Collingwood News

From the Herald Sun
Reported by Paul Amy
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THE 2015 VFL season kicks off on Friday with Werribee hosting Geelong under lights. Leader sports editor Paul Amy rounds up each club’s ins and outs.

BOX HILL HAWKS

Coach: Marco Bello

Last year: runner-up to Footscray Bulldogs

In: Cadeyn Williams (Richmond), Jack Sandric (Hobart City), Lochie Adey, James Handley (Blackburn), Matthew Burt, Chris Jones, Liam Kidd, Matthew Traynor (Eastern Ranges), Billy Murphy, Sam Switkowski (Northern Knights), James Sullivan (Tatura), Patrick Dillon (Donvale), Xavier Dimasi (Assumption/Calder Cannons), Ben Fitzpatrick (Korumburra/Bena), Dalton Graham (Sandringham).

Out: Luke Andrews, Callan Burns, Corey Cassidy, Sam Cust, Jackson Eade, Tom Goodwin, Jake Kalanj, Tom Miles, Xavier Murphy, Matt Northe, Nick Papadopoulos, Kalem Post, Michael Thompson, Brandon Wood.

The verdict: the Hawks have lost top-line midfielders in Xavier Murphy and Luke Andrew as well as the emerging Brandon Wood. But they’ve picked up former Tiger Cadeyn Williams and have good young players coming through in support of senior men Sam Iles, David Mirra, Marc Lock and Liam Tobin. Premiers in 2013 and runners-up last year, there’s no reason to think there will be a slackening of standards.

Player watch: Mitch O’Donnell. He’s as hard as a coffin nail and he’ll be granted more opportunity after an excellent pre-season.

Celebrating season 2014 with the Casey Scorpions and A Positive Move

Click on read more for a full club by club report.

From Collingwood FC website
Reported by Luke Mason
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Saturday’s VFL-AFL doubleheader marks two 100 game milestones.

The one we know about is Dayne Beams. His week has included a press conference, clippings dotted through the newspapers and highlight reels online.

The other will receive less attention. It’s certainly off broadway as far as the mainstream football public is concerned, but it’s no less significant than Beams’ AFL ton.

Saturday’s VFL match against Geelong marks Sam Dwyer’s 100th match in the Victorian Football League.

The 27-year-old played 97 senior VFL games for Port Melbourne between 2005 and 2012 before finally winding up on an AFL list ahead of last season.

Remarkably, given his experience in the competition and status as a mature aged rookie, Dwyer did not play one VFL match for Collingwood in 2013. Instead, he carved out a niche in the senior side that saw him average 16.57 disposals across 21 games.

Comment thread - http://www.vflfooty.com/node/9021

From CollingwoodFC.com.au
Reported by Sam Gastin and Luke Mason
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The trip to North Port Oval to take on the Borough must rank as one of the toughest in Australian football.

Port Melbourne has made the ground its fortress under Gary Ayres, winning 27 of its last 30 matches at the venue prior to the 2014 season.

While all involved expected a fierce contest, no one anticipated Collingwood would suffer its first loss of the VFL season to the tune of 53 points when the two clubs met on Saturday afternoon.

The Pies were shell-shocked by Port’s nine-goal onslaught in the opening term and battled for stability there on.

The result came as a surprise to most given the Magpies’ confident start to the new season, winning all four practice matches and holding out North Ballarat in the first round a fortnight ago.

Comment thread:
http://www.vflfooty.com/node/8915

From the Collingwood FC website
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http://www.afl.com.au/video?guid=609231

Collingwood has added another player with state league experience to its VFL list in the form of former Geelong VFL ruckman Lachlan Howe.

The 20-year-old has recently signed with the VFL Magpies after five games with the Cats last season, including their VFL Grand Final loss to the Box Hill Hawks.

“We needed a big ruckman for our VFL program to provide support to our developing rucks (Brodie Grundy and Jarrod Witts) and also Ben Hudson, who is on our rookie list,” VFL General Manager Luke Gatti told collingwoodfc.com.au.

“We needed a bona fide ruckman has shown the ability to cut the mustard at VFL level, which Lachie showed in 2013 playing as the 23rd man for Geelong in their VFL Grand Final as well as his five games throughout the season.

“Lachie is a good fit for us and we’re a good fit for him with regular opportunities being available for him.”

Howe has covered plenty of ground in his short footballing career.

From www.localfooty.com.au
Reported by Brendan Lucas
Full Story Click Here

COLLINGWOOD did what many thought impossible, ending Port Melbourne's dominant 28-game winning streak.

Since Round 1, 2011 the Borough had been unstoppable.

However, in blustery conditions at Victoria Park, the winds were changing.