Watching this game, it felt as though for 95% of it, we were waiting for the Hawks to hit their stride and take over the contest. They were close, but they just couldn’t string enough together to push past the Pies.
And we credit the Collingwood defence for that, as much as we give the Hawks forwards a whack. They were incredible.
For the other 5%, we were wondering whether the Pies had denied them long enough to pick up the unlikely win.
The game followed a strange trend. The Hawks peppered their goals, missed a lot, made mistakes, and were denied by a desperate Collingwood back six. Then, when the Pies managed to get out of the Hawks’ forward press, they’d dart forward and kick a goal. Both teams were working their backsides off, but only one was finding any success on the scoreboard.
Before I even get started on this review, I want to tip my hat to Brayden Maynard. I’m not even wearing a hat, but I feel like I have to go buy one, put it on, and tip it to him. I have not looked at stats as I write this – I don’t know what story they’ll tell and I find that they can sometimes skew the thoughts you have about a game – but Maynard’s effort in the last quarter was incredible. If all defenders played with the ferocity at the contest he does, there’d be a bunch of forwards looking to play further up the ground to get away from the heat. I know that there are a heap of people who dislike him for a variety of reasons, but I would absolutely take him in my team every day of the week.
Meanwhile, Nick Watson’s influence at ground level… wow.
The game had a heap of little highlights and matchups – Impey v Schultz was pivotal, whilst Nick Watson making hay whilst Harry Perryman sat on the bench made a massive difference in the contest. Darcy Moore’s defence forced Jack Gunston away from goal to play as a high half-forward, and Darcy Cameron became the first high-profile big man to suffer a knee-on-knee injury at the centre throw-up.
Saw that coming a mile off, huh?
Enough of my introductory rantings – heaps to get through in this one. Let’s jump into The Mongrel’s Big Questions.
This is just the introduction – the remainder of this article is for our members. They support me, and I provide for them. It’s a good deal.
Oh… a Mongrel paywall… the worst of all paywalls. We’re all in on the 2026 AFL season. Player articles, stats, awards, game coverage. Dump the mainstream lip service and dive into articles like this – you will never look back. If you don’t want to, that’s fine. I consider it your loss as we get into the grind of the season, and you’re stuck with the stuff that’s frustrated you for years.
