Preview Round 12: Collingwood v Melbourne

AFL

Collingwood v Melbourne Monday June 9, 3.20pm MCG Fox Footy / 7mate 3.00pm Weather: Min 7 Max 17 Chance of rain 20%: < 1mm Wind: WSW 17kph Betting: Collingwood $1.15 Melbourne $5.40

DESPITE missing a number of key players, Collingwood keeps chugging along and has now won six of its past seven games to move into the top four. Steele Sidebottom (suspension) and Nick Maxwell (calf) will be missing for the next few weeks but the Magpies keep finding ways to replace and replenish their team each week. Melbourne pushed Port Adelaide the whole way last weekend, but competitive efforts are no longer good enough for the much-improved Demons. If forward Travis Cloke can kick another bag – like he did against the Saints last week with five goals – the Magpies will be difficult to stop.

LAST FIVE TIMES

• R11, 2013, Collingwood 17.20 (122) d Melbourne 5.9 (39) at MCG
• R11, 2012, Collingwood 19.15 (129) d Melbourne 13.9 (87) at MCG
• R12, 2011, Collingwood 19.15 (129) d Melbourne 6.5 (41) at MCG
• R12, 2010, Melbourne 11.10 (76) drew Collingwood 9.22 (76) at MCG
• R2, 2010, Collingwood 12.14 (86) d Melbourne 12.13 (85) at MCG

THE SIX POINTS

1. The Magpies have been renowned for their fanatical defensive pressure this year, leading the League with an average of 75 tackles per match. The Demons are 17th with 63.6 a game.
2. Collingwood has received the fewest free kicks in the competition this season, with just 14.3 per game. The Demons are second, averaging 17.9 free kicks per game this year.
3. Melbourne is statistically the worst team for centre clearances in the competition, averaging just 9.7 per game. But the Magpies don't fare much better, ranked 16th with 10.9 per game.
4. Melbourne is the second worst team in the competition for inside 50 entries, with just 43.1 per game. In comparison, the Magpies are seventh in the League (51.4).
5. The Magpies have won eight of the 13 Queen's Birthday clashes against Melbourne since the game became an annual fixture in 2001. There has also been one draw – which occurred in 2010 – in that time.
6. In terms of Official AFL Player Ratings, brought to you by Gatorade, Collingwood forward Travis Cloke had the third highest score of last round, recording 26.2points. Melbourne youngster Dom Tyson is trending upwards, after a series of strong games.

Prediction: Collingwood by 17 points