Where Freo can win it – curb the Magpie midfield
Rather than focus on one or two stars, Freo will also have to look sideways to keep Collingwood’s midfield at bay at the MCG on Saturday
After missing two games with a hamstring injury, Dane Swan has been sensational in recent weeks.
The 2011 Brownlow Medallist has gathered 80 possessions in his past two games.
Dayne Beams is another Magpie to take his game to new heights in 2012.
His past month has been brilliant, including a total of seven goals and tallies of 36, 32, 37 and 34 disposals.
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Focussing on just one or two Magpie midfielders is fraught with danger, however.
Steele Sidebottom, Dale Thomas and Sharrod Wellingham have also been in fine form.
In fact, statistically speaking, Sidebottom has been as important as any Collingwood midfielder this season.
He has had 116 score involvements, which is the third most overall in the AFL.
That also means that he has been involved in 32% of all Collingwood’s scoring this season.
Sidebottom also ranks highly in a number of key performance indicators in the AFL.
He is sixth in disposals (340), fifth for effective kicks (136), second for short kicks (92), third in loose-ball gets (50), and seventh in uncontested possessions (217) across the competition this year.
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