Vintage Pies Finish Strong Beating Punish Dim Dees in Slogfest Showdown

At the MCG on Friday night, Collingwood defeated Melbourne 15.13 (103) to 8.9 (57) to cap off a fantastic season.

Led by a motivated Nick Daicos, a contender for the Brownlow Medal, the Magpies won their 12th game of the 2024 campaign and their second against the Demons this season after defeating them on King’s Birthday in Round 13.

Daicos finished with 40 disposals, 11 marks, 10 inside-50s, 9 clearances, 2 goals, and maybe 3 votes.The defending champion had a mathematical chance to make the finals going into Round 24, but it needed to defeat Melbourne by a margin significantly greater than the 46 points it won on Friday night.

Since 2020, the Magpies have triumphed in six of the last seven games with Melbourne.

Billy Frampton, Jack Bytel, Daniel McStay, and Ned Long were replaced by Charlie Dean, Finlay Macrae, Ed Allan, and Joe Richards during McRae’s four-man selection on Thursday.

3-2-1… (according to Will Faulkner)

3-AMID BIZARRE WEATHER INTERVENTION, NICK’S LAST-GASP BROWNLOW PLAY PUTS PIES TO VICTORY

With their 46-point victory over the Demons, Collingwood concluded their 2024 campaign on a high note, largely thanks to the enormous play of third-year star Nick Daicos.

And in the process, the third-year sensation did nothing to hurt his chances of winning his first Brownlow Medal; his performance most likely earned him three vital votes in this year’s very close contest for the coveted prize.

However, the game took far longer to finish than any player, coach, or fan could have predicted since lightning struck within a 10-kilometer radius of the field, pausing play with nine and a half minutes left in the final quarter.

The Magpies were winning the game handily before play was abruptly stopped, with a 41-point lead at the time of the suspension.

However, the 2022 Rising Star winner had already done plenty of damage before then, stealing the show against a Melbourne midfield devoid of Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca with an equal-match high 40 disposals, 11 marks, 10 inside-50s, nine clearances, and two goals.

The Pies were careless early on; Daicos, who also played parts of the game off a half-forward flank and even as the deepest forward, kicked the only Pies major from his team’s first five shots on goal.

But Bobby Hill arrived as a result of the Pies’ inaccuracy, and his two first-term majors sparked a five-minute spurt that gave the team a brief boost of four goals and revived their meagre hopes of making the playoffs.

Fans soon realised that Nick would likely need three votes to win, and the Demons would not be able to limit his impact.

His presence from the first bounce was tough to miss — registering 12 disposals, five marks, three inside 50s and a goal by the first interval.

“Nick Daicos is absolutely on track for a Brownlow Medal night tonight. The great Garry Lyon of Melbourne observed on Fox Footy’s quarter-time coverage, “He’s absolutely dominated, started half-forward — probably an indicator they wanted to score and score big.”

Hasn’t he been on fire lately? On his way to three votes, that’s for sure. Obviously, he’s not being monitored too intently, said Jonathan Brown, a three-time Brisbane Premiership player.

Daicos was unmissable right away, amassing 12 disposals, five marks, three inside 50s, and a goal by the halfway point.

In addition to Nick’s outstanding performance, Josh, his brother, was outstanding on the wing, pushing the boundaries for a last All-Australian blazer. Josh finished with 40 disposals, 10 marks, and 31 uncontested possessions.

In an exciting match, Darcy Cameron outperformed rival star Max Gawn in the ruck, kicking two goals in the first half to make an impression.

The tall player from Melbourne himself concluded the game as one of the Demons’ best players of the evening with 20 disposals, 13 contested possessions, and five clearances.

Kysaiah Pickett was damaging up forward for the Demons and looked by far the most dangerous forward of the red and blue army.

That being said, the livewire also looks likely to miss the start of the 2025 season for his rogue high bump on Magpies skipper Darcy Moore in the second quarter, finishing his night prematurely with concussion.

The late, late out of Jake Lever with illness thinned the defensive line of Melbourne, and forced coach Simon Goodwin to think outside of the box in the back half.

Jake Bowey was off periodically with a right knee complaint before half time game, and was eventually subbed out at the main break.

2 – ‘EMBARRASSING’ DEMONS FINISH 2024 ON A LOW

Contrary to their nine-goal win over Gold Coast on the road last week, the Demons came crashing back down to Earth one last time in 2024 on Friday night.

The cracks appeared early on, with the Magpie kicking six unanswered goals after Melbourne’s opener from Kozzy Pickett.

Collingwood’s 35 uncontested marks in the first quarter was its best return for the season, with Simon Goodwin’s side unable to truly gain control of the fast-moving ball after the opening five minutes of the match.

Not only did the Dees fail to stop the Pies’ chip-chip football style, but they also gave up a ridiculous amount of interceptions to the black and white in the first term.

In the first term, Collingwood’s intercept-to-score rate was 32%, a huge improvement over the AFL average of 19%.

At the half, he told Fox Footy, “It was just vintage Collingwood — they are all over Melbourne.” “After the first quarter, it was embarrassing from a Melbourne perspective,” Garry Lyon said on Fox Footy.

It is imperative that you show up, and they are not putting any pressure on you in this game.

“All that says is Melbourne haven’t brought any heat or pressure,” Lyon continued. “They’ve turned up and delivered zero heat … At quarter-time, I hope Simon Goodwin tore the plaster off the joint.

“It was an embarrassment, because Melbourne actually had less tackles than Collingwood — normally, you should have more if you don’t have the ball, so they couldn’t lay a glove on them,” Jonathan Brown added.

“Maybe a little method (involved), but a lot of it was a lack of effort. Collingwood were extremely good, they went back and punished the opponent (off turnover).”

And while conditions were fair from friendly in the heavy rain during the last quarter, Bayley Fritsch and Harrison Petty went goalless for the match in a dismal finale to their seasons.

1 – HAS KOZZY DONE IT AGAIN?

Kysaiah Pickett has once again put himself in the Match Review Officer’s firing line.

Near the end of the second quarter, the livewire Melbourne forward opted to bump Collingwood skipper Darcy Moore; collecting him high and giving a free kick.

Moore looked to go to ground unexpectedly in the fight, which generated hope from the Fox Footy panel as they reviewed the event at half-time.

“I think the AFL will clearly have a look at it,” Herald Sun journalist Jon Ralph said on Fox Footy’s half-time broadcast.

He visibly bumps into Darcy Moore and makes head contact. Given that Moore gets to the ground quite late, I believe the question is how much wiggle room he gets.

“When it happens slowly, you might think ‘he could do something about it,’ but when it happens instantly, I believe Moore goes to the ground without anyone noticing him—I wonder if that saves him.”

Ralph observed that Pickett’s MRO rap sheet was expanding.

“Obviously, it goes without saying that following the Patrick Cripps incident in last year’s finals, (Pickett) was suspended for this year’s Opening Round and was later suspended for another high hit on Jake Soligo,” he went on.

“He’s really trying to change his behaviour, but if you see that in real-time … I think it (Moore going to ground) might help him.”

four-time winner of the Hawthorn flag According to Jordan Lewis, “I think he’s fine.” In that situation, he cannot force a player to go to the ground.

Collingwood icon Nathan Buckley added: “He (Pickett) thought that was going to be a shoulder-to-shoulder bump, I would’ve thought.”

Despite the panel’s confidence, though, Moore was later ruled out of the game due to concussion – throwing question over Pickett’s chances of getting off with the MRO.

In the last term, during an unplanned lightning break, Fox Footy reporter Jon Ralph discussed Pickett’s bump.

“I believe that this is not the first time that a concussion alters the rules of the game; we all felt that (MRO officer) Michael Christian had some leeway there,” Ralph remarked.

The injury is only relevant, in theory, in the event of a reportable incident. You have to think that the concussion laws will actually play a role in practice.

“A bang-bang play could take three weeks to complete.”

Michael Christian is probably going to give Moore a “severe” impact rating in light of his concussion, along with heavy contact and (probably) reckless behaviour.

COLLINGWOOD vs. MELBOURNE: AS IT HAPPENED

The teams for tonight’s match at the MCG have been confirmed! Fin Macrae (COL) and Bailey Laurie (MEL) have been named the substitutes; there are no late alterations.

There was a late alteration, though! Star Melbourne interceptor Jake Lever passed away from sickness less than thirty minutes before the first bounce. Taj Woewodin took his spot in Simon Goodwin’s chosen team.

Kysaiah Pickett, who had streaked through the 50 and left Steele Sidebottom in his wake, kicked the first goal of the game.