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Cornes: Collingwood have gotten worse
SEN • October 16th, 2025 4:10 pm
While several AFL teams reshaped their list ahead of 2026, some did rather little.
The AFL Trade Period has wrapped up for 2025, with all 18 teams making some sort of shift to their depth and top talent.
For some, the deals made with rival clubs have them in position to launch a premiership tilt. The Suns add Christian Petracca and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan as they prepare to attack September football, while Sydney’s acquisition of Charlie Curnow leaves them primed to win and to win now.
For others, their list remains rather similar. And for others, their list has taken a step back.
One of those sides is Collingwood, according to Kane Cornes.
The Magpies only made two trade deals within the window: sending Brody Mihocek to the Demons for a future third, while bringing in Jack Buller for next to nothing. Although the pair play similar positions, it’s difficult to expect 10-game Buller to fill the hole of 159-game Mihocek.
Despite eyeing off a potential deal for North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin, that too fell through, with the Magpies unwilling to shift a first-round pick.
“There are some clubs that didn’t do a whole lot,” Cornes told AFL Trade Radio.
“There are some clubs that got no better, and in a competition that is so even, if you haven’t got better, look out.
“Collingwood have gotten worse. There is no doubt about that, because they are a year older, they lose Mihocek, they haven’t bolstered the midfield at all – they had a crack at getting Simpkin in, but that was never going to happen with what they offered.
“Hopefully Buller can play, but we don’t know, we’ve only seen him a handful of times. Look at their picks; they’ve got nothing coming in from a youth point of view.
“They sold the farm for (Dan) Houston which hasn’t worked, and (Harry) Perryman is the same from a contract point of view.
“What is their midfield going to look like? Are you going to wind it back with (Nick) Daicos and Ned Long? Who I’m not certain about - the game has moved past that type of midfielder, and we’ve seen that with the likes of (Jack) Steele and (Clayton) Oliver falling out of favour.
“What is their forward line going to look like with no Mihocek? And their backline is vulnerable.
“They are in all sorts of trouble, Collingwood.”
While Collingwood did feature in a Preliminary Final in 2025, their ageing list leaves them vulnerable for the future, particularly if the club cannot find a way to win sooner rather than later.
And given their lack of movement over this offseason, Dwayne Russell also believes that the Magpies won’t be as significant of a threat as they were in previous years.
“I do think that there is a chance that their premiership window is closing as opposed to opening up,” Russell told SEN Afternoons.
“Collingwood have got a key forward (in Jack Buller)… if they had have got Charlie Curnow into the place, if they had been able to steal a key forward from another club, then it might have been a different story.
“If I was going to pick my eight right now, I think I would have seven or eight teams ahead of Collingwood. A couple of clubs have improved.”
All will be proven in due time, as a big offseason awaits for Craig McRae and the Magpies.
