Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley expects to see more shoot outs this AFL season as teams try to overcome the league’s established emphasis on defence.
Friday night’s MCG blockbuster featured an astonishing 72 scoring shots as Hawthorn kicked clear in the last term to beat the Magpies by 22 points.
The game opened up significantly in the second term and became what Magpies midfielder Scott Pendlebury called “fast-break footy”.
Buckley noted that style of play suited Hawthorn more than Collingwood and predicts it will not be the last time this happens during the season.
“If you play an open-field, somewhat uncontested brand of football against a side with the best foot skills in the competition, you’re going to struggle,” he said.
“We’re going to see some high scores at times because defence has been dominant.
“There are offensive strategies being implemented to get around it and we got through Hawthorn’s defence and they got through ours.”
Collingwood clearly were unable to play the structured, disciplined style of game that has served them so well in the last few seasons.
Buckley agreed that some of that was due to having so many experienced players out of the side.
Peter Yagmoor, Jackson Paine and Paul Seedsman made their senior debuts and Buckley noted there were seven players in the team with only 27 AFL games between them.
While it cost the Magpies, Buckley said those youngsters showed plenty of potential.
“I wouldn’t discount some of the performances from our young players and the fact they’re going to be mentally better prepared, understanding what the game requires,” Buckley said.
“You see some who stand up and handle it straight away.
“But we wouldn’t have selected any of those players if we didn’t think they were capable.
“We definitely threw them in the deep end, but ultimately our hand was forced in some ways.”
Buckley also denied he had applauded a freakish goal from Hawks star Lance Franklin during the last quarter.
He was seen clapping his hands together immediately after the goal, but the Magpies coach said there was no appreciation being shown of Franklin’s talent.
“I wasn’t applauding – I thought I was cursing,” Buckley said with a rueful grin.