There were always going to be big stories coming out of this King’s Birthday clash between the Pies and Dees at the MCG.
Both sides were coming off Round 12 losses, but whilst the Pies fell over against the Dogs, the Dees were humiliated by the Dockers and were looking to respond. That they were unable to, and looked as though they were handled quite well by the Pies, tells us quite a bit about where these clubs are at, at the moment.
It’s almost as though we’ve seen these clubs swap spots over the last little while. Earlier in the season, the Dees were flying and looking every bit like a contender. The Magpies stumbled out of the gate and are only recently flexing the muscle that took them to the 2023 flag.
With a professional and disciplined performance, Collingwood were able to capitalise on a messy Melbourne performance, always seeming to be one step ahead, and more prepared to dig in at the contest.
Melbourne tried hard, but lacked polish. Collingwood were crisp, clean, and made the most of their opportunities, and in the end, a 38-point margin probably flattered the Dees. Really, they were woeful.
And when teams are playing like that, cracks that may have been wallpapered over at one stage become chasms. Collingwood exposed those chasms in this game.
This win thrusts the Pies back into the top eight, and knocks the Dees down to tenth. It is actually starting to feel like their season is on the line, and we’ll dive into some of the issues in this review.
But we’ll also celebrate a wonderful win by Collingwood over 84,000 people.
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