{"id":542609,"date":"2026-03-15T20:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T20:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542609\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T20:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T20:28:09","slug":"collingwood-magpies-trade-regret-jack-buller-mason-cox-first-crack-analysis-video-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542609\/","title":{"rendered":"Collingwood Magpies trade regret, Jack Buller, Mason Cox, First Crack analysis, video, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Collingwood could have a case of \u201ctrade regret\u201d this year amid early struggles in the forward line. <\/a><\/p>\n

And there\u2019s one man they could have kept for \u201ccheap as chips\u201d who might have helped with another one of their key issues.<\/p>\n

Watch every match of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Magpies have kicked just 11 goals in each of their first two games this season, and the forward unit hasn\u2019t looked all that fluent – described as \u201ctoothless\u201d. <\/p>\n

Trade recruit Jack Buller has gone goalless in his first two games at the club, after it let veterans Brody Mihocek and Mason Cox go last offseason. <\/p>\n

Herald Sun and Fox Footy reporter Jay Clark pondered whether Collingwood \u201chas a case of trade regret\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it is clear to everyone that they are lacking a key forward presence to help steer that scoring rush,\u201d he said on Fox Footy\u2019s First Crack. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, they look a bit toothless in attack. And that is no offence to Jack Buller, who\u2019s trying his guts out down there, but he\u2019s a young man \u2026 they\u2019re clearly lacking something.\u201d<\/p>\n

McRae explains Daicos’ wing appearance | 07:13<\/p>\n

In his post-match press conference on Saturday night, Pies coach Craig McRae admitted as much. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the reality, we\u2019re not getting enough out of our keys, that\u2019s real,\u201d McRae said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to shy away from that; we\u2019ve got work to do on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collingwood recorded four more inside-50 entries than Adelaide at the MCG, but repeatedly had issues lowering their eyes for their final kick inside 50. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf that (not getting enough out of keys) is the case, and all the Collingwood players would be wanting something more in that forward half, why have they let go arguably their two best key forwards in Brody Mihocek and Mason Cox?\u201d Clark continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the preliminary final against Brisbane, who did they start at full forward and centre-half forward? It was Cox and Mihocek – (Dan) McStay wasn\u2019t even in the team. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, they\u2019re win-now, Collingwood, they\u2019re in the premiership window \u2026 they\u2019ve got an ageing profile, they\u2019ve just topped up with Houston and Perryman, so why would they get rid of the tip of the spear?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they could have their time over again, would they not want to have at least one of those back in Mihocek and Cox?\u201d<\/p>\n

Crows beat pies, break 12 year hoodoo | 02:07<\/p>\n

In the case of Cox, the American could\u2019ve helped this season in more ways than one, with the Pies also struggling out of the centre square. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe wouldn\u2019t have cost the Pies that much – he would have been cheap as chips – and he can also help out in the centre square,\u201d said Clark. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause over the first two games, another problem has emerged for the Pies – and that\u2019s their centre square ruckwork. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow, we love Darcy Cameron, he\u2019s great around the ground, he saved them so many times with his marking, but have a look at these numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collingwood lost the centre clearance count 8-15 against St Kilda in Opening Round and 9-16 against Adelaide on Saturday night. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve been effectively belted twice now \u2026 that\u2019s 31-17 over the first two games,\u201d Clark said. <\/p>\n

\u201cCox can play a role in there; Darcy Cameron\u2019s never been a great centre-square ruckman – that\u2019s what Cox could have done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Probed on the idea of the Magpies having \u2018trade regret\u2019, two-time flag-winner David King said one or two changes weren\u2019t going to elevate this side into premiership contention in the short term. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Buller (move) I can understand – they had to go younger. Cox is ageing – he might play a role for Fremantle, bits and pieces, but I think at his age, they had to look past that,\u201d King said. <\/p>\n

\u201cDoes anyone think they\u2019re a premiership contender this year? \u2026 I don\u2019t think one or two additions are going to make them a premiership contender next year, the year after. <\/p>\n

\u201cI might be wrong, but I think they\u2019re in a reset, rebuild phase.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Collingwood could have a case of \u201ctrade regret\u201d this year amid early struggles in the forward line. And…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,104071,268844,10133,10143,28452,1818,12186,19125,3465,13126,677,4873,19095,41653,15826,18000,268846,85,1122,268845,268843,660],"class_list":["post-542609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-centre-clearance","tag-centre-square-ruckman","tag-collingwood-magpies","tag-craig-mcrae","tag-darcy-cameron","tag-david-king","tag-jack-buller","tag-jay-clark","tag-leigh-montagna","tag-mason-cox","tag-oceania","tag-post-match-press-conference","tag-preliminary-final","tag-premiership-contender","tag-premiership-contention","tag-premiership-window","tag-scoring-rush","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-trade-recruit","tag-trade-regret","tag-victoria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}