By Michael Whiting
Gold Coast SUNS assistant coach Shane O'Bree says Collingwood are a better team than last year's premiership outfit, and he should know.
O'Bree played 227 games in the Magpies' midfield before retiring last season and heading into the coaching ranks with the Suns.
Speaking at Gold Coast SUNS final training session before Saturday night's sold out match at Metricon Stadium against the Magpies, O'Bree said his former club had continued to get stronger.
Although saying intimidation was not a part of their make-up, the 32-year-old said Collingwood now had a versatile mix of players that pressured opponents into mistakes.
"I reckon they're probably a better side than they were last year," he said.
"They've always wanted to keep improving. I think they've got more blokes that can go through and play multiple roles than what they have previously … they just fill in the gaps real well.
"They're obviously a very hardened team, a lot of players that have played over 100 games and they're used to playing 22 rounds and they've got the mental strength and belief of winning the premiership last year."
O'Bree was a veteran in the vaunted Collingwood midfield that includes Dale Thomas, Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury and said it would be a great learning curve for the GC SUNS youngsters.
"I'd love a lot of our young players just to rotate off them and get the experience of playing on them," he said.
"They're the premier midfield at the moment so it's a great opportunity for any midfield, whether it's a Prestia on a Swan or a Swallow on a Pendlebury, that's going to be great to watch and I hope they learn a lot from it.
"They're definitely not intimidating. Verbally and physically they're certainly not the harshest team going around but their perceived pressure is what they've gained over the last few years.
"Collingwood's midfield has really come a long way in the last few years, they've really stamped their authority on the game. It's another good chance to match a hardened team in the contested ball area, which we're really looking forward to."
O'Bree said experienced midfielder Daniel Harris was not far from a recall despite being again left out of the side.
Harris played 10 of the club's first 11 matches this season and averaged 18 disposals per game, but has been in the reserves following the round 13 loss to Hawthorn
"There's no message to Daniel," O'Bree said. "We do need bigger bodies against the bigger teams. Blokes like Mav Weller and Nathan Krakouer came in this week. Mav's a big kid and Nathan's played 50 games now so he's a seasoned player so they're the two guys that came in.
"His attitude down the reserves level has been great. It's (seniors) a winning team so it's hard for Harro to get back in. He just has to put a few games in and hopefully be back next week."
