Collingwood’s season has eerie parallels to 2018

Collingwood sits in the same position on the ladder as it did this time last season before riding a wave all the way to the Grand Final — a point not lost on coach Nathan Buckley or playmaker Jack Crisp.

Jack Crisp of the Magpies runs with the ball.

Collingwood is in exactly the same spot as it was this time last year as the Magpies prepare to launch a fresh assault on September and look to go “one step further”.

At the conclusion of Round 21 last season, Collingwood sat fifth on the ladder with 13 wins and seven losses — the same position it now sits this year after Richmond accounted for Carlton on Sunday.

The Magpies went on to win their final two games last year, against Port Adelaide and Fremantle, and finish third on the ladder on their way to a Grand Final appearance.

The hope is for a similarly positive finish to the regular season, a top-four finish still well within reach if the Magpies can overcome Adelaide and Essendon in the run home.

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“We spoke last week and Bucks said we were in the exact same position last year and we came home and finished the season with some real momentum going into finals,” Collingwood defender Jack Crisp said.

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“We feel like we’re doing the exact same thing this year and hopefully we can go one step further.

“We were under pressure three of four weeks ago when we weren’t winning, but when you get some wins and the team starts to play better again it’s really beneficial.”

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Jack Crisp breaks away during Collingwood’s win against Melbourne.

The Magpies have won their past two games against bottom-two sides Gold Coast and Melbourne in the face of a lengthy injury list.

However, Crisp said there was confidence in the playing group regardless of what personnel was rolled out each week.

“We showed last year we can play really well with a lot of injuries and we feel like we’re getting that continuity back in our game,” he said.

“The next two weeks is a really good chance for us to get our football going and play four quarters of football.”