The funniest factor about Collingwood’s 0-3 begin to the 2024 season is that they’re seemingly proof against criticism. They received the flag, you see.
That is what I heard SinMark Vine advised a caller who bemoaned the Magpies’ lackluster effort in opposition to Sydney, then lamented that the flag elevating was so early.
Some praised Vine for his stand in stopping ungrateful malcontents, and for suggesting {that a} membership like St Kilda can be simply as completely happy to have a flag to fly. not me.
So, that is the place we’re, proper? With no offense to St Kilda, do we actually want to check to make ourselves really feel higher?
Nevertheless, that does not cease different Collingwood followers from utilizing related defences. “What are you complaining about?” They ask. “We’re the prime ministers!” The others shout. Some will let you know: “Simply get pleasure from science.”
The factor about soccer, or any sport for that matter, is that it isn’t a standalone film by which the hero is immortalized in a ultimate nonetheless body that may by no means be distorted. There’s at all times one other championship, there’s at all times one other season, there’s at all times one other summit.
When Lee Matthews issued a pre-season warning about Collingwood’s extreme celebration, it was astonishing how defensive some followers turned. What would Matthews know? He was merely the coach of the drought-breaking premiership in 1990, which by his personal admission allowed the gamers to rejoice for therefore lengthy that they wasted half of 1991.
By the point Collingwood obtained their act collectively that season and proceeded to make the finals late on, it was too late.
Historical past is the most effective instructor. The 1990 Collingwood flag workforce had a number of older weapons on the prime, then quite a lot of younger and middle-aged expertise. I bear in mind Gerard Healy suggesting that Collingwood may embark on a dynasty, very similar to Hawthorn had in the course of the Eighties. I believed the identical factor.
However 1991 was a bust. In 1992, Collingwood completed first however third on the ladder, bombing straight into the finals. And it was him. It is completed.
They missed the finals in 1993, performed one ultimate in 1994, and missed out totally in 1995. For the remainder of the Nineties, their situation deteriorated on and off the sphere, culminating within the 1999 wood spoon.
I did not discover Matthews to be overly pessimistic or alarmist. I believed it was a little bit warning from a person who has seen the detritus of the premiership converse firsthand. He is aware of how Collingwood works – he is skilled how enthusiasm can escalate into one thing so overwhelming that perspective is misplaced, and the way celebration can develop into a distraction.
Matthews made certain that by no means occurred within the Lions, with Brisbane successful flags in 2001, 2002 and 2003, and reaching the grand ultimate in 2004. May he have realized from his errors? What a brand new idea.
You by no means actually know what number of occasions these alternatives to win flags will come up. Gamers become old, get injured, or lose their health. Different groups are bettering. Not solely do you need to take your probabilities whereas they’re there, however far more importantly, take them whilst you can.
![The Magpies look dejected after their loss to the Swans](https://cdn4.theroar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Collingwood-look-dejected-after-losing-to-Swans.jpg)
Can Collingwood keep away from the dreaded premiership aftermath? (Photograph by Quinn Rooney/Getty Photos)
There aren’t any excuses for the place Collingwood presently sits. I will settle for a loss in the event that they go away all of it on the sphere and get crushed by a greater workforce, however for the time being they don’t seem to be enjoying something near their finest.
The gamers appear uninterested. The talents are superior. Cohesion is non-existent.
However how do many followers clarify Collingwood’s efforts? Effectively, the Pies have been late of their preparations – they began pre-season 4 weeks later than most different golf equipment as a result of they performed within the Grand Last.
I by no means understood that excuse. They began after 4 weeks, however… I end And after 4 weeks too. Does not this imply that they’ve gained extra actual match coaching? Moreover, Carlton and GWS completed the race only a week in the past, and neither has been crushed up to now this yr.
Daniel McStay injured – one other justification. It is an vital ingredient for Collingwood – let’s level to the preliminary ultimate as proof.
Nevertheless, he was injured within the dwelling and away half of final yr’s season as properly, and that did not cease Collingwood ending comfortably in League One.
Nathan Murphy is out as properly. Sure, it is a enormous blow to a strong defence. However sticking Murphy in there would not repair slippery counterattacks, magically repair foul clearance, or guarantee his teammates keep on with their opponents, slightly than permitting them to get to the ball unchallenged.
Or how about among the finest arguments but – the magpie query has been solved. Golf equipment like Hawthorn, Richmond and Geelong have clearly escaped this dissection lately to get pleasure from lengthy spells of premiership competition, however the second they cease working for Collingwood, it is as a result of they have been disbanded.
These are all excuses.
As Collingwood supporters, we love them. Take Thursday evening’s sport in opposition to St Kilda as one other instance of this. Jack Higgins scored a shocking aim to silence Collingwood’s late comeback. Conjecture has arisen as as to whether the ball was in or out of bounds when Higgins kicked it.
That is the reality: it was completed as a result of the referee mentioned it was entered. Whether or not the choice is technically proper or flawed is irrelevant. It was paid, so it was accepted. Whining about it, checking it, taking a screenshot of it, will not change it, and can do nothing however present one other excuse for failure, as an alternative of analyzing the true points.
However some within the media have been influenced by cotton. After the loss to St Kilda, Mick McGowan mentioned Collingwood was enjoying “dishonest soccer”.
Ken Cornes prompt that Collingwood was “shy” and “did not actually need to make contact”; Jason Dunstall mentioned they “weren’t ready to place their our bodies on the road like St Kilda have been”.
These will not be excuses. These are the explanations. Excuses are primarily based on indulging in them. Causes present a information for enchancment.
That is what it actually comes all the way down to: issues Collingwood can management – in the event that they need to.
Credit score to Craig McRae for rejecting the reasons. He could typically sound like a life coach selling non secular knowledge, however at the least he is making an attempt to be accountable. Behind closed doorways, I am certain he is most likely extra direct, too.
I am curious how Collingwood will reply – it is nonetheless early sufficient to stabilize and rebuild, however there are actually sufficient warning indicators to warrant concern.
Sadly, if there’s ever a membership the place celebrations can reveal all of it, it is the Magpies – simply as they did in 1991.
Take the chaos that adopted the 2010 premiership for instance; Whereas on the pitch they obtained issues proper for many of 2011, off the pitch, issues have been falling aside spectacularly as a result of an ill-fated teaching succession plan from Mick Malthouse to Nathan Buckley. Thanks, Eddie.
There isn’t a such succession now, however soccer boss Graham Wright’s long-serving go away is alleged to have created a fantasy amongst these making an attempt to cowl his place, and you need to marvel how properly the Magpie machine is operating in comparison with final yr.
Though 2023 was superb, it was 2023 – the previous. That is 2024. Being Prime Minister in 2023 doesn’t offer you any advantages, favors or exemptions. It doesn’t exempt them from criticism. The soccer match begins once more, and everyone seems to be equal.
Until you are all in, by which case you may begin behind the pack – simply because the Magpies appear to be the case.
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