AFL Round 1 Collingwood v Port Adelaide: All the news, analysis and fallout from the MCG

On Saturday night, we saw the Craig McRae side that Pies fans fell in love with in his first two years at the club, writes JOSH BARNES. The blueprint is clear – again.

Welcome back, Craig McRae’s Pies premiership blueprint.

And welcome in its shiny new weapon – Dan Houston’s right boot.

Coming off a week of heat thanks to an opening round drubbing in Sydney, Collingwood was met with a temperature nudging 30 degrees at the MCG on Saturday night and then turned the dial even higher.

The pressure was back, as the Magpies mauled a wobbly Port Adelaide from the very start and forced their style onto the game, with an added oomph off half-back thanks Houston’s much-anticipated club debut.

This was the McRae side that Pies fans fell in love with in his first two years at the club: hunting the man ferociously and then attacking direct when the ball was turned over.

Houston led the way, racking up a game-high 17 disposals in the first half as he cruised around against his old team collecting free ball at will.

The ex-Power rebounder cruised to 27 disposals and 14 kicks.

Dan Houston starred against his old side. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

Surely, Ken Hinkley well and truly knows the weapon that Houston’s kicking presents, but the Power seemed to put little time into their old teammate, allowing him to set the tone for the Pies.

It was a serious lapse from a team that was outcoached, outworked and outmatched in an MCG ambush, starting a season of succession off on the worst foot.

If some questions were asked about Collingwood’s fitness in opening round, where does that leave a Port Adelaide that finished the night running slower than a turtle?

As the great Jason Dunstall told Fox Footy in the first quarter: “pressure is attitude based”.

If that’s right, Collingwood brought more attitude than John McEnroe, and Port Adelaide channelled Bernard Tomic’s lackadaisical effort.

In the first half, the Magpies had 20 less uncontested possessions and 22 less marks than the Power, as Port Adelaide tried to stabilise and hold on to the ball.

But Collingwood had 17 more tackles, 12 more inside-50s and walked into the rooms for the main break with a 34-point lead.

Nick Daicos celebrates his third-quarter goal against the Power. Picture: Michael Klein

Time and time again, the black and white jumpers hurried to the contest, turned the ball over and then attacked as quickly as possible to use the open space of the forward line.

It’s a style that was put into practice over and over in summer, when the Magpies would train at normal speed before McRae blew a whistle urging them to just get the ball forward by any means, slapping and kicking the ball off the ground to get it into attack.

Nothing typified that more than in the middle of the third term, when the Pies went end-to-end from a kick-in despite not having a truly clean or effective disposal until Brody Mihocek wandered in for an easy goal.

By then it was a cakewalk.

The direct style worked wonders for a different recruit in Tim Membrey on Saturday, bobbing into space at will to kick the first three goals for his new side.

The Pies kept the hunt on all night – ending with 25 more tackles despite having 23 more disposals in the 91-point drubbing.

"Here comes Nick Daicos, cue the crowd!" ⭐#AFLPiesPowerpic.twitter.com/8IIV9ZkRD2

— AFL (@AFL) March 15, 2025

Collingwood out tackled and outworked Port Adelaide. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

And Ollies Wines and the Power were just no match for a ferocious Magpiges. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

Collingwood held firm after a 52-point drubbing against GWS last week, refusing to add any genuine speed to the side despite the pundits labelling the Magpies as too slow in opening round.

Those age-old legs of Scott Pendlebury were plonked on the bench as a sub, but his replacement Ned Long didn’t exactly add electric speed.

The will to hunt, and the laser footskills of Houston out of defence, made the Pies look like they had jumped out of an old Holden and into Oscar Piastri’s McLaren between weeks.

The Pies have found their pace.

Originally published as AFL Round 1 Collingwood v Port Adelaide: All the news, analysis and fallout from the MCG