Luke Hodge did not mince his words when it came to Collingwood and its struggling captain, Darcy Moore.
Well clear at the top of the ladder during a recent eight-game winning streak, the Pies have fallen in a deep hole, winning just one of their past five matches to slip third.
Now just a single victory clear of the eighth-placed Giants, Collingwood takes on the high-flying Crows in Adelaide on Saturday before closing out the season against the Demons.
Club great Tony Shaw declared Moore was in "shocking form" prior to last week's loss to Hawthorn and now Hodge has taken that a whole lot further following that 64-point belting against the Hawks.
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“I want to see a stable defence,” Hodge said on SEN’s Whateley. “I want to see Darcy Moore, when there’s a chance to tap or grab the ball in your defensive 50, as a leader in that first contest that you go to, you stand up.
“You don’t play this fancy, knock the ball on, lively football. You do that centre forward.
"As a defender, as a captain and as a stable defence, you need to be there to back up your midfielders if the ball comes through.
“Don’t play lairy football. Defenders aren’t supposed to play lairy football unless it’s on your terms and you’re trying to start the game up.
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"Early in the game, be stable, shut the game down, don’t get that crowd involved and let your mids do what they can do.
“That’s what I want to see from Collingwood from this weekend."
Hodge, who won four flags in his career with the Hawks, said the Collingwood defence being able to turn its form around was more important than actually beating Adelaide.
"It doesn’t mean they have to win the game," he said. "You want to see a stable defence, get back a few guys over the next couple of weeks, and they can hit the finals running.”