| Collingwood: | 6.5 | 9.7 | 18.9 | 20.15 | 135 |
| West Coast: | 0.2 | 4.4 | 5.8 | 7.10 | 52 |
| Collingwood | West Coast | |
| 4 Dawes | 3 LeCras | |
| 4 Jolly | 1 Strijk | |
| 3 Didak | 1 Kennedy | |
| 2 Lockyer | 1 Ebert | |
| 2 Pendlebury | 1 McKinley | |
| 2 Beams | ||
| 2 Swan | ||
| 1 Ball |
| The 10th Letter’s Best: | 5. Darren Jolly |
| 4. Alan Didak | |
| 3. Dane Swan | |
| 2. Dayne Beams | |
| 1. Chris Dawes |
Saturday night saw the Magpies take on the witches hats from the west, a four quarter formality that resulted in an 83 point drubbing. Big wins are always welcomed, but it is seriously difficult to read too much into the result given the incompetence of our opposition. Regardless, we went into the match expected to win handsomely and did just that, with a fairly even team effort and a few standout performances.
Collingwood took control of the match from the opening bounce, effectively ending the contest before the quarter time siren by way of six goals, whilst West Coast struggled to trouble the scorer. Some of the passages were pitiful to watch, as West Coast’s ineptitude allowed Collingwood to do as they pleased – a joy for the Collingwood faithful, yet I have to admit I was more than a little embarrassed for our opponents.
Harry O’Brien had a fantastic opening quarter, putting the lock down on LeCras whilst providing his trademark dash out of defence. Chris Dawes kicked a fantastic goal whilst tight up against the boundary line in the wrong pocket for a right footer, a feat that Pendlebury recreated a little later on with a lovely set shot from a similar position. Beams linked up well throughout the quarter and would continue to do so throughout the match, with one almost ridiculous piece of play resulting in Dayne casually jogging in behind the defence to mark unchecked 20 metres from goal; it was at that point that Worsfold was surely wishing he could evoke the mercy clause.
The second quarter showed a more spirited West Coast outfit as complacency seemed to set in a bit for the Magpies. LeCras continued to work hard and was rewarded by finally slipping Harry’s leash and getting on the scoreboard after dribbling through an excellent goal. West Coast ended up outscoring Collingwood for the quarter, but it was the only shot they would fire for the remainder of the match.
The third quarter saw Collingwood – and more specifically Alan Didak – put the Eagles to the sword with an eight goal quarter, three of which came off the boot of Didak in the space of no more than two minutes. The only position that West Coast potentially held superiority in heading into the match was the ruck department, but Darren Jolly played his best game for the season and made a complete mockery of his opponents in Cox and Naitanui. Jolly’s match reached its apex at the very last second of the third quarter, when in the ultimate act of adding insult to injury, Jolly stood on the head of the highlight reel’s favourite subject Naitanui, taking the mark of the night. Jolly then went back and casually executed the perfect checkside punt, notching up his fourth and final goal.
The final quarter was a dull affair, with both teams adding two goals and merely running out the clock. Jarryd Blair gave a very good account of himself in his debut match after being a late replacement for Sidebottom. Blair laid 5 tackles and gathered 16 possessions, with half of them falling under the contested category. Importantly, the pint sized midfielder handled the step up and showed poise along with the tenacity that VFL watchers have come to expect.
At the final siren, Darren Jolly was far and away our best player with a stand-out performance against quality opposition. Swan and Beams collected a lot of the ball and ran hard throughout the night, whilst Didak also put in the hard yards and reminded us of just how damaging and mercurial he can be. Pendlebury was class personified with everything he touched whilst Chris Dawes kicked a goal every quarter and took some strong contested marks; including clunking one very good overhead mark in the last that was sure to inspire optimism in every Collingwood supporter. Our backline stood up as expected, doing a more than admirable job on the West Coast forward line which despite ladder position does possess some impressive quality in the forms of Kennedy and LeCras. There were some concerns in the clearance department, as we were bested 31-27 in that category. On the bright side, it was the move of Blair onto Priddis in the second half which went a long way to nullifying West Coast out of the centre.
Leon Davis battled admirably but is still like a gasless zippo; it’s solid and still looks flashy, but just isn’t firing. Jack Anthony returned to the team in a swingman capacity and had a mixed game, doing some good things and some bad, but he showed enough to suggest that he will be capable at either end of the ground. Ben Reid and Dale Thomas were impressive again, whilst Wellingham continues to find his touch.
Convincing victories are always pleasing, but West Coast are playing a truly terrible brand of football and as such I’m reluctant to read too much into our performance. Whilst we took a percentage boost and four points away from the match, it was a result that we should have expected if we are to seriously contest this year. As for our opposition, any team who doesn’t beat West Coast by 40+ should probably be made to forfeit the four points.
