Australian Football

Match Report

One of the features of the 2016 season has been the ability of the top eight sides to defeat those outside the top eight on a more than regular basis. In the first 15 rounds of the season a team from outside the top eight had beaten one from within only five times. So when 11th-placed Collingwood took on the third-placed Giants at Sydney Showground on Saturday, very few expected the Magpies to come away with the win. And by quarter time, when GWS was four goals ahead and coasting that scenario looked all the more unlikely. But from the first break onwards, it was Collingwood that look the premiership contender, kicking nine goals to two in a barnstorming second quarter to set up a huge upset 32-point win over the Giants. 

Collingwood looked good in the early minutes and a lovely snap from the boundary by Travis Varcoe had the Pies ahead by a goal after a minute of play. The game appeared to revert to script after that with the Giants getting right on top in general play and goals to Jeremy Cameron, Josh Kelly, Cameron Ward and Jonathon Patton giving them a three-goal break. The Magpies hit back with majors to James Aish and Travis Cloke cutting the margin back to six points, but GWS finished the terms strongly, goals to Dylan Shiel, Patton and Cameron putting it comfortably ahead by four goals at the first break. At that point, there was no indication of what was to come from Collingwood. 

The first four minutes of the second quarter were evenly contested and neither side scored. The Magpies then got a run on and two majors to Jesse White and one to ex-Giant Taylor Adams had them back within a goal after eight minutes. Goals from Rory Lobb and Steve Johnson had the Giants back out to a 16-point lead and seemingly back in control but the second half of the second tern saw Collingwood produce a withering burst that blew the game open. In a 15-minute window, the Pies slammed own another 6.2, with Jarryd Blair and Alex Fasolo snaring two goals each, to make it nine majors for the term. GWS hardly looked like scoring in that period and Collingwood's stunning quarter had it ahead by 18 points at the half. 

It would get worse before it got better for the Giants. Ben Sinclair and White added further goals for Collingwood in the first three minutes of the third quarter, giving the Pies an even five-goal lead. GWS tried to start the long climb back with a goal to Cameron at the seven-minute mark but the Magpies answered through Steele Sidebottom. The Giants tried again with a goal to Josh Kelly on the cusp of time one but another first of three goals - two to a resurgent Cloke - had Collingwood take a commanding 42-point lead into the last change of ends. 

Jonathon Patton tried to spark the Giants with a goal inside the first minute of the final term but Collingwood locked play down after that. Only three further majors were scored, two to Cameron for the Giants, and one to Cloke, playing his best game for many a long day, as the Magpies cruised to a shock 32-point victory. 

Ruckman Brodie Grundy played a great game for the Pies, collecting 26 possessions to go with his 28 hitouts. For the Giants, Stephen Coniglio (30 touches, four tackles) was a standout four-quarter performer.

Despite the win, Collingwood is still three games short of eighth-placed North Melbourne. The Magpies will take on the third-placed Crows at the Adelaide Oval next Saturday night. For GWS, the loss saw it tumble from third to seventh on the ladder, and the Giants will be keen to get straight back onto the winners list against Brisbane at the Gabba on Sunday. 

GOALS
GWS: Cameron 5; Patton 3; Kelly 2; Ward, Shiel, Lobb, Johnson
Collingwood: Cloke 4; White 3; Blair, Fasolo 2; Varcoe, Aish, Adams, Smith, Macaffer, Sinclair, Sidebottom, Grundy

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
GWS: Coniglio, Cameron, Haynes, Kelly, Mumford
Collingwood: Grundy, Adams, Cloke, Sidebottom, Treloar, Howe, Pendlebury

BEST - HERALD SUN
GWS: Coniglio, Whitfield, Cameron
Collingwood: Grundy, Cloke, Pendlebury, Treloar, Adams, Sidebottom, Sinclair, White

INJURIES
GWS: Nil
Collingwood: Nil

UMPIRES: Foot, Fisher, Stevic

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Dwayne Russell, Jason Dunstall, Mark Ricciuto, Cameron Mooney