Swans vs. Magpies

[Cardinal]

* we are in the midst of a heavy training load which will place us in good stead for the final 6 weeks of the season;

Does anyone know this for a fact? If so it has proved counterproductive if our mids are too tired to run forward. On TV it looked like we had no-one to kick to a few times when we had the run of play. A loss in a key game cold make the finals campaign much harder anyway.

Not me - I'm just being positive. I have heard from various sources that the Hawks, Cats and Pies are though.

[Auntie.Gerald]

moat soccer, nrl and afl teams are in the same boat re loading training 6 weeks out from finals depending on games and where one is placed

my understanding is that this is no more then a 3 week strategy given the risk of injuries and being down for must win games

my guess is that Doggies, Pies and Saints would have been our pick of 3 weeks if 3 weeks is still the benchmark for loading training

[mcs]

moat soccer, nrl and afl teams are in the same boat re loading training 6 weeks out from finals depending on games and where one is placed

my understanding is that this is no more then a 3 week strategy given the risk of injuries and being down for must win games

my guess is that Doggies, Pies and Saints would have been our pick of 3 weeks if 3 weeks is still the benchmark for loading training

That would be my guess as well, if such a 'heavy' training period is actually being used, especially considering 2 of those 3 games have been in Sydney as well. Saints should be a relatively straightforward game, even under a heavy load, and hopefully the thinking is that with the load off and lightened the week after, the players will freshen up well going into the last 2 regular season games. Its so important to get training loads right - something we obviously did well last year as we really did look good in the finals, and outlasted the Hawks in the granny as well.

All is far from lost, but we have to find a way to finish top 4. Hopefully the Dawks will take care of Collingwood next week, and the Bombers look shot. So it looks like us vs Tigers for the final place in the 4.

[Cressakel2]

Not to sure if this has been mentioned yet, but my thoughts are the Swans looked tired against the Bulldogs and the Pies again last night. The Doggies game was very physical, which only compounded the problem.

Being at both games, Hanners and Kennedy looked slow & sore both games. Time to give them a light week on the track. Maybe, instead of training, Hanners could go and get that 'do fully completed after the half baked job the barber did during the week!

You know the Swans looked tired & slow when D Swan looked quick, McCaffer kept up with K Jack and McVeigh kept missing targets. Felt sorry for Ted & Reg at the end.

We'll be fine for top 4 and still a big chance to make the big dance, although we need Goodes back big time with his pace , skills, goal kicking & general footy nous. Also need Lamb back in for B Jack and the outside run of either Rohan or Jetta.

Best part about last night was beers and kick to kick outside the Royal Exhibition Hotel in Surrey Hills before the game! Although, we missed as many targets as the Swans and looked slower - although only marginally slower....

[swantastic]

we were woefull..FACT.....pies smashed us simple as that they wanted it more..looks like last years win was a fluke..if we meet pies at anz in final they,d be thinkin we have this in the bag and i dnt blame em

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Hopefully they are thinking it's in the bag.

[mcs]

we were woefull..FACT.....pies smashed us simple as that they wanted it more..looks like last years win was a fluke..if we meet pies at anz in final they,d be thinkin we have this in the bag and i dnt blame em

You could argue that, but then there was nothing flukey about what we did to them at the MCG earlier in the year though, so that's the spanner in the works of the argument. We utterly annihilated them that night, and they were in pretty decent form, having beaten Geelong the week before.

I hope they think they have it in the bag - finals are a completely different kettle of fish to regular season games. Also, whilst the result in the end was comprehensive, had that early momentum we had gone on for another 10 or 15 minutes, we could be talking about a completely different result as well. Early on we were all over them, and they managed to claw back momentum (with some help from some certainly green coloured fleas) and we never got back into it.

[bodgie]

[QUOTE=mcs;620054]That would be my guess as well, if such a 'heavy' training period is actually being used, especially considering 2 of those 3 games have been in Sydney as well. Saints should be a relatively straightforward game, even under a heavy load, and hopefully the thinking is that with the load off and lightened the week after, the players will freshen up well going into the last 2 regular season games. Its so important to get training loads right - something we obviously did well last year as we really did look good in the finals, and outlasted the Hawks in the granny as well.

I'm still struggling with this as stoopid as I am. Why not run like buggery on game day against a pretty good team like Collingwood rather than being too tired for it? Especially after a heavy game against the Dogs.

[hot potato]

Especially when the game is still happening past their normal bedtime !
HP

[Auntie.Gerald]

we have been successful without significant players this season - in my opinion we actually have over achieved considering the large amount of 2012 final series players missing

aslong as we win 2 out of 3 games to finish i will be happy.......and 2 out of 3 at home and with our away game down at an oval we kicked some arse at we can do it........and that is still without Goodes, LRT, Reid, Mattner, AJ, Jetta

Jetta kicked 45 or so goals last year for us which was massive.......our nearest best kicker this year is around 24 goals.......

Goodes, Mattner, LRT and AJ had brilliant finals series for us and 3 of those guys has stellar seasons in 2012

We are well placed and we couldnt have played any worse then we did against the Pies......we looked flat, we got beaten to the ball and we didnt make tackles.........the good news people is that is the exact opposite to what we have done all year !!

we will motor over the top of the Saints

we will be fresh and ready for the Hawks and Cats

[ScottH]

A change of game style sunk us.

Collingwood's form turnaround in the past two weeks can be put down to a team taking its time to get things right.

The Magpies have gone from the team that played on the most after a mark in rounds 17 and 18 to a team that has stopped and propped before hitting the target in the past two rounds.

In wins over Essendon and the Sydney Swans, Collingwood has played on after a mark just 23.8 per cent of the time on average. Only Gold Coast has done so less.

As a result ? or perhaps by coincidence ? that methodical approach has seen the Pies lead the competition for effective kicks in the past two rounds, with an average of 161.5 per game.

Magpies slow down to take great leap forward - COLLINGWOODFC.com.au