Collingwood vs Essendon

The traditional Anzac Day clash saw 84000 hit the MCG to see the Pies triumph over the Bombers. The Doc has all the details in his autopsy.

Only got his hands to the ball 10 times in this game, but half of them were scores, three goals and two behinds playing predominantly as a forward. Nothing flashy to it, but he harasses, chases, and pressures the opposition and in the modern footy, every little pressure act and tackle matters in football. I can see Rutten trying to inject the speed of Hind, hoping he would give them a lift in the last quarter. Jayden Laverde was subbed out at the start of the last quarter, but he looked cooked from the moment Mihocek took that one-handed mark in the first term. He presents as a lead-up option well, he gets to the foot of the contest well and his set shots in this game were very good. He certainly wasn’t the worst Bomber on the park, set up well behind the ball and competed well in the ruck. At three-quarter time, the Pies were being crucified in the centre clearances, Craig McRae called upon his captain to stand up in a time of need. I don’t want to say I wasn’t impressed with his game, because I’d kill to have a tank like he does, but what he does with the ball is nowhere near the level that it should be. He’s not alone either, there were several players in the red and black that did that in this game. So far this year, he’s risen to 11.7 in the same number of games to start this season, including the bag of five he kicked in this game. When Ginnivan came into this Collingwood side late last year, he provided a steady hand in front of goal – 6.3 in Collingwood’s last five games of the season. But six goals in the final term is indicative of this Collingwood side.