AFL 2021 Round 6: Essendon 109 Collingwood 85

AFL 2021 ROUND 7 COLLINGWOOD v GOLD COAST Time & Place:  Saturday May 1, 1.45pm AEST MCG TV: Fox Footy Weather: Min 11 Max 23 Chance of rain 20%: <1mm Wind: NNE 11kph Betting: Collingwood $1.36 Gold Coast $3.19

ESSENDON           4.4.28    8.7.55  11.10.76  16.13.109
COLLINGWOOD   4.1.25    8.1.49    11.5.71      13.7.85

GOALS - Collingwood: Cameron 3, McCreery 3, C.Brown, Moore, Grundy, Hoskin-Elliott, Crisp, Ruscoe, Mihocek

BEST - Collingwood: Crisp, Cameron, Pendlebury, Grundy, Quaynor, Daicos 

INJURIES - Collingwood: Nil

REPORTS - Collingwood: Nil

SUBSTITUTES - Collingwood: T.Brown (unused)

OFFICIAL CROWD - 78,113 at the MCG

What The Pies Coach Said "Essendon have got a lot of youth, we had a lot of youth. We haven’t got that many on the sideline. Up until two weeks ago we didn’t have many guys that weren’t available to play. Jamie Elliott and Trent Bianco who hasn’t played a senior game at this point. We’ve had a few more add to that over the last two or three weeks and we haven’t won a game in that time, so we haven’t had the capacity to cover if it’s a personnel issue. But I think it’s not the only issue we have. I’m not about to sit here and say we can’t win with who we’ve got, that’s a defeatist attitude that we won’t take.” – Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley

Media Clippings Herald Sun Collingwood’s finals hopes have been all but extinguished by Darcy Parish and his Bombers in front of a world record COVID-19 crowd of 78,113 fans in the traditional Anzac Day blockbuster at the MCG on Sunday. The Magpies have slumped to 1-5, their worst start to a year since 2005, and for out-of-contract coach Nathan Buckley, the result could serve as the first nail in the coffin of his 10-year tenure as Collingwood boss. The Australian Collingwood’s finals hopes are hanging by a thread after falling to its fifth loss in six games on Sunday night. The Magpies are chained to second-last spot on the ladder ahead of a must-win clash against Gold Coast on Saturday after a dismal 24-point loss to Essendon in the ANZAC DAY clash. The loss raises more questions about the future of out-of-contract coach Nathan Buckley who said on Sunday night the club did not expect to be in this position despite losing two key players throughout last year’s turbulent trade period. AFL Collingwood battled and, aside from a painful final 15 minutes, was constantly in the contest. But while Scott Pendlebury (30 disposals, five clearances) again stood tall, it becomes hard to overlook the ominous position the club now finds itself in. With a horror 1-5 record, the Pies will find positives hard to come by. Having raced out of the blocks on Sunday, the manner and the speed in which the tables were turned was alarming. Darcy Cameron snapped the game's first goal within 20 seconds. Barely 90 seconds had passed before Callum Brown made it two. Five minutes later, Beau McCreery had added a third and Essendon was hanging by a thread. But after the dream start, reality struck for the Pies. A series of silly skill errors were capitalised upon by the Bombers, who stood defiant amid the early pressure and quickly had growing control over the contest.  The Age Nathan Buckley is adamant the uncertainty surrounding his future as Collingwood coach is not distracting his team and said he would not use it as an excuse after the Magpies tumbled to second-last on the ladder by losing to Essendon on Anzac Day. The Pies’ hopes of a fourth consecutive finals berth are quickly evaporating, with Buckley’s side having lost four games in a row, including the 24-point defeat to the regenerating Bombers at the MCG on Sunday. In his 10th season at the helm, club great Buckley is out-of-contract. Having lost a raft of experienced players at the end of last season, the Pies have been further depleted in recent weeks by injuries to key players including Jeremy Howe, Taylor Adams and Jordan De Goey, none of whom played on Sunday.