So-called good judges like Dermott Brereton claim the Magpies have the weakest list by some distance and expect, perhaps even hope, Collingwood will finish bottom. I suspect most of our boys read the paper, and can not have avoided this and other bleak assessments. Yet we retain a cautious but genuine optimism down at Victoria Park. Naturally, most expert assessments are based on the last season, which is now history. You do what you can to continue to raise the standards around your club, but if everyone else improves 10 per cent, you have got to strive for even more to get ahead.
Every year there seems to be a bolter, a slider and an unexpected improver.
At Collingwood, we are intent on being the latter and hoping to prove a lot of good judges wrong. All rights reserved.