By Andrew Wu
Collingwood are into a preliminary final, but Brayden Maynard might not be going through with them on a sobering night for Melbourne.
The thrill of a live match brought the best out of the minor premiers, who will be bolstered by the return of Nick Daicos for a preliminary in a fortnight’s time, as this year’s finals series started with a bang on Thursday night.
The Pies’ thrilling seven-point win was soured by a clash between Maynard and Angus Brayshaw, which left the Demons midfielder sprawled on the turf for several minutes and requiring the motorised stretcher to take him off the field.
Brayden Maynard collides with Angus Brayshaw.Credit: Seven Network / Channel Seven
Maynard faces a nervous Friday waiting for the match review findings after colliding with Brayshaw while attempting a smother in the opening minutes of the game.
Maynard was airborne when impact was made on Brayshaw, who was subbed out of the game. Should AFL match review officer Michael Christian deem his action unreasonable and cite Maynard, the Magpies hard man’s finals series could be over.
“It’s a footy act,” Maynard told Channel Seven. “I came forward, I jumped to smother the ball. Unfortunately, I got him on the way down. We’ll have to wait and see what happens ... it’s a bloody intense game.”
Brayshaw, who has a worrying concussion history, faces an uncertain short-term future. His injury denied the Dees the chance to push Christian Petracca forward to add potency to a forward line that was dysfunctional at times.
Jubilation: The Magpies after the final siren.Credit: Paul Rovere
“You lose one of your best midfielders, you got to replace him,” Goodwin said.
“Christian had to play a lot of the time up through the middle of the ground to replace Angus. There’s that domino effect. Using a sub early, shuffling Christian back up into the midfield on the back of that incident, that wasn’t an option we had as much as we would have liked.”
The Magpies under Craig McRae have made their name chasing down leads. Here, they held on for dear life against a fast-finishing Demons team, which made all the running in the final term but lacked a cutting edge in front of goal.
“To be able to hang in there and fight against the masses and the wave of ball in defensive 50, I thought our backs were enormous,” McRae said.
“Keeping them to 28 per cent of scores inside 50 is huge. That’s a huge effort from our backs and as a collective from our team defence.
“We’re really proud. To win your first final and guarantee a home prelim, they don’t come around too often so we want to live in this space.”
The Demons managed just seven goals from 69 entries inside 50s, and three from 19 in the final term. They will wonder what could have been if Harrison Petty and Jake Melksham had been at the top of the square instead of sitting in the stands, though their approach to goal was thoughtless.
A loss next week would see the Dees bow out of the finals in straight sets for the second year running.
“We dominated the game post quarter time for a big part of it, and we were wearing them down but our start was poor,” Goodwin said.
“I thought we were pretty average in the contest early, and Collingwood made us pay. They hit the scoreboard and then from that moment on we were chasing the scoreboard the whole game.
“We played the game the right way for three quarters. We didn’t execute in front of goal and we didn’t get as much reward out of those entries, but it’s the right way to play. I was very proud of our group. They played like winners for the last three quarters, and we didn’t get the result. We’ve got to come back and do it again.”
Their forward stocks are in danger of being further depleted should Jacob Van Rooyen be outed after making contact with the upper part of his arm to Daniel McStay’s face. McStay played out the game after passing a concussion test but Van Rooyen’s finals fate also hangs in the balance.
A suspension would leave the door ajar for Brodie Grundy to earn a shock recall.
The Magpies set up their victory with a spirited first third of the game when they out-Melbourned Melbourne in conditions that should have suited the Dees’ rugged style of play.
“I just had this great belief, and when the rain comes I thought ‘this is gonna suit us because I thought we’re gonna come at them’.”
Their best were not the usual suspects. Bobby Hill was electric with three goals, his silky skills and speed a worry for the Dees. Will Hoskin-Elliott stood up, booking himself a preliminary final berth. Isaac Quaynor was heroic at the death, taking a courageous mark backing into no-man’s land.
Collingwood’s Isaac Quaynor was brilliant late in the game.Credit: Channel Seven
The Dees finished on top in the clearance and contested possession counts, but the damage was done early.
A lot can be read into opening gambits - perhaps too much sometimes - but the effect of Mason Cox’s statement at the first bounce to Max Gawn was twofold.
Starting on the field instead of Darcy Cameron, Cox set the example - and his teammates followed. If Gawn was rattled, so too were his charges, though the Demons skipper was instrumental for his team’s late run with 10 clearances to go with 27 possessions and 31 hitouts.
The ball lived exclusively in the Pies’ forward half in the first five minutes, by which point Hill had booted two goals as reward for his team’s territorial control.
If the 11-3 possession count was not a concern for Simon Goodwin, the manner in which Hill scored his second - from a crumb out the back of marking contest - should have been for such a well-oiled defence.
The sight of a stricken Brayshaw roused the Dees briefly but the Pies finished the quarter the stronger with goals to Jack Crisp and Cameron, the latter scoring from a big grab deep in attack.
The Pies’ defence held firm in the second quarter though were helped by the Demons, who did themselves no favours with their thoughtless approach inside 50.
Time and time again, they resorted to speculative long bombs to Van Rooyen and Tom McDonald, who both had minimal impact.
Van Rooyen at least presented and competed, but McDonald was for large parts a shadow of the forward who had such an important role in their flag two years ago.
From their first 20 entries inside 50, they had only Bayley Fritsch’s goal, a product of the relayed free kick from the Brayshaw incident, and a behind to show for it. It took a further 22 incursions for their third.
The Pies made more of their chances. Hill’s mark and goal 11 minutes into the third from a rapid counter felt like a dagger for the Dees, who had managed only two behinds despite owning the play.
COLLINGWOOD 4.2 5.3 9.4 9.6 (60)
MELBOURNE 1.0 2.4 4.9 7.11 (53)
GOALS - Collingwood: Hill 3, McStay 2, Mihocek, De Goey, Crisp, Cameron.
Melbourne: Fritsch 2, Sparrow, Neal-Bullen, McDonald, Pickett, Smith
BEST - Collingwood: Hill, Hoskin-Elliott, Quaynor, Mihocek, Mitchell, Sidebottom. Melbourne: Gawn, Oliver, Pickett, Petracca, Hunter.
UMPIRES - Stevic, Deboy, Stephens, Gavine
VENUE - 92,636 at the MCG