At face value, the additions of Dan Houston and Harry Perryman are great pick-ups due to their skillset: Houston, a 27-year-old half-back flanker with All-Australian calibre, and Perryman, a versatile and hard-working midfield-defender.
On paper, they are surefire locks to the best 23 at Collingwood in 2025. But their influence looks set to run deeper than their individual talent next season, with both recruits' traits vital for Collingwood's gameplan.
While it seemed that the Magpies had been crying out for a key forward target, as most clubs without a mainstay star desire, an unheralded component to Collingwood's fall from grace in 2024 was their inability to drive the ball inside 50, ranking 12th against all clubs with just 49.8 per game.
Collingwood's average inside 50s ranking was even of concern in their premiership year, with many pundits questioning their viability in comparison to other top eight teams - the Pies ranked 11th by averaging just 52.7 inside 50s per game, while runners-up Brisbane and third-placed Port Adelaide averaged the second and sixth most inside 50s per game at 56.5 and 54.6 respectively.
However, come grand final day 2023, it all changed for the Pies. Collingwood recorded 57 inside 50s en route to 30 scoring shots, 14 more than Brisbane.
Unsurprisingly, Collingwood's midfielders and defenders had a field day. Jeremy Howe was damaging from halfback with nine rebound 50s, while Jordan De Goey recorded a game-high six inside 50s.
The Magpies ranked eighth and 12th for rebound 50s in 2023 and 2024 respectively, and while less of a vital stat than inside 50s, it offers some insight when paired with inside 50 figures to understand the club's offensive transition off halfback. 2024 finalist GWS ranked towards the top, with their 'Orange Tsunami' counterattacking playstyle reflective of their high rebound 50s.
However, with an abundance of inside 50s, Collingwood's extensive tally of scoring shots is unsurprising, because despite not having a star key forward inside the forward arc, the Magpies averaged one of the highest inside 50 conversion rates in the league.
In 2023, the Pies recorded a score from 45.3 per cent of inside 50 entries, ranked fifth in the league, behind only three finalists and one should-have-been finalist in Adelaide.
Intriguingly, while the Magpies' ability to record inside 50s declined in 2024, their forward line improved their scoring efficiency even more.
Collingwood averaged a score from 48.1 per cent of inside 50 entries in 2024, the best in the AFL. To highlight this stat's ability in identifying successful clubs, the second and third-ranked teams were last year's grand finalists, Brisbane and Sydney, while fourth through to seventh in the rankings all made the finals.
In 2022, the two most efficient scorers per inside 50 entry were also the grand finalists Geelong and Sydney. 2021 was the Bulldogs and Melbourne, also the grand finalists. See the trend?
In recent history, the best teams in the league are the most efficient inside 50. Yet Collingwood were an outlier last year, missing the finals altogether despite ranking first in the category.
| Club ranking | Scoring shots per inside 50 entry % | Finals appearance in 2024 |
| (1st) Collingwood | 48.1% | No |
| (2nd) Sydney | 47.8% | Yes |
| (3rd) Brisbane | 47.4% | Yes |
| (4th) Carlton | 47.3% | Yes |
| (5th) Western Bulldogs | 46.2% | Yes |
| (6th) Port Adelaide | 45.7% | Yes |
| (7th) Geelong | 45.5% | Yes |
| (8th) Fremantle | 45.5% | No |
However, Collingwood's strength in this metric highlights they have the framework to win, and with Houston and Perryman's inclusions, the Magpies should be destined for success again in 2025.
Efficient scoring from inside 50 entries can boil down to two factors - the work rate and structure of the forward line, and the quality of the entries.
The latter is what seems to be the key for Collingwood in 2025. The forward line has still excelled despite being reliant on 192cm Brody Mihocek as the key target (although they now welcome Tim Membrey into the fold), but the midfield, while their entries were evidently high quality from Nick Daicos, Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom delivering composed and well-weighted kicks, did not offer a large enough quantity to compete against the best sides who offered countless opportunities for their forward lines.
Here is where the Houston and Perryman inclusions are notable.
In the entire AFL, just one player averaged over five rebound 50s and three inside 50s per game last year... Dan Houston.
The former Power star averaged 5.1 rebound 50s and 3.5 inside 50s in his final season in teal.
Even if you reduce the qualifying figures a half-step to at least 4.5 rebound 50s and 2.5 inside 50s, Houston remains in an exclusive club. Just Nick Blakey, Lachie Whitfield, Jordan Clark, Dayne Zorko and Karl Amon join him.
Perryman has the potential to contribute significantly as well. The 26-year-old neared career-best figures in 2024, averaging 4.1 rebound 50s and 1.6 inside 50s. However, with a solid defensive unit at AIA Centre, a move up the ground to the wing could see Perryman's inside 50 numbers increase beyond his career-best average in 2021 of 2.2 per game, pushing towards an entry into the conversation of Houston's exclusive club.
Both players are efficient ball-users too. Houston's disposal efficiency of 82.1 per cent ranks him second amongst Collingwood teammates that played 10 or more games last season, while Perryman's disposal efficiency of 75.9 per cent ranks him amongst the elite members, placing eighth out of 24 qualifying players.
The two recruits arrive at the Pies from prolific attacking teams too - Perryman was a part of the aforementioned 'Orange Tsunami', while Houston's old club at Alberton ranked second for inside 50s per game.
The Magpies not only landed great talents in Houston and Perryman but they also filled a necessity that perhaps went under the radar in list management talks during the build-up to the free agency and trade period.
With Membrey offering a short-term fix for Collingwood's key target concern, and Houston and Perryman adding extra capability in originating the Pies' offensive transitions, Collingwood could become a greater attacking threat than they were in their premiership season.
A greater quantity of inside 50s, coupled with their strength at converting from said entries, will make the Magpies a force to be reckoned with again in 2025.
