FREMANTLE is largely regarded as the best pressure team in the AFL Women’s competition. Coming off a club-record 98 tackles last week, the Dockers were always going to bring the heat to Victoria Park. On this occasion though, Collingwood was ready to absorb it and dish out plenty of tackling pressure itself.

In fact, the Magpies used their defensive pressure as a springboard to victory in the Round 2 match between the sides. Very few teams will out-tackle the Dockers, but that is exactly what happened at Lulie Street, with a whopping 94-92 tackle performance one to savour.

Fremantle had the majority of the forward half possession with 31 inside 50s, yet kicked just three goals. One every 10.3 times inside 50. The Magpies on the other hand, kicked seven goals, which was the equivalent of once every third entry. Between the tackling pressure and forward half efficiency, Collingwood was always going to be hard to stop.

What are the positives out of the game for the Magpies?

On paper, Collingwood won by 21 points against a side that should at minimum challenge for a finals spot. Those are the kinds of teams the Magpies need to beat if they are to be a threat this year. After being humbled by Melbourne in the second half last week, the Magpies set the tone early and made sure the game was done and dusted by half-time.

Furthermore, the Magpies had more disposals (219-207), and were far more efficient when they won it. Along with the defensive pressure that forced the Dockers to have no breathing room, and the high level of rebounds for the home side, Collingwood set a strong blueprint to take forward.

What still needs to improve for Collingwood?

Clearly pulling off wins from far less inside 50s runs in the black and white blood, with the women’s team following on from the men’s effort on Thursday night. Though the minus-10 inside 50s against the Dockers was a far cry less than the minus-32 of the men’s effort in their qualifying final against Melbourne, it is still not ideal. Collingwood will want to sharpen up that area and five its forwards more opportunities.

Though kicking a goal every third entry is unlikely to be something to maintain throughout the course of a season, if the Magpies can lift their inside 50s count to 30 and kick 10 goals a game on average, that will spell far more wins than losses. However even when they do not go to plan, the defensive end will stand tall and hold up. The second half against Melbourne is more likely an aberration and not having a matchup for certain Demons forwards than anything else.

New faces in Season 8

Much has been spoken about the return of Brianna Davey and Brittany Bonnici, and rightfully so, as the pair combined for 39 disposals, six marks, 21 tackles, eight clearances, as well as 25 contested possessions. However another impressive player was recruit Grace Campbell who kicked a nice running goal and laid 11 tackles to go with her 10 disposals.

Add Campbell into a new-look forwardline that includes former Dog Nell Morris-Dalton – who kicked two goals from eight touches and four marks – and newcomer Eleri Morris, and the Magpies have some shape. There might not be a dominant match-winning goalkicker in the side like Chloe Molloy in past years, but the Magpies will be unpredictable going forward, with six goalkickers for seven goals.

Next week?

Collingwood remains at Victoria Park on Sunday, September 17 to face Gold Coast Suns from 3:05pm local time. With the Suns, Saints and Bombers the next three weeks – a trio of sides who did not play finals last season – all in Victoria, the Magpies would look to notch up three more wins and head into the massive Round 6 clash against Brisbane on the road with a 4-1 record.