Post Match. Pies win thriller. All comments, please.

[JC Hartley]

Collingwood got off to a fine start to hub life in Perth to prevail by 22 points against Geelong. The Magpies applied excellent pressure and structured really well behind the ball in defence for the bulk of the evening. Whenever the Cats threatened to challenge for the lead, the Woods were able to stay afloat and keep their heads above water with enough goals to stay ahead, before ultimately closing the game out in style to reap the rewards.

Collingwood won the bulk of the major statistical categories, starting with disposals by +41 (324 - 283), kicks were won by +3 (182 - 179), +38 for handballs (142 - 104), while tackles were up by +18 (67 - 49). Contested possessions had a differential of +20 (142 - 122), uncontested possessions were won by +24 (175 - 151), hit-outs by +14 (46 - 32), and +3 for centre clearances (9 - 6). Inside 50s were won by +15 (46 - 31), Marks Inside 50 had a differential of +6 (10 - 4), Contested Marks were +3 (8 - 5), and +1 for Tackles Inside 50 (8 - 7). Geelong got their gains from stoppage clearances by +3 (34 - 31), marks by +2 ( 60-58 ), with a differential of +5 for uncontested marks (55 - 50), while intercept possessions were won by +1 ( 59 -58 ). Clearances were level at 40 apiece.

Adam Treloar (34 disposals @ 65%, 582 metres gained, 18 contested possessions, 16 uncontested possessions, 4 intercept possessions, 18 kicks, 16 handballs, 2 marks, 6 tackles, 5 score involvements, 11 clearances, 10 stoppage clearances, 6 Inside 50s & 2 Rebound 50s) played a very balanced game by winning clearances from stoppages and successfully applying tackling pressure when he didn't win the ball in the clinches.

Scott Pendlebury (25 disposals @ 56%, 463 metres gained, 10 contested possessions, 15 uncontested possessions, 6 intercept possessions, 16 kicks, 9 handballs, 4 score involvements, 3 clearances, 2 centre clearances & 3 Inside 50s) displayed his class when the game required it to be done. Looked to kick the ball forward at every opportunity in challenging conditions.

Taylor Adams (21 disposals @ 67%, 184 metres gained, 13 contested possessions, 8 uncontested possessions, 11 kick, 10 handballs, 4 marks, 6 tackles, 4 score involvements, 5 clearances, 5 stoppage clearances, 3 Inside 50s & 1 goal) played his role well without winning a heap of possessions. His defensive work was very good and rock-solid throughout the night.

Tom Phillips (21 disposals @ 62%, 526 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 16 uncontested possessions, 4 intercept possessions, 14 kicks, 7 handballs, 4 tackles, 2 score involvements, 6 Inside 50s & 4 Rebound 50s) found some much-needed form and touch in his preferred position on the wing and ran both ways to provide good coverage and options when he won the ball.

Brodie Grundy (17 disposals @ 82%, 187 metres gained, 10 contested possessions, 7 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 46 hit-outs, 10 kicks, 7 handballs, 5 marks, 3 tackles, 3 score involvements, 3 clearances, 2 stoppage clearances, 6 Inside 50s & 3 Rebound 50s) played extremely well in a colossal performance, where he gave his midfield an armchair ride, took a few more marks, and most importantly, a fair few of his taps went to the team's advantage.

Jack Crisp (20 disposals @ 95%, 466 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 15 uncontested possessions, 4 intercept possessions, 12 kicks, 8 handballs, 5 marks, 2 tackles, 3 score involvements, 2 clearances, & 2 Inside 50s) had an immaculate game where he won the ball often to do enough damage from defence, before winning a vital centre clearance from Brodie Grundy's tap in the middle to kick it to Jordan De Goey, who completed that passage of play with a goal to seal the game.

Chris Mayne (16 disposals @ 62%, 114 metres gained, 8 contested possessions, 8 uncontested possessions, 3 intercept possessions, 8 kicks, 8 handballs, 3 marks, 9 tackles, 3 score involvements, 2 clearances, 2 stoppage clearances & 2 Rebound 50s) played to his strengths and limitations by working extremely hard on the half-back flank and wing with his tackling and ability to take a few marks to slow the tempo of the game in Collingwood's favour.

John Noble (15 disposals @ 73%, 130 metres gained, 4 contested possessions, 11 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 8 kicks, 7 handballs, 3 marks, 2 tackles & 3 score involvements) had a solid performance in defence after replacing Mason Cox an hour before the game due to the conditions.

Brayden Maynard (13 disposals @ 69%, 229 metres gained, 8 contested possessions, 5 uncontested possessions, 4 intercept possessions, 9 kicks, 4 handballs, 2 marks, 4 tackles, 2 score involvements & 3 Rebound 50s) found enough the ball to be beneficial to the team's ball movement. Maynard also had a knack of halving marking contests with well-timed spoils.

Jordan De Goey (17 disposals @ 53%, 318 metres gained, 12 contested possessions, 5 uncontested possessions, 11 kicks, 6 handballs, 5 marks, 2 Contested Marks, 4 Marks Inside 50, 8 score involvements, 3 Inside 50s & 5 goals) was the catalyst behind the Magpies prevailing comfortably at the end of the night. Kicked 2 of Collingwood's 4 goals in the first half, before playing through pain in the second half to kick all 3 of Collingwood's goals in the last quarter to end up with 5 majors. Will be missed desperately in the weeks ahead as he has surgery to repair ligament damage sustained to his finger. Hope to see you return before the finals, Jordan.

Josh Daicos (14 disposals @ 57%, 197 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 9 uncontested possessions, 9 kicks, 5 handballs, 2 tackles, 4 score involvements & 1 goal) found a bit of the ball, and still managed to hit the scoreboard in his return from an ankle injury.

Jamie Elliott (12 disposals @ 50%, 287 metres gained, 2 contested possessions, 10 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 10 kicks, 2 handballs, 3 marks, 4 tackles, 3 score involvements, 2 clearances, 2 centre clearances & 4 Inside 50s) had a different role on the night, where he would have stints in the midfield and had an impact at centre bounces without winning a lot of the ball.

Will Hoskin-Elliott (11 disposals @ 64%, 153 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 6 uncontested possessions, 2 intercept possessions, 6 kicks, 5 handballs, 4 marks, 4 score involvements & 1 goal) provided an option as a marking target, impacted the scoreboard, and took one of the marks of the season with a fine hanger where he rose over a pack of players.

Collingwood's next game will be on July 26 (Nathan Buckley's 48th birthday) against West Coast at Optus Stadium. Pressure, footy smarts, positioning and conversion will be essential ingredients to getting a victory over the Eagles.

[JC Hartley]

I'm 30 today as well.

[Dark Beanie]

Gary Ablett has left the WA hub and returned to Victoria.
His son is very ill.

[3rd degree]

Gary Ablett has left the WA hub and returned to Victoria.
His son is very ill.

That's sad news , all the best to Gary and family.

[Sicks Bux]

I'm 30 today as well.

Happy 30th Bithday!
Hope you have a good one.

[Horatio Fin]

Thanks for the post, JC.

Jack Crisp (20 disposals @ 95%, 466 metres gained, 5 contested possessions, 15 uncontested possessions, 4 intercept possessions, 12 kicks, 8 handballs, 5 marks, 2 tackles, 3 score involvements, 2 clearances, & 2 Inside 50s) had an immaculate game where he won the ball often to do enough damage from defence, before winning a vital centre clearance from Brodie Grundy's tap in the middle to kick it to Jordan De Goey, who completed that passage of play with a goal to seal the game.

Decent effort.

[swoop42]

Hard to find much to complain about when you defeat a very good football side in Geelong but the result should never have been in much doubt once Selwood went down in the 1st quarter if we're honest.

The fact they still got within 9 points in the last quarter despite being 2 men down was an annoyance though and somewhat an area of concern as it again exposed that while our defence has been rock solid our inability to translate our periods of dominance on the scoreboard leaves us vulnerable when mistakes are invariably made and momentum switches.