The last couple of times these clubs met, I was glued to the TV. I don’t know what it is about the Pies and Crows, but they live in each other’s pockets when it comes to these games, afraid to give each other any separation. The cumulative margin of their last three contests is just seven points.
Their contest last year were a couple of the best of 2023, and whilst the positions the clubs find themselves in this season are markedly different, I came into this one hoping for something that replicated those contests.
And as the final siren sounded, and the margin sitting at just four points, you would expect that I may have got it, right?
Both clubs have found their feet in recent weeks, after poor starts to the season.
The Pies have rattled off five wins from their last six games, with the other game resulting in a draw, whilst the Crows boasted a less-impressive three wins and a draw from their last five starts.
Following this one, one of the clubs was going to be under the blowtorch again.
And once again, it is the Crows who will feel the heat, as the Pies pulled out a yet another ridiculous win by a single kick.
There was drama aplenty in the final moments, as Izak Rankine took the ball at stoppage and streamed forward along the boundary. He took a bounce, continued to run, and banged the ball long inside 50… but as the players further afield fought for control of the footy, the whistle continued to blow – Rankine had been pinged for running too far.
No sense of occasion, that umpire. None at all. It can also be argued there was no sense, period.
There is zero guarantee that anything comes of that final kick inside 50. There is a chance Collingwood clear, the siren sounds, and we end up lauding their guts and determination as they hold on. That last call, borderline as it was, took that possibility away.
It took the game out of the hands of players to win or save it. It decided the game for them.
And I hated it.
Let’s jump into The Mongrel’s Big Statements.
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