Sweet 16: Pies win an epic grand final for record-equalling flag

For a club that boasts of the premiership being a cakewalk, grand final day has become a chastening experience for Collingwood. No other club has made more grand finals and lost – but as of 5.21pm on Saturday, it can also be said none has won more.

Few flags will taste sweeter for the black and white army than their record-equalling 16th, belatedly drawing their beloved Magpies level with fierce rivals Carlton and Essendon.

Brody Mihocek celebrates en route to Collingwood victory.Credit: Eddie Jim

The race to 17 is now being run by three – an improbable scenario on this day in 2000 when Kevin Sheedy and James Hird lifted the cup for their rampaging Dons and a red and black dynasty beckoned.

Only those older than 100 have lived through a time when the premiership was indeed a cakewalk for the good old Collingwood. This flag, won after one of the best grand finals of the AFL era, if not ever, is just their fifth in 77 seasons – a period in which they have lost 18 grand finals and drawn two.

This was an epic contest in front of a full house of 100,024, rich with savage momentum swings, 10 lead changes and a grandstand finish that had fans on the edge of their seats until the dying seconds.

Highlight reel editors will have difficulty cramming in all the key moments in such a short time. Had they not already been awarded, the goal of the year (Zac Bailey) and mark of the year (Bobby Hill) may have come in this game.

Bobby Hill starred for the Pies.Credit: Paul Rovere

Hill was heroic, his four goals and 18 possessions worthy of the Norm Smith Medal and a place in the hearts and minds of Collingwood people forever after just one season at the club.

There were two goals kicked after the siren had sounded to end quarters, which in a four-point game will have the Lions forever ruing what went wrong.

The final plays were frantic. Bailey – possibly unaware his team had been given a free kick – accepted an advantage that was not advantageous, entering 50m with a blind snap over his shoulder, denying Lachie Neale, who had been legged, a more considered foray.

One of the youngest on the field, Nick Daicos, kept his head in heavy traffic – of course he did – spotting a spare Will Hoskin-Elliott short when others would have blazed. Tom Mitchell almost lost his, in a tackle by Oscar McInerney at a stoppage, but it was not until Brody Mihocek found sanctuary long down the line with a handful of seconds left that the game was sealed.

Storylines were everywhere. The redemption of Jordan De Goey, who wrested the lead back in the final minutes.

The good-guy coach Craig McRae, whose genial nature means rival fans have found grey in the black and white, celebrating the birth of his daughter earlier in the day with a flag in his second season as coach against the club he played for.

The captain, Darcy Moore, presented the premiership cup by his father Peter, who played in four losing grand finals and a draw for the Magpies. Or perhaps your preference is Mason Cox, the ruckman from America who enters sporting folklore at the biggest club of his adopted country?

After the draw of 1977, the Wayne Harmes moment of 1979 and the pain of 2018, Pies fans finally have a classic grand final not in black and white they want to watch – again and again and again.

As they did in 2018 – and in this finals series – the Magpies flew the gates, undaunted by the heat in the cauldron. Within five minutes, they had two goals to show for it, including one from a free kick at an inside-50-metre stoppage to Daicos, sent forward to add oomph to a forward line that had struggled to score in previous finals.

The Lions were nervy and jittery, their senior players afflicted. Lachie Neale and Josh Dunkley fumbled their first plays at a clearance, costing territory. Joe Daniher’s first kicks were wayward, but at least he was finding the ball.

Dayne Zorko was responsible for the most significant play for the Lions in the first quarter, even though it did not result in a goal. His courage to pull the trigger on an inch-perfect kick from defence into the centre square was a sign they were not cowardly Lions.

Bailey provided them with the settler, streaming inside 50 metres after a precise hit-out from Oscar McInerney, but his second was even better – possibly the best of the season.

It was the work of a magician, a combination of skill and trickery. Creeping in on Mason Cox’s blind side, Bailey smothered the kick, received the handball from Daniher, then shrugged off a tackle from Murphy before dashing clear of Cox to curl it through.

The tempo rose again in a dramatic second term marked by momentum swings and a dreaded concussion to Murphy, who came off second best in a bruising but fair hit from Lincoln McCarthy as both contested a ground ball. He had also clashed with teammate Brayden Maynard seconds earlier.

The first part of the quarter belonged to the Lions, or rather Charlie Cameron. In full voice at quarter-time singing John Denver’s classic Take Me Home, Country Roads, the song played in celebration for every Cameron goal at the Gabba, Lions fans belted it out again seconds after the restart when their man snagged a trademark snap – the first of two in eight minutes for himself and three for his team.

Old school Fitzroy Lions supporters cheered alongside Brisbane fans.Credit: Luis Ascui

Their lead bounced out to 13 points in time-on when McCarthy slotted one through from deep in the pocket – the type of goal kicked by winners.

Little moments were not boding well for the Pies. Daicos had a kick smothered by Dunkley, then played for a free after being bumped, only to be told by the umpire to get up. Maynard let the prolific Keidean Coleman kick unimpeded, chasing his opponent instead of guarding the mark.

Hill’s end to the term matched Cameron’s start. His hanger on Brandon Starcevich was outrageous, his finish clinical. His next play was also worthy of the highlight reel, fooling Ryan Lester by feigning to snap on his right before turning inside and doing so with his left.

The freewheeling, fast-scoring Twenty20-style blitz in the first half became a battle of attrition in the third term, as fatigue began to tell. With the stakes at their highest, mistakes became costlier.

The Pies dominated territory in the first 12 minutes, pressuring the Lions into dump kicks out of defence but were unable to capitalise. Twice, they came within millimetres of goal only to be denied by a desperate hand on the line and the woodwork.

The margin had edged out to eight points but, from a Lions’ point of view, it felt wider as they were unable to break out of their back half. Their momentum-changer came via a gift from Oleg Markov, who shuffled back off the mark when he needed to stand, and a clutch conversion from Hugh McCluggage – his team’s best midfielder.

Goals were suddenly hard to come by, requiring brilliance or defensive lapses. Daniher stepped up, hauling in a pack mark on the wing then having the presence of mind to dribble a kick to Callum Ah Chee, who, running at top speed, had the power and precision to find Deven Robertson in the goal square.

The match was on the tightrope, where the Pies do their best work. Since 1984, only one team has led at three-quarter-time in a grand final and lost – and these Pies are 15-0 this season in such scenarios.

The final quarter was a classic. The Pies, in control mode, stifled the Lions. They were not so much running down the clock but playing the percentages, taking risk out of the game.

The Lions kept coming, but tired legs and fatigue play tricks on the mind. Daniher missed from 40 metres out, but would atone later; Coleman, who could not miss a kick last week, skewed a long shot; Hipwood hooked one from 55 out going for distance.

It took a moment of brilliance from Cameron to push the Lions in front. Too strong for Maynard, Cameron paddled the ball almost on the spot of the Stephen Milne bounce in 2010, beat out Isaac Quaynor when the meek would fall and snapped from the square.

Their lead lasted all of 21 seconds with Jordan De Goey dashing from the centre for a ball-bursting goal. When Steele Sidebottom split the sticks from outside 50, the flag appeared to belong to the Pies.

The match was on the tightrope, where the Pies do their best work.Credit: Joe Armao

But when it comes to grand finals, things are never simple for Collingwood. With just inches to play with, McCluggage seized the ball on the pocket, centred to Daniher, who snapped truly instead of testing his nerve, leaving the Pies 93 seconds to hold on.

They did.

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.