Magpies vow to keep things the same - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Magpies vow to keep things the same

By Justin Chadwick 29/09/2010 07:08:37 PM Comments (0)

Collingwood remain adamant they won't need to tweak their game plan in order to topple St Kilda in Saturday's AFL grand final replay at the MCG.

The Magpies lost to the Saints in round three but easily won the re-match in round 16 on the way to claiming the minor premiership.

St Kilda almost snatched victory in last week's drawn grand final but Collingwood defender Ben Reid said the `Pies were confident they had the right plan to down the Saints.

"We back our game plan we've played with all year," Reid said on Wednesday.

"We finished on top of the ladder with the game plan we had so we'll go in and play the same way we have all year and hopefully come away with the win."

And while the drawn grand final left many of the players feeling flat and dejected, midfielder Dale Thomas dismissed talk that anyone from Collingwood needed to speak to a psychologist to get over the shock.

"We don't need to see sport psychs just yet," Thomas said.

"As soon as you get over that initial shock ... the excitement then builds again, that seven days later we will be in a grand final again."

Thomas was left ruing his missed snap at a crucial time in the last quarter.

But the 23-year-old, who was his team's best on the day, hoped he would get a chance to make amends.

"Obviously looking back over my own tape I didn't realise at the time how much space I had but on game day you try to put it out of your mind as quick as possible and if you get another chance to you go back and rectify it," he said.

Magpies defender Simon Prestigiacomo, who was forced to withdraw last week after succumbing to a groin injury, trained on Wednesday in his last-ditch bid to earn a grand final recall.

Reid, whose spot could be in doubt if the coaching staff decide to recall Prestigiacomo, praised the Collingwood veteran's honesty in revealing the injury.

"Presti's been a champion of the club for a number of years that he's been here and to come out and say he wasn't right for the grand final was unbelievable and all the boys got behind him," Reid said.

"He trained well this week and he's definitely in the mix again.

"If they (the coaches) go for that (Prestigiacomo in place of me), fair enough.

"I'm sure we could all work together somehow."

The Magpies held a closed training session at the MCG on Wednesday and Thomas said it had been a fruitful hit-out.

"Training today was probably a bit better than last week," Thomas said.

"We didn't have the huge numbers (of fans) around the ground (like at Gosch's Paddock).

The boys were a bit quiet last week on the track whereas at the 'G' the noise seems to echo and sends a really good vibe.

"We are all happy to get another chance (to win the premiership). It would have been a disaster if we had have lost."

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