Peter Jackson VFL – Round 13
Northern Blues v Collingwood
Sunday 6 July 2014, 2:15pm
Preston City Oval, Preston

LAST TIME THEY MET
R8, 2013: Northern Blues 17. 9. (111) defeated by Collingwood 17. 12. (114) at Preston City Oval

Head-to-Head
Played 11
Northern Blues 7                
Collingwood 4 

The Preston/Northern Past Players Reunion will provide the backdrop to a pivotal contest between two finals hopefuls at Preston City Oval on Sunday.

After the two AFL affiliates met last week, the Northern Blues and Collingwood will battle it out on Sunday afternoon, with both sides in perilous positions when it comes to finals ambitions.

The Blues are coming off a demoralising loss to Geelong which sees them sitting in 10th spot, while Collingwood currently sit sixth on the ladder with a win on Sunday giving them some breathing space in the top eight.

The Pies come into Sunday’s encounter with the wood over the Blues having won the previous two contests, including a heartstopping three-point win at Preston last year.

Jarrod Witts was the danger man that day, kicking three goals along with the winner in the dying stages to get his side over the line.

Northern’s last victory against Collingwood came in 2011, where they defeated the Pies by 46 points with Lachie Henderson bagging five majors.

The Blues and Pies have had relatively similar seasons, with only one win separating the two sides on the ladder: additionally, the best footy from both sides has come in fits and spurts, with consistency being a distinct issue.

Collingwood come into the game with the better form of the two outfits, having defeated Richmond by 44 points last week.

While the Blues have made it their trademark to prevail in nothing other than close games this year, Collingwood’s have been quite different: only two games have been decided by less than 24 points.

There will be two markedly different sides taking to the field on Sunday in comparison to the last outing between the two sides, with the Blues not fielding one goal scorer from last year’s encounter.

However, the Blues welcome back the likes of Patrick Cripps, Jaryd Cachia and David Ellard, all of whom are returning from injury.

Meanwhile, the likes of Jesse White, Ben Reid and Nick Maxwell have been named for the Pies, as has the top 10 recruit from last season’s National Draft, Nathan Freeman.

With the prowess of the Pies up forward, it is pivotal that the Blues get first use of the ball in the middle: the inability to do this last week against the Cats was lambasted by coach Luke Webster last week.

For the Blues to do this, the form of Cameron Wood is pivotal, as is the performance of ball winners such as Cripps, Cachia and Nick Graham, who have all been prolific this season.

The Blues are also blooding two debutants on Sunday afternoon in front of the past players in Ben Walton and Mitch Gleeson - the latter, the son of Carlton great Adrian. 

Given the inconsistencies of both sides this season, Sunday looms as a gripping contest, with either side being on or off their game proving as pivotal as ever.

Player Watch

19. Matthew Watson: After featuring for Carlton in the loss to Hawthorn, Watson has been in impressive form for Northern in the past fortnight, despite the heavy loss to Geelong last week. However, with the formidable duo of Reid and White up forward, Watson will have to put in a big performance to halt the Pies’ big men.

41. Jarrad Waite: Having come off in the third quarter in last week’s loss to Geelong, Waite - as always - is the danger man for the Blues. The conditions were far from ideal for key forwards last week, and Waite will have his work cut out for him this week against a back six including Collingwood premiership captain Nick Maxwell.

59. Jaryd Cachia: The midfield battle looms as a major factor in terms of the result for this game. Having injured his shoulder against Bendigo less than a fortnight ago, Cachia returns and will need to be at his best alongside his midfield counterparts to ensure not only the Blues forwards get as much chance as possible, but also to restrict the supply to an extremely dangerous Collingwood forward line.

Northern Blues Selected Squad

B          McInnes          M. Watson       Byrne

HB       Sheehan          Dirago             Armfield

C         Lucas              Cripps               Reynolds

HF       Ellard              Walton             Garlett

F          Anthony          Waite               Holman

R          Wood              Cachia             Graham

I/C Wilson, Bolger, Cattapan, Wilkinson, M. Gleeson*

* Denotes 23^rd man