Collingwood's damning truth called out as Jonathan Brown questions AFL flag defence
A worrying reality has been exposed at Collingwood after a shaky start to their flag defence.
Brisbane Lions legend Jonathan Brown has cast serious doubts over Collingwood's AFL premiership defence after pointing out a glaring detail in their early season struggles. The Pies have rebounded with back-to-back wins after losing their first three games of the season, but the unconvincing Gather Round victory over Hawthorn presented more questions than answers.
Collingwood - who are enjoying the first of their two season byes this weekend - only just scraped home by five points against Hawthorn in Adelaide after leading by as many as 38 late in the second quarter. And the form of their best players has come under scrutiny several times this season. Brown pointed towards their fitness, transition from half-back and ways of creating scoring opportunities as major concerns stemming from the Hawthorn game.
“Collingwood were tipping over; they were completely out of petrol tickets,” Brown told Fox Footy’s On the Couch on Monday night. “I’m just not sure, the Collingwood game style has changed around. Last year, the dominance off half back was great to see, exciting football, scored more than anyone from the back half - they’ve lost their explosion.”
In their preliminary final and grand final victories in 2023, Collingwood scored 38 and 22 points from half-back respectively. In their five games so far this season, they are only averaging 12.5 points per game in comparison. “How many times have we seen it this year off half-back?” Brown pondered. “They had Nick Daicos and even Jeremy Howe launching off half-back and then being able to score, so, clearly, they’re trending down at the moment ... they’re definitely down.”
Nathan Buckley says Collingwood look disjointed
Collingwood great Nathan Buckley agreed but also put the damning statistics down to a disconnect between the players. “I definitely think they’re not connecting as well, especially that last kick inside forward-50,” Buckley said.
“Collingwood aren’t connecting quite as much, and that makes it a higher transitional game — the opposition gets a chance to rebound, and as soon as the game opens up a little bit, then you’re going to find even more mistakes, and you lose control of a contest... I don’t think they’ve lost the initial dare, but they’re not winning those contests (they won in the finals last year), they’re not winning as many of those.”
Collingwood have just nine goals to their name in 2024 from the 219 times they've exited from the back and Melbourne legend Garry Lyon said their clunky attack and lack of urgency in transition almost cost them against Hawthorn. Buckley agreed and insisted the side needed to find a new way to damage opposition teams if their previous avenues of success aren't working.
"If you can’t find the corridor, then you’ve got to find an extra number on the outside and take those yards, or kick long to contests and speed up off that — which we saw a little bit more against Brisbane in their win two weeks ago.” The former Pies coach said they could have "easily lost" to Hawthorn after taking their foot off the pedal late on.
“I believe there’s enough talent in that side (to rebound), (but) that game would’ve shocked the coaching staff of Collingwood and the playing group,” he said. “Because they could’ve easily lost — that was out of their control. The opposition had a chance to win it, and Collingwood allowed the opposition to get in a (spot) to win it, and when you’ve won a game that way, it gives you pause for thought.
Collingwood's premiership defence questioned in 2024
It's not the first time this season that Collingwood's premiership defence has come under question, with dual premiership great David King singling out a number of stars players earlier in the season. King took issue with Darcy Moore's defensive efforts and called out Jordan De Goey and Brayden Maynard for a high-fiving incident in the loss to Sydney.
Nick Daicos was also singled out for criticism after being easily shrugged off by Mitch Owens during the loss to St Kilda, with critics questioning the lack of commitment from the reigning premiers. King suggested the Pies players may have been lacking motivation after winning the flag in 2023 and questions whether their desire was as great in 2024 after winning the premiership last season.