Bombers sights set on new $1m trade target; the \u2018gettable\u2019 Cat linked to Blues<\/a><\/p>\nDual All-Australian and stand-in 360 co-host Leigh Montagna said it was crucial that Collingwood keeps \u201cstaggering\u201d its older players as it \u201cevolves on the run\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s the right approach. Two picks, two players,\u201d he said on Fox Footy. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they are evolving on the run. They are going through an evolution – they\u2019ve played five debutants this year. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey did move on some experienced players last year – four of them who were over 30. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe decision now is, because they need to continue to stagger their veterans, there are six of them in that category this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, from that more senior bracket, the Magpies farewelled Tom Mitchell, Brody Mihocek, Will Hoskin-Elliott and Mason Cox.<\/p>\n
McRae reveals Pies’ list strategy | 02:57<\/p>\n
This year, the 30-plus-year-olds include Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom, Tim Membrey, Jeremy Howe, Jamie Elliott and Jack Crisp. <\/p>\n
And Montagna suggested that \u201cthe conversation\u201d might have to happen with the 38-year-old Pendlebury. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment, it feels like Steele Sidebottom is probably the most likely to finish up. But is that enough?\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be interesting to see how this list management decision goes at the end of the year, because I think Jeremy Howe is playing well enough, I think Tim Membrey in the last month is playing well enough – and depending on what happens with free agency, whether they need him. <\/p>\n
\u201cI wonder whether the conversation is with Scott Pendlebury. I know that people are saying that he should have the right to make his own mind up, but you\u2019ve got to have the conversation with the club. <\/p>\n
Could Merrett be off to the Cats | 02:46<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s got to be what\u2019s best for the club as well, not just what\u2019s best for \u2018Pendles\u2019. It is interesting. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think Jack Crisp deserves to go on, and Jamie Elliott is the one who probably has to get another year, coming back off the knee injury. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey are going through this transition and evolution, because they have to stay in the middle but try and find a way to continue to improve, and they can do that next year with some players and picks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gerard capped the discussion by adding: \u201cTheir intention will be to get back into the top six, not to exist for a period or to reset. <\/p>\n
\u201cTheir mantra is going to be, \u2018we\u2019re going back to the top six here, so how do we make our list better for next year – not five years down the track – next year?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
And as the Pies look to supplement their list with rival senior stars, Daicos is always keen to put his hand up to help pitch their case. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf the club comes to me and says they\u2019ve got some interest in a player and they\u2019d like me to potentially have a chat with them and say how good Collingwood is as a club and how good it is to play there, then I\u2019m always happy to do that,\u201d he said on Fox Footy. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t have any say or decisions in list spots or who we\u2019re attracting \u2026 just want good players, as everyone does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of his club\u2019s \u201cmantra\u201d, as Whateley put it, to always stay in contention, he said: \u201cAs a player, you always want to feel like your club can contend, and that\u2019s been the approach of list management and the coaches, is to put us in a position every year to contend. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s great to hear from a player perspective – it just means we\u2019ve just got to go out there and execute what we need to feature in finals.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Collingwood needs to continue to \u201cstagger its veterans\u201d as it keeps navigating tough list calls on its ageing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-799638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799638","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=799638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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