Key posts
Dangerfield drops cheeky ‘all duck and no dinner’ sledge
Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield spoke to Channel Seven pre-game…
Q: Finals footy back here in Melbourne at the MCG.
A: I am not sure whether the last couple of nights have been great for the nerves, they have been wonderful games. Hopefully the margin is a little bit longer this afternoon.
Q: Have you watched them closely on Thursday and Friday?
A: I watched a little bit and as it kept getting close I was getting anxious watching. Maybe it is not the best thing for a game in a couple of nights’ time. A fierce contest. That is what today will be. We have to make sure we make the most of those. The ’G in front of 80,000-plus this is what dreams are made of.
Q: (Geelong coach) Chris Scott during the week said this preparation hasn’t been better for this group. Do you feel that within yourself as the playing group.
A: I feel like we are well- placed. We have really good accessability to our players in the year and the last five, six weeks selection has been tight. Players in and out. That bodes well for internal competition, rivalry last week at training was red hot. We are really ready to go.
Q: What about your preparation? How is the body? Are you ready to go full beast mode in September?
A: Body is feeling great, no excuses today. You never take an AFL game for granted. Something special about September as the weather warms up and you know when you are well and truly alive.
Q: The Pies are playing an exciting brand of footy and they’re there every single minute of this game. What are you expecting out there this afternoon?
A: They are all duck and no dinner. We do our things right and goes a long way to winning the game. Amazing season. So many wonderful players and they have executed at the right time of the year. So we need to be at our very best to match them.
Team changes
GEELONG
In: Jeremy Cameron, Mitch Duncan, Rhys Stanley
Out: Brandan Parfitt, Esava Ratugolea, Jonathon Ceglar
COLLINGWOOD
In: Taylor Adams, Nathan Kreuger
Out: Oliver Henry, Finlay Macrae
Jeremy Cameron.Credit:Getty Images
Selwood and Dangerfield will start on the bench
Geelong coach Chris Scott spoke to Channel Seven pre-game…
Q: No other better place in September than at the MCG. Back here first week of finals. I guess, what does it mean to you and the team to be here now?
A: I think, you’re dead right. Especially so after the last couple of years. We have worked really hard to get ourselves in this position. We feel ready. It is hard to know what is going to happen. That is where the nervous energy comes from. You certainly know that you are alive and take solace in the fact on the big stage we have done everything we can to give ourselves a chance
Q: Geelong you think of Dangerfield and Selwood and Hawkins and the younger fellas Parfitt and Holmes and even Miers standing up. You really have been able to get them out and about?
A: It is a hard team to pick. People say it is a good problem to have. I get it for the team. It really has been a brutal exercise for us being so close to those guys and so invested. That is the tough part. The depth we have been able to deliver. We’ll start this game with Selwood and Dangerfield on the bench. It is not because we want to share it around and everyone gets a prize. It’s what we think is best for us. We have a deep group and we will use it.
Q: Leading into the preparation you have to travel an hour and 10 minutes down the highway. Do the players come the day of the game or the day before? Or is it up to the individuals?
A: At our club it is up to the individuals. We tried to guide the young guys but once they get a couple of years in they work it out. The traffic is a nightmare whether you are coming from Melbourne or Geelong. I think it is a record number of tickets sold to Cats members. I think it speaks of the excitement that everyone has got.
Q: Look, many wins that you want to get across the line today. Your forwards, your backs and your midfield. Certainly your forwards versus their backs, is something where you can exploit Collingwood, I feel, today.
A: It is going to be a really interesting contest. Jeremy Howe and Darcy Moore two of their best players. They very much read the play. So if they get on their terms they will be a huge threat for us marking it. If we can be a bit smart with our ball use we might be able to put them under a bit of pressure. So, yeah, it goes a bit deeper than that too. You look at Isaac Quaynor and Nick Daicos having such a good year. Our forwards, we have three All-Australians in there from this year against their defence will be a big part of the game.
Subs confirmed
The medical substitutes at the MCG are Mark O’Connor (Geelong) and Nathan Kreuger (Collingwood).
Kreuger is playing his first game since Round 6 after overcoming a serious shoulder injury and this will be his first game against his old team.
Nathan Kreuger.Credit:Getty Images
Collingwood ‘erased’ what they think about footy
Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury spoke to Channel Seven before the game…
Q: Your 26th final today. Five of your teammates play their first. You how much are you enjoying this new generation coming through?
A: We provide different experience and I know that the boys are excited about today’s opportunities.
Q: An evolution for you and played a different way last year and have to let go of the old ways with this influx.
A: It has been a new system. From the first time that I walked into door (former coach) Mick (Malthouse) was there and ‘Bucks’ (Nathan Buckley) was the captain. Wipe the slate clean and erase how you think about footy and Craig McRae has spoken about freeing up. I certainly enjoyed the change and boys have embraced it.
Q: There is magic that can happen and you can’t tangibly see it or describe it. Something special happening at your club this year.
A: Certainly there is a good feeling at the club. We are not a side where you look at the stats Collingwood outstand the game today. We talk about the spirit and playing for each other. We showed that for a lot of the year and hopefully bring it today.
Q: You have been a relaxed group all year. Has your role had to change given it is a final.
A: I wouldn’t tell the story but saying that I will have to share it with you. Jack Crisp texted at 5:00 what time are we walking the ground. We thought we were playing at 2:30 today shows how relaxed he is.
Q: I’ve got to ask you about Nick Daicos. He looks tailor-made for this stage. He has a nice bit of swagger about him but he looks like he can do anything today.
A: Come in and fit into our system. His football IQ is off the charts. He plays an important role offensively and try to get the ball in his hand as much we can. His brother is out on the wing and they make a great duo. Exciting to see him coming through.
Dangerfield drops cheeky ‘all duck and no dinner’ sledge
Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield spoke to Channel Seven pre-game…
Q: Finals footy back here in Melbourne at the MCG.
A: I am not sure whether the last couple of nights have been great for the nerves, they have been wonderful games. Hopefully the margin is a little bit longer this afternoon.
Q: Have you watched them closely on Thursday and Friday?
A: I watched a little bit and as it kept getting close I was getting anxious watching. Maybe it is not the best thing for a game in a couple of nights’ time. A fierce contest. That is what today will be. We have to make sure we make the most of those. The ’G in front of 80,000-plus this is what dreams are made of.
Q: (Geelong coach) Chris Scott during the week said this preparation hasn’t been better for this group. Do you feel that within yourself as the playing group.
A: I feel like we are well- placed. We have really good accessability to our players in the year and the last five, six weeks selection has been tight. Players in and out. That bodes well for internal competition, rivalry last week at training was red hot. We are really ready to go.
Q: What about your preparation? How is the body? Are you ready to go full beast mode in September?
A: Body is feeling great, no excuses today. You never take an AFL game for granted. Something special about September as the weather warms up and you know when you are well and truly alive.
Q: The Pies are playing an exciting brand of footy and they’re there every single minute of this game. What are you expecting out there this afternoon?
A: They are all duck and no dinner. We do our things right and goes a long way to winning the game. Amazing season. So many wonderful players and they have executed at the right time of the year. So we need to be at our very best to match them.
Recent history favours Cats
The Cats head into this contest in scintillating nick, having claimed the minor premiership after winning their last 13 games.
In fact, they finished on top of the ladder by two games, such was their dominance in the second half of the season.
And they’ve got the wood over the Magpies as well, having won six of their last eight meetings, including the last three.
The last time these two sides met in a final was the 2020 semi-final at the Gabba which Geelong won by 68 points.
A theory about Geelong’s inability to play well in finals was that they don’t play well at the MCG. Well, they’ve put that to bed in the last few years, winning eight of their last nine games there.
But Collingwood have surged to a top-four spot on the back of enormous belief which has seen them win 11 out of 12 games decided by 11 points or fewer, and nine out of 10 decided by seven points or fewer.
It has been a remarkable achievement which no other team in the 126-year history of the league has done before.
The Magpies’ record at the MCG is also spectacular, having won their last nine games at the venue.
McRae wants Magpies to ‘play with freedom’
Collingwood coach Craig McRae spoke to Channel Seven pre-game…
Q: It is a game of backs versus the forwards tonight.
A: It is, many parts of trying to get territory. We’ve been smashed around contested ball and clearance of late. Trying to get the ball inside 50 is the first part of that.
Q: Your youth, you’ve brought something out of the youth in Collingwood we haven’t seen for a couple of years. They’re playing on instinct.
A: We encourage the players to play on strengths. Beau McCreery, Jack Ginnivan, the fans love him. We want them to play with freedom and make mistakes. The key criteria is to go for your kicks, if it doesn’t work out, go fix it.
Q: I know you’re a lovely man but I didn’t know you had the power to turn Collingwood haters to love Collingwood. You’ve done that this year.
A: I have heard that, I’m not sure where that’s come from or who is driving it. I said to the playing group, we want to connect with the community. I haven’t been here a couple of years ago, no crowds, big part of our group was to connect back to the fans. 100,000 members this year, awesome achievement. We thank them.
Q: It’s MCG finals time, the intensity rises but it comes back to fundamentals?
A: It is who can execute under pressure. We have found ways to do that. Managing moments is what we call it. Every moments is what we call it. Every moment that comes, try to manage it. Move to the next one.
Q: You said the last time you played Geelong was the turning point for the football club. You took good learnings out of it.
A: One of them was taking the ball over the boundary line. We tried to keep the ball alive too much in that game. They’ve improved a lot, you’d like to think we have. Those lessons we learnt in round three, we carried for the rest of the year.
Howe praises Pies’ ‘remarkable amount of belief’
Collingwood defender Jeremy Howe spoke to Channel Seven before the game…
Q: Another sellout at the MCG. 90,000 odd expected in the house today. How are the boys feeling?
A: It is an exciting time of year. The weather says it all. Spring is on. Finals footy is around the corner. We’re here now. A lot of excitement, buzz, around the whole state. We’re excited to get the game underway.
Q: This is unique for yourselves and Richmond, being so close to this great venue but you get amongst it on the walk over.
A: We do. We started it back in 2018. Giving the foot traffic and even the traffic with the cars after the games, took longer to get back. Now we enjoy the build-up, walking over and then post-game you get to share it with the fans after. It’s good.
Q: Preparation is key for any game but what are you like pre-game? Cool, calm, collected? Or intense?
A: It’s probably fluctuated over the years. I used to build myself up and get wound up but now I’m the complete opposite. Float around the change rooms, get outside, have a kick around. Relatively relaxed but when you run out, that’s when I start get going.
Q: Seventeenth to fourth in the space of 12 months. What do you put the rapid rise down to?
A: A remarkable amount of belief in the group. We felt the lists were strong. A lot of change throughout the whole club. ‘Fly’ (coach Craig McRae) and the coaching staff have been so good, implementing a brand new game plan. Defend similar but the way we move the ball is different and more exciting I’m sure the fans are happy.
Q: Keys to the Cats?
A: Defensively we have to be strong. They’ve got the greatest forward line this year. We feel like in our ball movement, get it off the line and shift their defence because they’re right up.
Today’s milestones
Aaron Naughton – Playing 100th game
Brody Mihocek – Playing 100th game
Aaron Naughton.Credit:Getty Images
‘I don’t think we have seen a better season’: Matthews praises 2022 campaign
By Roy Ward
AFL legend Leigh Matthews has praised the closeness and drama of this season calling it the “best we have seen”.
Matthews believes the quality of the finals and the competitiveness of the premiership race has made the 2022 campaign one to remember.
“I don’t think football has ever been any better than it’s been in 2022,” Matthews said on 3AW on Saturday.
“I don’t think we’ve had a better season, ever.”
