AFL Round 11 North Melbourne v Collingwood: All news, analysis and fallout as Pies take back top spot
A brave North Melbourne took it to Collingwood and, at one point, threatened to cause a huge boilover. But when Jamie Elliott and Nick Daicos appeared after half-time, it was over.
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Collingwood needed a hero – and it was brilliant ‘Billy’ who answered the call.
Electric forward Jamie Elliott sparked a Magpies final-quarter massacre over North Melbourne.
On a night where Collingwood lacked its trademark polish, Elliott’s ability to finish from little opportunity stood out.
He kicked five crucial goals as the Magpies stormed over the top of the Kangaroos in front of a packed Marvel Stadium.
Elliott’s fifth – which improves his season tally to 28 – kickstarted a run of eight unanswered goals for the Magpies.
The Kangaroos fought bravely to three-quarter time but Collingwood had kept them in it with 17 behinds to the final change.
If it wasn’t Elliott getting the Roos, it was superstar ball-winner Nick Daicos.
Daicos came out of the main break breathing fire after a quiet first half by his standards to finish with 38 disposals – 17 of which came in the final term.
Ned Long continued his renaissance as an AFL footballer with 29 disposals, 14 tackles and 15 score involvements.
The win keeps the Magpies on top of the ladder for another week and sets up a mouth-watering clash with Hawthorn on Friday night at the MCG.
DEFENDER DOWN, PIES TAKE UNEXPECTED HIT
Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard has suffered further damage to an already nagging Plantar fascia injury.
Maynard was among the nearly 1000 games of experience the Magpies left behind for their trip to Perth a fortnight ago as he rested the foot injury.
But he innocuously went down in the first quarter and was substituted out of the game.
Coach Craig McRae said this was “an actual incident” in addition to the previous soreness which would need to be addressed.
“He’s got some Plantar fascia stuff that’s gone beyond what it was,” McRae said.
“We don’t know the extent of it, it’ll be scanned and then it will reveal what is needed from that.
“He’s been having symptoms of that for a while now, hence why we didn’t go to Perth with it to settle it down a bit
“But this is an actual incident that’s caused some sort of trouble there – so we’ll have to wait and see.”
Maynard’s injury was just another curveball McRae and his coaching staff had to overcome after two late withdrawals an hour out from facing the Roos.
Veteran Scott Pendlebury (illness) and livewire Bobby Hill (personal reasons) were both pulled from the match and replaced by Wil Parker and Oleg Markov.
“They were late withdrawals because they were late, we got information this afternoon that Pendles was not well, he’s got gastro and not able to get up,” McRae said.
“I won’t go into Bobby’s stuff because that’s really quite personal and not for me to talk about.
“But we thank the AFL for their understanding, this happens what once in a thousand, I don’t remember the last time we had a late withdrawal.
“To be able to think on our feet a bit and get things where they need to be was again another pleasing part of the game.
“Some guys weren’t even playing up until an hour before the game.”
The AFL approved the Markov addition even though he was not in the initial squad due to the circumstances of Hill’s late departure.
McRae had already sidelined in-form veteran Steele Sidebottom to reduce the impact of what the coach described during the week as a “grumbling back”.
WELL BOWLED, CAM
The great Shane Warne would have been proud of that wrong-un.
North Melbourne forward Cameron Zurhaar lifted his side with a miraculous second-quarter goal.
Zurhaar snapped from the pocket to the top of the goal square and not once but twice did the ball jag off the ground towards and then through the goals.
It had shades of Angus Monfries’ famous Showdown goal for Port Adelaide and the many wickets ‘Warnie’ took down the road at the MCG.
Oleg Markov absolutely LOVED it 😂#AFLNorthPiespic.twitter.com/n94ZCQJZSn
— AFL (@AFL) May 24, 2025
Scoreboard
NORTH MELBOURNE 1.3 6.6 8.8 9.9 (63)
COLLINGWOOD 2.5 4.9 7.17 15.18 (108)
GOALS
Kangaroos: Zurhaar 3, Larkey, Xerri, Konstanty, Simpkin, Curtis, Powell
Magpies: Elliott 5, Membrey 3, Mihocek 2, Sullivan, Crisp, Markov, Perryman, Hoskin-Elliott
BEST
Kangaroos: Xerri, Davies-Uniacke, Hardeman
Magpies: Elliott, N Daicos, Long, J Daicos
INJURIES
Kangaroos: nil.
Magpies: Maynard (foot)
TYLER LEWIS VOTES
3 Jamie Elliott (Coll)
2 Nick Daicos (Coll)
1 Ned Long (Coll)
Two goals after half-time – one more horror loss
After what happened on Saturday night, only Richmond, North Melbourne and West Coast sit below Port Adelaide on the ladder. And, again, the Power showed little as the game slipped away.
Hawks exposed – and that might not be their only problem
Brisbane has broken a 21-year hoodoo, exposing a key weakness in Hawthorn’s premiership credentials in the process. And, adding to the Hawks’ worries, Jai Newcombe could face MRO heat.