Last year the Collingwood Football Club missed the AFL Finals for the second consecutive year but their midfield is still jam packed with possession getters.
Collingwood had the fifth most disposal out of all AFL clubs in season 2015 and the star studded midfield was a huge reason for this.
Five of the top six highest priced Moneyball midfielders for Friday Night’s match against Geelong belong to the Magpies.
Pendlebury, Swan, Treloar, Sidebottom and Adams outnumber new Cat Patrick Dangerfield at the top of the pricing table (see below).
Dane Swan led the team in disposals (29 per game) and kicks (16pg) in 2015 while Captain and fellow midfielder Scott Pendlebury led the Pies in handballs per game with 14.
Both Swan and Pendlebury were top 10 AFL Dreamteam players in terms of points per game last season as well.
Swan, Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom, Taylor Adams and the newly acquired Adam Treloar were all in the top 16 for disposals last season. That gives the Pies 5 of the top 16 most prolific ball winners in the entire league. No other team had more than two players in the top 16 for disposals.
The obvious question is, which of the existing four Magpies is going to be affected most by the addition of Treloar from Greater Western Sydney.
Sidebottom and Swan are proven goal-kickers so it could be argued Coach Nathan Buckley will use both players more across half forward as lead up players and even often isolate them deep.
As you may remember Steele Sidebottom kicked 10 goals in the Murray Bushrangers 2008 TAC Cup Grand Final victory.
Swan is also now 31 years of age (turns 32 on Thursday!) and no doubt with a finals campaign on the agenda Buckley and co will be looking to ensure the stocky midfielder stays healthy by managing his workload.
Pendlebury is in his prime right now, all class and the leader of the team. We don’t expect his output to drop.
