Why the Pies have a lot of work to do to play finals next year

Phil Davis believes the Collingwood Football Club will struggle to qualify for finals next year.

Last year’s premiers miss out on September footy this season off the back of a flag and Davis believes the pain is just starting for the Pies.

Highlighting a number of issues in their list, Davis says the Pies and their list strategy will come back to haunt them in the coming years after obviously tasting the ultimate glory in a flag last year.

But due to that flag, the GWS skipper says clubs have put a lot more time into figuring out how to beat Crag McRae’s side in the off-season and that has bridged the gap in the competition.

“I think Collingwood is an interesting one because when you look at them last year,” Davis explained.

“Winning close games is a skill but when you win so many of them, going 8-3 in close games versus 5-6 is so far apart and that’s the difference between making finals and not making finals.

“I don’t think they were the standout team last, they weren’t the best team by so far they were the best team by four points and that’s what they won the Grand Final by and they haven’t improved plus injuries and that’s why you finish where you finished.

“My view is they’re so close but they just didn’t improve this year and that’s a combination of teams have played the Giants and Collingwood significantly better than they have last year and that’s a similar system.

“Teams have worked out they’re better plus the injuries.”

Continuing on in his assessment of Collingwood, Davis took a deeper look in the age demographic on their list, focusing on the older players that look set to depart in the coming years.

“I really don’t love how many old players they’ve got on their list, I think it’s going to create a difficult scenario going forward in terms of how much senior leadership you lose in a short period of time, I don’t think that’s ever good for a football club,” he added.

“I see a bit of a void in the 27, 28 and 29 age bracket which is a really important age bracket for them over the next couple of years.

“Also, what’s going on with their list manager all year? Where’s the planning and where’s the strategy there all year?

“They’re going to have to go to the draft and they’re skipping it because they traded in players like Lachie Shultz which I rated and I still do but I just worry about the young talent coming through.

“They’ve obviously got arguably the best young talent in the game in Nick Daicos and then a couple more.

“I just think they’ve got a lot of work to do to get back to the finals.”