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Important update on 1476AM“Just holding on”: Magpies are over the cliff, says Hinkley
SEN • April 11th, 2026 2:06 pm
Collingwood’s major woes stem from a toothless attack that is failing to fire early in 2026.
The Magpies were beaten 45-39 by Fremantle in a dour contest at the Adelaide Oval in the second game of Gather Round.
Craig McRae’s side gave themselves every chance by setting up defensively to restrict the Dockers on a wet and windy night. But they were never there to score heavily.
And that is something that has plagued them recently.
The SEN Crunch Time team of Gerard Whateley, Ken Hinkley and Mark Bickley discussed the 2-3 Pies on Saturday and where they sit in the landscape of the 2026 season.
Whateley wonders if they can genuinely contend with such a blunt forward line.
While former Port Adelaide coach Hinkley reckons they’re a mid-table team given the lack of attacking options without Brody Mihocek and Bobby Hill.
Whateley: “The thing about Collingwood last night is they deliberately came with a plan. They didn't mean to just kick five goals, but they came with a plan that they were never kicking 10 goals.”
Hinkley: “Is that the worry?”
Whateley: “Well, it is for me. So is this the approach that they now feel they have to take against the contending teams? And if it is, then they’re not in it.”
Hinkley: “No, they're not. Until Bobby Hill or someone like that emerges back into the team and they get a bit more spark in their front half, and (Jordan) De Goey going down with concussion last night.
“Their front half just doesn't look capable of kicking a score. They might have to be a bit more adventurous with what they do.
“Does Darcy Moore have to go forward? Do they have to have something down there… Darcy Moore might be a difference maker, perhaps, if he was to go forward.
“I’m only throwing stuff out there that they've got to look at because right now they're not looking at the premiership this year.
“Mihocek going out and with Bobby not being available, I thought their front half looked shallow and it was always going to be a challenge for them. They couldn't afford injuries to too many players with their list depth that we get to see. Now we're not inside so we don't actually see exactly what they would see.
“They'd have a much higher rating of some players that we might not have the rating of but I look at them and think they're seven to ten. I don't think they're seven and above. I think they're seven to ten you know and that's where they're going to have to be, I reckon, to give themselves a chance this year.”
Whateley: “They don't have the polish, they don't have the finishing touch for what's missing there.
“A little bit will come back but a couple of those players are gone.”
Former Adelaide captain Mark Bickley can also see their attacking shortcomings.
“You look at Collingwood, there's a bit about continuity, no Darcy Moore, Pendlebury's been in and out,” said Bickley.
“There's some other players that haven't quite recaptured the form they had last year. Jamie Elliott kicked 60 goals last year, he's kicked four goals in five games.
“So there's just some elements about Collingwood where they're not firing off all cylinders.
“Some of the players that they're looking at up there, Dan McStay and Tim Membrey, these guys are at the end, they're not at the start.
“Jack Buller came to the club, played early in the season, not sure where he's at. Charlie West is a young South Australian who debuted last year as a key forward and had some really good form in the VFL, but he hasn't quite been at the level this year as well.
“So there's no obvious answers or players you're waiting for to come back.”
Next Thursday night the Magpies meet arch enemy Carlton at the MCG.
Much has been made about the Blues and their struggles, but Hinkley gives them a puncher’s chance.
He also reckons the cliff, which many feel the Pies are going over, has well and truly arrived for McRae’s men.
“I watched both teams the last two nights and I’m not saying Carlton can’t win, I’ve giving them a real chance,” said Hinkley.
“If they put Patrick Cripps on the ground to start the second quarter they might have won the other night (against Adelaide).
“Then Collingwood go into some half reasonable games. Take out Essendon, then they go Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney. They could lose all three and then we’ll be looking at them wondering are they going to make the top 10.
“They’re not on the cliff, they’ve gone over the edge and they’re just holding on with their fingernails.”
