Malthouse Playing To Strengths

The Age

Friday August 1, 2008

Nick Sheridan

LAST week he was left to bemoan a lack of cattle after his side's eight-goal loss to Essendon, but Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse said yesterday it was the strengths of the group that necessitated the style that earned him the criticism of football critic Robert Walls this week.

Walls wrote in The Age on Tuesday that Malthouse had failed to adapt to the new way the game was being played, with particular reference to the fact that Collingwood had one of the lowest handball ratios in the league, as opposed the ladder-leading Geelong, which had the highest.

But the Magpies' preference for kicking the ball rather than handballing was more a reflection of the type of players that were on the park, than of the particular philosophy held by the coach, Malthouse said yesterday.

"You coach along the lines of the strengths of your team," he said.

"I'm not saying handpass is our weakness, our style is to move the ball reasonably quickly, and when we have to handpass, handpass."

But, he added, recent changes in the players available had translated into an increased use of handpasses by Collingwood players.

"Our handpasses have increased since Anthony (Rocca) has been out because we haven't got that big, tall target. When Anthony's in, our handballs will decrease, because we get the ball quicker to him . . . so you coach along the lines of your strengths," he said.

Despite all of this talk about the finer points of coaching, Malthouse said he had a very simple plan for how his players could beat third-placed Hawthorn at the MCG tonight - get first hands on the ball.

Malthouse said he learned the hard way this year that allowing Hawthorn's midfielders first use of the football effectively gave the Hawks' star forwards licence to run riot.

"Hawthorn's a side that, if you give them the football . . . they're going to give (Franklin and Roughead) the opportunity to monster you," Malthouse said yesterday. "That's what happened in the last quarter last time we played, so we've just got to make sure that we don't give them the opportunity."

© 2008 The Age

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