September by no means a cakewalk for Pies

[The Majestic]

September by no means a cakewalk for Pies
September 11, 2007, 4:41 pm
Dave Harding
behindthegame.com.au

FOR years now people have been looking at Collingwood’s premiership record, and their famous wobbles in many Grand Final appearances. Consequently, scores have often asked, is it really a cakewalk for the good old Collingwood?

The Magpies have participated in 40 Grand Finals since their inception into the VFL/AFL in 1897.

It would not be until 1902 that the Woods grasped premiership success, after failing in their first Grand Final, in 1901 – the year that saw a final series introduced.

Collingwood met the Bombers in the 1901 Grand Final, and after finishing second on the VFL ladder, went down 2.4 (16) to Essendon’s 6.7 (43).

Gaining revenge on the Bombers in the following year, in of course the Pies’ first premiership triumph, Collingwood defeated Essendon by 33 points.

The Magpies would make it back to back flags in 1903, kicking 4.7 (31) to defeat Fitzroy 3.11 (29).

Collingwood’s next Grand Final came in 1905, where they again would meet Fitzroy, with the Lions beating the Magpies.

1906, and the famous Collingwood club song written by Tom Nelson – a young Collingwood player – became the first club song in VFL history.

“Oh, the premiership’s a cakewalk”. That line from the club song has stood out since, and many people have disputed the claim as Collingwood have become runners up 26 times, while only bagging 14 flags to their name.

But it now begs the question, what was a cakewalk? And how did the premiership become one for the good old Collingwood? The word comes from a traditional African American form of music and dance which originated among slaves in the Southern United States.

It is also said that the words were chosen as it was believed the premiership was a cakewalk in that period of time. Those famous words would come back to haunt Collingwood after each premiership loss.

Since Collingwood’s last triumph in a Grand final, which came 32 years after their last, Collingwood made the 2002 Grand Final.

The 2002 season saw the Magpies go from 8th to 4th, and with a terrible loss to the Western Bulldogs in Round 22, it was expected an early exit for the young Magpies.

But the Magpies held their own beating Port Adelaide and earning the week off. Their next final would be at the MCG against the Adelaide Crows, which they looked shaky in before winning.

With only the Lions now standing in their way, could this be their first flag since 1990? No, it would again end in heartbreak for the black and white army. A seven point loss to the Lions saw the dream end.

The next season the Pies had an up and down, usually down start, but then turned superior to finish second on the ladder. Port Adelaide would finish on top and Collingwood would secure their first home final.

The Magpies – in 2002 – would face the team that ended their dream of a flag the year before, and would come away with a victory. The week off saw they face Port Adelaide, who lost to Sydney in their first final and would have to beat Essendon to progress.

Port did beat the Bombers at AAMI and went on to face Collingwood at the MCG, in a preliminary final, on a Saturday.

The Lions thrashed the Crows the night before, booking their spot in the Grand Final.

Collingwood got over Port, to book a reply of the previous years Grand Final. Could the Pies, who finished second after claiming a spoon in 1999, finally do it? The dream of a flag became a horrible nightmare.

The Lions jumped the Pies early and from there they managed to maul the Magpies until the pain was finally ended with the final siren sounding. Those famous words that were spoken in the past of the “Collywobbles” resurfaced and the pain was for all to see.

[darcytrainor]

Is this for writing our own ???

This is one I did

Is The Final 8 Final ?

So here we are at the end of round 9 and a couple of weird results this week. 3 of the top 4 sides in Geelong, Western Bulldogs and now Adelaide all lost and now Hawthorn are the only team to have not lost.

AFL Ladder at Round 9

Position Team Played Win Loss Draw Win% Points For Against Percentage

1 Hawthorn Hawks 9 9 0 0 100.00% 36 1086 784 138.52%
2 Geelong Cats 9 8 1 0 88.89% 32 958 764 125.39%
3 Western Bulldogs 9 7 1 1 77.78% 30 1140 896 127.23%
4 Adelaide Crows 9 6 3 0 66.67% 24 914 773 118.24%
5 Sydney Swans 9 5 3 1 55.56% 22 868 681 127.46%
6 Kangaroos 9 5 3 1 55.56% 22 859 858 100.12%
7 Collingwood Magpies 9 5 4 0 55.56% 20 1000 859 116.41%
8 Brisbane Lions 9 5 4 0 55.56% 20 966 885 109.15%

9 Carlton Blues 9 4 5 0 44.44% 16 891 938 94.99%
10 St Kilda Saints 9 4 5 0 44.44% 16 840 915 91.80%
11 Richmond Tigers 9 3 5 1 33.33% 14 920 918 100.22%
12 Port Adelaide Power 9 3 6 0 33.33% 12 921 941 97.87%
13 West Coast Eagles 9 2 7 0 22.22% 8 699 912 76.64%
14 Essendon Bombers 9 2 7 0 22.22% 8 807 1167 69.15%
15 Fremantle Dockers 9 1 8 0 11.11% 4 813 940 86.49%
16 Melbourne Demons 9 1 8 0 11.11% 4 701 1152 60.85%

So looking at this ladder we can pencil in Hawthorn, Geelong, Western Bulldogs, Adelaide and probably Sydney. This leaves the Kangaroos, Collingwood and Brisbane. Behind the 8 ball are definitely Melbourne, Fremantle, Essendon and 99% for sure West Coast (I go for them so there's some part of me still hoping). The sides that can still jump up are Port Adelaide (slim chance), Richmond, the Saints and Carlton.

Here is what's ahead for the teams who can drop out and jump into the top 8 ............

Kangaroos

Sitting in equal 5th after a surprising win against the Dogs, North you would say are looking pretty good. However they play Brisbane, Geelong, Fremantle (Subiaco) and Hawthorn over the next month. They could quite easily lose those 4 and fall behind so time will tell.

Collingwood

Their destroying of the Cats on Friday night has certainly put them back on the map of the football world. They have an awesome percentage of 116 and play West Coast, Melbourne, Carlton and the the Western Bulldogsover the next month. They don't leave Melbourne for any of these matches and play the first 3 at their much loved MCG.

Brisbane

I think their chances all depend on Bradshaw and Brown. 6 goals between them ran the Saints defence ragged but I don't know if they can do this every week. They come up against the Kangaroos, Fremantle, Western Bulldogs and Adelaide so it really is make or break for them. They do play 3 out of these 4 at the Gabba however ...........

Port Adelaide

They were very lucky making this list and the fact they have been close in alot of games and were grand finallists last year put them in my mind. The return of Chad Cornes is very postive but will miss Shaun Burgoyne for another 2 weeks. They play Fremantle at Subiaco, Carlton, Geelong and Richmond over the next month so if they play well should win 3 out of 4 to make them 6 wins 7 losses and perhaps back on track ?

Richmond

The Richo inspired Tigers and been much improved this year and probably deserve more than they have. Have challenged Geelong and the Dogs and disposed of the injury wrecked Bombers in the "Dreamtime game" on Saturday night. Nathan Foley is in All Australian form and if Brown, King and Mcmahon can keep their form up who knows. Their draw over the next month is Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Port Adelaide so they could struggle but youy never know.

Saints

I don't think they can make the 8. They rely too much on Harvey, Ball, Montagna, Hayes and Ball every game and have to many passengers. Their draw of Melbourne, Western Bulldogs, Sydney and Fremantle makes it very hard from here on.

Carlton

Wow the Blues are really doing well this year. Judd seems to have lifted Murphy and Stevens and thei ability to win games at the MCG is very important. They have a match winner in Fevola and if their defence holds up they could seriously be playing footy in September ! They have Geelong, Port Adelaide, Collingwood and Essendon over the next month so onlt time will tell whether they can compete with the best.

So there you have it, my only challengers would be Carlton and Port Adelaide but the 8 looks pretty set with a game advantage between 8th and 9th and a further half game to 10th.

What do you think ?

[The Majestic]

Yeah it is, I am attending Uni to become a writer.

[Bluebaggers]

Darcy, can I ask you to please delete/whatever your post and post it as a new article(topic)??




This post has been edited by Bluebaggers on May 28 2008, 11:23 PM