Round 10: Collingwood 100 Brisbane 51

THE FACTS

COLLINGWOOD  5.3.33    9.7.61    12.14.86    14.16.100
BRISBANE            1.1.7     2.4.16      5.6.36         7.9.51

SCORERS
Collingwood: Reid (3.0), Kennedy (2.3), Martin (2.2), Elliott (2.0), Swan (2.0), Jolly (1.1), Blair (1.0), Thomas (1.0), Krakouer (0.3), Lynch (0.2), Ball (0.1), Macaffer (0.1), Pendlebury (0.1)

BEST
Collingwood: Swan, Jolly, Sidebottom, Pendlebury, Macaffer, Martin

INJURIES
Collingwood: Maxwell (hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Alan Didak on for Nick Maxwell during the third quarter

REPORTS
Collingwood: Nil

OFFICIAL CROWD: 26,626 at the GABBA

THE MEDIA
COLLINGWOOD NEWS Proud Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley heaped praise on his senior players for helping the club overcome a tumultuous week by humbling the Lions in Brisbane on Friday night. A week that started with question marks surrounding the Magpies' on-field ability escalated when president Eddie McGuire became embroiled in a racial vilification furore. But once inside the boundary line Collingwood put the dramas behind them, and Buckley was a satisfied man. Although admitting the jury was out on whether they had turned the corner, he said the ability to not be distracted by off-field controversies was impressive. "Considering the tumult that took place and all of the stuff outside football, it was really well done by our playing group and our leaders in particular to maintain focus on what needed to be done," Buckley said. "To go out and start that well was excellent. "We thought we did a fairly good job as an inner sanctum to be able to redirect our energies back to what we're in control of." Collingwood jumped the Lions and pressured them out of the contest to lead by 26 points at quarter-time. Two players under the brightest spotlight were Harry O'Brien, who publicly criticised McGuire's comments, and indigenous teammate Andrew Krakouer. Buckley said if neither felt capable of playing four strong quarters because of the emotional toll of the week, they wouldn't have to. But both never gave it a thought. "There was a lot of discussion about things other than football so what happens when that occurs is, no matter how minute it might be, your focus gets shifted to other areas," Buckley said. "All credit to Harry and Andrew in that regard and their teammates for supporting them and for being able to maintain their focus as well." Buckley said it was a far from perfect performance, but a step in the right direction after last week's mauling at the hands of the Swans. Collingwood led by 45 points at half-time and dominated every facet of the game before dropping back a gear in the second half. "It wasn't a complete performance, we've got the four points under trying circumstances during the week, we'll take that, but clearly after the start we had we would have been far happier if we were able to finish it off. "As the leader of this footy team I set the bar high, I have really high expectations of this team. I thought we reached them in the first half but we fell way short in the second half. "If that comes down to work rate or mental application to stay the course for four quarters, we'll continue to look at that and pick the players that are able to do it and omit the players that aren't."  NOTABLE - Dane Swan came in for some mild criticism during the week after winning ‘only’ 23 possessions in last week’s loss to Sydney. Sure, it might have been his lowest tally since the 2011 Grand Final, but most players would leave the field well pleased with 23 touches to their name. He hit back hard like the champion he is against the Lions with a season-high 36 possessions and four tackles plus two goals. He has had 42, 38 and 32 possessions in his last three games against next week’s opponent. Watch out Melbourne. - Debutant Kyle Martin has made a habit of notching big possession tallies in the VFL after graduating from the Eastern Football League at the end of 2011. He entered his first match with the wind at his back having kicked six goals, collected 29 possessions and laid tackles in the VFL against the Bombers last week. In his first run at senior level, the former Frankston Dolphin looked right at home in the No. 37, winning 19 possessions, laying six tackles and kicking two goals and two behinds. He definitely belongs at senior level. - A statistical curiosity from Friday’s trip to the Gabba saw Collingwood return to the change rooms at half time on 9.7 (61) for the second time in as many meetings against the Lions (having done so in their last encounter back in round seven last season). A five goal final quarter saw the Pies home by 58 points in last year’s match. Twelve months on, they noticed a 49-point win. - Collingwood has now won its last five games without Travis Cloke. The power forward, who leads Collingwood’s goal kicking (26 goals), missed his first game since round 18, 2010, when gastro forced him out of the side. The Magpies last loss without Cloke was against Carlton in round eight, 2009. - Josh Thomas continues to quietly go about carving out a niche for himself in the Black and White engine room. His 25 possessions and five tackles come on top of his 24 possessions and six tackles in the VFL last week. The Queensland local also managed to push forward to kick the first goal of his senior career late in the first quarter.	REAL FOOTY Collingwood has had a week it would prefer to forget: first a horrid loss to the reigning premiers that bore all the hallmarks of a team that had slipped off the pace, made worse by a curse that has haunted the club: from the stands to the president's office; Nicky Winmar to Adam Goodes; Alan McAllister to Eddie McGuire. McGuire, understandably, would not appreciate the comparison. But whether malicious or casually inadvertent, racism is an issue that's stalked Collingwood through seemingly every critical juncture in AFL race relations - on and off the field. Thankfully for the Magpies, pre-game talk that Harry O'Brien and Andrew Krakouer might not take their places in the side proved unfounded. Instead it was Travis Cloke, struck down by a virus, who was missing, somewhat cancelling out the Lions' loss of Jonathan Brown to suspension. In the end, though, it made no difference. It took Collingwood less than a minute and a handful of possessions to register the first goal, to Jamie Elliott. It took the Lions four minutes to register their first kick, to Justin Clarke deep in defence, and it went out on the full. By the end of the first quarter the game was already a rout, 5.3 to 1.1 not reflecting the Pies' domination. The loss of Brown and, at the other end, Daniel Merrett certainly didn't help the home side, but their biggest problem was simply getting their hands on the ball: the loss of Matthew Leuenberger to a thumb injury proved far more significant, as Darren Jolly taught young ruckman Billy Longer a lesson he won't forget. The upshot: Collingwood had 113 disposals to 59, 21 inside 50s to six, and most compellingly, 15 clearances to three. All in a quarter of football. The Pies were brought undone somewhat by some sloppy delivery forward of centre in the second quarter, but still kicked four goals to one to have an unassailable 45-point lead by the end of the half. Dane Swan was everywhere, Scott Pendlebury had run rings around Andrew Raines, and Ben Reid - playing forward in Cloke's absence - had two goals. But it was the performance of Collingwood's younger players that would have pleased coach Nathan Buckley most. Paul Seedsman, increasingly emerging as a player of rare skill, had 17 disposals. Josh Thomas, much more an inside player, had 17 also, and touted rookie Kyle Martin, in his first game, had been prominent. The Lions' runners, conversely, had been shut down. Brent Macaffer was sent to Pearce Hanley, an astute move by Buckley, and again shone, limiting him to 11 touches for the night. Brent Moloney lifted in the second quarter, after just three touches in the first, but then was substituted out, looking sore. It got sloppy after that, Collingwood peppering the goals for a poor return of 3.7 in the third quarter, but only after Swan and Elliott had completed snuffed out any thoughts of an unlikely Lions comeback, the lively Ben Kennedy - who wasted a few opportunities himself - making it a 50-point lead at the last change. It took the Lions until the 10th minute of the third quarter to register just their third goal, and other than Jack Redden, the perennial Simon Black and Dayne Zorko, it was hard to find a good player. Ashley McGrath chipped in with three goals, but the weakened Lions were left with few other options. Buckley will be disappointed his team didn't put the foot down for a much-needed percentage boost in the last quarter, the game petering to a limp conclusion. But so soon was the result sealed, the club could be forgiven just for putting the week from hell behind them. DIDAK BACK Alan Didak has been made to work long and hard to get back into Collingwood's best 22, the silky forward having never been the same after the Magpies' 2010 premiership. On Friday night, in his first game for the year, he started as the substitute and encouragingly for the Magpies, finished with 10 disposals, mostly at half-back. REID REVELS IN ATTACK In the absence of Travis Cloke - and a likely opponent in Jonathan Brown - Ben Reid was sent forward for the first time since early in his career: his first shot on goal in league football contained more short steps than Josh Kennedy, without the finish. He was far more sure of himself on this occasion, finishing with three goals.	SUPERFOOTY A WOEFUL Brisbane was turned into Collingwood roadkill as the Magpies overcame a tumultuous week to thrash the Lions by 49 points at the Gabba last night. Collingwood had been at the centre of a racial vilification storm for seven days but the controversy of the past week was put aside for a four-quarter demolition of the undermanned home side. High drama also swirled around the Gabba before the first bounce with Magpies spearhead Travis Cloke a late withdrawal due to illness and a Lions volunteer trainer suffering a heart attack during Brisbane's warm-up. A Collingwood supporter raised the alarm about the trainer who regained consciousness before he left the ground on a medi-cab. He sent a text message to fellow Lions volunteers at halftime to say he was okay. But the uncompetitive Brisbane was well and truly out of the contest by the main break. With no Jonathan Brown (suspension), no Daniel Merrett (suspension), no Tom Rockliff (injured), no Matthew Leuenberger (injured) and no Daniel Rich (injured), the Lions were without five of their best six players. They were no chance of upsetting the Pies by quarter-time as the visitors romped to a 26-point buffer thanks to their vast superiority in clearances (15-3), inside 50s (21-6), contested possessions (38-23) and total possessions (113-59). Collingwood extended its considerable advantage to 45 points by halftime after what amounted to little more than a training drill in the second term in front of Brisbane's season-high crowd of 26,626. In his 318th senior appearance to equal the Brisbane games record of Marcus Ashcroft, Simon Black was head and shoulders above his teammates who should be ashamed that a 34-year-old in the final year of his glittering career is clearly still the money man. He finished with 32 disposals. It was the 58th time Black has had more than 30 touches in a match since his senior debut in 1998. It was Michael Voss' 100th senior game as coach of Brisbane last night and the 61st defeat will be a bitter pill to swallow given the Pies were also missing a host of key players and still performed admirably despite a horrid build-up. The Lions showed some fight in the third quarter but Collingwood still managed to extend its lead to 50 by the last change as Brisbane suffered another embarrassment on national television. Carlton thrashed Brisbane by 91 points in Round 2 last year in the club's last primetime appearance but a team used to the bright lights of Friday night had no such worries. Dane Swan was outstanding with 36 disposals and two goals while Scott Pendlebury (28 disposals) and Steele Sidebottom (31 disposals) were also brilliant for the Pies. Paul Seedsman had his best games a Magpie with 28 touches. Ben Reid kicked a game-high three goals as a makeshift forward in the absence of Cloke. Jamie Elliott, Kyle Martin and Ben Kennedy kicked two goals apiece for the rampant Pies. Veteran ruckman Darren Jolly taught Billy Longer a lesson in the middle with 40 hitouts. Brent Macaffer completely shutdown the dangerous Pearce Hanley who had just 11 touches. Brisbane coach Michael Voss said the club's "non-negotiable" had been breached so the players were "fair game" in the long and tense post-match meeting. "You can't compromise those, you can't do that," he said. "It was unacceptable. "There's a responsibility to be able to win the ball... collectively as a midfield mix, they have to be accountable. It wasn't good enough. "We are falling short of the mark in terms of pressure."