Collingwood’s ability to come from behind and execute correctly time and time again in the most pressurised moments is no accident, as nearly every player and coach will tell you after each signature Houdini act.
At Rowville, the Hawks have pulled-off some outstanding Magpie impersonations in the last three weeks, winning two vital encounters with kicks in the final thirty seconds of action.
Against Doncaster East it was a behind from Anthony Brolic that was enough to get them over the line, whereas on Saturday it was Nashua Wood’s goal from the boundary, as time expired, that secured a crucial four points over South Croydon.
Halfway through the final term Ben Wise’s side’s grip on a top-two spot was slipping, down by 14 points to a side playing to stay in the Eastern Football Netball League’s top division.
Two goals in two minutes from Maverick Taylor made it a two-point ball game with eight minutes remaining, effectively sidelining Wise for the remainder of the contest.
At this point, the coach can only do one thing; trust his players, his leaders, the relationships he’s built during his seven years at the club, and what they’ve honed on the training track.
“We do train a lot of scenario stuff (at training) but what it comes down to is how your leaders lead on the field,” Wise said.
“I can’t do much on the boundary line when it gets into those close moments, but we know that when we’re behind, we take the game on and move it forward, and put as much pressure on as possible.
“Certain positional things change a little bit, we pull a couple of triggers where certain guys in certain areas of the ground go and do different roles.
“They understand what we need to do, we train it enough.
“I’ve got great trust in all my leaders and all my players.
“Even on the weekend we had another two or three debutants come in and play roles for us.”
Through deliberately linking with handballs and keeping the ball in-motion, the Hawks kept their Bulldog opponents on their toes and limited their ability to establish a distinct structure behind the ball.
It’s a case of weighing the risk against the reward, but for Wise, the choice is simple.
“Late in the game, if you allow sides to set up really well behind the footy, it’s going to make things a lot harder for you to score,” he said.
“Definitely it (keeping the ball in motion) is a focus, when you’re behind you’ve got to take it on a bit more and give your forwards an opportunity to get on the scoreboard and get a look without having three or four extras down there.
“I’d rather lose by three goals trying to win the game than not have a crack at it and lose by one.”
