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The things we learnt: This Collingwood side is built for finals
SEN • September 5th, 2025 9:07 am
This Collingwood side is built for finals
In hindsight, we all should have seen this coming.
The Magpies have been criticised all year for their age, but it came back to help them majorly in Thursday's 24-point Qualifying Final win over Adelaide.
A raft of Collingwood's 30+ year olds Scott Pendlebury (23 disposals), Steele Sidebottom (three goals, 15 disposals), Jamie Elliott (four goals), Brody Mihocek (five scoring shots for 0.5), Jack Crisp (22 disposals) and Darcy Cameron (one goal, 24 hitouts, 15 disposals) were everywhere as the Magpies were cool in the crisis compared to a Crows side that was a bit all at sea.
Mix that experience in with a red-hot Jordan De Goey, who becomes genuinely two times the player he usually is in September with the magic of the Daicos brothers, and it's easy to see why the Magpies are not only dangerous but as good a chance as any to win it all.
If that backline can continue holding up, which there's every chance it does given the names of Moore, Houston, Maynard, Quaynor, Perryman, Daicos, an improving Billy Frampton and potential inclusion of Jeremy Howe are in D50, then why can't the Pies make it two in three years?
They'll likely face one of the Cats or Lions in a home MCG Prelim in two weeks, and while that won't be an easy task, the extra week off for these bodies could be the thing that sets them up perfectly to make it to the last Saturday in September again.
Superb away performance.
Lachlan Geleit
