Collingwood wary of wounded Brisbane Lions

MEMORIES of a 2010 Gabba ambush are still fresh in the mind of Collingwood star Scott Pendlebury.

MEMORIES of a 2010 Gabba ambush are still fresh in the mind of Collingwood star Scott Pendlebury.

So the Magpies will show no mercy to the wounded Lions tonight.

Collingwood dropped out of the top eight after being compre-hensively beaten by Sydney last week so Nathan Buckley's men have not come to Queensland for a holiday.

Experience has taught them to never underestimate the Lions, even with injury and suspension ravaging the Brisbane line-up.

Brisbane pulled off a massive upset in 2010 with an eight-point win over the Pies at the Gabba.

Collingwood were 7-2 going into the game while the Lions had lost their previous five.

The Magpies only lost one more game on the march to the 2010 flag but the scars have remained.

"It was a real arm-wrestle which is what you come to expect from Brisbane in Brisbane," Pendlebury said.

"We kept them at an arm's length for most of the night but in the last quarter their pressure was relentless.

"(Brendan Fevola) kicked a few magical goals and before we knew it, we were down and couldn't get back in front.

"It taught us a lesson that it's always a big challenge to knock them off at home."

Pendlebury said while the Lions have lost a host of stars for tonight's clash, any side containing Simon Black deserved respect.

The 2010 Norm Smith Medallist said he had modelled parts of his game on the Lions champion, who will equal Marcus Ashcroft's games record for Brisbane tonight with his 318th senior appearance.

"Blacky has always been one of my favourite players to watch. He is so smart, so clever, still so good," Pendlebury said.

"He is still performing at the same level that he was 10 years ago.

"He is still one of the best midfielders in the AFL in terms of clearances and stoppages.

"He can hurt you so quickly.

I've tried to take parts of his game and add them to mine."

Pendlebury hopes the Pies can shut down Black tonight and get their spluttering season back on track.

Since winning their first two games this year, Collingwood have had losses following every win.

"We are looking for consistency and effort," he said. "We had such a good performance to beat Geelong two weeks ago but pretty much the same team then had a poor effort against Sydney. We need to come prepared each week."

Collingwood premiership forward Alan Didak will play his first AFL game this year and Heath Shaw also returns to face a depleted Brisbane.

Elevated rookie-list recruit Kyle Martin will make his AFL debut among four Magpies changes.

Jordan Russell (ankle) and Sam Dwyer (groin) were forced out, with Martin Clarke and Jarrod Witts dropped.