There are plenty of unknowns in Collingwood’s Preliminary Final against Sydney that will go a long way to deciding the winner.
The size of the SCG, Jordan De Goey’s return and injury-free Jack Ginnivan have all been topics discussed in recent days as Craig McRae’s men look to flip the script from the Round 22 clash between the two sides.
On that day – also at the SCG – the Swans were comprehensively better and kept the Magpies to just 50 points, their lowest score for the year.
Sydney, one of the better sides at denying opposition uncontested marks, kept Collingwood to just 70 marks and five inside 50 marks.
But Pies forward Jamie Elliott says his side will take learnings out of that game.
“I think its god that we played them so recently, we took good learnings out of that, I know a few of the players and Fly (McRae) have spoken about the dimensions of the ground,” Elliott told SEN Breakfast.
“We had Jordy out, it’s not really a major excuse – Jordy is a great payer – but at the same time Sydney played so well and they played that ground really well.
“We’ve obviously made a couple of changes to our ground to try and mimic that and replicate their ground and we’ll look at our ball movement because we were a little bit stagnant.
“We’re the two highest pressure sides for the year and it’s going to be an awesome game. Definitely high pressure and we’ll see where that takes us.”
In that game, Elliott was quiet and finished with six touches and no goals. McRae said this week that he regretted not coaching his players more about the size of the MCG, while Brownlow Medallist and former Swan Gerard Healy also moved to dispel the myth about the ground.
Elliott suggested the slightly smaller dimensions of the Swans' home ground hurt his game, but he’s determined to not let the same occur this time around.
“I think our ball movement, especially for me, I typically play pretty deep, I’m usually the deepest forward most of the time so when the ball is quite slow and we don’t move it quickly (I’m not as dangerous),” the 30-year-old continued.
“A smaller ground is easier to defend, so when the ball movement is slower I find I can’t find as much space, I don’t have as many angles to work into, so it does get clogged up and then I’m just standing there
“So if we can move it a bit quicker, take the game on a little bit, try and buffer their pressure and get it forward, that will go a long way to us winning this game.”
But even if he can’t impact the scoreboard, watch for Elliott to be active at ground level.
The small forward is averaging a career-high 3.6 tackles a game in 2022 in his ninth season at the top level.
“I had (Dane) Rampe (as an opponent) last time… I feel like what I’ve been able to do this year even if I’m not impacting on the lead or marking the ball or aerially, I’m putting pressure on at ground level and I feel I’ve got a good balance this year in terms of defence and offence and it's giving me opportunities on the scoreboard as well.”
The opening bounce is scheduled for 4.45pm AEST at the SCG.