On a freezing winter’s night in Melbourne the AFL world switched their televisions onto Channel 7 last Friday to see one of the most anticipated clashes of the year between arch rivals Carlton and Collingwood.
Mick Malthouse’s defection to Carlton coach after coaching Collingwood to a Premiership in 2010 provided more fire in the belly for both teams.
In my preview to this spectacle I highlighted three main points that Collingwood had to carry out if they were to out play Carlton, who were expected to win after Collingwood’s shocking defeat at the hands of Port Adelaide and Carlton’s gallant efforts against Hawthorn and Sydney in recent weeks.
The first point I made was that Collingwood couldn’t overuse Travis Cloke, because if they did then Carlton could drop a third man back and Cloke wouldn’t kick any goals.
I predicted that young Jamie Elliot had to step up and kick another five goals like he did in Round 2, but an extraordinary injury changed the course of the match in the first quarter.
Carlton started off strongly, leading by 28 points with only a few minutes to go in the first term.
Carlton had kicked seven straight goals to Collingwood’s 2.2, with Cloke and Jarrod Witts scoring the goals for the Pies.
Then the youthful Josh Thomas curled a goal home, as star defender Ben Reid moved forward with Jarrod Waite being subbed off with a knee injury.
Reid had proved himself as a forward at times, with a strong display up forward against Brisbane when Cloke was absent.
This time he took not one, but two strong marks and converted both, with one coming after the siren.
A magnificent Pies comeback had them behind by only nine points, with Reid looming as a danger man.
An enormous bomb by Cloke and an icy cool set shot by Scott Pendlebury put the Magpies in front early on in the second quarter, before Shaw dropped a goal-line mark and Eddie Betts pounced, scoring a much needed goal for the Blues off an uncharacteristic mistake by Heath Shaw.
The second point I made is that Collingwood had to bring their A-game in pressure, like they did against Geelong earlier in the year.
When the Pies dominated they certainly put the press on Carlton, with a prime example being a brilliant Brent Macaffer tackle in the forward line which turned into a 50 metre penalty, and Macaffer kicked truly from point blank range.
Cloke then unleashed another long bomb to put the Pies up by 11. Witts then added on another as a huge turn around for the Pies shocked the Blues into submission.
Cloke then scored another before half time and the Magpies were murdering their old foe.
A mismatch at the start of the ‘Premiership quarter’ puts Reid against Kade Simpson, with Reid easily marking and scoring yet another for the Magpies.
Reid scored another and the margin was blown out to 41 points.
The Blues then get one back but not before Sam Dwyer channeled his inner Daicos to twirl a bouncing snap shot through the goals while being pushed over the boundary line.
It may have been extremely lucky, but the Pies had no problem in taking it. Just before three quarter time, Andrew Krakouer put the Pies into triple digits with his first goal for the night.
Cloke slammed his fifth goal home, leaving him equal first in the Coleman Medal race, levelling with the Eagle’s Josh Kennedy.
Jaryd Cachia then does what Chris Yarran, Betts and Jeff Garlett haven’t been able to do since the early stages of the match, which is to kick a goal.
That brings me to my third point, which was that Collingwood had to stop Betts, Garlett and Yarran scoring heavily.
Other than Garlett’s quick pair early on in the match and Bett’s goal after the Heath Shaw mistake, the trio didn’t score until the 21st minute mark of the last quarter, with Yarran scoring his first, but before that Paul Seedsman had goaled and Matthew Kreuzer had a major after a shocking decision.
Yarran then missed a sitter and the siren sounded, with an up-and-down night leaving the Pies 41 points the better.
That was quite a remarkable match, but not how the media and yours truly thought it would be.
It was a fantastic rebounding win for the Pies, who face Adelaide this week at the MCG in another Friday night thriller, while Carlton play the Saints at Etihad Stadium in another fiery clash.
It was a brilliant night for the Magpies, who now have their eyes set on a potential top-four spot while Carlton have an upward battle in making the finals.
It was a truly exciting night.
Who’s in your ultimate team? Pick the best team and compete with other fans for daily prizes on Draftstars. For the best odds on the game try out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Think. Is this a bet you really want to place? Set a deposit limit.
"That's the worst sound in footy!"
Nick Daicos' moment of brilliance to seal the win needed some equally magnificent commentary. Enter... 3AW's Anthony Hudson!
As a Carlton supporter, this is probably Sam Pang's idea of Hell!
Sometimes after 120 minutes of blood, sweat, tears and momentum swings, our game makes it so that none of that really matters. With three…
Luke Hodge certainly thought so!
