It was a funny feeling heading into this game. I had people telling me the Pies had a lot of pressure on them against the Dockers.
They were coming off a five-day break, were resting some very high-quality players, and were travelling across the country to play a team that had been a Jekyll and Hyde group in 2025.
But I found the pressure was more on the Dockers.
There was only one real outcome that would have been acceptable for the Dockers, and that was whacking the Pies, but it soon became apparent that this was not going to be the case. You just don’t get hold of Collingwood like that. Freo don’t, at least.
Every time the Dockers threw a punch at the Pies, it was the black and white retaliation that snuffed out their offence.
You will get stat-lovers mulling over this game and scratching their oversized heads. How did Collingwood win this?
They lost clearances by 15.
They had a whopping 29 fewer inside 50s
And they had a total of 76 fewer disposals.
But they used the footy better with the most important field kick in footy – the kick inside 50.
The Pies did the right thing at the right time, setting up 14 marks inside 50 to the six for Fremantle. It was both an endorsement of the ball use of the Magpies going forward, and a damning for the Freo delivery.
Not to be glossed over, it was a startling victory for the Collingwood defence, who held firm against wave after wave of purple inside 50s to repel the Dockers, and start the breaks the other way.
A heap to get through in this one, including some pretty stinging criticism for some of our favourite players.
Time to jump into The Mongrel’s Big Questions from the big Collingwood win.
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