Surveying the murk at the start of this classic match-up, Collingwood assistant coach Justin Leppitsch said: “It might not make good TV.”
So it proved. As conditions blunted the edge of both teams, the Magpies slogged their way to their third straight win of the season. They will value it for the way it sustains their momentum, and Richmond will try to keep it in perspective, since they were much reduced in manpower.
Noah Balta of the Tigers marks the ball.Credit:Getty
This was the third of a testing four-match set to begin the season for the Magpies against opponents all expected to be in contention, and they’ve won them all in different ways. The others were for show, good for TV. This was for the premiership points. The fourth will be played on different terms again, in the humidity of Brisbane next Thursday.
In truth, the Magpies won this by the margin between the teams on the teamsheet, whereas the Tigers were decimated. It was made to look closer on the scoreboard than on the ground by Collingwood’s wastefulness in front of goals for three quarters, a form of generosity the Tigers later reciprocated. Collingwood claimed an 8.15 (63) to 7.7 (49) win.
Still, to build a substantial season, a footy team must be able to win in all ways. The Magpies will take heart from both ends of their list. Ancient wingman Steele Sidebottom controlled this match when it was still at issue, and Scott Pendlebury was Scott Pendlebury; enough said.
At the other end of their personnel, Ash Johnson came from the seconds with a bag of tricks and pulled most of them out. His responsibilities grew when Darcy Cameron had to be subbed out of the match with a knee injury and he graduated from relieving ruck to No.1.
Cameron’s importance became more acutely obvious in what was otherwise a formality of a last quarter when the Magpies were unable to maintain their sway at the fall of the ball. Cameron’s status now became a very watched space. The early indications are grim.
Johnson is an intriguing footballer. He took beautiful overhead marks, made three-storey leaps in ruck duels, pulled off a couple of overhead, no-look handballs and tried a couple of banana kicks at goal. Not all came off, but the Pies will not deter him as long as he does his bread-and-butter stuff, too.
At the farther end of the ground, Adelaide emigree Billy Frampton played perhaps his best game of AFL footy. As understudy to the injured Jeremy Howe, Frampton will be held to impossibly high standards. This night, he earned his black-and-white stripes. Admittedly, it was a night when conditions militated in his favour.
He stood up in marking duels with Tom Lynch, but just as pleasing for the Pies would be the several times he judged the moment to come off his man and affect spoiling play further up the field. This is the way Pies played; he has learned what he must do to maintain respect and his place.
Jamie Elliott celebrates a goal with Magpies teammate Nick Daicos.Credit:AFL Photos
In a sense, this was Richmond-minus versus Richmond-plus. Collingwood coach Craig McRae and assistant Leppitisch both spent periods at the Tigers with Damien Hardwick as they developed their patent run-and-gun game. It has evolved under McRae at the Magpies, hence the plus. And Tigers were significantly undermanned this night, hence minus.
The manner of the game was dictated by an hour of showers before the game, slicking up the MCG surface. It made for basic footy, prioritising territory over possession. The Magpies excelled in getting the ball and hammering it forward, but were unusually profligate. In the first quarter, they hit the post three times and Nick Daicos kicked a regulation set shot out on the full.
Richmond, even when undermanned, will never be less than driven. So it was that their finest early moments were run-down tackles of Josh Daicos, a rarity, and Pendlebury, perhaps a first, and a desperate, flying lunge by Noah Balta to deny a mark to Brody Mihocek. It was the epitome of commitment. But when pressing forward, commitment translated only into mishandling.
A look became a pattern. Johnson took a feather-soft mark and kicked a long goal in the first minute of the second quarter and that was it. Collingwood continued to force the ball forward and squander it. At one stage, the Magpies had had 14 shots to the Tigers’ two.
In the third quarter, the Magpies’ extravagance came back to bite them. Richmond yielded to the conditions, subbed out the tall Samson Ryan and introduced the speedy Noah Cumberland. More nimble now, the Tigers began the third quarter with a trio of quick goals and the match, like the weather, changed in a way that could be read on a barometer. The margin narrowed to three points.
Just as quickly, the needle swung again. Three in three minutes for the Pies ensued, the last a vintage weave and snap from Pendlebury. In an equal and opposite action, Tom Lynch then missed two sitters. He would finish the night with one consolation goal, kicked in junk time. Rhyan Mansell missed another at the start of the last quarter and that pretty much was that.
As the Tigers, they lost nothing for effort on the night, but needed more poise and polish. They will be better than this when their list is healthier than this. They’ve already shown it. More than 85,000 braved uncertain weather this night to lend their voices. They’ll be back for more big ones, and so will both these teams.
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