Despite playing only his fifth game for Fremantle and his first AFL game at the MCG on Friday night, the big stage didn’t get the better of young key defender Sam Collins.
 
Collins had 18 disposals, six marks and four tackles against Collingwood and spent much of the game doing battle with hulking key forward Travis Cloke, who was intent on solidifying his spot in the Magpies team.
 
The mature-age recruit was one of the bright spots in an otherwise disappointing night for Freo, but Collins said he is constantly looking for areas of improvement.
 
“It was great to get out on the MCG for the first time and go up against some quality forwards such as Jesse White and Travis Cloke,” Collins said.

Talking points after Collingwood loss
 
“It was definitely a challenge. I thought I acquitted myself reasonably well, but just like the other forwards I’ve played on, I’ll go back and have a look, as I was beaten in a few contests but I’m keen to learn and speak with the coaches about that.”
 
While the Freo defence was under constant duress against the Magpies, as reflected by the 65 to 37 inside 50 count, Collins said the team did a good job of repelling the attack, if not for some decision making errors.
 
“They (Collingwood) had a lot of entries today and we were under the pump,” he said.
 
“Our handball-to-kick ratio was a bit high today and we probably could have used our kicking a bit more out defence to really control the ball and keep our composure going up the field.”
 
Collins said Freo wouldn’t be deterred by the loss and would continue to review their performance going into the bye week as they set their sights on Melbourne in round 16.