Collingwood cruise to the AFL premiership

alas no. Shame.

Interesting stat, Collingwood attracted more than 1.5 million fans to matches including an average of 71,625 to matches at the MCG.

terminator 2 was good

i agree with that. its nice to see the deserved winners crowned.

Kurt, .....& The Empire Strikes Back!

The last 3 NRL GFs have been boring and predictable. I, too, am hoping for a closer game than the AFL. While the AFL drawn GF was not a textbook demonstration of skills, many AFL GFs this decade have been crackers for tension (10, 09, 08, 06, 05, 04, 03, 01). The only decent NRL GFs in the past 20 years have been 89, 91, 97, 99, 03, 05, 06

man that was one boring grand final... hopefully (and likely) the NRL will be better

I agree with most of the above - esp Pendlebury getting the Norm Smith, I'm tired of seeing midfielders continue to dominate the BOG awards by dint of their position alone. As Fly on the Wall said, most of his possessions were uncontested (22/29 I think) scooting around the back of a dominant ruckman. O'Brien and Jolly were more pivotal and gave the team a great structure to work up from. Did anyone else notice that Channel 7 refused to broadcast in HD? Poor effort. Oh yeah, Lionel Richie's still got it! That was a surprise!

Shaw's effort was a terrific sequel to Maxwell chasing down that Riewoldt shot last week and just rushing it instead of it being a certain goal. Jolly was good too - the Magpies had winners all over the ground and the fact that no one kicked more than 2 shows what a great team effort it was. Malthouse has exploited the unlimited interchange brilliantly to play the game at breakneck speed - everyone going flat out for 6-7 minutes then having a short break - because he has depth right through to the other six who did not make the GF team. Other teams cannot match that intensity and the difference today was that they did not let up as they did last week. For all St Kilda's tenacity, they had no plan B and when their basic skills let them down today they looked as pathetic as Richmond or West Coast.

Have to disagree with you quite strongly there Sheek. Empire Strikes Back was very much the equal to Star Wars, possibly even superior in some ways. About the footy however you are completely correct unfortunately.

The result does put into perspective the general consensus (which I myself bought into) that St Kilda had won the psychological battle, both with their behaviour immediately after the drawn game and their conduct during the week. So much for that theory.

Yeah harry was good, but I think Jolly needs a mention he was brilliant!!!!!, Hate the pies but ill give respect where its due, and my sympathy to those who have to work or be around pies supporters over the next 12 months (its going to be hell)

I agree. Harry O'Brien was the player who gave great drive to the Magpies, especially in the first half. Possibly the most crucial moment of the whole replay was when Heath Shaw stopped Nick Riewoldt from kicking St Kilda's opening goal of the game. That moment showed which team was more switched on for the replay and that team was the Magpies. Brendon Goddard was very good and was clearly St Kilda's best player on the day. Full praise however, must be given to the Collingwood defence. The way they shut down St Kilda's forwards was nothing short of brilliant.

Good result for footy overall - The Magpies will now have 80,000 mambers in their sights and a bigger fan base Australia wide IF they can get another flag within 2/3 years. Because love em or hate em they draw big crowds around Australia in the AFL world. Mick Malthouses reputation has gone up another notch. His work with the Perth player Harry O`Brien has been outstanding as Harry acknowledged today.

Ross Lyon blundered today. Ok, he kept Swan quiet for the first half but why on earth would he leave Riewoldt - his best player - as a lone forward when the Saints weren't evcen getting past the centre square? Pull him back into the midfield or halfback line and send the kids up front. Goddard was awesome and kept them in the game but Collingwood were just way too good, too fit and too determined across the board. I disagree with the Norm Smith medal going to Pendlebury - most of his possessions were uncontested. The man who gave the Pies huge drive in the first half was O'Brien.

No drama in this sequel.

There were a lot of enthusiasts hoping for a repeat belter to last week. Such optimism is to be admired, but is rarely achieved in these circumstances. JC set the template for second comings, his second coming was brief & low-key, & then phwooff, he was gone to the celestial heavens. Off the top of my head, the only second coming to match the first was the movie Godfather II (both won best movie Oscars). I'm still a fan of GFs being decided on the day (with extra-time). The way it ended last week, the Saints were finishing stronger. As 'Pies skipper Neil Maxwell observed, "we dodged a bullet today". They certainly did! Because the Magpies regrouped smarter. Coach Mick Malthouse showed there has to be some benefits of 25 years accumulated experience of coaching! Congrats Magpies - enjoy! Perhaps we saw history today in that we won't see this situation repeated again..........!!!

I'm fine with that - a team won it fair and square.

As expected, a letdown from last week. For those in melbourne who wanted the replay, here is your comeuppance, Collingwood fans giving the rest of you stick for the next few months !!