Collingwood suffered a tumultuous 2021 season to say the least.
The fallout from the disastrous 2020 trade period seeing a number of key players leave and be traded, to the distractions of the Do Better report and the resignation of head coach Nathan Buckley led to a season that Magpie fans would rather forget and move on from.
The Pies finished a disappointing 17th on the ladder last year with only six wins to show for it, but since the appointment of head coach Craig McRae, things are looking more positive for the Magpies community heading into the 2022 season.
A change of coaching with McRae, as well as Justin Leppitsch and Brendon Bolton joining the coaching staff, and a change in culture to go along with the arrival of young star Nick Daicos and talented midfielder Patrick Lipinski, has breathed much-needed life into the club following their disastrous 2021 campaign.
With a young list that is eager to impress the Magpies faithful, Collingwood will be an interesting side to observe in 2022 to see how they fare against the rest of the competition.
A big Melbourne club with a big Melbourne fan base comes with lots of pressure and expectation, so let's dive into Collingwood's 2022 season preview.
Off-Season Moves
Ins: Nick Daicos, Patrick Lipinski [Western Bulldogs], Nathan Kreuger [Geelong Cats], Charlie Dean, Arlo Draper, Harvey Harrison, Cooper Murley
Outs: Levi Greenwood [retired], Max Lynch [Hawthorn Hawks], Chris Mayne [retired], Jay Rantall [delisted], Brayden Sier [delisted], Josh Thomas [retired]
After a trade period that saw Adam Treloar, Jaidyn Stephenson and Tom Phillips shown the door to the Holden Centre, it was expected that Collingwood would take a dive in 2021 compared to their impressive 2018 and 2019 campaigns and a finals win in 2020.
Although expectations were lowered heading into the 2021 season, not many would've expected Collingwood to do as poorly as they did, finishing 17th on the ladder with only six wins.
The Magpies' season never really got going, with the side losing six of their first seven games to mount heavy pressure on coach Nathan Buckley.
From there it didn't get much better, with the resignation of Buckley halfway through the season, and the Pies failing to bring themselves out of the bottom four for the rest of the season.
There were some standout moments from the Pies' 2021 season however, including a win against eventual premiers Melbourne in the Queens Birthday clash, and also wins against Richmond and West Coast, which gave Pies supporters glimmers of hope for the future.
Defence: Collingwood's strong points lie with their defence and their ability to hold teams to low scores.
The Pies' defence did take a dip last year, but that was due to their star defenders unable to all be on the park at the same time, highlighted by talented defenders Jeremy Howe and Darcy Moore struggling with injury in 2021.
A backline that consists of Moore, Howe, Brayden Maynard, Jack Crisp, Jordan Roughead and Isaac Quaynor is one that when all out on the park together, is one of the best backlines in the competition.
Youth: The Magpies also have a lot of young and upcoming players coming through that Craig McRae has at his disposal.
It looks to be a positive dilemma for McRae at selection to bleed youth into the side.
Young players including Jack Ginnivan, Finlay Macrae, Caleb Poulter, Oliver Henry, Trent Bianco and top draftee Nick Daicos, among many others, will gain quality experience this season as they fight for spots in McRae's best 22.
Attacking capacity: The most obvious weakness for the Pies is their forward line and lack of key forward stocks.
Since Travis Cloke left the Pies at the end of the 2016 season, there has yet to be a bonified key forward to come in and land that role.
Brody Mihocek is their go-to forward at the moment, but does face limitations with his medium-sized frame, while Mason Cox has yet to show he can consistently perform as a key tall in the Magpies' forward line.
The experiment of Darcy Moore in the forward line didn't work last year, as he is much more suited to the backline, and Jordan De Goey's move into the midfield last year further depleted their forward stocks.
The lack of scoring was evident in 2021, ranking 16th in the league for points scored per game, and it's a glaring issue that McRae will be focused on heading into the new season.
Senior figures: Although the Magpies have a lot of talented youth coming through the ranks, it also places them with a lack of experience that leaves them vulnerable.
The Pies have the 13th oldest list with an average age of 24.1 years across the playing group.
Experienced players in Levi Greenwood, Chris Mayne and Josh Thomas have retired since the end of last season, meaning even more youth will play and will bring the average age down further.
It's a situation that would benefit Collingwood in the long-term, but for the short-term, it may become a weakness for when the Pies come up against the more experienced sides in the competition.
Darcy Moore
Collingwood do have some nice top-end talent with the likes of Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams, Scott Pendlebury and Jordan De Goey, but high-flying defender Darcy Moore has elevated his game to become the Magpies' star player heading into 2022.
It could be said that Moore is the Pies' most influential and important player due to his intercept marking, one-on-one contest abilities and drive out of the backline being so important for what the Magpies are looking to accomplish.
Moore averaged a career-high 17 disposals and 8.2 marks per game across his 13 games in 2021 whilst minimising the impact of the opposition's best key forwards on a weekly basis.
The key defender was the All-Australian half-back in 2020, and was in contention last season but was restricted to only 13 games due to injury.
A generational type talent that has developed into one of the best defenders in the game, and is in the prime of his career as the 2022 season fast approaches.
Jack Ginnivan
There are a fair few names that could be brought up for a breakout player at the Pies, but we've landed on Jack Ginnivan as the player that will excite the Magpies faithful the most in 2022.
With only five games next to his name, Ginnivan is still pretty raw in the AFL. He kicked six goals in those first five games and gave Magpies fans a taste of what's to come from the 19-year old.
Forward
Disposals
Marks
Goals
The flashy forward has impressed in the pre-season, and in particular in Collingwood's intra-club match last Friday, where he collected 13 disposals and two goals, looking lively in the forward line.
McRae will look for Ginnivan to lock down that crafty small forward role, and could be in for a good year in his first full season at AFL level.
If he can produce last Friday's intra-club match stats, then he'll be a handful for the opposition and an excitement machine moving forward.
The first six weeks will be big for the Pies in building confidence amongst the young playing group.
Banking some early wins would be a great start for McRae, and would build belief that the system that McRae and his team have implemented is working and heading in the right direction.
In the first six rounds, Collingwood play the Saints [A], Adelaide [H], Geelong [H], West Coast [H], Brisbane [A] and Essendon [A].
This run of games is a decent start for the Pies with five out of the first six games of the season being played in Melbourne.
Collingwood will enter as underdogs for at least four of the clashes, with the Pies being a genuine chance in all but the Brisbane game.
Early wins against the Saints and Crows are achievable, and the Pies have a good track record against Geelong, always being competitive against the Cats, before facing an ageing West Coast side at home and then a big-time ANZAC Day clash against the Bombers, which the Pies are always up for.
If Collingwood can win at least two or three from the first six games, whilst being competitive in the losses, then it will be a decent start for McRae's tenure at the helm.
Although the Pies will have a fresh new look under Craig McRae this season to go along with some quality top-end talent, the lack of experience on their list may prove to be their downfall as they'll struggle to compete with the top sides throughout the year.
A young team may fade out in the back end of the year, and I'm sure they'll have their flashes of brilliance, but as a whole it's hard to see too many teams being worse than them in 2022.
They shouldn't be as poor as they were in 2021, and a finish above the bottom four would be a very good result for the Pies in 2022, but the Magpies faithful may be in for another long season.
Predicted Position: 14th