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David Schwarz says Lachie Keeffe elevation reflects poorly on Collingwood’s defensive stocks
MELBOURNE great David Schwarz says Collingwood’s elevation of Lachie Keeffe to the senior list exposes how poorly stocked the club is for tall defenders.
Keeffe, 26, is coming back from a two-year suspension he served alongside Josh Thomas for ingesting the banned substance clenbuterol.
The pair alleged the recreational drugs they used at a festival were laced with the substance.
Schwarz indicated the move to put Keeffe straight back on to the senior list after two years out of the game showed the Magpies may have erred slightly with their list management.
Thomas — largely regarded as the more talented of the banned duo — has been retained as a rookie.
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“I know we’re a long way out but looking at the restructure they’ve had — they’ve lost (Jack) Frost and (Nathan) Brown, some of those players that have held down those taller roles — they’re going to have a few issues,” Schwarz told SEN.
“If I’m looking at their backline, I’m thinking it’s a bit scarce and a bit scarce for talls.”
At 204cm, Keeffe towers over the rest of the Collingwood defenders.
All-Australian Ben Reid stands at 195cm, Tyson Goldsack is even shorter at 193cm and new recruit Lynden Dunn — who couldn’t break into Melbourne’s best 22 in 2016 — is only 192cm.
Jeremy Howe has a huge leap, but is only 190cm, as is Tom Langdon.
Schwarz said Jesse White (196cm) would be required to swing back, particularly when Collingwood faced taller opposition.
“Up against some of the big sides — and I’m talking about North Melbourne or even Melbourne with a couple of talls that they’ve got like (Jesse) Hogan and (Sam) Weideman and (Jack) Watts — they’re going to be stretched,” he said.
“They’re going to have to rely on their midfielders to not let too much easy ball down into their backline.
“But I think Collingwood do have an issue down back. I reckon all of their supporters would have been able to identify that as well, that they are still one or two defenders — and I mean tall defenders — short.”
The Magpies may still enlist the services of delisted free agents to help bolster their defensive stocks.
Alex Silvagni (Fremantle), Mitch Brown (West Coast) and Xavier Richards (Sydney) are all candidates.
The delisted free agency period closes on Tuesday.
Originally published as Keeffe upgrade exposes Pies’ poor tall stocks