Elliott soars to new heights as Pies’ march continues
Shayne Hope |
Red-hot veteran Jamie Elliott has lifted Collingwood to a new level in their AFL premiership pursuit this season, coach Craig McRae says.
The 32-year-old has put together a career-best campaign, setting a new personal benchmark for a single year with 41 goals.
And with seven home-and-away rounds plus finals left to play, Elliott is on track to become the first Magpie since Travis Cloke in 2013 to kick more than 60 goals in a season.
The small forward sits second in the Coleman Medal race, behind only Geelong’s Jeremy Cameron, and is firmly in All-Australian calculations.
“He’s been fantastic, Jamie, and never been happier,” McRae said after Friday night’s 17.13 (115) to 8.11 (59) thrashing of Carlton at the MCG.
“He’s part of the leadership group and I’m repeating myself here, but with the way we’re connecting inside-50, Jamie is giving us a great presence.
“He’s playing as part of a system where we’ve always found a way to score, but we’ve never really had anyone that kicks four or five goals regularly.
“Jamie’s done that this year, which has probably taken us to a new level.”
Elliott shone with four goals in the first three quarters against Carlton as the Magpies surged 60 points clear by the final change and cruised to victory.
An eighth consecutive win gave Collingwood a 14-2 record, ticking off a key milestone for McRae with almost two months to spare.
“We set a goal at the start of the year to qualify for the finals and we can officially say that we’ve got 14 wins and we’ve done that,” McRae said.
“Not in our wildest dreams did we ever think we’d have that at this time of year in such a tight competition.
“So we wanted to celebrate that … but I was just rapt tonight with our system against a team with their backs against the wall.”
Collingwood face a tricky assignment next Friday night when they take on finals hopefuls Gold Coast at People First Stadium.
AAP
