Collingwood captain Darcy Moore hopes his team’s form continues the entire way through the 2023 season.
After finishing last season with a bullet, winning 12 of their last 13 home and away games, the Magpies have burst out of the blocks in 2023 to sit 10-1 through 11 rounds.
Having found form at the start of the season instead of at the end of it, some have concerns have arisen that the Magpies won’t be able to sustain their level for an entire 23-game season plus finals.
While Moore understands it’s a long season, he says the Magpies are always tinkering with their game behind the scenes in an effort to get better every day.
“It’s a great question,” Moore told SEN Afternoons in response to how the Magpies were timing their run into September.
“Last year we really timed our run perfectly and put our best football together at the end of the season, which proved to be effective and we obviously got so close to playing it out in the Grand Final.
“This year is a little bit different, we’ve obviously hit the form a bit earlier and put some results on the board, which is great, it’s fantastic obviously to be where we are.
“But it is such a long season and there are ebbs and flows in form and I think we’ve sort of seen that in parts of our game where we’ve started off the season really well and dropped off and then vice versa with things we really had to work out as well.
“So it’s a constant tinkering process behind the scenes.
“But when you can do that and still get the results as we have, it makes it a pretty good place to be.”
With Collingwood already in form, Moore understands that the side will have ups and downs across the coming months as teams will look to take the strengths of the high-flying side away from them.
“There are natural ebbs and flows with other teams as well,” Moore said.
“We've seen in the last month, teams like the Bulldogs and the Dockers finding their best form and finding what works for them and their process that's going to continue to happen.
“There are going to be other teams that hit form later in the season.
“Look at the Crows as well, they’re a young team that is really finding their brand of footy.
“It's probably not as much about us finding form, but other teams taking things away from us and developing strengths that are really going to challenge us.”
With his side currently a game clear on top of the ladder, Moore was asked which opposition he felt had the best chance of knocking them off their perch.
While the star defender isn’t an avid footy watcher, he believes there are several top-eight sides that will be incredibly dangerous if they find their best footy.
“Personally I don't watch a lot of footy but I probably follow it generally a bit more closely than I used to,” Moore explained.
“But any of the top sort of four or five teams - even Geelong, their record speaks to themselves even though they’re not getting as consistent of results as they’re used to … they’re always a force with the names they've got on their whiteboard.
“Brisbane are putting together some great form as well, Adelaide really pushed us - we got away with one there playing against them with the Adelaide Oval - but I think they showed us just how devastating their best football can be, and Melbourne of course as well.
“So, I think there's a few, with the top four teams as much as they look pretty settled, there are some teams that are finding form in the bottom half of the eight that can do some damage.”
Moore and the Magpies will hope to extend their record to 11-1 when they face the Eagles at Optus Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Moore was in attendance today at the opening of Tool Kit Depot’s first Victoria store at 27-29 Nepean Highway Mentone.
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