Collingwood is simply the victim of a typical media overreaction after losing in the Opening Round, despite projecting as a top-four team in 2025.
In a season as tight as this, the Magpies have been arguably the most polarising team. Some believe that they’re a legitimate threat, others think they’re demographically over the hill.
Yet after a single loss, on a hot day in early March no less, some have opted to go for a complete 180, jumping off the Magpies as a result of one showing. That’s the only wrong opinion to have.
A lot continue to cite the fact this is the oldest team we’ve seen in a while. Here’s a little spoiler – they were the oldest team in the league heading into the match, too. That didn’t change after a couple of hours of footy.
And what did we actually see on Sunday in the contest between GWS and Collingwood?
Certainly we saw plenty of pressure and an elevated fitness base from the Giants. This was largely a tussle in the first half, before the home team pulled away with a level of aerobic superiority that is only ever seen in these incredibly early-season games.
That’s not taking anything away from the Giants at all, who are largely seen as a premiership favourite. Particularly given they were missing some key players, it’s a great start to the season, although this won’t be their path to winning as the year goes on.
Nick Daicos celebrates a goal (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
For those who tipped a further demise for Collingwood, there was plenty in the game to feel vindicated. And if you believe in the Magpies, there was enough to see the avenue to success as well.
Heading into the season, it’s clear that the Magpies went all in. They’ve even acknowledged it themselves and while it piles the pressure on, it’s also a refreshingly open stance in a largely gatekept sporting society.
From this perspective, they made the right moves. Harry Perryman as a defensive, accountable midfielder with good ball use and positioning makes sense in the midfield.
Tim Membrey as another marking forward with gravity to bridge the gap while a couple of younger players develop, whose fitness and leading patterns can create space, that’s a tick.
And Dan Houston, the perfect player with transformative power over this group.
Richmond went one way, selecting a bunch of kids in the first true rebuild we’ve ever seen and getting in before Tasmania affects the draft pool. The Magpies went in the opposite direction, trying to win another flag before the Devils enter.
2024 wasn’t the disaster some made it out to be – it was such an even season, the Magpies only just missed the top eight despite playing periods of good footy and they consolidated and further improved key areas that led to success, particularly in the tackling and forward pressure stakes.
There was optimism to be seen heading into Opening Round as much as there were alarm bells over demographics and honestly, there wasn’t enough to change opinion either way.
The elephant in the room to quickly address is the inaccuracy. Let’s preface this all by saying that this was not the reason Collingwood lost, although the inability to finish in the first half was certainly a heavy handicap heading into the second half.
All the allegations for how the game played out for the visiting side are founded. They did look a yard off the pace as the game went on.
Their tackling was almost non-existent, with a pressure game they’d quite frankly be ashamed of.
Last year, they were one of the best tackling and pressure teams in the league, averaging 64 tackles and 306 pressure acts.
The defensive running simply wasn’t there and the offence looked a little disjointed.
Against the Giants, they had 39 tackles and 235 pressure acts, the worst numbers we have seen in a long time by any club.
Defensively, they lost half their contests, despite being top-five in the league last year in that area.
They got the ball inside 50 55 times on the weekend, which is five more than they averaged in 2024. The Magpies averaged a score 49.1 per cent of the time against the Giants. Last season, it was a league best 53.5.
Doesn’t it seem a little silly to cite averages and numbers from one single game, in comparison to a sample size of an entire season?
Sam Taylor marks the ball ahead of Collingwood’s Ned Long. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Had this result been the complete inverse and we were using positive numbers from this game, with a sample size of one, would the argument not have been against Collingwood again, to not overreact to Opening Round?
In 2024, Brisbane gave up a five-goal lead at home against Carlton in the Opening Round to lose by a point. Let’s just reflect how the reactions were to that and how the year panned out. The AFL season is a long one.
Speaking of overreactions, the criticism of Nick Daicos, universally acknowledged as one of the league’s fittest players, is diabolical. Recency bias reigns supreme, as does the natural dislike for this football club.
An injury-interrupted pre-season leading into unforeseen conditions that will only be reflected in the formative parts of the season, not when it really counts, it just seems an uproarious criticism for the sake of it.
That’s not to discount Toby Bedford’s tagging at all, he has developed into one of the league’s best with his blend of tackling and pace difficult to navigate and demanding two-way running from his opponent, but that’s where Perryman ideally comes in and provides assistance going forward.
In 2023, Collingwood’s pressure helped force the opposition to dump high balls into attack, letting the Magpies flourish as intercept defenders.
Then offensively, they were the league’s best team from scoring out of the back half, but largely done through a methodical approach, rating elite at finding targets inside 50.
They went away from that a bit in 2024 and ended up being looser at defending the transition, and a little more directionless going forward. Offensive targets were lacking more last season with injury and it affected the team.
Against the Giants, sure, the end result wasn’t good, but there was a distinct and obvious return to a more methodical style of approach to entering the attacking 50, harking back to the halcyon days.
Daniel McStay, Brody Mihocek, Jamie Elliott and Membery offer the Magpies more targets than they’ve had in a while. It’ll take time to gel, often they led to the same area which was an issue in the pre-season demolition of Richmond, but the approach higher up the ground from Collingwood was extremely encouraging.
The accuracy will return to the mean, which just shifts things a little in terms of game situation and scoreboard pressure, while the defensive stuff will come as the running does in more suitable conditions.
Until proven otherwise, you’d believe that given this is one of the league’s best pressure teams in recent seasons, Opening Round was an aberration.
Marcus Bontempelli is tackled by Nick Daicos. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
The criticism of Lachie Schultz is as easy as it is predictable, but he looms a key figure this season. It’s time we forgot about the price paid to get him and started analysing his importance to the defensive transition game.
Contrary to popular belief, he was good last year – not Fremantle Schultz good, but a strong base to work off.
But the real swing factor here is the single most important piece to the puzzle, the club debut of Dan Houston. We touched on Collingwood’s effective methodical approach, which they’ve sought to reintroduce.
By bringing in Houston, the perfect addition, it adds layers to Collingwood’s offensive game. They can remain methodical, while having the ability to take the game on by foot, or by the use of Houston’s league-best kicking.
When he plays on the counter and enters the forward half, Houston is a magnet for opposition defenders, simply because you cannot give him time and space to either hit a target or kick a goal from 60. This opens up leading lanes and more space.
With time, the forwards will command their own spaces within the 50. Collingwood will be one of the highest-scoring teams this season as a result, don’t overreact to their 52-point performance on the weekend.
And for as much as we can criticise the age profile, experience counts for a lot in finals, if you get there. The Magpies have a set-up that as the season goes on, the floor on this team is extremely high and they’ll certainly be there in September, potentially with a double chance.
Defensively, they need to sharpen up, but Darcy Cameron’s starting to adopt the Max Gawn approach of plugging gaps and intercept marking – that’s the secret to elevating a team’s defence.
The Magpies made three significant moves in the offseason to enter premiership contention once again and that can take a little time to adjust to. The performance against GWS was disappointing, the second-half in particular, was embarrassing at times.
But in the marathon that is an AFL season, with a team that has aimed to reconsolidate its strengths tactically and add versatility to the mix in its approach, to write them off after one game is comically inept commentary at its best.
Collingwood will be pushing for a top-four spot in 2025 and will be pushing for a flag, it just might be worth watching more than one game to see it happen.
