Has Collingwood become a better team without Darcy Moore?

The Magpies captain, who has been out of the team since Round 11, won’t play again in 2026 after undergoing hamstring surgery.

The Pies are 5-2 since Moore last played which has some people wondering if Craig McRae’s outfit is stronger defensively without the premiership skipper.

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd is one of those.

“I just wonder whether Collingwood have become a better team without Darcy Moore,” Lloyd said on Channel 9’s Footy Classified on Monday night.

“The reason why I say this is the accountability piece. Remember he was so loose and playing so far off his man that he hurt Collingwood.

“When he marked it he looked good but he was being hurt, and the foot skills often hurt him as well. I just think that he either has to change his ways and fall into line with how Collingwood now play - with Billy Frampton, Brayden Maynard, young Liam Puncher, Dan Houston, Josh Daicos and the way they play.

“Or they look and say, ‘Ok, you may need to find a new home’. Or he has to really change the way he plays the game.”

SEN Breakfast duo Sam Edmund and Tim Watson discussed Lloyd’s opinion on Tuesday.

Both struggle to see how the Pies can be better without a player of Moore’s ilk.

“How on earth could Collingwood be a better side without Darcy Moore?,” Edmund asked.

“Maybe Lloydy has got a bit of a thing with how the modern day teams defend because he’s hung up on Buku Khamis and the Dogs taking up proactive positions.

“Isn’t that the way Collingwood defend, though?”

Watson admits Moore has had some challenges in his defensive role at times, but overall he is still a good enough player to make Collingwood better.

“There were times that he looked like he got lost or he misdiagnosed what was happening,” Watson said.

“With the names there that were rolled off by Lloydy, I don’t think they would be a better back six. If he was told that he had to play a different style or a different brand of football, I’m sure he would be able to deliver on that for his coach.

“Certain players are given a licence to come off their man, sometimes they misjudge how quickly, or there’s pressure. That helps every defender, is the pressure up the field.

“If it’s not there and the ball is coming through freely then it’s almost impossible for defenders. A lot of defenders look stupid in modern day football.

“Having said that, some coaches’ philosophy is to play zone and they know exactly what sort of a leg rope they can give certain players.

“I do not think that Collingwood, right now, would be a better side because Darcy Moore is not there.

“I do think that their coach has been really smart in being able to get the best out of this group. There would have been modifications to their game plan as at the seasons has rolled on.

“But for me I can’t think they’d be a better team.”

Edmund added: “They’re a better team with him. 100 per cent.”

The eighth-placed Pies have won five on the trot and in that time they’ve conceded an average of 75.2 points per game without Moore.

They next meet the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Thursday night in a huge match for top four and top eight permutations.