With the first month of the AFL season drawing to a close, narratives for all of the competition's 18 teams have begun to arise.
Whilst some are struggling and others are thriving, you can bet your bottom dollar that each of the league's list of polo shirt wearing pedagogues will still be desperate for improvement this weekend.
With this in mind, here are the key quandaries facing every AFL club ahead of Round 4.
Collingwood
How much are they likely to rue Thursday's loss?
At 1-2, Collingwood, like a pair of other 2020 finalists in the Saints and Lions, are behind the eight ball early.
The Woodsman may have been able to convert at better than 65% in front of goal during Thursday night's final stanza, but having conceded 22-points - including six after the final siren โ to their opponents, the four points vanished like the first pint of the weekend.
Although Nathan Buckley's mischief of Magpies were able to convert their inside 50s into scores at a better rate than Chris Fagan's pride, over the small sample size of 2021, Collingwood are ranked the second worst team in the competition at getting the ball into their forward arc.
Bucks is addressing the media in his weekly press conference.
Tweets to follow. pic.twitter.com/jNwnmZkwPS
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) April 7, 2021
On a more positive note, there are only three teams better at stopping the ball from flying into the opposite arc.
Put simply, the Pies may deny sides from creating chances, but when the shoe is on the other foot, they seem determined to shoot at it.
Across the next three weeks, Bucks' boys are set to face the Giants, Eagles and Bombers โ three teams outside the top 10 for generating I50s this year.
With this in mind, Collingwood's back six should have a fighter's chance, or better, against each of these sides, but it is the output at the other end of the ground that has perennially proven a worry, as an average score of 77-points per week isn't going to trouble the competition's best sides.
Despite missing out on a 2-1 start to the season by the barest of margins, Buckley and his coaching staff cannot paper over the cracks.
With one of the competition's toughest fixtures this year and a forward line that produces a mean of just 11 goals per game, even if Zac Bailey had sprayed his post siren shot, Collingwood's work would still be cut out for them.
