Collingwood has bridged gap on Richmond and this is the Magpies’ big moment, Matthew Lloyd writesMatthew Lloyd,
Herald Sun
July 28, 2018 IN THE lead up to Round 10, 2001, Leigh Matthews famously delivered this line, “If it bleeds you can kill it”.
Matthews had been asked what hope Brisbane had of beating Essendon, which had won 32 of its previous 34 games, including the 2000 premiership.
Unbelievably, Brisbane was 4-5 after nine rounds when Matthews made that statement, but he was sending a psychological message to his players that Essendon was not invincible and could be beaten.
He was not going to allow his Brisbane side to be intimidated by Essendon the following night.
Brisbane did play with real aggression and confidence at the Gabba that night, winning by 28 points, and that win became the catalyst for Brisbane to go on a 16-game winning streak, which included Grand Final victory over Essendon by 26 points.
There comes a time in every successful team’s journey where you have to confront the best and then conquer the best.
The confidence you take from coming out on top catapults you to the next level and has you believing that a premiership is a reality, not just a pipe dream.
Saturday is that day for the Collingwood Football Club.
The Magpies have the game to beat Richmond but the doubts surround whether the Pies can sustain their effort for the full four quarters, which you have to do to beat Richmond.
The Tigers are relentless and the bigger the challenger, the more they thrive. Collingwood will have to be at their absolute best to beat them and cannot be intimidated.
There are three big men at Collingwood who are relatively young in experience but who need to stand tall in Saturday’s pressure-cooker environment to take down three of Richmond’s gamebreakers.
The first is the in-form Brodie Grundy who needs to go after Toby Nankervis both physically and aerobically.
There is nothing like an aggressive big man taking charge and Grundy has the ability to jump all over Nankervis and then beat him on the spread due to his high level of endurance. Nankervis is a very good player who has been brilliant for Richmond but Grundy needs to make it his ambition to be the best man on the ground by giving his midfielders first use of the ball.
Collingwood’s other big man Mason Cox has come a long way in 2018. Cox now believes that he belongs at the highest level and he will need to play with a presence on Saturday, particularly if he is picked up by Alex Rance.
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You just can’t occupy Rance, you have to put yourself in the firing line early and get him competing in one-on-one contests where he has been found wanting on a few occasions this season.
If the Pies can generate some quick entries and put the ball to Cox’s favoured side, their aim should be to get Rance scrambling and giving away free kicks in the first quarter.
If Cox can occupy Rance all day and kick a couple of goals in the process, that will be a massive win.
Down the other end of the ground, I would love to see Darcy Moore given the job on Jack Riewoldt.
Jack is the heartbeat of the Richmond team with the energy that he brings and his ability to bring other players into the game.
Jack also covers a lot of territory and Darcy has the endurance, athleticism and height to be able to go with Riewoldt around the ground and in the air.
Moore’s lack of match fitness would be Nathan Buckley’s main concern, but I would take that risk as Riewoldt has too many weapons for Matthew Scharenberg and Tom Langdon and would be too strong for Jeremy Howe. Howe could then be used to play on the least dangerous forward and help support Moore on Riewoldt in the air.
A Riewoldt v Moore match-up would be worth the price of admission itself, particularly if they are involved in one-on-one aerial duels throughout the afternoon.
Saturday is the most anticipated game of the season because Collingwood has built their game around the fundamentals that have made Richmond a premiership side and the red-hot favourites to go back-to-back.
Both teams have the ball living in their forward half through unrelenting pressure as well as moving the ball at speed and hitting targets.
On 13 occasions this year a Collingwood player has kicked four goals or more in a game (Jordan De Goey has done it four times, so his absence on Saturday is significant).
Again, this is very much the Richmond model where there is an even spread of goalkickers and not a major focus on one player being required to do the bulk of the scoring.
In Round 6 Collingwood couldn’t sustain the level of intensity that was required to beat Richmond, with the Tigers kicking eight goals to three in the last quarter on their way to a 43-point win.
I genuinely believe that Collingwood has bridged the gap but to what extent we will find out on Saturday.
This is the time of year when a team emerges and says to itself — and the footy world — we can win this.
Saturday is Collingwood’s moment of truth.
If it bleeds, you can kill it.
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