We continue our season review today with a look at Collingwood's season.
2011 Position: 12th / 2010 Position: 7th
2011 Record: 4-14 / 2010 Record: 10-8
Highest Score: 18.14.122 (Rd 1 vs Frankston)
Lowest Score: 9.9.63 (Rd 16 vs Williamstown)
Leading goalkickers: Eddy (21), Reilly (15), Bolton (15), Bull (13), Dick (12), Perham (12), Ugle (12)
What happened: After winning three of its first six games, including an inspirational come from behind win against reigning premiers North Ballarat, Collingwood capitulated. Stung by injuries and suspensions to its AFL list and also losing top-up player Robert Eddy, its go-to-guy in attack in the first half of the season, the VFL Magpies failed to gain any traction. After defeating Geelong by four points in round 7, Collingwood endured an eight game losing spree before it broke the shackles with a five goal win against cellar-dweller Frankston in round 18. Add to this further frustration for Collingwood to end the season, with a five point loss against Bendigo, where they coughed up a 45-point quarter time lead. Sandringham edged them out by three points in round 21 to put an exclamation point next to an exasperating season. Collingwood suffered some thumping losses – 15 goals against Werribee and 80-points against Bendigo Bombers. While it posted a 74-point win against Frankston, unquestionably Collingwood’s best performance was its win against North Ballarat in round 5 at Victoria Park, where they turned a four-goal three-quarter time deficit into a one point win. For the most part, Collingwood really struggled to apply scoreboard pressure. Only five times did Collingwood kick a 100-point scoreline and two of those were against the Dolphins while they conceded 12 century scorelines to the opposition. They did however never score below 60 points a game themselves. Eddy led the club goal kicking with 21 goals and he didn’t play after round 13.
Star performers: Plenty of young Magpies, most noticeably Anthony Fasolo, Lachlan Keeffe and Luke Rounds used the VFL as a launching pad to force their way into the AFL and then perform well on the game’s biggest stage. Others like first year player Paul Seedsman improved as the season progressed. Collingwood also provided the opportunity for several top-up players – Eddy, Tom Sundberg, Kris Pendlebury, Tom Couch and towards the end of the season Jarrod Witts to showcase their talent. Certainly, Sundberg made a telling impact throughout the season and one big enough to be in the running for VFL Team of the Year selection.
What’s needed: Collingwood’s model for its VFL team is different from all other VFL clubs except for Geelong. The Magpies use its VFL club largely for development with ladder position secondary to having players learn how to play the structures and game plan adopted in the AFL so as to enable a seamless as possible transition to the AFL when the opportunity arises.
Last Modified on 01/09/2011 06:42