Match Preview - Collingwood v Kangaroos:

Collingwood vs Kangaroos: Match Preview:

By Luke Mason

The summer of cricket has concluded, the tennis is over, and the A-League is all but a memory – the real football starts this Friday Night at, of all places, the Gold Coast, with the Kangaroos, battered by on and off field woes last season, hosting Collingwood for the first time at their new home away from home at Carrara Stadium, on the Gold Coast.

A big season shapes for both sides, in many respects defining ones in terms of future planning. The contrast in this case is evident, Collingwood rebounding from a humiliating loss to the Western Bulldogs in the First Elimination Final last season, spoiling, somewhat, a season which saw the ‘success’ box ticked, for the club rose from a sad and sorry 15^th in 2005 to finish the home and away season on the cusp of the top four and a double chance.

The Roos, meanwhile, passed the Magpies in the other direction, plummeting from fifth in ’05 to the lower reaches of the 2006 table, their off-season punts on tried and true footballing commodities failing to fire as was hoped, Kasey Green the only experience import to display any sort of solidarity as the team, and club, ran itself off the rails.

But that isn’t to say that their 2007 aspirations are already dashed, not in the slightest. As we all know, a week is a long time in football, and six months much, much longer, and it will be no surprise to see North hit Collingwood will all their might in front of their new supporter base, with an eye, no doubt, to topping up the membership totals.

In comparison, Collingwood won’t have any concern over the state of their ever loyal members, who continue to sign up come rain, hail or shine, or wins, losses or draws (but that said, there’s room for all on this Black and White bandwagon). But our concerns will no doubt be on allowing youth the opportunity to blossom, third and fourth tier players to nail down their name on Mick Malthouse’s Sony whiteboard for round one, and allowing the more experienced players to clear out the cobwebs in gearing up for another crack at the holy grail.

But rest assured, the team won’t be treating it as simply a glorified training run. After all, any match in which you don the Black and White is simply a privilege and in itself stokes the competitive fires, and player pride will be on the line. And besides, who wants to make the trek to play another game in Perth (where, just quietly, we have been forced to play during the pre-season – there for Darwin – ever season since 2004)?

The match ups:

The key to a Kangaroos triumph will no doubt be the ability of forward Nathan Thompson to stand up in attack and kick a winning score. It will be his first match sans the support of Sav Rocca, who is now kicking goals in the US, and it will be interesting to note who tackles the job of halting the Roos pin up player. Will Malthouse plump for the know-how of Shane Wakelin to keep the former Hawk quiet, or will he look to give a youngster, the ilk of Ben Reid or Nathan Brown, a memorable first up assignment? Expect to see Wakelin receive first crack, although don’t be surprised if one of the latter two get the call from the runner as the match wears on.

A pivotal battle will be fought out in the centre and around the ground, as Guy Richards and Chris Byran lock horns with North Melbourne’s tall timber David Hale and Hamish McIntosh. This will be the first time in his Collingwood career (beginning in late 2000) that Richards will enter a season having completed all track work asked of him and in year number seven will look to make the number one rucking position his own, allowing Josh Fraser the freedom to play in attack.

Bryan, meanwhile, has made the trek, physically, from Lygon Street to Swan Street, and mentally down to Lulie Street, and will have no shortage of motivation to show his former Carlton coaches that he has what it takes to cut the mustard at the elite level.

Offered only a one-year deal by the Blues, Bryan didn’t need to be asked twice whether he’d sign up for two with Collingwood, the burly former Frankston VFL star set to make an impact in his adopted colours. His main task will be to alleviate the burden carried by Fraser since the final days of Steve McKee, and link up with Richards to become the rucking duo all top flight clubs require to mix it with the best.

Their opponents, Hale and McIntosh, come from the same side of the tracks, having spent plenty of time on the footballing backburner before reaching the top level. Both are former top ten draft choices (numbers nine and 10 respectively), and will shoulder the hopes of the Roos in the coming decade, the club living in the hope that a future Corey McKernan may be unearthed.

Hale’s mission won’t lack any motivation, for he has been one of the four footballers tangled in the betting web during the past seven days, and the way he backs up after the public scrutiny will be keenly anticipated.

It’s doubtful that the Pies will give the likes of Nathan Buckley, Paul Licuria and Brodie Holland any unneeded stress in the engine room, and will most likely opt to trial a blend of youth and experience in the midfield.

It will be exciting for all to witness the new of the Collingwood onball brigade congregate in the centre of the Carrara Stadium, the likes of Dale Thomas, Scott Pendlebury, Rhyce Shaw, Danny Stanley, Sam Iles and Irishman Martin Clarke set to be joined by a more battled hardened body, such as that of Scott Burns and Ben Johnson.

Thomas and Pendlebury, who together whetted the appetites of Magpie supporters around the nation last winter, have benefited from their second pre-seasons, adding much needed muscle to their once slender frames; the pair now looked at as the men to carry the Collingwood torch over the course of the next ten years.

Laidley’s headaches won’t stop when it comes to halting the Collingwood attack, either, the forward line chockfull of emerging talent carrying with it the hint of unpredictability.

Having shed Chris Tarrant from the roster, a new era is set to dawn in attack, Travis Cloke and Sean Rusling, two of the most exciting rising key forwards in the business, set to stake their claims to claim Tarrant’s mantle as the hardest leading forward at the Lexus Centre.

More unpredictability lurks beneath their feet, Aboriginal trio Brad Dick, Leon Davis and Chris Egan set to be joined by Fremantle recruit Paul Medhurst in a small forward combination that, on its day, could explode to never before seen heights.

Trading in the mishmash of purple, red, green and white for the class and elegance of the Black and White, Medhurst has overcome a nasty bout of tonsillitis to prove himself worthy of filling the breech opened by injury to Alan Didak and the retirement of Blake Caracella.

On his day, the man known as the ‘Coonskin Cap’ by Rex Hunt is one of the most damaging small forwards in the game. Belying his ???cm, Medhurst has the capacity to haul in strong grabs with his incredibly sticky fingers, his freakish talents having earned him an extraordinary bag of nine goals in the Dockers upset of the Brisbane Lions in 2004.

With the news that Glen Archer will be absent due to injury, North’s defence may be a tad short on experience, although a resurgent Jonathon Hay will be out to prove a point, after a turbulent first season at Arden Street. The former Hawk is likely to be pitted against either Cloke or Rusling, with the likelihood of Anthony Rocca spending some time in the stands before the real McCoy begins.

The form guide:

The most recent meeting between the two teams in the pre-season competition was in 2002 at Colonial Stadium, the Roos, propelled by the speed of Byron Pickett, overriding an undermanned Collingwood side. The two sides met a year prior at the same venue, the result the same, as Sav Rocca’s new team helped themselves to a victory in a bruising encounter, one which saw both Anthony Stevens and David King’s names entered into the umpires books.

We have to delve a decade deep into the history books to recall Collingwood’s most recent triumph over the Roos in the pre-season competition. The club overcame the eventual preliminary finalists by a solitary point in a closely fought Fosters Cup contest at Waverley Park in 1994 (13.14. 92 defeated 13.13. 91).

An interesting aside is that the Pies short-circuited the Kangaroos Lightning Premiership hopes in 1996, victorious under the Waverley lights by seven points in the format revived for the first time since 1948 to help celebrate the competition’s centenary celebrations.

Both sides have met in recent times on the practice match circuit, North the victors on both occasions, comprehensively at Victoria Park in 1999 and in a nail biter at Princes Park last summer.

New faces:

Collingwood will blood many a youngster on Friday Night’s season opener, strongly built key position defenders Ben Reid and Nathan Brown, the eighth and tenth selections at last November’s draft, are set to wander onto the field for the inaugural time, while Brad Dick’s impressive form on the training track has not gone unnoticed, rewarded with outing number one. Rookies Clarke and Sharrod Wellingham, too, are set to begin their Collingwood journey, the former having starred in last week’s loss to the Swans in a 15-a-side contest at North Sydney Oval.

Joining them will be Medhurst and Bryan, each crossing from league clubs with a point or two to prove.

The Kangaroos will no doubt enter play with a host of new faces, Lachlan Hanson, the third choice at last year’s National Draft, and Ben Ross, drafted in the Pre-Season Draft, among the new crop to play for the first time.

Injuries:

Thankfully, Collingwood are all but free of injury, only Josh Fraser required to take some time off to allow his knee to heel from its surgery.

On the flip side of the coin, the Roos are in a similar position, although the heart and soul of Archer will remain in the pit stop for the time being.

Head to Head since 2000:

Collingwood: 7

Kangaroos: 4

With the Roos era of 1990s dominance coming to a close in the early part of the decade, the Magpies have cashed in, snaring a three match lead in the head-to-head stakes, opening up the gap courtesy of a four match winning streak over the blue and white between round 22 2001 and round 10 2004, backing it up with consecutive successes last season.

The X-Factors:

Collingwood: Travis Cloke and Sean Rusling in attack. Should the pair enjoy a night to remember, the Pies should book their ticket to Telstra Dome for next Saturday night.

Kangaroos: Nathan Thompson. The big man holds the key to the Roos for the night, and will be forced to shoulder much of the attacking work, although supported by the likes of Shannon Grant and Brent Harvey.

Where to for the winners? The victors will take on the winner of the West Coast/Fremantle Derby at Telstra Dome next Saturday, whilst for the loser, it’s curtains as far as the tournament is concerned, and hello to outback Western Australia.

Questions to be answered:

Can the Roos hit the bottom of the table one year and bounce off the floor the next?

How will Collingwood’s Thomas and Pendlebury cope with the added attention, can they survive the dreaded second year blues?

Will North’s northern experiment pay dividends, both on and off the field?

How will the Pies attack stack up without Tarrant?

The tip:

An industrious side are the Kangaroos, and can be expected to continue chugging along no matter the odds, and any side including the likes of Thompson, Harvey, Simpson and Grant command immediate respect. However, the added class of the Magpies youth should pilot them home in a humdinger of a contest. Collingwood by 12 points.