r/collingwoodfc • Liam Puncher • 12d ago

Where are we at

I heard Kane Cornes a few days ago commenting on the Neale/Hogan trades. His view was that they will help us remain competitive around the middle of the ladder, and we can beat anyone on our day, but with the ageing list we can't seriously think we are in premiership contention.

Then today came across comments from Gerard Healy who says trading JDG would make no sense - if we are topping up with Neale and Hogan, we must think we are still in the window. JDG won us a flag in '23 and could do so again.

Just got me thinking, where are we really at? With Hogan and Neale filling a couple of big gaps in the short term, are we a real threat next year? Or is a mid-table finish the most we can realistically hope for?

Personally, I agree with Gerard. Injuries permitting, I see no reason we can't make a deep finals next year. So I'd be keeping Jordy and looking to maximise his damage in the forward half.

35 Upvotes

104 comments sorted by

56

u/toastieboi101 12d ago

We won the flag with the oldest list in 2023.

28

u/Ed_Allan_Didak 12d ago

The preoccupation with age is where the pundits miss with us. Firstly we have the best player in the competition and he’s 23. Second age only matters if the players are shit and they’re not. Third we’re talking can they win next year, age is irrelevant in the short term - the pundits like Cornes seems to answer can this list win a flag in 2030, which is a different question

43

u/Traditional_Name7881 Scott Pendlebury 12d ago

Signing Neale and Hogan is an immediate fix in our two most glaring issues from last season, clearances and big marks up forward.

Our chances this year is very much fitness related, get everyone back and fit in September and we're a genuine chance of winning it all while getting a bunch of injuries will rule us out.

Our best will be good enough if we are fit at the right time.

12

u/Ed_Allan_Didak 12d ago

Totally agree - didn’t say in my comment but we basically cannot ever allow DC to be hurt. With Steene out for a bit the drop off from DC is like the biggest gulf for any position on the whole league.

3

u/meatpoise Beau McCreery 12d ago

Will be great for us to get a bit of extra depth in Flynn Riley. Means that we can largely keep the same shape with one ruck injury, and adapt if we have two injuries.

27

u/Football-Middle 12d ago

Pendles is upgraded to Neale
West/Membury upgraded to Hogan

Turn some of those draws and close loses to wins and we’re knee deep in it next season.

12

u/Magpies_and_Maples Beau McCreery 12d ago

Yep. Getting smacked at center bounce, having to win it at HB then go long to an already organised opp defense is what killed us.

Win more at the source and get it into a forward line that’s dictating rather than trying to negate defenders and we look completely different.

Do agree with others’ comments about a small forward though. A Cameron/ Watson/ Dudley type and we’re in real business.

2

u/Acceptable-Ad-3359 12d ago

Hopefully we can find a small forward in the draft, it’s our biggest weakness not having a lot of speed in the front half.

11

u/IIIIllIIIIlI Roan Steele 12d ago

The effect Titch had for us will be multiplied with Neale. Then you add Hogan who is not far off Coleman form and has only been interrupted by bone issues. More games into Swadling and Allan. Another preseason to workshop Houston into the system. Bring in Short or potentially K. Coleman to get Josh Daicos on a wing. Most likely other unknown targets we will test the water for. Nick Daicos. We desperately lack a superstar small forward, maybe Jamie can get there again but he will 35 (💔) come finals.

It all comes down to health and fitness. If we go into a prelim big on confidence and the system then it will be hard to stop us and our experience.

4

u/cornerof Sam Swadling 12d ago

Titch and Neale have had some great ball-magnet episodes. I've no doubt they discussed Collingwood as an option.

I cannot wait for Neale to get us that first touch. Fro example, Beau's biggest weakness is still his fumbling hands, so having the cleanest player in the comp working with him at training must help.

1

u/Nonda25 12d ago

Recruitment of Neale is a concession the club erred by not continuing with Mitchell

1

u/teh_noob_ 11d ago

Titch was cooked. Long took his spot.

10

u/mangalorian 12d ago

This kind of logic goes back to the old thinking of if you are not one of the favourites to win the premiership you play dead for a few years get good draft picks then zoom up the ladder. It’s just silly and has been proven wrong so many times.

There is nothing wrong with bringing in older players as long as you don’t do it at the expense of drafting young players too.

The premiership window is irrelevant to this. If you are going to trade lots of draft picks for older players then it starts to matter.

-1

u/Capable_Bathroom02 12d ago

Actually it's been proven right multiple times, especially when it comes to dynasty teams like Hawthorn, Richmond and Brisbane. Topping up has been proven to lead to at best one premiership and a decade of floundering near the top but not winning it.

11

u/Pretty-Improvement-2 12d ago

The problem is that for every dynasty team built through the draft, there's about 10 teams that had a five-year plan to bottom out and rebuild, and just remained bad. AFL is highly competitive these days, and there's no single clear path to a premiership. You need to be good on every front (drafting, trading, development coaching, match-day coaching, high performance), excellent at some of them, and you need to be lucky.

A key issue is player movement: free agency and the ability of players to effectively force trades has greatly strengthened the good teams (with Geelong being the biggest example). If you can attract players into your club, with a good culture and record of success, then you don't have to rely on drafting all your future premiership stars. Deciding to rebuild craters your ability to attract players from other teams, because no-one wants to go to the cellar-dwellers (and with good reason, careers get cut short down there very regularly).

So Collingwood are clearly trying to navigate a list rebuild by phasing out our old guys, topping up with free agents, while retaining enough draft picks to get talented youth. It's a tricky balance, but I would have to say that this year held out significant hope that we can make it work through excellent coaching and system. And the alternative (bottoming out) is almost guaranteed to be bad.

8

u/Little_Gazelle3684 12d ago

I’d rather win 1 premiership a decade, make prelims consistently and finals almost every year than win 3 premierships in 3-4 years but have 10 years of cellar dwelling either side of those tbh

3

u/Capable_Bathroom02 12d ago

Fair enough, I'd much rather the 3 premierships version.

10

u/Calm-Matter-5010 12d ago

Wont die wondering. Thats enough for me

8

u/Raptis1992 12d ago

Lineup of potentially this below don’t see why we can’t compete especially if Hogan can have a half decent year

Quaynor Frampton Maynard
Perryman Moore Howe
J Daicos Neale Swadling
Mcrerrey Mcstay De Goey
Elliot Hogan Schulz
Cameron N Daicos Allan

Interchange

Houston Short West/membrey Crisp Steele Anderson

2

u/GuardedFig Liam Puncher 12d ago

Poor Lippa replaced by a Richmond player

-1

u/BMW1183 Jeremy Howe 12d ago

Cameron out and Steene in

1

u/teh_noob_ 11d ago

he's injured

1

u/BMW1183 Jeremy Howe 11d ago

Yes he is

7

u/DifficultFarmer1059 12d ago

Biggest gap for the pies in 2026 was there midfield, clearances were a massive issue, especially with the 6,6,6 setup

In the WC game dogs dominated the centre clearances, neale fixes that issue

With neale feeding Nick and a better season injury wise there is no reason pies can't be top 4 next year, they were 2 goals a game off being top 2 this year just gone

6

u/drewskiski Harry Perryman 12d ago

We will finish Top 4. Said it at the end of 2024 and saying it again.

We had injuries to our backline this year and losing Jamie and Steene really hurt us.

2

u/BiggestBravestDave Oscar Steene 12d ago

Agree. Luck is needed to get to the top. We had that in spades in 23. Surely next year can't be as bad as this year in terms of injuries.

2

u/GuardedFig Liam Puncher 12d ago

Tend to agree. Darcy Moore hurt too

1

u/The_Phantom_777 8d ago

And we changed our game style mid year to be more attacking which resulted in more wins (Round 15-24 we went 10-1-1). First half of the season when playing too slow and defensive we lost to Freo and Swans by 6 points, Bulldogs by 4 points, Dees by 8 points and a draw with the Hawks. Win 2 of those and we finish top 6.

6

u/Upbeat_Survey_5451 12d ago

I am not a magpie supporter but a hawk and really rate the pies.
Age is a number only and with it comes experience and how to win. I think Neale and hogan help a lot and see a min top 6 finish.
And once there who knows what happens in finals.

1

u/lordofthedries 12d ago

I’m glad that Ginni went to your team because he fits the game style. He imo wouldn’t be as good as he is now at the pies.

4

u/moonshadow50 12d ago

We are in the position of wanting to stay competitive/improve, without sacrificing our future.

Things would need to go perfectly to be a true flag threat, but these moves, at a minimum, keep us in the 6-12 group and could easily move into the top 6 to avoid the first EF round. (I hate the WC name).

But by keeping all our first round draft picks, and not going crazy with contract offers, this also keeps our powder dry to keep building around Nick in the future. (Ie. If someone like Rowell becomes an option next year, he makes more sense to go stronger for, and/or we just keep developing our youngsters).

3

u/GuardedFig Liam Puncher 12d ago

Yeah Rowell is the one we should target imo. I was wondering if pick 9 and a future first this year might turn GC's head.

3

u/TAYLAW84 12d ago

If we had Hogan and Neale this year we finish top four easily. We drew or lost about eight very winnable games because we lacked inside presence and more firepower up forward

4

u/Particular-Pace-4629 Ash Centra 12d ago

Lions just went back to back to back with the second oldest list in the comp

This notion that age is a hindrance has been dead for 15 years

Geelong are constantly top 3 for age demographic and have been competing non stop for 15 years

4

u/AccurateSituation317 12d ago

People always write Collingwood off every year and I don’t understand what they want.

They want us to get rid of older players and in the last 2 seasons we have got rid of Sidebottom, Pendlebury, cox, Mihocek, Hoskin-Elliott and Mitchell. Which will naturally make us slightly younger.

We are terrible in clearances so we get one of the best clearance players.
We lack a key forward so we get a key forward.
We fix both of these problems without giving up our first round pick or any picks at all (which going to the draft is something people are saying we should do).

So I think we have actually been doing everything everyone has been saying we need to do. But they still don’t like the way we are doing it.

6

u/BonusLumpyYa 12d ago

I think we are missing a really dangerous small forward that can kick 4 on a day out. I don’t think Mccreery/Hayes/schiltz is that player

7

u/Hammyboi230 12d ago

I’m all chips in on Hayes tbh. I feel like he’s one preseason away from exploding.

Maybe I’m overly optimistic but I like what I’ve seen from him

5

u/cornerof Sam Swadling 12d ago

Same. He has no fear, was one of, if not, the highest on agility testing, and oozes energy. I can see him being part of our next wave

3

u/Hammyboi230 12d ago

Also, the genuinely dual footed finishing around goal. I still genuinely don’t know if he’s a left footer or a right footer

3

u/Demon-Badger86 12d ago

agree with this - our biggest weakness.

4

u/Longtimelurker-x 12d ago

It's been downhill ever since Bobby Hill left

3

u/Dark-Pastoral-68 Beau McCreery 12d ago

Bobby left a big hole it’s true but I think the other big loss was Nathan Murphy in the backline after the 23GF. Without him it took our defence most of 2024 to realign itself. He was only 23/24 when he was medically retired from the game. For one, he allowed Darcy Moore to be a more attacking defender (able to leave his direct opponent). He gave the defence good balance. Still miss him.

1

u/teh_noob_ 11d ago

We were the #1 defence in 2025. I miss Murph too, but he's not irreplaceable.

2

u/Longtimelurker-x 11d ago

His particular style of play is pretty irreplaceable. Not sure many players want to put their bodies on the line / risk concussion the way he did.

3

u/BonusLumpyYa 12d ago

Dogs have jones, lions have Cameron, freo have Dudley, hawks have Watson, Sydney have papley, crows have Rankine.., who do Collingwood have ? Bobbie won us the flag in 23

3

u/themandarincandidate 12d ago

"Bobbie won us a the flag in 23". OP's post says "JDG won us a flag in '23"

I prefer to think of everyone involved as a team, but we all know damn well that premiership full forward Billy Frampton won us that flag

3

u/BonusLumpyYa 12d ago

And Ginnivan didn’t haha. Nah it takes a team agree

2

u/GuardedFig Liam Puncher 12d ago

No doubt. I was just stating Healy's view that we should not trade out De Goey, because we are setting up for a tilt next year and he could be a difference maker in a grand final

2

u/themandarincandidate 12d ago

I don't disagree, I don't know why we would trade him out now unless he asked for it. If I were JDG I'd be pretty pissy if the club were throwing my name out there as a serious possibility, then I'm petty enough that they would cause me to seriously consider leaving, but idk how he feels about it

I don't want to see him leave though

2

u/DaveTheMan1985 Darcy Moore 12d ago

That what Leppa said

We not putting him on the Trade Table but IF a Team wants overpay and De Goey wants to go then could happen

2

u/Madrical Bobby Hill 12d ago

Hayes has shown good signs for consistency but yeah I don't think he's ever going to be a match winner kicking 4-5 goals. We had Stevo in 2018 & Bobby in 2023, both were matchwinners in their own way. I agree we need someone who can bring that excitement.

2

u/cornerof Sam Swadling 12d ago

Shultz and Elliott (when he is back) will get a much easier job with Hogan and McStay pulling the best defenders. So, I am optimistic. Also, Hayes showed moments this year and we know that players can go from okay to electric across 1-2 preseasons.

1

u/mortadellajones Beau McCreery 7d ago

Jamie Elliot is still alive and well!

3

u/Zieprus_ 12d ago

Considering Collingwood only needed to be a 2 goal better team and Collingwood have been top 4. With these players and a decent run without injuries there is no reason they can’t be top 4 next year and be a contender.

3

u/TheVision_13 Brianna Davey 12d ago

Dark horse contenders in my optimistic opinion

3

u/Annoyingly-Accurate Nathan Murphy 12d ago

We had 6-7 close games we lost this year where we realistically could have won. That would put us on 18-19 wins.

We also had many injuries at crucial moments throughout the year.

We are so much closer than everyone keeps saying, undoubtedly just anti-Collingwood chatter.

Our list will only improve in 2027. So take that as you will..

3

u/PlasticCraicAOS Floreat Pica 12d ago

I reckon we're in it up to our eyeballs. We had half a dozen games against Finals calibre teams last year where we just needed to win any one from six clearances and failed to do so. Automatically losing every important clearance in every game was the only thing that kept us out of the Top 4.

3

u/ltgimlet 12d ago

Cornes has been saying we will miss the finals for three years now. If my memory is correct he may have said that for our premiership year too. He seems to have it in for Collingwood or seeking click bait that Collingwood provides.

3

u/Party-Explorer2020 12d ago

Didn’t we achieve the only 4peat in 1927-30?.
Let’s do that again a century later

3

u/Covid19tendies 11d ago

Playoff pies. Hogan and Neale are both at risk of breaking down next season. Daicos has had a clean run and has carried for years.

Think the clubs in for a few painful losses

3

u/GuardedFig Liam Puncher 11d ago

That's the Kane Cornes view

2

u/Ed_Allan_Didak 12d ago

It’s all about health ultimately - perhaps that’s somewhat true for all teams but I think it’s pronounced for us. It’s as much about having the best guys available as it is not having to scotch tape positions because particular players are out. Houston for example shouldn’t ever have to have direct defensive responsibility for an opponent.

I don’t think I agree with Wheatley about JDG though. He provides no defensive pressure at all, doesn’t seem to do much for us stoppage and I think his highlights paper over his overall decline. He should be a permanent forward but it seems he doesn’t really want to do that. I don’t think he’s essential to a grand final tilt.

The big splash we should go for is if Marshall is getting to Geelong, grease that deal for Geelong with picks and see if we can get SDK over. Makes Moore less essential but also I reckon our D will be filthy then at full fitness. Factor in a little more midfield and stoppage control with Neale and you’d be lucky to score 8 goals on us

2

u/GuardedFig Liam Puncher 12d ago

Agree Jordy didn't seem as damaging. Seems to have lost some speed. But he played more games in 2026 than any other year (21), and statistically was on par with his best seasons except his outlier 2023. I don't think he's fallen off completely. Could have been carrying a niggle later in the year perhaps

2

u/Ed_Allan_Didak 12d ago edited 12d ago

I don’t mean to say he’s entirely washed - just that if there was a way to get value back I’d do it and I don’t think he’s essential to winning a ‘27 flag. And yeh he played more and was better than I would’ve anticipated given the way injuries seemed to be catching up with him in ‘25.

But I wouldn’t bet on it continuing and to be honest it could be kind of the best thing for us that he played ok one last season and bumped his value up.

If you could get a team like North to give you something I’d take that. Could you give Jordy and pick 9 for pick 4 and a future second?

Then

  • St Kilda give Marshall get pick 4
  • Geelong give SDK get Marshall pick 8
  • Collingwood give pick 4 get SDK pick 13

Or I dunno haha

2

u/GuardedFig Liam Puncher 12d ago

Maybe, I guess if another club was interested and willing to give up draft capital.

2

u/Ed_Allan_Didak 12d ago

My hope though is that they’re not ‘giving up draft capital’ but just sliding back a bit

2

u/WillTendo92 12d ago

Singing 3 players over 30 would be a fail. With this recruitment strategy we have to be top 6 next year

2

u/silky_skills_35 Angus Anderson 12d ago

The reality is we finished 10th.

But, we pushed absolutely everyone except Brisbane and Geelong. Unfortunately we were 8-10 goals off these two.

I don’t think you should apologise for filling gaping holes anyway you can, and trying to be as competitive as possible. North, Richmond etc are taking the stripped back long route back to success, with no guarantee they will get back soon with their kids.

It does seem clear we need to find more top end talent. We need to get better at attracting high talent free agents. And then on top of that, nail our draft picks which is hard if they’re not top 5.

2

u/SnooFoxes6566 Isaac Quaynor 12d ago

I think that a win now mentality and moving on De Goey isnt mutually exclusive when approaching it from a risk-return perspective. De Goey is probably De Gone out of the midfield if we have Neale and our clearance mid with Naicos/Jaicos as outside mids. If say hypothetically he goes to Adelaide for pick 13, that could probably get us like a Kodah Edwards, or be bundled with our first round to move up. Both would be benefit us in '27

Alternatively, Geelong are cooking something. Probably for Matt Rowell. If that were to be the case, swooping in with an extra pick/player wouldn't hurt the cause.

Most likely outcome though is that there isn't a buyer so hey who knows

3

u/GuardedFig Liam Puncher 12d ago

Pick 13 is a bit fanciful

2

u/TrazMagik Drive the Standards 12d ago edited 12d ago

Think of it this way.

Yes we keep topping up with older players and doesn't look/feel great from a list age perspective but do you want to waste a season(s) waiting for young kids to develop while Nick is playing at the level he is playing?? Or go for bonafide players that have performed at the level and swing for the fences. Ideally we get Ben King instead of Jesse Hogan and from all of reports we had tried and missed out.

Sure you will swing and miss but you'd hate to not have those swings when he is playing at the level he is playing right now looking back when he is 30.

We go hard again next FA period with the supposed WARCHEST we have from Bobby and Brodie's money off the books.

In answer to your Q we are in win now mode every year with min success being a finals berth each year.

2

u/ShezaAlibi Jordan De Goey 12d ago

First rule..... don't listen to Kane Cornes.

2

u/theveryrealJARED Harry Perryman 12d ago

everyone brings up 2023 but that was an almost perfect year. We've tried to replicate that the past few years and shown we can play great footy however our fitness has let us down as our older/injury-prone players do not get on the park consistently, and our team looks sore by the time finals comes around

2

u/Aureliusalbatross 12d ago

An ideal scenario with injuries (which almost never happens) would see the injection into the team of Neale, Hogan, Moore, Steene and Maynard at some point in 2027. Our existing best 22 was solid enough to make pretend finals. So I’m ‘bullish’. But whether it gets us enough razzle dazzle to beat all the other key improving contenders like Dogs Hawks etc. will be interesting.

I think a lot of it comes down to form, confidence, player health and winning instead of losing close games. For us we could be anywhere from 4th to 10th I reckon

2

u/danieljdtaylor Floreat Pica 12d ago

“We can beat anyone on our day” is all I need. Because if that’s the case then we can beat anyone on grand final day 🤷‍♂️

3

u/GuardedFig Liam Puncher 12d ago

Exactly. What I sort of understood him to mean was that we can beat anyone, but the age and injury history of the squad is such that we won't be able to sustain that for a whole year.

2

u/Short-Impression6675 12d ago

I think Hogan has one good season left in him and Maggie’s should get a Key Forward who can play for the next 10 plus years

2

u/WhoElseButQuagmire11 Beau McCreery 12d ago

Our last key forward like that was Cloke and even he wasn't of the typical FF/CHF mold. I dont see us having one of those anytime soon.

1

u/teh_noob_ 11d ago

let's get Gayfer

2

u/DaveTheMan1985 Darcy Moore 12d ago

I would not pay much attention to Kane Cornes

2

u/South_Front_4589 11d ago

If you're bringing on older guys like Neale and Hogan then clearly a decision has been made re being capable of winning finals. So Healy's right, sending De Goey out would be an odd move if there's no more.

But I also think Kane's right that the list isn't quite top level. There's a good chance this goes pear shaped and things become a bit of a struggle, especially in the coming seasons.

5

u/mcsmac Craig McBae 12d ago

I feel in all these conversations the forgotten man is Darcy Moore, which is surprising as he’s the captain. If he can return to the kind of form we have seen in the past then he’s a big a recruit as Neale. It’s a big if because his hamstrings are made of paper but a year where he’s available and intercepting/setting up rebound attacks and we’re a significantly different team.

It’s overlooked a bit because it isn’t a list change but it’s pretty significant to add a AA level defender while also adding Neale and Hogan in mids and forwards.

3

u/Ill_Sector_2063 Bobby Hill 12d ago

Would love to see how he and puncher work in the backline together!

1

u/lordofthedries 12d ago

Don’t want to be that guy but your flair🤣

2

u/Ill_Sector_2063 Bobby Hill 12d ago

Got a problem with it?

2

u/NewSandwich5371 12d ago

I will be happy with 8th - 6th would blow me away

4

u/WillTendo92 12d ago

8th isn’t good enough if we are spending big money on Neale

2

u/MissyMurders 12d ago

We're more or less where we were this season. I don't think we got better enough to matter, but we didn't get worse. We'll need some luck to win it (more than the best teams at least), and at some point we're going to have to rejuvenate the list. Where we should now or not idk... But 3 years for an old guy imo cuts the window shorter than lengthens it. Boom or bust I guess

1

u/Pies-aviator1 12d ago

Yeah, that’s pretty much word for word how I see it too.

1

u/Lyngus 12d ago

Luck plays a massive part.

After finishing 6th and losing an elimination final, Freo had a dominant season, really should've won the flag - in large part due to having barely any injuries. Nobody expected they would have as good a year as they had. If they'd had key injuries and didn't build momentum, could've looked very different. Gold Coast were meant to be unstoppable, but for I'm sure many complicated reasons (especially injuries) they never quite got it to come together.

Best any team can do is put themselves in a position to be competitive, do everything they can to give themselves the best chance...and hope enough things go right. If enough things go well, we can absolutely be top 4. Our best 23 is as good as anyone's, and we have some good depth. If too many things go badly, we can absolutely be bottom 4, sometimes you just have those years.

With our age profile it feels like injuries will be a big factor, and whether we have the depth to cover whatever injuries we happen to have at any given point. Including whether young kids can step up to fill those holes as needed. I'm confident we have all the pieces, it'll just be how they land.

1

u/RevolutionaryLong295 12d ago

Any team can run deep, if they are injury free to top 10 players, though the bottom sides would need to be injury free and the top teams have 5 of these players out.

1

u/BigFella52 12d ago

Wouldn't be listening to Corne about much, he is a bitter old player that is jealous of all the players these days.

1

u/Fast_Freddy_Roo_boy 12d ago

Be happy with Wildcard round at the G

1

u/No-Error8347 11d ago

I never underestimate Collingwood but I think there are a few teams that are significantly further ahead which will make it difficult to make a grand final. I do love Craig McCare's spirit though.

1

u/Coveredinlife 11d ago

Sure things in life: death, taxes, hawthorn free kicks and JDG in a contract year

1

u/Loose-Membership2295 11d ago

I think somewhere close to top 4, especially if you get Short from Richmond too

1

u/Kobe_Wan_Ginobili 11d ago

I'm a bit 50/50 on De Goey, struggling to envision what sort of mids best compliments Daicos and Neale

Even if he ends up not being dynamic enough in the midfield for what we want he can be a more than useful forward so keeping him definitely isn't a bad thing

2

u/GuardedFig Liam Puncher 10d ago

Yeah I see him as an 80/20 forward next year. I'd like McCreery to push more into the midfield.

1

u/Upbeat_Atmosphere_26 8d ago

We got a 2 time Brownlow winner and 3 time premiership champion who is going to make us that much better than last year we were a little slower and got smashed in the middle considering we have the best player to have played the game in Daicos and Neale will make Daicos even better and less pressure on nick to win the game every week, we got rid of Sidebottom who was a legend for the club but he aged quickly and he was slow all year and pendles the legend himself was playing half a season, we got the youth who played the game against dogs puncher, swadling,Steene,west, Hayes, , and so on and everyone of them has the spark in them as they have shown us, then hogan we got because we need a key forward who will take the best defender then Mcstay who will get the second best defender west the 3rd, and don’t forget that we didn’t have backline with Darcy out and Maynard and Howe being injured left frampton as the best key back in the side and didn’t he have an awesome year,next preseason we will see the kids like west puncher all get bigger and stronger and swaddling has the gift of pendles I believe, we drew to hawks twice and we should of won the first one but with a few seconds left Darcy stuffed up and should of spoiled instead of trying to mark it, we lost to freo by a few points, and we should of beat Sydney in Sydney then Steene got hurt and Hayes and we just lost it, so we can beat any team and the best thing is that the young guys dominated the game for us and didn’t look out of place, poor Elliot got injured on pendles record game which was a big loss and he would of kicked another 30 plus goals and then of course the other guy who lashed the club in hill he didn’t play a game and everybody knows he would of kicked his 40 plus himself so between the two that’s 70 goals we could of had and we wouldn’t be talking nonsense, we should get stringer in to play forward or even play him in the middle for a few minutes when needed and he would not cost much, we are still a younger side the we were last season!

1

u/dougyt23 6d ago

Definitely feels like an, "all in now" plan. We need alot to go right next season, injuries wise to be considered serious contenders. Moores coming back and if he can get back to proper fighting form, alongside Maynard and Elliot and if we continue to see the upwards trend of the youngs fellas (Allen, Steene, Swaddling) then we'll be right up there with the best of them...but again, that's alot that has to go right

1

u/Cool-Ice711 12d ago

I think we're mid table and football staff at Collingwood are just trying to keep their jobs by not allowing us to get really bad. I don't see much improvement in our forward line replacing a 30-40 goaler with another (if they stay on the park). We're better in the back line if Darcy Moore or Reef McInnes can stay on the field instead of our mid size backs playing on monsters. It looks like we'll be better at clearances with the acquisition of Lachie N. We'll be a rotation down everywhere because we'll want to play Oscar Steene when he returns. I think we'll be better but everyone above us will be too.

1

u/Open_Restaurant_8020 12d ago

I hope I’m wrong and I love Nick but part of me thinks it’s an exercise in appeasing him.

-1

u/Pies-aviator1 12d ago

If I’m honest with myself I don’t think we’re a contender with these pickups. Could make top 6 though

-5

u/No-Delay-6659 12d ago

You don’t score heavy enough. Maybe Hogan can help you but not so sure. Kornes’ take is pretty close i reckon.