crafty. Quaynor was crushed.
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This all compounded the unique drawback in Collingwood’s defence that was obvious every week earlier towards GWS.
Collingwood has lengthy performed a rolling-zone defence, which implies their defenders – together with their finest one, Darcy Moore – performed on everybody and nobody.
Usually, it really works. Usually, he has the clever assist of Nathan Murphy and the timed leap of Jeremy Howe for assist. Murphy is presently not there, Howe was enjoying his first recreation for the yr and Charlie Dean was enjoying solely his second senior recreation. In the long run, Howe was wanted ahead to have somebody – anybody – who might take a mark there.
Collingwood had been outscored by 47 factors from turnovers – their second-worst outcome below Craig McRae. When was the worst? Spherical 23 final yr towards Brisbane when the Lions performed that very same excessive press, excessive stress defensive type.
Common intelligent ball customers had been among the worst culprits for Collingwood’s blunders.
Sydney playmaker Isaac Heeney was dominant towards Collingwood.Credit score: AFL Images
Groups largely have a selection in video games between a excessive press and a low press. Between pushing defenders aggressively excessive up the bottom and attempting to hunt and stress the opposition right into a turnover. This dangers committing too many gamers excessive up the bottom the place the opposition may kick via them and get into harmful house. The opposite possibility is a low press; holding numbers again in defence to provide protection behind the ball. Sydney largely utilized a excessive squeeze of Collingwood and it labored.
Nevertheless it wasn’t fully one over the opposite. As a senior coach mentioned, no crew can completely play a method, or the great opponents will work out methods to get via them.
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The Giants, as an example, are a crew that forces opponents into making fast selections about how excessive they threat squeezing up. Groups that make a shallow entry into their very own ahead line towards the Giants discover themselves in essentially the most harmful place to be in on a soccer area. In the event that they push up too rapidly and aggressively, the Giants will breeze via them. In the event that they maintain again, GWS will punch holes of their defence.
Sydney struck the proper stability of when, and the way usually, to squeeze up excessive on Collingwood and hunt the defenders in numbers. And, but, it took time to yield outcomes. For the entire Swans’ area dominance within the first time period, once they pushed up actually exhausting at Collingwood, they had been nonetheless, at one level, trailing 1.6 to Collingwood’s 3.1.
This has been Melbourne’s drawback previously, reminiscent of within the qualifying last final yr, when the Demons pressed numbers excessive to cease the Collingwood counterpunch but in addition left themselves with a clogged ahead line the place it was troublesome to attain.
The Magpies trying dejected after shedding their spherical one AFL match towards the Sydney Swans on the MCG on Friday night time.Credit score: Getty Photographs
Sydney had been smarter in how they attacked their very own aim amongst congestion. They modified angles of assault. The Swans understood that in the event that they stored going ahead by the identical angle of assault towards Collingwood Darcy Moore or Brayden Maynard would learn it and intercept the ball.
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Collingwood tried to reply within the second quarter, pushing Scott Pendlebury unfastened behind the ball from the midfield and pulling one of many excessive half-forwards, Beau McCreery or Lachie Schultz, into the midfield. The plan being to be extra cautious in how they transitioned the ball from defence and to vary the angles.
Within the second half, because the Swans nonetheless stretched their lead, Collingwood flicked to a quick and better threat ball motion to attempt to get excessive of Sydney’s excessive press. In assault Collingwood had little assist.
Ash Johnson was the main target of criticism after the sport, and it was warranted after a second poor recreation in a row, however it’s price acknowledging the three Magpies talls – Mason Cox, Johnson and Brody Mihocek – took three marks between them inside their crew’s 50-metre arc.
Johnson will plainly exit of the crew, however Collingwood might want to think about shifting Cox into the ruck and utilizing Darcy Cameron as a goal ahead. Cameron has been good within the ruck within the first two video games, however Cox has supplied nothing in assault. Reef McInnes may even must be thought of because the Magpies seek for one thing.
Opposition techniques additionally solely account for a part of the image. The reigning premier’s success was constructed on a workrate that at present will not be there. That’s one thing Collingwood, not the opposition, management.
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