The Numbers Game
2012 – Freo have won their past three games against Collingwood, having not lost to the Pies’ since round 14, 2012.
180 – Highest score against Collingwood (Rd 7, 2005 at Domain Stadium)
34.6 – The average margin in Freo’s past three wins against Collingwood.
33 – Friday night will mark Matthew Pavlich’s 33rd game at the MCG, he’s kicked 85 goals and averaged 17 disposals a game at the venue.
26 – Games played between Freo and Collingwood (11 wins 15 losses)
7 – Players have played for both teams (Brad Rowe, James Clement, Brodie Holland, Leigh Brown, Paul Medhurst, Chris Tarrant, Jack Anthony)
Last Time We Met – Rd 13, 2015 at Domain Stadium
Fremantle (12.8.80) def Collingwood (11.7.73)
Freo didn’t have the lead at any of the breaks, but with the game all tied up at three quarter time, a three goal to two final quarter was enough to get over the line against the resilient Magpies.
Lachie Neale was a force around the stoppages, finishing with a game-high 34 disposals and 14 clearances.
Freo’s midfielders were impacting the game on the scoreboard as well, with Michael Barlow, Clancee Pearce, Nat Fyfe, Stephen Hill and Lachie Neale kicking seven of Freo’s 12 goals.
Michael Walters was efficient in the forward line, four goals straight from 13 touches.
Aaron Sandilands dominated the airspace with 50 hit outs, while David Mundy and Barlow could often be found at the ground level as both finished with nine tackles each.
Big man battle
Zac Clarke performed well last week against Port Adelaide’s undersized rucks with 15 disposals and 43 hit outs, but will have a bigger challenge on his hands both literally and figuratively against Collingwood. The Magpies took three ruck/forwards into their Round 12 clash with Melbourne, with Brodie Grundy, Mason Cox and Jarrod Witts all sharing the load.
Fremantle have brought in Jack Hannath to help combat the Magpies talls and his inclusion could be influencial the stoppages.
Run around the G’
Fremantle will look to take advantage of the large playing surface of the MCG on Friday night by getting the ball into the hands of their best running players. Freo currently rank 11th in the AFL in bounces, averaging 5.2 a game while Collingwood rank 15th with 4.3 per game, and this is reflected in the stats sheet as no Magpie’ has taken more than six bounces so far in 2016, whereas Freo have five players, Michael Walters (12), Danyle Pearce (9), Stephen Hill (8), Chris Mayne (7), Hayden Ballantyne(7).
The tagger becomes the tagged
While much has been made of Michael Barlow’s run-with abilities over the past month and who he would target out of Collingwood’s talented midfield group, the Freo midfielder might be better served in an attacking role. Barlow averages more than 30 touches a game against Collingwood, his best return against any team in the AFL.
Due to his recent form, he could potentially be on the receiving end of a similar player in Collingwood’s Levi Greenwood, who has played a tagging role for the Magpies to great effect so far in 2016.
Clearance Kings
Lachie Neale and Adam Treloar will lock horns at the centre square throughout Friday night and their impact around the stoppages could go a long way into determining the outcome of the game.
Both Neale and Treloar lead their team in clearances with 91 and 61 respectively, while captains David Mundy and Scott Pendlebury are both in second place for their teams with 46 each.
