Collingwood’s savage response to Demon’s pre-game sledge: ‘Eff you’

Collingwood’s players were quick to remind Melbourne star Ed Langdon (L) about his pre-game sledge after their epic win at the MCG on Friday night. Pic: Getty

Collingwood have revealed they used Ed Langdon’s ‘all duck, no dinner’ comments to add fuel to their fire during Friday night’s nail-biting win over the Melbourne Demons.

Langdon ruffled the Magies players’ feathers on the eve of the clash, describing Collingwood as a ‘one-trick pony’ in regards to their fast style of play.

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“They’re sort of all duck, no dinner in a sense. If they’re playing fast footy on their terms they’re a very hard team to stop,” Langdon told SEN Radio on Thursday.

“They’re a bit of a one-trick pony at times.”

The Pies clearly took note of Langdon’s comments, with Collingwood head coach Craig McRae revealing before the opening bounce he intended to use the words of the outspoken Demons midfielder to ‘inspire’ his players.

“We’re about to have a meeting and I’ll definitely mention it,” McRae told Fox Footy in a pre-game interview.

“I think modern sport is around trying to find little edges and we want to make sure our players are motivated and inspired. Some are inspired by different things.”

McRae’s troops responded, piling on top of Langdon with an aggressive gang tackle less than a minute into Friday night’s blockbuster clash.

Collingwood maintained that level of intensity throughout the contest, and made no secret of the fact Langdon’s comments were used as motivation for their 86-89 victory.

Speaking to Fox Footy after the match, Pies midfielder Jack Crisp revealed Langdon’s comments were shared in the Collingwood team’s WhatsApp group chat.

“Everyone heard it yesterday. Bruzzy (Brayden Maynard) put it in our team WhatsApp group. They always have a few jokes in there,” Crisp said.

“Fly (coach Craig McRae) had it up pre-game on the board as well.

“Everyone saw it yesterday and was like ‘oh well, eff you, we’ll show you’.

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“We’ve gotta get pumped up, the coach does a good job pumping us up, plus other aspects that he had on the board. We know what we play, we know what we bring, we know what our best footy looks like.

“There’s a lot of different aspects to our game, I don’t know what the one trick is, but we just keep finding ways to win in different ways. It’s great to see everyone on the same page.”

Melbourne’s Ed Langdon is tackled by Collingwood star Jordan De Goey during their round 21 AFL game at the MCG. Pic: Getty

Maynard, who was the first Collingwood player to tackle Langdon in the opening exchanges, said he wasn’t shy in letting Langdon know he’d heard what he’d said. “We did use it as a bit of source to look back on,” Maynard said.

“I think Ed Langdon sometimes speaks in the media and he doesn’t realise what he’s actually saying.

“When I got that first tackle on him I let him know about it.”

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