Pies now have the maturity to succeed: Fraser
The Age
Friday September 4, 2009
THERE was no room for Anthony Rocca in a Collingwood team that ruckman Josh Fraser believes has the maturity and confidence to succeed where the grand final teams he played in earlier this decade failed.While the Magpies welcomed back Scott Pendlebury, a late withdrawal with back spasms last weekend, for Sunday's qualifying final against minor premier St Kilda at the MCG, the Saints recalled midfielder Luke Ball and deferred a decision on veteran defender Max Hudghton.While Ball is expected to line up against the Magpies, Hudghton is an unlikely starter with Zac Dawson holding his place at full back, though he was last night named on an extended bench alongside Michael Gardiner and Jarryn Geary. Emerging ruckman Ben McEvoy was squeezed out by Gardiner's return.Collingwood resisted the temptation to change the forward structure by picking the experienced Rocca despite coach Mick Malthouse talking up his prospects earlier in the week.Fraser, a veteran of the 2002 and 2003 grand final losses to Brisbane, believes the Magpies now boast a deeper and more mature list, with or without the popular Rocca up forward."There has been a big shift in the footy club in my time, in previous finals series we have hoped to play our best and win whereas we know now that we've just got to turn up and get the job done and it is just that mindset of maturity, the quality of players we've got through the list," Fraser said."We know what we have to do and we know the consequences if we don't do it. For a lot of the guys there is really no tomorrow for us, we have just got to seize this opportunity. That is the mindset of our playing list this year. I am in my late 20s now and probably closer to the end than the start. In '02 and '03 I probably thought that the opportunity to play in finals and grand finals would happen every year but it just doesn't, so these are the times you've got to grab."Among those leaders is Pendlebury, restored to face St Kilda's classy midfield, while the Magpies added versatile big man Leigh Brown along with Nathan Brown and Steele Sidebottom, with Tyson Goldsack omitted even though he was one of the better performers as a late inclusion against the Bulldogs last weekend.Fraser was not prepared to claim the "home" advantage despite the Magpies having roamed the MCG 14 times this season compared with St Kilda's one, against Melbourne last Sunday. "From our point of view, it doesn't hold any great advantage that we play a lot of our games here," he said. "We look more at how St Kilda have gone about their footy this year and it's going to present a big enough challenge in itself."
© 2009 The Age