2019 Round 21: Collingwood 70 Melbourne 53

THE FACTS

2019 AFL Round 22 COLLINGWOOD v ADELAIDE Time & Place: Saturday August 17, 4:35pm AEST Adelaide Oval TV: Fox Footy 4:30pm AEST Weather: Min 9 Max 17 Chance of rain: 16% 0mm Wind: N 20kph Betting: Collingwood $2.08 Adelaide $1.75

COLLINGWOOD   0.5.5   5.6.36   9.8.62   10.10.70 
MELBOURNE      1.4.10   2.6.18   3.8.26     7.11.53

GOALS - Collingwood: Mihocek 4, Pendlebury 2, Varcoe 2, Thomas, Crisp

BEST - Collingwood: Treloar, Grundy, Mihocek, Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Howe

INJURIES - Collingwood: Daicos (concussion)

REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil

OFFICIAL CROWD - 31,903 at the MCG

What The Pies Coach Said "We were very passive in the last quarter. And I think that's probably not a bad reminder, too. That you need to take the game on, remain aggressive, proactive, because as soon as you sit back, you give the impetus to the opposition. ... The players are already talking about it (Q4). ... We were able to play the way that we wanted to play for the most part. We looked at Melbourne's players and the talent that they have at their disposal, you look on paper and think 'they're a challenge'. ... We understood that this game wasn't going to win itself. We had to really grind that out in the second and third quarters." – Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley

Media Clippings Fox Footy Collingwood remain in the hunt for a top-four finish after consigning Melbourne to more misery with a 17-point defeat at the MCG. Midfield leaders Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom were the key architects of Saturday’s 10.10 (70) to 7.11 (53) victory, which lifted the Magpies to fourth on the ladder. Pendlebury finished with 23 disposals and two goals, Sidebottom gathered 28 touches and Brody Mihocek booted four majors. AFL COLLINGWOOD is slowly lurching out of its form slump in time for finals. Nathan Buckley's men were slow out of the blocks again on Saturday at the MCG, but a five-goal-to-one second term instigated a 10.10 (70) to 7.11 (53) victory over struggling Melbourne.  A late red-and-blue flurry reduced the final margin to 17 after it stretched to 42 early in the fourth quarter. The Age At least it didn’t snow. But it was no one’s idea of a classic. Melbourne and Collingwood played to a two-thirds empty house and the standard was befitting of the big snub. The first 25 minutes were goalless, and it only rarely improved from there. The Magpies extracted what they needed, clinging to the thread of a premiership chance with a bunch of first-choice players missing with a 17-point victory. They will at least play finals at 13-7. For Melbourne, the end of a dreadful season cannot come quickly enough. Their supporters are already well and truly on the road, with just 31,903 turning out, the lowest Melbourne-Collingwood crowd since the days of Victoria Park. That Collingwood won amounted to a triumph of their midfield, for in the swirling winds, it was not a day for forwards. The Magpies won through weight of possession and created enough chances to eke out a winning score. Herald Sun The Pies were no oil painting — starting and finishing poorly — but ultimately forced themselves back inside the top four. ... Collingwood’s ability to hang tough in the face of an injury crisis at the pointy end of the ladder is reminiscent of last year. ... Collingwood will persist with the experiment of playing Jordan Roughead forward, with coach Nathan Buckley “encouraged enough” with his new-look attack against Melbourne. In the absence of fellow big man Mason Cox, who will miss the rest of the season with an eye injury, Roughead started forward against the Demons having spent the rest of the year in defence.