Sydney – 9.12 (66)
Collingwood –13.11 (89)
In wet & greasy conditions, Collingwood was forced to work for their 7th win in a row against Sydney, who threw everything at the Pies. The 23 point margin flattered the Pies in the end, with Sydney in the game until the last 5 minutes.
Big moment
The Pies were only 1pt in front but the ascendancy was all with Sydney in the 4th. Leon Davis received a very lucky free-kick in which Marty Mattner was adjudged to have held him without the ball. It then turned into a 50-meter penalty after Sydney played on.
Davis slotted the goal thanks to the 50 meter penalty and the Pies never looked back thereafter.
Key Players for the Sydney
Brett Kirk – Inspirational. 41 possessions and an amazing 15 clearances. Excellent captains performance.
Ryan O’Keefe – Kirk’s partner in crime who have also had 41 possessions and even though he was only credited with 4 clearances, it looked like he had a heap more. Never gave up until the final siren.
Darren Jolly – Absolutely dominated the ruck with 53 hitouts. Gave the Sydney mids’ first use of the ball and the 10 more clearances that Sydney had were largely due to him
Adam Goodes – His first quarter was exceptional when most of the other Sydney players were still sleeping. If it wasn’t for him, Sydney would have been blown out of the match in the first quarter.
Key Players for Collingwood
Alan Didak – The best game I’ve ever seen him play. He was pretty much Collingwood’s only midfielder that had an impact in the game for a full 4 quarters and when the game was there to be won. He finished with 34 possessions, 9 clearances, 2 goals and 6 assists.
Nick Maxwell – Was particularly influential when Sydney allowed him to be the loose man in defence in the first half of the game. When Sydney sent Barlow on to him, he still did a very good job in pushing the ball forward.
Heath Shaw – Back to the Heath Shaw of 07’, stopping his opponent and setting up attacks at will. Finished with 26 possessions.
Harry O’Brien – In the 4th quarter when the game was there to be won and Sydney were coming, he kept trying to take the game on. Did an excellent job on Goodes when he went forward. He also kicked a ripper of a goal in the 2nd quarter.
Musings from the match
• When you look at the key players for Sydney and their efforts, you have wonder about their bottom tier players and when they are ever going to lift.
• Jarrad McVeigh was another player who was excellent for Sydney and did extremely well to play with an injured shoulder. He still managed to collect the ball 27 times despite looking like he was in pain.
• The Pies lost Scott Pendlebury early with a knee injury. Josh Fraser and John Anthony stayed on the ground but were clearly injured for the Pies.
• Considering that the Pies rotate so heavily, it was surprising to see them running away with the victory despite the injury problems.
• Sydney finished the game with 83 more possessions than the Pies but most of them were handpasses.
• Leon Davis had a bit of a shocker getting beaten by Kieren Jack comprehensively, but kicked two crucial goals in the last quarter when the game was in the balance.
• Travis Cloke and Dale Thomas continued to struggle. Both flashed in-and-out of the game.
• Ryan O’Keefe is becoming one of the best mids in the comp.
• Barry Hall had a shocker in the first half but worked himself into the game as it went along.
• Barring a typical mistake from him Rhyce Shaw was pretty good, playing his usual running game that Sydney have grown to expect form him.
SuperCoach news
As you would expect, the usual suspects for Sydney scored big with O’Keefe scoring 154pt’s and Jolly with 117pt’s.
Didak was the highest scorer on the ground with 158pt’s. The next best for the Pies was Swan with 126pt’s.
Bargain alert for Heath Shaw, his price will be going up to about $430 000+ after his 102pt effort but that’s still cheap.
Scott Pendlebury, Josh Fraser, John Anthony and Jarrad McVeigh all have injury problems so keep an eye out for more news mid-week.
SuperCoach scores and game stats from SuperFooty
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