TonyK
CibbuanoRound two preview: Collingwood v Melbourne
April 2nd 2010 07:08
VENUE and TIME: MCG, Saturday 3 April March, 2.10pm (AEDT)
HEAD TO HEAD: Played: 223, Collingwood 140, Melbourne 79, Draws: 4
LAST TIME: Collingwood 19.12 (126) def Melbourne 8.12 (60). Round 11, 2009 at the MCG
RECENT HISTORY: Collingwood has won their past four matches against Melbourne.
FORM: The Magpies stamped themselves as a genuine premiership contender with an impressive 36-point win over NAB Cup premiers the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium last Sunday. Melbourne was bitterly disappointing in round one, going down to a Hawthorn side that was missing a number of key players by 56 points.
MEDICAL ROOM: The Pies will be without veteran full-back Simon Prestigiacomo who sustained a quad injury in the win over the Bulldogs while Cameron Wood (finger, 3-5 weeks), Brad Dick (shoulder, seven to nine weeks) and Josh Thomas (calf, three to five weeks) are also unavailable. For the Demons, defender Jared Rivers will miss the clash against the Pies after injuring his knee in the loss to the Hawks while Colin Sylvia is out for at least another week with a broken jaw. Exciting forward Liam Jurrah (shoulder), John Meesen (foot stress fractures), Max Gawn (knee) and Luke Tascott (hip) are sidelined indefinitely. Cale Morton (knee), Neville Jetta (groin), Daniel Bell (shoulder) and Austin Wonaeamirri (hamstring) are a few weeks away from playing.
KEY MATCH-UPS: James McDonald vs. Scott Pendlebury
The last time these two sides met in round 11 last year Pendlebury was allowed to run free and made Melbourne pay as he racked up a game-high 39 possessions, 11 marks and six inside 50’s in a performance that earned him the three Brownlow medal votes.
The Magpies vice-captain is highly effective and winning the football at close quarters and using it cleanly.
Melbourne will need to limit his influence in the middle if they are going to have any hope of containing the Pies’ multi-pronged attack.
McDonald one of few Demons’ best against the Hawks, collecting 21 touches and laying 10 tackles.
He will need to apply the same level of pressure on Pendlebury otherwise he will continually hurt Melbourne with his clean skills.
Sharrod Wellingham vs. Aaron Davey
Like a lot of his teammates, Davey was below his best against Hawthorn - managing just 17 possessions - down on his average of 22.9 in 2009.
When Davey is on-song he is able to consistently set up scoring opportunities for his teammates with his sublime kicking skills.
It is vital for the Demons that the 26-year-old fires otherwise their forwards won’t get enough quality supply to even have a hope of kicking a big enough score to pull off what would be a massive upset.
Wellingham - who was dominant in the opening term while opposed to Bulldogs star midfielder Adam Cooney - has the pace to go with Davey and will be given first crack at the Melbourne on-baller.
Expect the Collingwood youngster to try and hurt Davey going the other way as it will force him to be accountable which in turn will help limit his impact on the contest as a creative midfielder.
James Frawley vs. Paul Medhurst
Medhurst got his 2010 campaign off to a perfect start with a four-goal performance against the Dogs and will be keen to back it up with another haul against the Demons.
Frawley will get the job on the former Docker given that he restricted him to just one goal the last time these two sides met in round 11 last year.
With the exception of a few players, Melbourne were well below par when it came to applying pressure against Hawthorn.
They will need to increase their intensity ten-fold otherwise the likes of Medhurst will continually receive the football lace-out.
Harry O’Brien vs. Matthew Bate
Bate failed to trouble the scorers in round one and will be desperate to rebound with a strong showing.
However, his task won’t be an easy one as he will be matched up by the in-form O’Brien who has done the job on him in the past.
Melbourne had 351 possessions against Hawthorn - 176 of which were handballs.
They will need to be a lot more direct in their play to give Bate and co. the best possible chance of having an impact on the scoreboard as they simply don’t have the skills to play a possession brand of football.
VERDICT: It was an ugly start to the season for Melbourne last weekend and it won’t get any better for them on Saturday. Collingwood simply has too many quality players on every line for a Demons side that is well below AFL standard. Magpies by 65 points.
COLLINGWOOD v MELBOURNE
COLLINGWOOD
B: Alan Toovey, Ben Reid, Tarkyn Lockyer
HB: Harry O’Brien, Nick Maxwell, Heath Shaw
C: Luke Ball, Dane Swan, Ben Johnson
HF: Josh Fraser, John Anthony, Alan Didak
F: Paul Medhurst, Travis Cloke, Leon Davis
Foll: Darren Jolly, Scott Pendlebury, Dale Thomas
I/C: Leigh Brown, Shane O'Bree, Steele Sidebottom, Sharrod Wellingham
Emg: Dayne Beams, Chris Dawes, Brent Macaffer
In: Reid
Out: Simon Prestigiacomo (quad)
MELBOURNE
B: Jamie Bennell, Matthew Warnock, Lynden Dunn
HB: Jack Grimes, James Frawley, Joel Macdonald
C: Aaron Davey, Cameron Bruce, Nathan Jones
HF: James McDonald, Matthew Bate, Ricky Petterd
F: Tom Scully, Brad Green, Jack Trengove
Foll: Mark Jamar, Jordie McKenzie, Brent Moloney
I/C: James Strauss, Jake Spencer, Michael Newton, Rohan Bail
Emg: Clint Bartram, Jordan Gysberts, Brad Miller
In: Newton, Bail
Out: Brad Miller, Jared Rivers (knee)
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