2019 in a nutshell
My view on 2019 has already proven an unpopular amongst Collingwood supporters but 2019 was a season of under achievement, over achievement and ultimately equilibrium. The season started very strongly but Collingwood was not putting teams away, edging home against less credentialled opposition or winning games on the strength of one quarter. Then came the Jaidyn Stephenson saga, the awful slump (not entirely coincidental), and then some momentum gained on the back of a favourable late season draw. A gift from the Eagles handed Collingwood fourth spot on the ladder but it was squandered it in a Preliminary Final loss to GWS which Collingwood nearly snatched after playing an enormous last quarter. Live by the sword …..
2020 Playing List
| 1 | Jaidyn Stephenson | 2 | Jordan De Goey | 3 | Isaac Quaynor |
| 4 | Brodie Grundy | 5 | Jamie Elliott | 6 | Tyler Brown |
| 7 | Adam Treloar | 8 | Tom Langdon | 9 | John Noble |
| 10 | Scott Pendlebury (c) | 11 | Dayne Beams | 12 | Matthew Scharenberg |
| 13 | Taylor Adams | 14 | Darcy Cameron | 16 | Chris Mayne |
| 17 | Callum Brown | 18 | Travis Varcoe | 19 | Levi Greenwood |
| 20 | Ben Reid | 21 | Tom Phillips | 22 | Steele Sidebottom |
| 23 | Jordan Roughead | 24 | Josh Thomas | 25 | Jack Crisp |
| 26 | Josh Daicos | 27 | Will Kelly | 28 | Nathan Murphy |
| 29 | Tim Broomhead | 30 | Darcy Moore | 31 | Flynn Appleby |
| 32 | Will Hoskin-Elliott | 33 | Rupert Wills | 34 | Trent Bianco |
| 35 | Jay Rantall | 36 | Brayden Sier | 37 | Brayden Maynard |
| 38 | Jeremy Howe | 39 | Trey Ruscoe | 40 | Atu Bosenavulagi |
| 41 | Brody Mihocek | 43 | Anton Tohill | 44 | Jack Madgen |
| 45 | Max Lynch | 46 | Mason Cox | 47 | Mark Keane |
| 48 | Tom Wilson |
INS: Trey Ruscoe (East Fremantle), Jay Rantall (GWV Rebels), Trent Bianco (Oakleigh Chargers), Darcy Cameron (Sydney).
OUTS: James Aish, Daniel Wells, Tyson Goldsack, Ben Crocker, Sam Murray,
2020 Fixture
| Round | Date and Time | Opponent | Venue |
| 1 | Friday, 20 March (7:50 pm) | Western Bulldogs | Marvel Stadium [A] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Thursday, 26 March (7:25 pm) | Richmond | MCG [H] |
| 3 | Saturday, 4 April (1:45 pm) | Hawthorn | MCG [A] |
| 4 | Thursday, 9 April (7:35 pm) | Brisbane Lions | Gabba [A] |
| 5 | Saturday, 18 April (1:10 pm) | Port Adelaide | MCG [H] |
| 6 | Saturday, 25 April (4:20 pm) | Essendon | MCG [H] |
| 7 | Friday, 1 May (7:50 pm) | St Kilda | Marvel Stadium [H] |
| 8 | Saturday, 9 May (7:25 pm) | Greater Western Sydney | Giants Stadium [A] |
| 9 | Sunday, 17 May (1:10 pm) | Carlton | MCG [A] |
| 10 | Sunday, 24 May (3:20 pm) | North Melbourne | Marvel Stadium [H] |
| 11 | Sunday, 31 May (3:20 pm) | West Coast | MCG [H] |
| 12 | Monday, 8 June (3:20 pm) | Melbourne | MCG [A] |
| 13 | Bye | ||
| 14 | Thursday, 18 June (7:20 pm) | Sydney | SCG [A] |
| 15 | Sunday, 28 June (1:10 pm) | Adelaide | MCG [H] |
| 16 | Saturday, 4 July (1:45 pm) | Brisbane Lions | MCG [H] |
| 17 | Friday, 10 July (7:50 pm) | Richmond | MCG [A] |
| 18 | Friday, 17 July (7:50 pm) | Geelong | MCG [H] |
| 19 | Sunday, 26 July (3:20 pm) | Fremantle | Optus Stadium [A] |
| 20 | Saturday, 1 August (1:45 pm) | Essendon | MCG [A] |
| 21 | Saturday, 8 August (1:45 pm) | Melbourne | MCG [H] |
| 22 | Friday, 14 August (8:10 pm) | West Coast | Optus Stadium [A] |
| 23 | Saturday, 22 August (2:10 pm) | Gold Coast | MCG [H] |
Two trips to WA in four weeks? What sort of evil spewing demon spawn wrote this thing up. Name me two other clubs that have to travel that far in a four week period.
OK, before you say Eagles and Dockers don’t forget they fly with the wind on the way to the game so it’s faster – going home doesn’t count. Five interstate trips is one more than the norm for the Pies (which is no worse or better than any other Victorian side barring home fixtures sold for $).
All in all one of the tougher fixtures which you’d expect for a team that finished fourth in 2019.
Five Fearless Predictions
Pies go controversy free in 2020 – Last year I predicted that Justin Longmuir would finish the season as head coach at Fremantle and while I wasn’t quite right I was close (it happened after seasons end. I was pretty happy with that. If this one comes true I’ll be surprised and hang up my tipping …. thing and retire happy:
No drugs, no controversy, no drink driving charges, no frisbee vs dog accidents or fill ins. Collingwood will go under the radar despite Mark Robinson’s desperate attempts to make some of his crap stick on the wall at the … General Motors Centre. Shit – is that what they’re going to call it?
Stability brings results – notwithstanding the to be confirmed renaming of the training facility formerly known as the Holden Centre, this will be a year of stability at Collingwood. Buckley is locked in, Grundy is locked in, Eddie is locked in. Moore and DeGoey will 99% sign and if they don’t one might just end up at Doggie Land (see Bonus end of Season prediction).
Stability and lack of controversy will show on the field and it will be a top four finish for the Pies. Nothing is given beyond that, there are some very good sides and even Collingwood’s best may not be enough.
Darcy Moore will be AA in 2020 – lock that in Eddie. Injury free Moore hitting packs and taking contested marks is what we need to see. Watch Howe, Langdon, Maynard and Crisp grow with the freedom provided by Moore taking big grabs and Roughead taking care of the big lumps.
One key forward away from greatness – Collingwood is even across all parts of the ground. There is genuine elite talent in every line parts of the ground – except the key forward. Brody Mihocek has been good and continued to grow last year. Mason Cox was largely unsighted but missed half the season after a poke in the eye.
Stephenson, DeGoey, Thomas, Hoskin Elliot provide a dangerous mid size forward line which is hard to match up on but does the lack of a recognised competitive key foward make the forward line less predictable and hence more effective? Or are Collingwood just missing a Lynch, Kennedy or Cameron? History will probably show that it’s B.
Will Kelly? Collingwood has a very even back line – up there with the best in the competition. The backline will start something like Crisp, Roughead, Maynard, Moore, Howe, Langdon. 2018 will show as a bad draft result after the unfortunate premature retirement of the returning Dayne Beams. The two stars in this draft, always key for Collingwood, were Isaac Quaynor and Will Kelly. Kelly has had injury issues but is looking good now and will make an appearance this year and will be close to a lock at the end of the year. This is a backline with options and cover. Don’t forget then unlucky Lynden Dunn’s mullet will be looking for a return to the big stage this year.too
Bonus End of Season Prediction – Collingwood loves some history and the sight of Ron Richards’ grandson Ed Richards running around for the Western Bulldogs is tearing a few hearts out at Magpie land. Richards will be good this year and he’ll be far from the trade table. Expect the Pies to send out the footballing equivalent of Tom Hanks with some real currency, to bring him to his spiritual home.
Where will they finish?
After consecutive top-four finishes, it is fair to assume that the Pies will again be in the mix in 2020. They are in win-now mode which means anything less than a top-four finish again will be considered a failure. Collingwood will finish between Second and Fifth.
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