Tweet
Pies facing tough test in the cauldron
By Chris Lines
August 22, 2003
No team gets under the skin of Collingwood quite like Sydney: whether it be Swans chairman Richard Colless's middle digit directed at Magpies president Eddie McGuire, or Sydney's habit of lifting for games against Collingwood - the Swans just irk the Pies.
McGuire and his fellow travellers think Sydney is favoured by the AFL and are not shy about expressing that view, hence the Colless finger by way of reply.
Collingwood view their Telstra Stadium match tomorrow night as a clash between their age-old tradition and working-class ethic, and Sydney's pink helicopters, dancing girls and fair-weather fans. They grieve that Gordon "Nuts" Coventry's league goalkicking record was surpassed by Sydney's Tony Lockett.
But what really hurts is that during the past two years, Collingwood have enjoyed their best sustained spell of form in more than a decade - yet the Swans have won three of their past four against them.
In front of a 60,000-plus crowd tomorrow night - threatening to be the biggest of the season, grand final at a reconfigured MCG included - the depth of feeling can only heighten. And as Sydney yesterday issued somewhat breathless warnings to fans to arrive early, Collingwood were hatching a plot to ensure they left early as well.
Certainly, the Pies can ill afford to plunge back into the degree of doom-laden soul-searching precipitated by the Swans' victory when they last met, in round six this season. In that game in Melbourne, Sydney totally outplayed Collingwood, sending them to a third successive defeat - and to rub salt into the wounds, it was former Magpie forward Nick Davis who kicked the sealing goal.
Having been childishly banned from attending last year's Collingwood best-and-fairest award night for having the temerity to request a trade home to Sydney, Davis's fist-pumping celebrations toward the Magpie crowd was as understandable as provocative. It was the continuation of a trend of former Pies firing up against their old employer, with Paul Williams also prominent in recent Swans triumphs.
After that loss, Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse bemoaned his side's inhibition and felt the weight of the football world on his and the team's shoulders.
"We have got a very, very big army of supporters and it was fair to say that the expectations are fairly large on Collingwood and on the players, and they probably feel they owe the supporters," he said. "The players need to relax into the mode of last year when they treated every game as it comes."
Malthouse, too, was a touch terse when asked why Sydney seemed to consistently beat the Pies, denying that was so. Collingwood have won 11 of 14 matches since that game to secure another finals appearance.
But if fan pressure and high expectation are going to be their downfall, then Telstra Stadium tomorrow night may be a considerable challenge.
By Chris Lines
August 22, 2003
No team gets under the skin of Collingwood quite like Sydney: whether it be Swans chairman Richard Colless's middle digit directed at Magpies president Eddie McGuire, or Sydney's habit of lifting for games against Collingwood - the Swans just irk the Pies.
McGuire and his fellow travellers think Sydney is favoured by the AFL and are not shy about expressing that view, hence the Colless finger by way of reply.
Collingwood view their Telstra Stadium match tomorrow night as a clash between their age-old tradition and working-class ethic, and Sydney's pink helicopters, dancing girls and fair-weather fans. They grieve that Gordon "Nuts" Coventry's league goalkicking record was surpassed by Sydney's Tony Lockett.
But what really hurts is that during the past two years, Collingwood have enjoyed their best sustained spell of form in more than a decade - yet the Swans have won three of their past four against them.
In front of a 60,000-plus crowd tomorrow night - threatening to be the biggest of the season, grand final at a reconfigured MCG included - the depth of feeling can only heighten. And as Sydney yesterday issued somewhat breathless warnings to fans to arrive early, Collingwood were hatching a plot to ensure they left early as well.
Certainly, the Pies can ill afford to plunge back into the degree of doom-laden soul-searching precipitated by the Swans' victory when they last met, in round six this season. In that game in Melbourne, Sydney totally outplayed Collingwood, sending them to a third successive defeat - and to rub salt into the wounds, it was former Magpie forward Nick Davis who kicked the sealing goal.
Having been childishly banned from attending last year's Collingwood best-and-fairest award night for having the temerity to request a trade home to Sydney, Davis's fist-pumping celebrations toward the Magpie crowd was as understandable as provocative. It was the continuation of a trend of former Pies firing up against their old employer, with Paul Williams also prominent in recent Swans triumphs.
After that loss, Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse bemoaned his side's inhibition and felt the weight of the football world on his and the team's shoulders.
"We have got a very, very big army of supporters and it was fair to say that the expectations are fairly large on Collingwood and on the players, and they probably feel they owe the supporters," he said. "The players need to relax into the mode of last year when they treated every game as it comes."
Malthouse, too, was a touch terse when asked why Sydney seemed to consistently beat the Pies, denying that was so. Collingwood have won 11 of 14 matches since that game to secure another finals appearance.
But if fan pressure and high expectation are going to be their downfall, then Telstra Stadium tomorrow night may be a considerable challenge.
Comment