COLLINGWOOD has won four games over the past two and a half seasons, but is newly reappointed coach Sam Wright simply doing the best he can with a limited list?

Analysing the Magpies' list build over the past six years, it's clear they haven't had access to the best talent at the pointy end of the draft for a number of reasons.

Hindsight's a wonderful thing, but a series of poor draft hands have left a significant hole in the middle of the list, exacerbated by expansion and players leaving. The recruiting of injury-prone players on top of recurring injuries in senior players has caused frustration.

LIST BUILD HISTORY

Ahead of the 2019 Draft, Collingwood (understandably) threw the proverbial kitchen sink full of picks at Carlton to land Brianna Davey, who was one of the most powerful players in the league at that point, and a club captain.

It meant its first selection came at pick No.67, which was used on Kaila Bentvelzen, who didn't play a game and retired after one year.

*Players in bold are still on the list

2019 draft – Kaila Bentvelzen (pick 67, retired), Jordan Membrey (74, delisted), Alana Porter (82, delisted), Ebony O'Dea (89, Port Adelaide), Machaelia Roberts (94, retired)
2019 recruits – Bri Davey, Aishling Sheridan (retired)

2020 draft – Tarni Brown (pick 19, Carlton), Amelia Velardo (25, Carlton), Jo Lin (26, delisted), Abbi Moloney (31, delisted), Bella Smith (undrafted free agent, Sydney/Fremantle)
2020 recruits – Abbey Green (retired), Aliesha Newman (Sydney/GWS), Imogen Purcell (delisted)

2021 draft – Eliza James (pick 29), El Chaston (32, delisted), Imogen Barnett (33)
2021 recruits – Sabrina Frederick, Al Downie (retired), Olivia Meagher (delisted)

2022 draft – Charlotte Taylor (pick 30, delisted), Charlotte Blair (56, delisted), Imogen Evans (undrafted free agent, delisted)
2022 recruits – Lauren Brazzale, Liv Barber, Sarah Sansonetti, Emily Smith (all delisted)

2023 supplementary draft – Eleri Morris (pick 13, delisted), Selena Karlson (14, delisted)
2023 recruits – Tarni White, Grace Campbell, Nell Morris-Dalton (both delisted)

2023 draft – Georgia Clark (pick 8, delisted/GWS), Lucy Cronin (9), Amber Schutte (32)
2023 recruits – Muireann Atkinson, Annie Lee, Mikayla Hyde (all delisted), Kalinda Howarth, Carly Remmos, Imogen Evans (delisted)

2024 draft – Ash Centra (pick 1), Georgia Knight (26), Violet Patterson (42), Kellyann Hogan
2024 recruits – Mattea Breed, Airlie Runnalls, Lily-Rose Williamson (delisted/Brisbane)

2025 draft – Imogen Trengove (pick 8), Amy Smith (23), Mischa Barwin (28), Josie Bamford (29), Matilda Argus (41), Zara Neuwirth (48)
2025 recruits – Ariana Hetherington, Charlotte Brewer, Dom Carbone, Maisie Nankivell, Liv Lewis

Collingwood was a mid-table team during the early 2020s, meaning it rarely had its hands on top-10 picks without organising trades.

Throw in a draft in 2022 where the first non-expansion side took their first pick at 17 (Collingwood came in at 30 for its first pick, and gave up 38 for Lauren Brazzale), and access to young elite talent was scarce.

It's not necessarily the case that the draft selections were all complete busts and the Pies overlooked a number of future stars in the process.

Pick 19 in 2020 for Tarni Brown was locked in due to the father-daughter bidding system at the time, meaning they couldn't take Alice O'Loughlin, who went at 22, while Megan Fitzsimon was still around when in the mid-20s.

Future premiership players Tahlia Gillard and Jas Ferguson – more damningly from the club's own VFLW program – were overlooked in 2021; Steph Wales, Mia Busch, Heidi Woodley and a then-speculative Maeve Chaplin in 2022; while it's still too early to mark the 2023 draft pool, having just entered their third season.

The fact there's only a small group of overlooked players means in hindsight, it can be argued that the Pies should have bit the bullet and cut their list harder and earlier to land classier players, because the absence of players now in their mid-20s is now hitting.

Netballers Liv Lewis and Maisie Nankivell (who had previously had a brief AFLW stint with Adelaide) were signed as rookies over summer in an attempt to bridge that gap, but Lewis hasn't broken through for a game, and Nankivell immediately suffered a serious hamstring injury in her second game.

SIGNIFICANT LOSSES

The loss that hit Collingwood the hardest was that of Chloe Molloy ahead of the 2023 season, pinched by Sydney as an expansion signing.

The Pies received a first-round selection, which was traded up to pick No.9 and used on Lucy Cronin.

It could be said that the team's forward line has never recovered properly from losing Molloy, four seasons on.

Sophie Alexander moving to childhood club Essendon was another goalkicking blow, with another tall in Bella Smith going to Sydney, in part for more opportunities.

Both Jaimee Lambert and Steph Chiocci were offered longer contracts at St Kilda, while Mikala Cann requested a trade to the Western Bulldogs.

INJURY-PRONE PLAYERS

Of Collingwood's remaining senior players, some have missed season-ruining portions with continual injuries.

Lauren Butler could be one of the toughest lockdown defenders in the league, but sat out four games in 2021 (hamstring), six in 2023 (foot and hamstring), six in 2024 (calf and hamstring) and five already this year (calf).

Jordy Allen has had trouble with her calves in recent years. Imogen Barnett's broken ankle was a collision injury, but she's currently in the midst of at least a six-game Achilles soreness recovery.

Mattea Breed was the Pies' big recruit ahead of last season, but her knee needed significant surgery, having played through pain.

She's not the only recruit to have struggled to kick into gear, with Kalinda Howarth needing an additional year for her ACL recovery, and Mikayla Hyde missing the near entirety of her first Collingwood season with a foot injury.

Bri Davey's travails are well-known, with various ankle and shin issues ruling her out of matches in 2024, and the entirety of last year.

As mentioned, recruit Nankivell's hamstring tore badly in just her second game, while now-veterans Sarah Rowe and Ruby Schleicher have been nursing minor soft tissue injuries of late.

Even No.1 pick Ash Centra has battled a pre-existing hip injury, and both herself and Jemma Rigoni have been carefully managed with shin soreness this year.

Interestingly, both the training base of Olympic Park and home ground Victoria Park are undergoing resurfacing works in the next few months.

The point should be made that there has not been a direct correlation drawn between the Pies' injuries and the surfaces in question, but ovals have been known to contribute to issues at other clubs in the past. 

Training has already been shifted to Gosch's Paddock, with the turf already starting to be dug up at Olympic Park while the men's program is on leave.

The beleaguered Victoria Park – which is also a council-run oval, open to both local footy and off-leash dogs who appear to enjoy digging holes – will see works started after the Pies' final game scheduled there for the season, on October 4. Collingwood will host its remaining home game at Windy Hill as part of a Pride Round AFLW double-header.

THE FUTURE?

Collingwood loaded up at the draft last year, bringing in six 18-year-olds, with an even spread of talls and smalls across the field.

It was a clear sign of a club who is committed to a list overhaul, and one who was eager to boost its top-end talent.

Of the 2024 group, Centra's contracted until the end of 2027, while the out-of-contract father-daughter Violet Patterson has been a steal at pick 42, and shown some strong growth this year.

Regardless, it's clear Collingwood's issues stem far deeper than a simple win-loss tally focused on the coach, and a series of poor drafts are now coming back to haunt with a vengeance.