Collingwood are top of the ladder, and has been the
most improved team on the rankings this season. They won the premiership in
2023, and then missed the finals altogether the next season. Now though they
look back to their premiership-winning form, beating three preliminary finalists
by a combined 174 points.
Indeed, they are possibly better so far this season
than their 2023 premiership side. That
team had only a slight positive differential for inside 50s, contested
possessions and possession chains. The current team ranks at or near the top
for this statistics.
Much was made of Collingwood’s recruits – two-time
All-Australian Dan Houston, Harry Perryman, and Tim Membrey. To some degree this
is true – Houston looks to be an upgrade in the backline over John Noble
(though Noble is being well-utilised at Gold Coast), and Membrey seems to be a
more productive key forward than anyone who stood beside Brody Mihocek last
year.
Some of the improvement however seems to have come from within. Steele Sidebottom and Ned Long were respectively ‘too old’ or ‘too young’ to be considered as primary parts of Collingwood’s midfield mix last season. Sidebottom though has almost doubled his contested ‘loose ball gets’, and Long has almost doubled his output across a range of categories. Daniel McStay’s return from injury has also helped with the forward stocks.
Collingwood’s playing list is built for now - it’s the oldest in VFL/AFL history - and it still makes them a premiership threat. Their form over the past month has been historically dominant. Whether they can retain that for the next few months remains to be seen.
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