Australian Football

Match Report

Everyone experiences days where anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. That truism also applies to football teams and for Collingwood, Saturday was one of those days as the Magpies lost players to injury before and through the game against Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday night, with the Lions taking full advantage to record a 67-point win.

The Magpies woes began early on Saturday when Jamie Elliott pulled out of the side with hamstring soreness. Then, just minutes before the game began, skipper Scott Pendlebury was forced to withdraw after a warm-up knock to an already sensitive quad saw him unable to take his place in the team. He was replaced by Tony Armstrong, who had just played a full game for Collingwood reserves in the VFL. Though he started as sub, Armstrong barely had the chance to rest, with Ben Reid injuring a hamstring in the first four minutes and taking no further part in the game.

Although Travis Cloke had kicked the first goal of the match by this point, Brisbane took full toll of the Pies' bad luck to kick six goals to four in the first quarter, and they never looked back. Brisbane kicked four goals to one in the second quarter, during which Collingwood lost Travis Cloke to an ankle injury, and then five goals to one in the third term, a quarter in which Collingwood lost yet another player, this time Dayne Beams to a knee injury. 

The Lions hammered home the advantage with a 3.4 to 2.2 last term to win by more than 11 goals. Dayne Zorko (936 disposals and two goals) and Tom Rockliff (43 touches and nine tackles) led the way brilliantly for Brisbane, while Steele Sidebottom (24 possessions and six tackles) and Dane Swan (28 disposals, five marks) fought valiantly all day for the Pies.

For Brisbane, the win was its seventh for the year, an acceptable return after it had won only one of its first nine matches. For all the Magpies' bad luck, they are not yet out of finals' contention. They are out of the eight only by percentage, with a winnable game against GWS to come next Saturday, and a very tough one against Hawthorn at the MCG in round 23.

GOALS
Collingwood: Broomhead 3; Goldsack, Cloke, Swan, Fasolo, Young
Brisbane: Freeman 4; Merrett 3; Green, Zorko 2; McStay, Beams, Gardiner, Adcock, Hanley, Bewick, Crisp

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Collingwood: Sidebottom, Swan, Macaffer, Young
Brisbane: Zorko, Rockliff, Hanley, Martin, Freeman, Adcock

BEST - THE AGE
Brisbane: Zorko, Rockliff. Freeman, Martin, Hanley, Merritt, Crisp, Adcock, Aish
Collingwood: Sidebottom, Broomhead, Young, Swan, Ball, Fasolo

INJURIES
Collingwood: Elliott (hamstring) replaced in selected side by Young, Pendlebury (quad) replaced in selected side by Armstrong, Reid (hamstring), Beams (knee), Cloke (ankle)
Brisbane: Gardiner (ankle), Merett (knee)

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Ben Reid replaced by Tony Armstrong in the first quarter
Brisbane: Darcy Gardiner (ankle) replaced by Marco Paparone in the fourth quarter

UMPIRES: Leppard, Armstrong, Mollison

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Dwayne Russell, Gerard Healy, Tony Shaw, Barry Hall