AFL round 3: Collingwood defeats Brisbane Lions by 20 points
It wasn’t pretty. In fact at times it was downright ordinary. But the reigning premiers have broken their duck — and sent Brisbane into crisis mode, writes Callum Dick.
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Craig McRae wanted to see the fundamentals back in Collingwood’s game and his boys in black and white delivered.
It wasn’t pretty. In fact at times it was downright ordinary. But the reigning premiers have broken their duck — and sent Brisbane into crisis mode.
The blueprint was obvious from the opening bounce. After a week of deserved scrutiny, Collingwood’s patented tackle pressure and defensive running was back in spades.
By the first change of ends the Magpies had doubled Brisbane’s tackle count and the reward was reflected on the scoreboard.
At the final siren, with a season-defining 20-point win under their belts, Collingwood had thoroughly trounced the Lions in the clinches.
An eye-watering 84 tackles — 29 more than their season average — to the hosts’ paltry 53 put the Easter Thursday blockbuster into context.
One team had a will to win and the other simply wanted to win.
Tom Mitchell (24 disposals, five clearances, seven tackles) this week declared it was on the old heads to lead from the front and the veteran midfielder was among those to throw his hand up.
“Clearly it was a step forward,’” Collingwood coach Craig McRae said post-match.
“Parts of our game were there to be seen but not consistently in the last three or four games, and in particular our pressure was something we wanted to raise the bar on because us at our best is a great pressure team.
“We tried to make a statement tonight in some ways or just put it right in front of the players face.
“We’ve got to pressure the opposition better than what we were. We had many times where one person was tackling on his own, and that’s not us.”
Scott Pendlebury will come under MRO scrutiny after an open-palm hit to the gut of Lachie Neale.
It was an out-of-character act for a man who has never been suspended in his 386 AFL games, but perhaps an insight into a proud player who was tired of being pushed around.
He wasn’t at his best — few in black and white were — but Pendlebury did what was needed to get the job done.
If you told McRae a month ago that his Magpies would leave the Gabba with a 20-point victory on Easter Thursday, he would have taken it in a heartbeat. Doubly true after the month they have endured in the run-in.
The polish is still lacking. But on Thursday night his side found its fundamentals and delivered a dagger blow to a wounded Lion.
It wasn’t pretty but it might just be the kick starter Collingwood needed to resurrect its floundering flag defence.
And after a week of criticism, McRae hailed the contribution of his senior players, particularly captain Darcy Moore, who was struggling for form entering the contest.
“I was really pleased with Darcy, leading from the front,” McRae said.
“Him and ‘Howie’ (Jeremy Howe) ... just big spoils and halving contests.
“We’ve had a bit against some way in terms of the pile on but we’re a pretty proud group.
“You don’t get to see our Monday to Friday (work with) that energy and motivation for wanting to improve or not be happy with (our performances).
“We needed to get this thing moving, and it was pleasing that our best players played well tonight.”
In Brisbane, well, the fortress has fallen.
Gone is the Gabba advantage that made its hosts the winningest side in the AFL for the past half-decade — and with it Brisbane’s bravado.
First Carlton and now Collingwood. The Gabba is suddenly a happy hunting ground for those away from home and the Lions look shell shocked.
A grand final rematch that had blockbuster written all over it only a month ago devolved into a dour display of who could make the fewest mistakes over four quarters of footy.
Collingwood wasn’t great. But they were better than Brisbane.
Chris Fagan must find the cure to the Lions’ momentum crisis.
His side again produced one quarter of scintillating footy only to put the cue in the rack for the other three.
When Lachie Neale tallied 14 disposals, five clearances and a goal in the second quarter it looked like one of the great captain’s knocks was coming.
He and a 35-year-old Dayne Zorko dragged their dour teammates kicking and screaming to an unlikely halftime advantage and everyone in the Gabba stands – as had been the modus operandi in 2023 – assumed the second half would produce something similar.
Instead the Lions went back into their shell.
The triple-pronged attack of Joe Daniher, Eric Hipwood and a ruck rotation of Darcy Fort and Oscar McInerney was toothless.
Brisbane had two marks inside 50 to halftime and they belonged to Neale and Charlie Cameron. It wasn’t until deep in the third quarter that Daniher finally clunked a mark inside the arc.
It had Jonathan Brown and Alastair Lynch pulling their hair out in the media box. There was plenty of that in the stands as well.
After a week of questioning Collingwood’s want, it might be time to focus the magnifying glass on the languishing Lions.
Is the premiership window closing?
If it is, it’s not for a lack of talent.
Time for Fagan to pull one of those motivational levers, before it’s too little too late.
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