Collingwood united amid rift speculation to bury Carlton by 41 points

COLLINGWOOD has delivered an emphatic response to claims of another volatile player rift, burying Carlton's finals hopes on the MCG.

COLLINGWOOD has delivered an emphatic response to claims of another volatile player rift, burying Carlton's finals hopes on the MCG.

The Pies produced their most spirited victory of the season rallying from 28 points down in the first quarter to pulverise the Blues by 41 points.

It leaves Carlton three games out of the top eight and sweating a suspected serious knee injury to luckless key forward Jarrad Waite.

Carlton was on fire booting seven early goals but the match changed significantly as Waite limped off 15 minutes in after twisting his knee.

Early reports indicated ligament damage. 

The Collingwood win was a clear tactical victory for Pies' coach Nathan Buckley in his second coaching battle against former boss Michael Malthouse.

Buckley's Pies entered the game besieged by speculation about a fall-out between the coach and defender Harry O'Brien. 

While O'Brien was granted personal leave, the rest of the Pies united behind Buckley on the field with midfielder Dane Swan delivering a best afield performance to keep the Pies inside the eight. 

Buckley engineered a key tactical move sending regular backman Ben Reid forward to re-shape and rejuvenate the Collingwood forward line after an awful start to the first quarter. 

Answering Buckley's calls for a lift after a shock loss to Port Adelaide last weekend, Reid kicked four goals and Travis Cloke five majors in the absence of full-forward Quinten Lynch. 

Carlton's decision to play captain Marc Murphy three weeks after breaking his cheekbone backfired with the skipper looking out of sorts with nine touches to three quarter time.

Livewire Eddie Betts also looked to hurt his back last night. 

Before the game Carlton chief executive Greg Swann conceded the Blues finals hopes would probably be cooked if they lost last night.

Reid