Last weekend the Victorian Wheelchair Football League (VWFL) and the Community Wheelchair Football League (CWFL) team hit the road and travelled to Torquay to play in their Round 9 match up against Hawthorn at the Wurdi Baierr Stadium.
Both Collingwood teams looked strong heading into the match against Hawthorn. The CWFL team were in a position to continue their undefeated season and the VWFL team were chasing down three wins in a row.
Last time Collingwood played Hawthorn their speed and size got the best of the Pies, enabling the Hawks to capitalise on errors and produce scoring opportunities.
This weekend seemed to be another challenge with the Hawks putting in a strong performance during the VWFL game and coming away with a 73 point victory.
The message pre-game from Coach Andrew Paddle was to lead to the sidelines and aim to keep the ball away from any tall Hawthorn players. The Pies also needed to make disposals difficult for Hawthorn by keeping pressure on the ball carrier.
Paddles asked that the forwards make the most of their opportunities in front of goal as this was an area where the Pies could even the scoreboard.
Collingwood worked hard to keep Hawthorn at arm’s reach in the first half but unfortunately, the Hawks were too strong in the second, scoring 12 goals alone compared to the Pies three.
Ben Jankovski was impressive in the forward line, scoring five out of six Collingwood goals.
An undermanned Collingwood side put the Hawks to the test but the Pies were unable to continue their efforts for all four quarters.
The Pies look forward to pushing back in their next match against St Kilda.
COMMUNITY WHEELCHAIR TEAM
Despite looking to keep their season undefeated against the Hawks last Sunday, the Community team fell short coming away with an eight point loss.
The Pies had to work extra hard going in with four players compared to the normal seven that would be on the court at once.
Coach Andrew Paddle asked the team to put scoreboard pressure on early even though they didn’t have a full side.
Tim O’Connor who was added to Collingwood’s list during the mid-season draft played his first game for the Club. He was impressive combining well with Jack Elliot in front of goals.
Collingwood fought all the way to the end and did not give up regardless of the impending result.
The CWFL team look to bounce back this weekend against St Kilda.
Upcoming matches for both teams are as follows:
Collingwood VWFL – Sunday, July 16th against St Kilda Starting at 12pm at the Boroondara Sports Complex.
Collingwood CWFL – Sunday, July 16th against St Kilda Community team starting at 11am at the Boroondara Sports Complex
VWFL TEAM RESULTS
Collingwood 1.1 3.3 4.4 6.4 (40)
Hawthorn 3.2 6.2 14.2 18.5 (113)
Goals
Collingwood: Jankovski 5, Perito
Hawthorn: Hill 10, Broadbent 5, Brown 3.
CWFL TEAM RESULTS
Collingwood 1.2 2.3 6.3 7.7 (49)
Hawthorn 2.0 2.1 6.2 9.3 (57)
Goals
Collingwood: Elliott 4, O’Connor 3.
Hawthorn: Ralph 8, Deverell.
