‘A nice dynamic’: The four pillars of the Magpies’ new midfield

Collingwood’s new coaching panel is pushing to build a new midfield around four designated types of player that will be on constant rotation.

New coach Craig Macrae and midfield coach Brendon Bolton are determined to build depth in a blended midfield focused on getting a balance.

Under the new system, either Jordan De Goey or Jamie Elliott will be at every centre bounce with the other forward. Scott Pendlebury will be half-time at half-back, Brayden Maynard will start to play on-ball and Steele Sidebottom and Josh Daicos will be permanent wings.

Jordan De Goey and Jamie Elliott will spend time at centre bounces for the Pies.Credit:Getty Images

Collingwood are weaning themselves off the reliance on Taylor Adams on the ball, meaning the midfielder will spend longer periods at half-forward.

“You think about these four categories of midfield players, and we want to build depth in those four categories,” Bolton said.

“They all provide a different sort of mix, so it puts a nice dynamic in there.”

The four midfield types Bolton outlined are:

The good decision-makers. Players such as Pendlebury, top draftee Nick Daicos, Jack Crisp and Maynard fit this description. “Really good with ball in hand and decision-making,” Bolton said. All will play half-back and midfield.

The explosive mid. This includes players such as De Goey and Elliott. Reef McInnes, who is yet to debut, is also this type of fast, big-bodied player.

“Elliott has played forward a lot. His engine is as good as it’s ever been, he’s had the best pre-season he has had. We know De Goey, so it’s more of a dynamic, explosive type player,” Bolton said.

Pendlebury added that both Elliott and De Goey would be in constant rotation on the ball.

“It’s a hard balance because they are so damaging in front of the ball,” Pendlebury said.

“They won’t feel as much as they have in the past where they are desperate to get in there because they can’t get in there. This year, ‘Bolts’ is pretty committed that one of them will always be in at the centre bounce, so they are not going to feel like, ‘I am not getting in there at all, I am really desperate’.

“They will work as a tag team and, hopefully, it works to our advantage.”

The inside bull. This is the strong-bodied clearance player with clean hands. Adams fits this category, while ruck Brodie Grundy played this role, too, Bolton said, because he was so strong in following up like an on-baller. Finn Macrae is also this type, a calm, elite ball user and a big body. At his size (193 centimetres), McInnes also straddles the line for this mould of big-bodied mid.

Finlay Macrae celebrates a goal for the Pies.Credit:Getty Images

The running player. The fast outside mids, typically out on a wing, who can also pinch hit on-ball. Recruit Pat Lipinski is this quick, versatile, hard-running onballer. Sidebottom and Josh Daicos will play wings, while Will Hoskin-Elliott and John Noble are these types of outside, quick on-ballers.

Identifying these four types of midfielders is not re-inventing the game, but the Magpies are focused on striking a balance in the midfield.

“We want difference in there, we don’t want all inside or all outside mids, we want a nice mix and variety,” Bolton said.

“We have been giving them all opportunities through there, but the coaches have had an eye on those categories.

“You can get to a tipping point if you try to change the mix too much and too frequently and exposing the youngsters too quickly. That’s why those categories of players and the right mix is important. You need some strong bodies around them and you drip it over time to get more and more exposure in there.”

Pendlebury said the club had always had enough midfielders to play on-ball, but the emphasis had changed this year to getting players through there.

Scott Pendlebury will spend some time on the half-back line.Credit:Justin McManus

“With those four types, it’s having that awareness of yourself and others that are in there and bringing in each other’s strength,” Pendlebury said.

“What ‘Fly’ and Bolts have done by getting a lot of numbers through there is, it’s given us so many different looks, and we are not reliant on just a Taylor Adams in there and if Tay goes down, gee, who do we replace him with? There’s ‘Crispy’, ‘Bruz’ [Maynard], Finn Macrae, the Brown boys, Josh Daicos, Patty Lipinski. We all take our turns.”

Sidebottom stripped a lot of weight over the off-season by training hard on his own. His weight has re-stabilised, but he wanted to return to his best, hard-running game after his form dropped away badly last year.

Daicos had a breakout year in 2020 on a wing but was used last year on ball and as a half-forward.

Josh Daicos is heading back to the wing.Credit:Getty Images

“It’s probably getting back to letting Steele decide what he wants to do. He feels settled on the wing,” Pendlebury said.

“He’s been so settled this pre-season, every session he’s just out on a wing. He knows what he’s got to do, you know what you are going to get. Josh Daicos will take the other wing. He tried to play more inside last year but the strength of the guys going through the midfield allows him to go to the position [where] he plays his best football, out on a wing.”

Pendlebury’s move to half-back and Maynard’s on the ball is the most significant shift under the new coaching regime.

Both are elite in their first positions, so the danger is robbing Peter to pay Paul.

“The one thing we know about Maynard … he is a real competitor, but he is a quality half-back flanker, so we are not going to throw it all out at once. But there will be opportunities to give guys a run through there. Primarily, he is still a defender, but he is a real bull and a good decision-maker,” Bolton said.

To teach Maynard to develop as an on-baller, Bolton looked to Roger Federer for help. He had the defender sit and watch videos of the Swiss tennis champion and asked him what he saw, other than an elegant backhand.

It was about Federer’s feet. Tennis is a game of quick response and constantly changing set-ups, and Federer was always on his toes.

Pendlebury said he enjoyed the shift to high half-back.

While the idea of the captain trailing around after a forward for the first time in his career seems unlikely, it is clearly predicated not on having him finish his career as a tagger, but in having the best ball-users off half-back.

“Playing high back, you are still attached to a lot of stoppages to help organise. It’s twofold: make sure we set up well to attack and defend, but the other benefit is the guys going through the midfield, I can still help them with their running patterns and positioning.

“For a Nick Daicos this year, I have already done a fair bit of work with about when he is in the midfield, where we need him, what positions. I am always 20 metres away from him, so we can always have those conversations.”

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