How Pies stared down Demons to beat them at their own game

Max Gawn remonstrates with Brayden Maynard during the qualifying final between Melbourne and Collingwood at the MCG on September 7, 2023. Picture: Getty Images/AFL Photos

IT WAS a scene setter, if nothing else.

As the footy was thrust into the MCG turf for the first bounce of Thursday night’s qualifying final, Mason Cox eyed up Max Gawn. He had eyes for no one but his opponent, dipping under the ball and taking his All-Australian counterpart with him.

The action may have had no material impact on the final result, but it provided a hint of Collingwood’s focus for the hours to come. It wanted to take on Melbourne’s greatest strength and overcome it.

MAGPIES v DEMONS Full match coverage and stats

As the Pies surged into a home preliminary final in a fortnight’s time, courtesy of a barnstorming seven-point victory over the Demons, the physicality of Craig McRae’s side was stark. It found new ways to win.

In a defining opening term that ultimately proved pivotal in the outcome, Collingwood won contested ball by nine to spark an opening to the match where it also had the contest’s first seven inside-50s and kicked four of its first five goals.

Bobby Hill relished the rare moments when the match opened up, running hard back to goal to slot the first two majors. But those opportunities were created by the Pies’ endless industry at the coalface.

Taylor Adams had seven contested possessions in the first quarter alone, Steele Sidebottom won five and Cox racked up four himself as Collingwood set the tempo for its finals campaign.

“I had to temper my confidence going into the game,” McRae said afterwards.

“I just felt like we were really building for this. Our training would suggest that, getting key players back would suggest that. I just had this great belief. When this rain came, I just thought it would suit us.

“I thought we were going to come at them. You don’t always get it right, but I just had this belief in the group that we were going to hit the ground running tonight. Luckily enough, the first quarter was an example of that.” 

Collingwood carved open a 20-point first quarter lead, the type of buffer that proved crucial when Melbourne eventually got the game back on its terms and started to create some territorial dominance after the opening break.

That was always bound to happen, given just how much the Dees have dominated in that space throughout the season. Simon Goodwin’s outfit have ranked No.2 for contested possession differential this year, and No.4 for clearance differential.

Melbourne had won contested ball by 19 when it dismantled Collingwood on the King’s Birthday holiday midway through the season, snapping the Pies’ eight-match unbeaten run in the process.

Jack Viney had claimed the Neale Daniher Medal on that afternoon, in large part because he won 19 contested possessions to go with 32 disposals, nine clearances, 11 tackles and a goal.

But during the first quarter on Thursday night, things would be different. Collingwood shirked no contest, scrapped over every loose ball, and rectified every glaring issue from that contest three months ago.

The opening term was highlighted and marred by that physicality in equal measure. Brayden Maynard’s bump on Angus Brayshaw, having initially looked to try and smother his kick, caused anxiety and tensions to rise.

Brayshaw was stretchered off the ground and substituted out of the match, while Viney later remonstrated with Maynard after watching replays on the MCG scoreboards. The Match Review will meet on Friday to determine whether there will be punishment.

Christian Petracca and Tom Mitchell had also sparred over a separate incident in the moments afterwards, while Clayton Oliver and Brody Mihocek had wrestled in an off-the-ball spat towards the end of the first quarter.

Melbourne, ultimately, should have won after that. The Demons had 32 more inside-50s, blazed countless shots wide of goal, and got the match played enough on their terms to the point where they still finished with 15 more contested possessions by the end.

But the scoreboard pressure that had built during Collingwood’s bruising start seemed to be infiltrating Melbourne’s psyche in front of goal. That crept in during in the second term, when they had 12 more entries but could only cut three points into the deficit.

Joel Smith, Bayley Fritsch and Oliver missed glaring chances in the third quarter as the Demons kicked 2.5 for the term. When a classic Collingwood counter resulted in Hill’s third, all of a sudden the margin ballooned to 27 points and a stretch too far.

Yet, still Melbourne came, only for Fritsch to slice his set-shot out on the full, Trent Rivers to blaze wide of goal from long-range, and Kysaiah Pickett to miss everything on a snap around his body.

As the deficit was eventually whittled to just seven points, Collingwood had that early advantage to thank for the fact its journey to the premiership will stay solely in Victoria and on its home turf at the MCG.

“It doesn’t matter,” McRae said of the statistical imbalance.

“You can analyse all of the stats, but it doesn’t matter. You just win. You find a way to win.”