Pies forwards the danger, says Craig
Neil Craig says Collingwood's forward line is dangerous despite some absentees
The Pies will be without key targets Anthony Rocca, Sean Rusling, Ben Reid and livewire Alan Didak when they head to Adelaide for Saturday’s elimination final, but Craig said he had nothing but respect for the undermanned attack.
“I really like Collingwood’s forward line and it poses a big problem for us,” Craig said on Friday.
“They’ve got some talent, some height with Travis Cloke and Dale Thomas comes back in to that area of the ground as well. We’ve seen Paul Medhurst play his role and then they’ve got midfielders like Dane Swan who can go through there as well, so it’s going to be a huge challenge for us.”
Collingwood claimed a comfortable victory in the only meeting between these two sides this season and possesses an impressive record at AAMI Stadium.
But Craig was confident the second leg of the Magpies’ road double would still be an edge for the Crows, who finished the regular season against the Western Bulldogs at home.
“Collingwood’s record here has been pretty good,” Craig said.
“But with the travel factor-- I still think it’s a home-ground advantage for us because if we had a choice of where to play we’d play here. Why? Because we think it’s an advantage for us.”
Craig predicted a fierce battle at AAMI Stadium on Saturday, noting that recent clashes between the two sides had generally been close.
He also said the Crows would be looking to match Collingwood’s heralded intensity and defensive pressure ‘head-on’.
“I’m sure Collingwood will rebound from last week. Mick Malthouse has a great reputation of being able to get his players up after that sort of performance, which I’m sure they would’ve been disappointed with,” Craig said.
“We’ve seen it even just recently with the Alan Didak/Heath Shaw situation and the team’s capacity to come out and win three games in a row, or whatever it was.
“They play really high intensity, great footy and their performance against Geelong doesn’t just happen; it wasn’t luck. We understand who we are playing.”