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Live sport on SN this weekendSimpson: The two things Collingwood must improve on
Nicholas Quinlan • May 2nd, 2026 6:37 pm
Adam Simpson believes Collingwood has a long way to go before they compete with the competition’s best despite their reversal in form over the last month.
After going through their first five games with a 2-3 record and sitting 13th on the ladder, the Pies now find themselves in the top half of the ladder following wins against Carlton and Essendon, alongside a draw against Hawthorn.
That was despite having 34 inside 50s (compared to Hawthorn’s 62) and 10 fewer scoring shots in their Thursday night clash.
While they are not near the top of the ladder as they were this time last year, Gerard Whateley noted the club's more conservative approach to resting their veterans (like Scott Pendlebury and Jeremy Howe on Thursday) should allow them to hit their peak later in the season.
“The past couple of weeks have been more reassuring than what had happened earlier,” Whateley said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“So, they are attempting to reverse engineer the season, at a negative split.
“Last year, they were too good too soon. You have to learn the lessons from that.
“I feel like there's an eagerness, almost a desperation, to write them off.
“But you can see what they're working on and then it's just a matter of where they are going to sit in the scheme of things when they play their best footy.”
But the former West Coast coach expressed reservations about that possibility given Collingwood's lacklustre numbers around clearances and contested possessions.
“They’ve got a long way to go,” Simpson declared.
“I don't know if this is the pace yourself (mode), I don't think they're in that mode anymore.
“I think they're in what's going on mode, because as much as they had a stoic game last Thursday, it was a brilliant game to watch and well coached and well executed.
“But when you're losing inside 50s like that and the contested possessions, if they're not 18th, they're 17th (in the competition).
“The clearance work is deplorable (18th in the competition). They’re not a good clearance side.
“So, if you don't have the clearance in your kit bag and you're not good at contested possessions, what are you?
“You're good at defence, cause you've gotta be, so they've got a lot to work on.
“They're going as well as they possibly can in those other areas.
“But if you can't get at least competitive (in clearance and contested possessions), you're not gonna win the big games when it really matters.”
The Magpies next feature on Saturday night when they face off against Geelong at MCG.
That will get underway from 7:35pm AEST, with SEN having live coverage of the match on the SEN app.
