This week on the Real Footy podcast, Michael Gleeson, Jake Niall and Caroline Wilson look ahead to a big weekend of preliminary finals and discuss Jordan De Goey, who is out of contract at the end of this season and negotiating on the field with his match-winning performances of late.
How have his teammates and new coach Craig McRae helped De Goey this season, particularly in the wake of off-field controversy? What are the likely terms of a new contract with the Pies? It’s been a big turnaround in the space of a couple of months – how has Collingwood’s on-field success changed the dynamic?
This week though, the focus for the Pies will be their preliminary final against Sydney. Collingwood were well beaten by Sydney at the SCG only weeks ago, admittedly without De Goey and as many of their players were battling illness. With De Goey and a healthy contingent, will things be different for the Pies? On the other hand, there’s enormous upside for the Swans, who didn’t get much from Isaac Heeney, Lance Franklin and Chad Warner in their win over the Demons in the first week of finals. Sydney’s forward line is likely to give Collingwood a lot of trouble. Getting through the Swans at home is a tough ask. But can the Pies go all the way?
Melbourne were big flag favourites but ended the season with a whimper. Their forward line was dysfunctional, they had a bit of the walking wounded about them and they again failed to hold a half-time lead. But the message overall is that though there it has only been a mosaic of smaller things causing headaches at Melbourne this season, the margin for error in the AFL is very small.
Amid all this, Brisbane are being a bit undersold. The Lions were down but fought back brilliantly and the story out of it all is Chris Fagan, who has not only led his team to wins over the last two premiers, but also beaten history in a poor finals record and an MCG hoodoo. Their forward line, especially Eric Hipwood, performed well, despite – or perhaps especially because of – Joe Daniher’s absence. Was that because of the way Brisbane matched up against Melbourne, or should Daniher be an automatic in this week against the Cats? How much will Brisbane miss Marcus Adams as they line up against Jeremy Cameron and Tom Hawkins?
Plus, the change looming at Fremantle in terms of players and officials who might be on the move, whether the Bulldogs are right to chase Rory Lobb, a look ahead to what may be a grand final preview in round four of AFLW, the candidates in the mix for the Essendon job and much more.
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