Round 12: Collingwood 133 Melbourne 91

THE FACTS

2018 AFL Round 13 BYE 2018 AFL Round 14 COLLINGWOOD v CARLTON Time & Place: Sunday June 24, 3:20pm EST MCG Fox Footy 3:00pm EST Weather: Min 9 Max 15 Chance of rain 60%: 1mm Wind: NNW 22kph Betting: Collingwood $? Carlton $?

COLLINGWOOD   5.5.35   9.9.63   15.11.101   21.12.133
MELBOURNE        2.0.12   7.2.44       11.5.71       14.7.91

GOALS - Collingwood: Cox 5, Hoskin-Elliott 4, Stephenson 4, Thomas 3, Pendlebury, Mihocek, Adams, Treloar

BEST - Collingwood: De Goey, Cox, Adams, Hoskin-Elliott, Sidebottom, Treloar

INJURIES - Collingwood: Wells (foot)

REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil

OFFICIAL CROWD - 83,518 at the MCG

TALKING POINTS

1. De Goey buzz set to intensify There was already buzz around Jordan De Goey after his 12 goals in three weeks earlier this season, but it's set to rise to a new level after his performance on Queen's Birthday. De Goey, who is yet to re-sign beyond this season at the Magpies, was the best player on the ground against Melbourne – and it wasn't even close. The smooth mover did his damage in the midfield, rather than up forward, gathering 30 disposals, 12 inside 50s and three goal assists in a tremendous game. Although he had just nine disposals after half-time, De Goey's impact early in the game was telling. The young Magpie had 10 disposals, six inside 50s and three score assists in the first quarter alone, setting up a famous Collingwood victory. Tall American Mason Cox was dominant up forward with five goals, but De Goey was the difference early and there's little wonder why clubs are queuing up to try to steal him away. 2. Confusion aplenty with contact below the knees Collingwood's Taylor Adams was incensed and there were many indignant football followers feeling the same way when the umpire penalised him for diving into the legs of Demon opponent Joel Smith. Adams was desperate to force the ball his team's way but was adjudged to have illegally slid into Smith. Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield tweeted 'Seriously' in reference to the adjudication, while Collingwood great Mick McGuane questioned whether the rule was testing the spirit of the game. There has been criticism for the rule already this year but it's set to go up a notch after Monday's ruling. The fifth-highest crowd ever recorded for a Melbourne home game packed into the MCG for a highly-anticipated showdown on Queen's Birthday Monday. The 83,518 supporters who turned up saw Melbourne's six-game winning streak snapped and Collingwood's impressive run of four wins on the trot continue.

3. And then there was one… Leading into Monday's clash, Melbourne's Jesse Hogan and Collingwood's Will Hoskin-Elliott were the only players in the competition to have kicked a goal in all 11 games this season. With Hogan going goalless for the first time this season against the Magpies, Hoskin-Elliott is now the last man standing. Hoskin-Elliott (four goals) continued his stellar form and was again a major factor in a Collingwood victory. He has been a superb pick-up from Greater Western Sydney after being traded to Collingwood at the end of 2016. 4. Smith answers casting call for Lever's spot The big question for Melbourne through the week was how it was going to replace Jake Lever, who will miss the rest of the season after rupturing his ACL. Fourth-gamer Joel Smith got the nod and did his chances of holding onto the role little harm with an accomplished display across half-back. Smith, the son of former Demon Shaun, has great athleticism and it was on display against the Magpies. However, his influence was greater than that with a couple of key spoils, intercept marks and a chargedown on a handball that saved a certain goal in the third term hugely important. Smith is highly rated at the Demons and will look to establish himself in Melbourne's back six the longer the year goes on. 5. Eager fans pack into the MCG on Queen's Birthday The fifth-highest crowd ever recorded for a Melbourne home game packed into the MCG for a highly-anticipated showdown on Queen's Birthday Monday. The 83,518 supporters who turned up saw Melbourne's six-game winning streak snapped and Collingwood's impressive run of four wins on the trot continue. The crowd was also the third-highest ever for a home and away match between Melbourne and Collingwood. It was also the biggest crowd the teams have played in front of since 2006, eclipsing the 78,733 crowd that turned up that day. The Fight MND message was clear for all to see with many in the crowd decked out in blue beanies.

THE MEDIA

SUPERFOOTY COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley says his side will not be reassessing where it sits this season, playing down today’s convincing 42-point win over Melbourne. The Magpies sit sixth on the ladder with an 8-4 record heading into a bye this weekend, needing only one more win to equal last season’s tally of nine. Buckley said his side was playing to their strengths and were invested in the program but there was still plenty to prove in the second half of the year. “We’re enjoying our work but we’re enjoying our preparation, we’re enjoying the environment of the place, but we’re not going to forget the building blocks of what we need to put in place,” he said. “I think our players are invested, they’re working hard, they’re playing for each other, there’s a lot of care. Guys know exactly what their strengths are and how they can bring them to the table so that’s been really positive. We’ve taken the first couple of steps and we’ll continue to explore our football and see what we can turn that into but you can only do that week by week.” Playing a new predominantly midfield role, Jordan De Goey led the way for the Magpies with 30 disposals including 10 score involvements and three goal assists, setting the tone from the start of the game. “We look forward to him doing that more as a midfielder as he understands his capabilities and the requirements of playing that position,” Buckley said. “It’s a pretty exciting start.” In his 31st AFL game, American Mason Cox took out the Neale Daniher Trophy with a starring five-goal performance that also drew high praise from the coach. “We were able to access him at the right times when he had isolation with his direct opponent,” Buckley said. “He’s improving with his body language to the ball carrier to let him know where he wants the ball kicked to let him know that I’m going to win this contest so that’s an evolution for Mason and he’s developing that. It’s probably a snapshot of our development as a team, we’ve still got a lot of growth in us to understand each other a little bit better and to continue to build on the early season platform that we’ve put together." Veteran midfielder Daniel Wells was assessed for a “foot strain” in the second quarter but returned to the ground and played out the game. Collingwood meets arch-rival Carlton after the bye on June 24. AFL THEY haven't beaten anyone. The critics lined up to lace both Collingwood's and Melbourne's positive start to the year with doubt ahead of the biggest Queen's Birthday clash since 2006 at the MCG on Monday. That same distrust will continue to plague the Demons, whereas Nathan Buckley's red-hot Magpies earned some deserved respect with an emphatic 20.13 (133) to 14.7 (91) victory. Collingwood snapped Melbourne's much-lauded six-match winning streak in the process to extend their own run to four and enter the bye in sixth place with an 8-4 record. "Extremely (satisfying) – every win is – but we played probably our most consistent four-quarter performance to date and there's still a lot of improvement (to come)," Buckley told reporters post-match. "There are still some things I reckon we can get better at, but we'll leave that for review, because I thought our intent from the start was really strong. "In the end, when you look at the ability of us to prevent a side that's been going inside their forward 50 heavily – averaging 65 (entries) the last six, seven weeks – to be able to keep them to 40-odd was the most pleasing part of the game." The Demons slipped outside the top four after starting the day with a chance to go second, but will need to build again ahead of a Friday night date with Port Adelaide after their week off. American Pie Mason Cox booted a career-best five goals and Jordan De Goey (30 disposals) was the firestarter with a hand in Collingwood's first four scores and 10 of his 12 inside 50s to half-time. The all-time record is 16, to put De Goey's extraordinary effort into perspective, shared by Patrick Dangerfield, Mark Ricciuto and Adam Simpson. It was only when Demons coach Simon Goodwin sent his co-captain Jack Viney to him in the third quarter that De Goey finally cooled off somewhat. Steele Sidebottom (32, six inside 50s), Adam Treloar (32, seven clearances) and Taylor Adams (27, eight clearances) were similarly outstanding. Ex-Melbourne pair Jeremy Howe and Lynden Dunn were rocks in defence for their new team. Howe was an intercepting force across half-back and Dunn became the first player to keep Jesse Hogan goalless in 2018. "It was a disappointing day in terms of how we played," Goodwin said. "I thought Collingwood's pressure around the ball was outstanding, they clearly won the clearances and generated a lot of forward momentum from there, and won the territory battle. "That put us under a lot of pressure. All phases of our game weren't to the level that we're used to. "They tackled incredibly well and I thought we fumbled the ball due to their pressure. It's something they were very good at, but we need to be able to absorb." Buckley looked in danger of losing his job last year – and was considered fortunate to keep it in some quarters – but now has his side playing tough, uncompromising and at-times brilliant football. The Magpies blitzed the Demons with a 19-minute, five-goals-to-one assault to start the game that put 27 points between the sides in front of a crowd of 83,518. Melbourne sliced the margin to five points midway through the second term, but that owed more to Collingwood's errors, with all of the Dees' five second-quarter goals coming from turnovers. Once the black and white army's composure returned, combined with the continued obliteration of Melbourne in clearances (45-26), the buffer blew out again. Possibly never before has Max Gawn's hit-out prowess been nullified to such an extent, the initial link in the chain that saw the Magpies smash Melbourne in the clinches. So much was made pre-match of the Gawn-Brodie Grundy ruck battle – potentially to decide the All Australian frontrunner – and little of the analysis played out. Gawn actually won more disposals than Grundy (17-13), but it was the Collingwood star's ability to win the hit-outs that struck a major blow to the Demons' ambitions. The Magpies' stunning start included them leading Melbourne's vaunted on-ball brigade in contested possessions at quarter-time and their pressure was immense. The Demons were repeatedly forced to try and handball their way out of trouble early – a theme that emerged again in the third term when Collingwood shot 30 points up – and the quest predictably came unstuck. Melbourne led the AFL with 14.5 more inside 50s than its opposition in the opening 11 rounds, but had just seven at quarter-time, 17 to half-time and eventually lost the count by 21. Tom McDonald played a lone hand in attack with 6.0 and eight marks, while veteran Jordan Lewis won 33 possessions at half-back and Clayton Oliver had 31 possessions and 10 tackles. MEDICAL ROOM Collingwood: Injury-prone Magpie Daniel Wells limped from the field in the second term with a left foot issue, but he returned to the field and had five disposals in the final quarter. NEXT UP Collingwood goes on the hunt for a fifth win on the trot against Carlton on Sunday, June 24 at the MCG. REAL FOOTY Collingwood’s injured brigade face a fight to get back into the surging black and white outfit after the Magpies earned yet another feather in their cap with a convincing win over Melbourne at the MCG on Monday. Having not made the finals since 2013, the Pies hit their mid-season bye with an 8-4 record, well on track to end that drought, and perhaps go deep into September. Melbourne kept it close early on but Collingwood proved too strong in the second half where they comprehensively beat Melbourne 133-91. Collingwood face lowly Carlton (MCG), Gold Coast (Metricon Stadium) and Essendon (MCG) in their three games immediately following the bye, giving them a strong chance to build a top-four assault. Hamstrung trio Darcy Moore, Jamie Elliott and Travis Varcoe, along with Ben Reid (leg) will all be assessed after the bye, and coach Nathan Buckley hinted they could be set for stints in the VFL before returning to the firing senior side. “It’s probably more about how much footy they’ve missed. But yeah, nine-tenths. Possession is nine-tenths [of the law],” Buckley said. “Flynn [Appleby] was stiff to miss [this week]. There’s a 23rd that’s ready to go if called upon. Our VFL [side] are putting some pretty good footy together. I think players aren’t silly. They want to be a part of something that’s building and developing and they are a part of it, but they want to get their opportunity in the senior side.” The Pies reached 20 goals for the second straight game, holding Melbourne – who had been arguably the form side of the competition – at arm’s length for most of the day. Buckley said the showing was “extremely” pleasing. “We played probably our most consistent four quarter performance to date, and there’s still a lot of improvement, and there’s still some things we can get better at. "We’ll leave that for review, because I thought our intent from the start was really strong, and in the end when you look at the ability of us to prevent a side that’s been really going inside their forward 50 heavily, averaging 65 [inside 50s] the last six, seven weeks, to be able to keep them to 40-odd was the most pleasing part of the game.” Buckley didn’t appear overly fussed about the prospect the bye could halt his side’s momentum. “We’ll come back refreshed. Hopefully body, mind and spirit. “We’re enjoying our work, but we’re enjoying our preparation, we’re enjoying the environment at the place, but we’re not going to forget the building blocks of what we’ve got to put in place.” American forward Mason Cox kicked a career-high five goals, with the coach noting that the big man had worked on his craft. “He looked dangerous from the start. We were able to access him at the right times, when it looked like we had isolation against his direct opponent. He’s improving his body language to the ball carrier, to let him know where he wants the ball kicked," Buckley said. Buckley also lauded out-of-contract star Jordan De Goey, who led the charge early in the midfield, ultimately finishing with 30 disposals and 12 inside 50s. “In the first five, 10 minutes, [he] really set himself and stamped himself on the game. We look forward to him doing that more as a midfielder as he understands his capabilities and the requirements of playing that position.” Injury-prone veteran Daniel Wells will be assessed after suffering a foot strain which affected him on Monday. Promisingly for Wells, the classy midfielder returned from time down the race to play out the game. Meanwhile after several weeks of not conceding a goal from a defensive 50 stoppage, the Pies finally let one through, meaning the club’s coaching staff may again shave following a bet with players.