Why Collingwood struggles against poor teams | Thebigtip

By Jason Phelan at afl.com.au

SATURDAY night's clash with 15th-placed West Coast will test the harder mental edge Collingwood has been working to develop.

While the Magpies have contested the past four finals series, they have also been guilty of dropping games against lower-ranked opponents, which midfielder Sharrod Wellingham said had been an area of concern.

"It's definitely something that's come to bite us in the past," Wellingham said following Friday's training session at Gosch's Paddock.

"With us having to play so many blockbusters, we get built up for the big games and then we tend to lose the games we should win, which is something we're trying to remedy this year.

"It's [about] not being complacent and not going into games really switched on is something that we've had to work on. We go up to Sydney like we did last week and we know what we have to do. I suppose we've got to take that attitude into games that we have lost in the past and making sure that we do win them.

"If you look at our list it is a very strong list, so it's got nothing to do with the talent in the side - it's got to do with our mental capacity."

Once again the selection panel could not find a place in the 22 for ruckman Josh Fraser with John Anthony replacing the injured Brad Dick (shoulder).

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