Collingwood’s decision not to send Darcy Moore to Lance Franklin was the “wrong” call that only worked to fire up the Swans superstar, according to Fox Footy’s Jonathan Brown.
Brayden Maynard was given the nod to start on Franklin, in a move Nick Riewoldt described as a “head scratcher”.
And Brown says the call to shake up the back end didn’t pay off for Collingwood as they coughed up their biggest half time score of the season, with Franklin best on ground.
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“I was surprised (by the Maynard move) for two reasons – because the job (Melbourne’s) Steven May did on Buddy Franklin but still able to influence the game offensively, and of course the job Darcy Moore did on (Geelong’s) Tom Hawkins… so you go: ‘geez perfect match up for Buddy Franklin’,” he said On The Couch.
“Let (Franklin) go up the ground as well, Moore would be able to set up. Unfortunately for Collingwood, it didn’t work out at all.
“When you go back to our days of playing as a key forward, if I had Brayden Maynard come to me as a smaller defender, I would be insulted. Plus I’m coming off a bad game in the first final.
“As we know Buddy Franklin has been underrated in terms of his competitiveness. He’s a great competitor, so he would have been hurting from last week – his performance.
“So when Maynard comes, I think he would have stuck the chest out and thought, ‘hang on a minute, are you disrespecting me here?’
“Collingwood’s match ups have been fantastic all year … but I think this one they got wrong.”
Franklin headed into the preliminary final against the Magpies under pressure to perform, after going scoreless against the Demons and Steven May.
Moore was moved to Franklin for the second half of the preliminary final, as the Magpies mounted their thrilling comeback before falling by just one point.
Statistics show Moore had just one intercept possession in the opening half and zero intercept marks.
But once the shift was made to Franklin for the second half, the game changed immediately.
Moore had nine intercept possessions and four intercept marks as Collingwood scored 39 points from turnover in the second half alone.
“No intercept marks in the first half – he didn’t get involved,” host Garry Lyon lamented.
“He wasn’t even in the contest.
“He goes onto Buddy in the second half, and all of a sudden their intercept possessions go up, he gets involved, they score from the back half and it’s a Collingwood game again.”
“Did they outsmart themselves a little bit too Collingwood?” Riewoldt asked.
“Buddy takes you to the ball. He takes you to the situation where he’s in the contest time and time again – similar to what we saw with Steven May a few weeks ago.
“(The match up) was a little bit of a head scratcher that one.”
Lyon said he was impressed by Franklin’s performance, describing him as a “different Buddy” against the Magpies.
“The way Buddy impacted the game… it wasn’t what you’d thought,” he said.
“It was just him crashing packs, competing, bringing ball to ground, creating opportunity – the admiration for him just goes up a notch.”
Riewoldt admitted Franklin’s physical game had “never been his go”, but he stepped up when his team needed it.
“He’s never been a crash and bash, stand under the high ball, key forward – he’s been a graceful full forward, which is a compliment,” he said.
Franklin is set to play a key role in Sydney’s premiership hopes given fellow forward Sam Reid is facing a race against time to prove himself fit for the grand final.
