The Dogs won the first six centre clearances of the game,bounding out to a 39-point lead before the Pies opened their account just minutes before quarter time. They finished with the seven leading possession-getters on the field.
“We haven’t necessarily had that output week to week or,if we have,we haven’t connected,” Beveridge said. “You saw how inefficient we were with our forward-half stuff in the early parts of the year. It probably cost us a game or two. So if we can get all that recipe right,we’re going to challenge most teams.”
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Such was the influence they exerted,Marcus Bontempelli was able to spend longer periods supporting a forward line that has lacked an aerial presence.
The final margin was befitting of the Dogs’ dominance in almost every facet of the game. They won the contested possession count by 40,and once the ball was in space the Pies struggled to win it back. And when they did they were under so much pressure and in such poor field position they had too much to do to give their forwards the chance to score.
The win will likely see the Dogs be in ninth spot by the end of the round with a gilt-edged opportunity to square the ledger next week against Gold Coast in Ballarat.
The honeymoon period is now over for first-season Collingwood coach Craig McRae,whose team does not have the depth to cover a long injury list.
“I don’t want to sit here and make excuses for our effort because I thought we were poor,” McRae said when asked if a third straight six-day break had affected their performance. “I think anyone watching at home would say the same - just disappointed the way we went about it.
“You have to give credit to them,they were up and about to a different level we were. I don’t want to take away from that. I just want to be better than that,I want to put a display on. Friday night lights are bright,they were shining on us,and we were disappointing.”
The Pies sorely missed the steadying presence of their ill skipper Scott Pendlebury,who likened his symptoms to being “hit by a truck” and the enthusiasm of Jack Ginnivan.
Their defence caved under a relentless onslaught in the first three quarters while their forwards were on starvation rations.
Torn apart by Tom Lynch,Darcy Moore was beaten again by Naughton,who booted three goals,though the speed and ease at which the ball flew into the Dogs’ forward 50 did him no favours.
Highlighting their midfield woes,recruit Patrick Lipinski could not break into the Dogs’ midfield last year but in this Magpies side he has a key role.
McRae said the Pies’ method rather than a lack of intensity was to blame for the lopsided contested possession count.
“We get the balance wrong,sometimes we were all trying to rush in there and put pressure on and get beaten on the outside,” McRae said. “There’s some contested methods around that we need to improve on. I thought just our fundamentals on the whole were really down. We’ve been doing a lot of work on it,we’ve got more to do.”
Youngster Ollie Henry provided a rare bright spot for the Pies,giving their fans a glimpse into the future with his football smarts in the forward line. His errant kicking for goal was frustrating but he has the happy knack of finding space.
From Bruuuuce to Buuuu
Josh Bruce’s season-long absence has caused a headache for Luke Beveridge’s match committee this year and prevented Bulldogs fans from affectionately growling “Bruuuuce” whenever the key forward touches the ball.
They may have found a replacement in Buku Khamis,who was greeted by a baritone cry of “Buuuu” when the Sherrin was kicked in his direction. Khamis kept them busy with three goals. If he holds his form,he can solve one of Beveridge’s key issues and give Dogs fans something to crow about.
Winged Magpie
Jack Madgen was left in agony after suffering what appeared to be a dislocated shoulder in friendly fire. The key backman had his arm in the wrong place as Moore stormed through to take an assertive mark in defence. As players scattered up the field,a hunched over Madgen needed the assistance of two trainers to leave the field - unable to move his right arm at all.
Collingwood1.3 2.6 4.7 7.9 (51)
Western Bulldogs6.5 7.10 11.11 14.15 (99)
GOALS:Collingwood: Crisp 2,Quaynor,Mihocek,Hoskin-Elliott,De Goey,Lipinski
Western Bulldogs: Khamis 3,Naughton 3,Dunkley 3,Treloar 3,Bontempelli,Scott
BEST:Collingwood: Howe,Crisp,Henry.Western Bulldogs: Treloar,Smith,Macrae,Liberatore,Dunkley,Naughton,Daniel,Dale.
UMPIRES
Power,Brown,Meredith
VENUE Marvel Stadium
CROWD 44029
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