Collingwood's hopes of reaching the NAB Cup Grand Final were dashed by a hungry Brisbane outfit that outpointed them by 34-points in the third round of the pre-season competition on Saturday night.
Despite leading by a point at the first two breaks, the Magpies never quite clicked in the first half and once their opponents began to get on a roll in the third quarter the match slowly slipped out of reach.
Led by youngsters such as ruckman Billy Longer and ball magnet Patrick Karnezis, Brisbane put the foot down in the third term, kicking five goals to two to break the game apart.
In the absence of several leading lights the calibre of Dane Swan, Scott Pendlebury, Luke Ball and Dale Thomas, vice-captain Dayne Beams assumed the responsibility of leading the midfield. He was unperturbed, amassing 23 disposals and bagging two goals in another fine display.
Collingwood 0.2.4, 0.4.8, 0.6.10, 0.7.12 (54)
Brisbane 0.2.3, 0.4.7, 0.9.12, 0.12.16 (88)
Supergoals - Collingwood: Nil
Goals - Collingwood: Beams 2, Lynch 2, Kennedy, Goldsack, Mooney
Best - Collingwood: Beams, Kennedy, Seedsman, Clarke, Russell
Disposals - Collingwood: Sidebottom 27, Beams 23, Kennedy 19, Seedsman 17, Martin 16
Injuries - Collingwood: Nil
Reports - Collingwood: Nil
Attendance: 12,093 at Etihad Stadium
| Collingwood Team - NAB Cup Round Three | |
| 2. Jordan Russell 3. Brent Macaffer 5. Nick Maxwell 6. Tyson Goldsack 9. Marty Clarke 11. Jarryd Blair 14. Clinton Young 15. Jarrod Witts 16. Nathan Brown 17. Dayne Beams 18. Darren Jolly 21. Quinten Lynch 22. Steele Sidebottom |
24. Josh Thomas 26. Ben Johnson 27. Ben Kennedy 28. Ben Sinclair 37. Kyle Martin* 40. Paul Seedsman 41. Sam Dwyer* 43. Adam Oxley* 45. Jack Frost* 46. Marley Williams 48. Caolan Mooney *Denotes rookie |
Emergencies: 27. Ben Kennedy, 38. Peter Yagmoor, 39. Heath Shaw
Late Changes
IN: Ben Kennedy
OUT: Harry O'Brien (gastro)
| Did Not Play | |
| 1. Alex Fasolo 4. Alan Didak 7. Andrew Krakouer 8. Harry O'Brien 10. Scott Pendlebury 12. Luke Ball 13. Dale Thomas 19. Jamie Elliott |
20. Ben Reid 23. Lachlan Keeffe 25. Ben Hudson 32. Travis Cloke 33. Jackson Paine 34. Alan Toovey 36. Dane Swan 39. Heath Shaw |
Match Report
The marketing types won't be happy but the Brisbane Lions won't give a rat's toss bag, as Malcolm Blight once famously said.They're into their first NAB Cup Grand Final since 2007 following a 34-point win over Collingwood at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
The Lions will face Carlton - who beat them by 25 points in the pre-season decider six years ago - at Etihad Stadium on Friday night in a clash that won't be quite the box office draw that an early meeting between Carlton coach Mick Malthouse and his former charges at Collingwood would have been.
For that, we will have to wait as scheduled for the MCG in round two.
But the Lions won't care. They have been the only unbeaten side through the pre-season and they put this game away with an imposing second half that they started a point in arrears.
On a steamy night with the Etihad roof open, both sides took advanrtage of the ability to rotate as often as they could. The Pies made 168 changes off the bench, while the Lions had 143.
The Lions' forward pressure was superb and after some early struggles, they eventually found several avenues to goal. Small forward Rohan Bewick kicked four, while Aaron Cornelius followed last week's five-goal haul with another three.
Former Melbourne forward Stefan Martin also presented well and kicked a goal.
He and Cornelius are shaping as key forward targets for the Lions this year alongside co-captain Jonathan Brown, who played his first game for the season, and even though he kicked a goal, will clearly be better for the run.
The Lions' midfield run was generated by Daniel Rich, who was superb after quarter-time, Jed Adcock, Tom Rockliff and Pearce Hanley.
Collingwood's best were Dayne Beams and Steele Sidebottom, while youngsters Ben Kennedy, Kyle Martin and Paul Seedsman showed a bit.
But the Magpies were always up against it, and entered the match without Scott Pendlebury, Dane Swan, Travis Cloke, Luke Ball, Dale Thomas, Ben Reid, Alex Fasolo, Alan Toovey, Andrew Krakouer and Alan Didak.
And for most of the night it showed.
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