'Pies In Review: Collingwood Brilliant First Up! | Thebigtip

This is the first entry of a review on Collingwood which I hope can be submitted every week.


In the first hit out of their premiership defence the Magpies have shown their never say die attitude, surviving a third quarter scare to finish off Port Adelaide by 75 points. Collingwood showed the rest of the competition why they are reigning Premiers and why they are the favourites for the 2011 flag while Port Adelaide gave their fan base some signs. The Power led by a point halfway through the first term and also got within three goals in the third, but could not maintain the pressure for long enough, with the 'Pies kicking away each time they needed to.

Ben Johnson took the best-on-ground honours with a brilliant performance running off the back flank and pushing through the midfield proving the biggest threat to Port Adelaide. Amongst picking up plenty of the ball himself and getting on the scoreboard, Johnson also tagged Power star Danyle Pearce out of the game, restricting him to only 18 touches. The best on for Port was Matt Thomas who couldn't tag Scott Pendlebury out of the ground, but put his own show on picking up 27 possessions, kicking 3 goals while working hard laying 7 tackles and picking up 6 marks. Others that looked good for the Power were Kane Cornes who played a typical game of his picking up 28 touches and 8 tackles, while tagging Dale Thomas. Robbie Gray looked good while picking up a knee knock and rookie Jarred Irons looked good kicking 2 goals.

Back to the main topic which is the Magpies.

It was a team performance by the 'Pies, while some were brilliant and some needed to lift more and put a better effort in, they can be happy with the way they played and communicated as a team. It is time to single out a few players, for some good and bad things.


Andrew Krakouer and Simon Buckley

The two debut players for Collingwood showed signs, with one player looking much better. We will start with Andrew Krakouer. It has been a long run for Krakouer who has had to deal with a lot of stuff not being able to travel with the side in the off-season and almost not being able to play in the pre-season. It wasn't the start that Krakouer or any Collingwood fan would have wanted to see, with Krakouer struggling before turning on the magic in the third quarter and finishing with a good final quarter before being subbed off. Helped by the big quarter in the midfield Krakouer finished the match with 19 possessions, 5 marks and 5 tackles. The other debut player Simon Buckley could have given a lot more. The final stats make Buckley look a lot better than he was, finishing with 14 possessions and 2 goals after not getting a stat in the first quarter. Buckley picked up a lot of the ball in junk time and while both goals were good finishes, if he wants to keep his spot all year with Collingwood, he will have to perform much better if he gets another chance next week.


Ben Johnson: 33 possessions, 6 marks and 2 goals

As stated earlier in this review, Ben Johnson was the best player and definitely deserves to take home the three brownlow votes. Not only did he take care of Pearce when he was tagging him, but he also provided plenty of run off the back flank and was great when pushing forward. Collingwood fans got to see typical Ben Johnson with a great goal from outside 50, followed by a second later in the match. The Pies had many great players today, but the one they would be most happy with would be Johnson. Often called the silent achiever, he definitely didn't go through un-noticed today, the commentators on several occasions stating how great of a game Johnson had played.


Dane Swan: 34 possessions, 5 tackles, 8 clearances, 3 goals

Three time Collingwood best and fairest winner, started of the 2011 season with an amazing performance. Three things really stand out with Dane Swan's round one performance. The first thing is the clearances, with Swan picking up 8 clearances, the most of anyone in the match. The second and perhaps the biggest shows how great Swan was in tight against the Power, finishing the match with 16 contested possessions, again the most of anyone. The third is something Swan does very often, but still must be mentioned is the fact that he pushed forward and kicked 3 goals. The first goal of Swan's an amazing one step finish from 45 out, followed by two goals put on through Swan pushing very hard. A top game for Dane Swan, something that is always expected and will really please Collingwood fans and Swan who has recently signed on until 2014.


Chris Dawes: 20 possessions, 6 marks, 4 goals

Still yet to kick 5 goals in a match, Dawes finished with 4.3 after a few bad misses, which came along with some brilliant goals including one ripper from on the boundary line, something the Magpies key forwards can be well known for. The thing that was amazing about Dawes performance was how hard he pushed, showing that one day he could be considered one of the games elite forwards. If we could see how much ground Dawes covered today it would be an amazing stat, as the big man didn't stop leading. If his first lead was not rewarded he would double back and go again and if he couldn't take the mark he always took it to the ground for the small forwards to pounce.


Luke Ball: 20 possessions, 13 tackles, 6 clearances

A crazy 8 tackles next to his name at quarter time, Luke Ball looked like he had a hidden superman cape on in the first quarter. It was a perfect Luke Ball game and one that you expect from him time after time. The greatest thing about Luke is that he doesn't need to pick up 30+ touches to have a brilliant game. He can finish the match with 20 possessions and show his worth with brilliant pressure causing many mistakes to creep into the opposition and help out in the tight contests in the middle, shown by grabbing 6 clearances.


The list could go on for a long way with players like Scott Pendlebury, Dale Thomas, Jarryd Blair and multiple others putting in solid performances which went a long way towards the Collingwood victory, but the players mentioned above are the players who were the first to get a mention. The Magpies were let down with a few bigger name players such as Steele Sidebottom, Alan Didak and Ben Reid, but with all players who were off their game still showing signs, the Magpies will be looking forward to next week.

Collingwood take on North Melbourne next Saturday at Etihad Stadium, and after a 75 point smashing of the Power they will be looking to improve on the errors, but keep the solid form going and picking up a second round win.