If Burns plays - most likely, we're sunk!

[perfectionist]

Burns in and no Ball means we will likely see a re-run of round 19. The skill of Burns is that the ball just seems to fall into his hands at clearances even if he is being tagged. And he doesn't fumble - the real difference. Luke Ball is very similar, but he's unlikely to play (because of his "setback").

The Collingwood team never ceases to amaze me or, should I say, the Collingwood coach. It is fair to say that until Malthouse moved to Collingwood, I didn't think his coaching was top eschelon. But since then, he has shown that he can take below average footballers and turn them into good footballers (although not great, hence the lack of a flag). In particular, the way in which he is able to improve the skill level of players should be salutary to those at Moorabbin. I remember watching us thrash Collingwood in 2004 and thinking these guys are hopeless, their kicking is woeful and they are years away from finals action. As it turned out, less than two years and the worm has turned with them winning our last three encounters.

They have the knack of being able to "find" someone mid season who looks like they have a played for years eg Anthony and Dawes, 3 and 2 goals in rd 19.

And then there's Harry O'Brien. How come we can't get a rookie like that?

To win, we will rely on Nick R playing a blinder - as usual.

Let's hope the doctors at Collingwood are ultra cautious.

[brown-coat]

They're an incredible unit.

We're playing Collingwood, the AFL, the umpires and the crowd.

Basically, no chance. But we'll try i hope!

[TimeToShineFellas]

Who's playing on Neon Leon?

[perfectionist]

Gilbert, I suppose - like last time!

[Halo Halo]

Not negative are you??

I am not worried about Collingwood! I reckon we can beat them infact Im sure we will..

When we last played them we played awful footy for three quarters & still made a game of it in the end!!

Last time our backmen got beat-this time it wont happen.. Last time we lost, this time it wont happen!!

GO SAINTERS

[brown-coat]

Gilbert, I suppose - like last time!

The bane of gilbert.

[maverick]

Put CJ on Leon, keep Gilbert away from him

[degruch]

Put CJ on Leon, keep Gilbert away from him

Amen to that! You could barely tell Gilbert was picking up Davis last time...played off him for the whole match like he was daring Neon Leon to kick 4 goals! Hopeless. At least try CJ I reckon...he'll wear Davis like a glove.

[degruch]

By the way...this summary makes for interesting reading. OK, it omits any suggestion that Burns is in and Ball is out, but frankly, I think both teams are bigger than that anyway. Not sure about the Kosi 'X-Factor' or the winning margin, but do think we'll beat 'em...finally.

http://www.afl.com.au/Results/tabid/114 ... wsid=67425

[meher baba]

Put CJ on Leon, keep Gilbert away from him

Amen to that! You could barely tell Gilbert was picking up Davis last time...played off him for the whole match like he was daring Neon Leon to kick 4 goals! Hopeless. At least try CJ I reckon...he'll wear Davis like a glove.

Huh?? I've never seen CJ effectively tag anybody, let alone a player as elusive and as skilled with both feet as Davis!!

As I read all the stuff about CJ on here, I'm starting to think that I must be watching the wrong guy running around on the ground. He's the blonde guy with number 38 on his back who tries his guts out, runs all over the field, tends to play a long way away from his man, makes quite a few tackles every game, can usually hit a target with a ballooning kick from about 20 metres after thinking about it for a minute or so?

Or is that guy not CJ but someone else?

[degruch]

Put CJ on Leon, keep Gilbert away from him

Amen to that! You could barely tell Gilbert was picking up Davis last time...played off him for the whole match like he was daring Neon Leon to kick 4 goals! Hopeless. At least try CJ I reckon...he'll wear Davis like a glove.

Huh?? I've never seen CJ effectively tag anybody, let alone a player as elusive and as skilled with both feet as Davis!!

'Bout time he started then, eh? If he can push Davis to the edge of the 50, we'd be in business. If you've got a better option, give Ross a buzz!

[perfectionist]

By the way...this summary makes for interesting reading. OK, it omits any suggestion that Burns is in and Ball is out, but frankly, I think both teams are bigger than that anyway. Not sure about the Kosi 'X-Factor' or the winning margin, but do think we'll beat 'em...finally.

http://www.afl.com.au/Results/tabid/114 ... wsid=67425

You didn't happen to note the name of the author did you? Hope he's right with his prediction.

[degruch]

By the way...this summary makes for interesting reading. OK, it omits any suggestion that Burns is in and Ball is out, but frankly, I think both teams are bigger than that anyway. Not sure about the Kosi 'X-Factor' or the winning margin, but do think we'll beat 'em...finally.

http://www.afl.com.au/Results/tabid/114 ... wsid=67425

You didn't happen to note the name of the author did you? Hope he's right with his prediction.

Luke Holmesby...not sure who that is, sorry.

[saint patrick]

There is no doubt that Burns is an important cog in the Collingwood machine as is Ball to ours.

Rotten luck for Bally and yes it does make the job harder but it just means that across the board the 22 players have to share the load equally.

On talent and experience we still have the edge.The application the last 2 times has been not as good as Collingwoods pure and simple.

Even then the margin was 9 points and 14 points.

Play to our potential and we have every chance to turn it around this time.

[HarveysDeciple]

bloody negativity......we finished 4th, they finished 8th, but if their captain plays we are no chance?

Bloody hell, might as well not show up FFS!!!


We'll win, bookmark this.

[StSteven]

bloody negativity......we finished 4th, they finished 8th, but if their captain plays we are no chance?

Only 1 gamme between us! However I believe they have run their race. Young ones will tire. just hope it is this week.

[Schillaci]

Burns is one footballer and whilst good, not top shelf.
He craps just like you and me.
To say Maguire's not playing so we'll lose is just as lame.
The most committed team that makes the fewest mistakes will probably win.

[BAM! (shhhh)]

Don't know that I necessarily agree with the thread title, but the OP isn't wrong about the Pies midfield, Malthouse and the Pies in general.

The pies have impressed me for years with their ability to effectively mix polar opposite players into an effective midfield. They've got a couple of great insiders (ala Burns) who win the ball and feed it out. Some genuine outsiders (Didak, Thomas) who then make the play... most midfielders while we call them inside/outside are much more of a mix than many collingwood guys - most who aren't don't last long, and certainly don't get as much out of themselves as Collingwood's have (and I don't mean to disparage Burns, he's developed immensely over time and is a passable user of the ball who killed us last time round, but he also knows his strengths and plays to them).

They make it work by being very dedicated to chase and tackle, and working through the right players - it makes them tough to shut down, and the result more than the sum of the parts.

My worry is that their strength midfield wise is those clearance mids, and that's why they towelled us up last time, a big part of why we got towelled up last week... and I wonder what our solution is... without Luke Ball, we come up very shallow in the clearance dept.

[iwantmeseats]

ball has been named, so whats the deal here?

[perfectionist]

We wait till they run out!