Jimmy Bartel sees some similarities between this year’s Collingwood group,and the Cats of 2009.Credit:AFL Photos
“We sort of thought,‘Do we give a little bit around clearance,and try and get the ball on the outside?’,then we ummed and ahhed about rucks,” McRae said.
“There are lineball decisions on this –[Mitchell]’s really important to us. I hope he doesn’t feel like he’s anything other.”
Bartel understood the logic in keeping both ruckmen in the game,given Cameron was returning from injury and Cox typically did not spend extended stints in the ruck.
Jordan De Goey’s return from suspension in the past three weeks has coincided with Mitchell’s situation,including McRae’s new preference for De Goey,Nick Daicos and Scott Pendlebury as his centre-bounce combination.
Even in Mitchell’s full game in round 17,he was a distant fourth in centre attendances (13) to Daicos (24),De Goey (23) and Pendlebury (21). Jack Crisp was not part of the centre-bounce rotation in two of the past three matches,while Adams saw a boost in opportunities the past fortnight.
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But Bartel said he could envision a finals scenario,especially in a rematch with the Power,where McRae could start Daicos forward to avoid Willem Drew’s tag,and throw both Mitchell and Adams into the middle.
“A move like that might open up the forward line,and make it really dangerous – and they could keep ‘spitting’ one[of the midfielders] forward[to change who attends stoppages],” Bartel said.
“It will be interesting to see whether Mitchell and Adams have a role if Daicos is heavily sat on.”
Mitchell had to swallow his pridein his final season last year at Hawthorn,when then-first-year coach Sam Mitchell regularly removed him from the centre square to give younger players an opportunity.
After two years of trade rumours,the Hawks shipped both him and Jaeger O’Meara off,to Collingwood and Fremantle,respectively,in the final half hour of the 2022 trade period.
It was a match made in heaven because the Pies needed,and wanted,to improve the contested part of their game despite a successful run to a preliminary final.
Collingwood have turned that weakness into a strength this year,and Mitchell has received a good portion of the credit,amassing 40 more contested possessions than any other Magpie.
He has always done his best work in the contest,where he is a master at manipulating space and winning the Sherrin.
However,Mitchell’s early weekend exit owed to McRae bemoaning the Power repeatedly out-running and out-numbering his players between stoppages.
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