Crucial late goals to West Coast hand Collingwood a heartbreaking finals loss
WITH five minutes left on the clock, Collingwood was only moments away from its best win under Nathan Buckley. Now the Pies face an elimination clash with the Giants. SAM EDMUND looks at the heartbreaking finish.
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THE joint down the road became known as the House of Pain.
But after Collingwood was denied by West Coast in the dying stages of a final for the ages, Heartbreak House might be a fitting nickname for Perth Stadium.
Perth’s cauldron of noise hosted its maiden AFL final and if the Pies players thought the Round 23 Fremantle crowd was loud, this was something else.
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With 60,000 voracious Eagles fans screaming for blood, no one in the stands, including president Eddie McGuire could help them phone a friend.
Because Collingwood, who had done so much right in this incredible game, this was the cruellest of endings.
The Pies led by 10 points at the last change and had held sway in a pulsating end-to-end contest.
Even with five minutes to go the visitors led by two points, but goals to Lewis Jetta, Jack Darling and Jack Redden pinched a dramatic 12.14 (86) to 10.10 (70) win to set up a home preliminary final for the Eagles.
Jetta’s goal started the wave after he intercepted a handball in the Eagles forward line and arced through a right foot snap before channelling soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo with his celebration.
Collingwood has seven days to recover and reset before hosting Greater Western Sydney in a sudden death semi-final.
That process started in the wee hours with a red eye flight back to Melbourne where Nathan Buckley wouldn’t have got much sleep above the Nullabor.
His mind will replay a game of incredibly fine margins. He will think of Tyson Goldsack, Jeremy Howe and Tom Langdon combining to keep Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy goalless until late in the third quarter.
But both Eagles big men were pivotal in the closing stages, with Darling’s pack mark and goal coming shortly after Jetta’s to knock the stuffing out of the Pies.
West Coast are now 11-0 when Kennedy and Darling have played together this season.
Yet Collingwood’s season-long resilience shone brightly in this most hostile of footy environments.
West Coast roared out of the blocks with the first three goals of the game, with Jeremy McGovern marking everything in sight opposed to Brody Mihocek and the Eagles controlling the ball.
But just as the home side were reduced to three on the bench after Brad Sheppard suffered a likely season-ending hamstring injury, the Pies got a foothold.
The visitors kicked the next four majors to snatch the lead 10 minutes into the second term and what followed was an absorbing, tense, high-pressure thriller.
It was the Pies’ clearance power and ballistic ball movement against the Eagles’ controlled movement and aerial power.
Every moment and every 50-50 ball was fought for.
Mihocek grew in stature, kicking a goal and having a hand in several others while also keeping McGovern honest in an intriguing match-up.
But it was Collingwood’s midfield that threatened to overwhelm the Eagles.
Steele Sidebottom was a picture of poise in cyclone, Brayden Sier and Taylor Adams thrust their heads over greasy balls and the industrious Tom Phillips and Adam Treloar roamed far and wide.
Treloar was inspirational in his first game in 10 weeks, with 10 first quarter possessions before fatigue unsurprisingly kicked in late in the game.
Travis Varcoe looked to the heavens after a minute silence for his late sister Margaret and then set about hunting the Eagles with some breathtaking pressure. His run down tackle on Luke Shuey will surely be highlighted in Buckley’s review.
There’s no time for Collingwood to feel sorry for itself, but it doesn’t need to.
WEST COAST 3.3 6.7 7.11 12.14 (86)
COLLINGWOOD 1.3 7.4 9.9 10.10 (70)
EDMUND’S BEST
Eagles: Yeo, McGovern, Sheed, Redden, Barrass, Ryan.
Magpies: Sidebottom, Adams, Phillips, Sier, Mihoceck, Treloar, Grundy.
GOALS
Eagles: Ryan 2, Darling 2, Kennedy 2, Vardy, Jetta, Sheed, Cripps, Rioli, Redden.
Magpies: Adams 2, de Goey 2, Mihocek 2, Stephenson, Thomas, Varcoe, Mayne.
INJURIES
Eagles: Sheppard (left hamstring), Rioli (head)
Magpies: Greenwood (head)
UMPIRES
Nicholls, Meredith, Harris
CROWD
59,585 at Perth Stadium
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