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THERE have been plenty of brave ones over the years, but this Collingwood win was right up there.
Down two men in the second half, lacking cohesion in the first half, and without significant contributions from their key forwards, the Pies somehow cobbled together a courageous eight-point win over West Coast at the MCG.
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Last week the Pies fumbled and bumbled their way to a 21-point loss in Adelaide. Their ball use had been atrocious against the Crows, but the jury was out on whether the Crows were that good or the Pies just had a horribly off day.
Travis Cloke and Dane Swan celebrate the winning goal. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia
In the opening half against West Coast, it seemed that there were legitimate questions about the Pies' ability to cope with the ferocity the Eagles brought to the contest.
West Coast's midfield was on top of its more vaunted opposition, initially at the centre bounces, but also in general play. The exemplar was Matt Priddis, who won his normal mountain of contested possession and chipped in with two goals.
Nathan Brown injured his shoulder in the first term and was subbed from the ground. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia
Scott Selwood was equally impressive, countering Pies skipper Scott Pendlebury and winning mounds of possessions in his own right.
In the rooms before the match, West Coast coach Adam Simpson had sought to spur on his charges by asking for a show of hands from all of those involved in the Eagles' previous win over Collingwood at the MCG. Reportedly only one hand went up: that of assistant coach Don Pyke, who played in that four-point win in Round 2, 1995.
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The ploy seemed to work early. The first quarter began with both teams producing free-flowing football reminiscent of the mid-'90s: the lead changed five times and ten goals were kicked as the ball pinged from end to end.
The key difference between the teams early in the match was that West Coast's disposal efficiency was at 68 per cent, while the Pies were hitting targets about half of the time.
Jamie Elliott couldn't complete this Mark of the Year nomination. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia
West Coast was prepared to switch play to stretch Collingwood and counter its attempts to apply pressure through the midfield.
The match remained in the balance through the second and third quarters, and it looked as though the Eagles might run away with it.
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But Collingwood dug deep, and it was the team leaders who had their hands on the shovels.
Pendlebury, who had flashed in and out of the contest in the opening half with touches of class, was enormous in the last quarter, creating scoring opportunities and producing a crucial running goal. He had 11 disposals, while midfield mates Dayne Beams (9) and Dan Swan (8) also lifted.
Elliot Yeo had two teeth knocked out on the halftime siren. Photo by Michael Dodge Source: Getty Images
But the greatest Pies contributor throughout was Jamie Elliott, who only had 17 possessions but set the example by scrapping, chasing, tackling, handballing and doing all of the team aspects of the match throughout. He chipped in with two vitals goals in the final term and came close to taking mark of the year I the opening term.
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Collingwood's backmen were also incredibly brave throughout. The Pies had to patch together a backline after it lost key defenders Nathan Brown (shoulder) and Jack Frost (concussion).
Alan Toovey was superb on Jack Darling, while Tyson Goldsack — having scrapped manfully in the forward line in the first half — was sent to back to counter Josh Kennedy.
Nic Naitanui flies high and falls hard. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Corp Australia
Nick Maxwell played the third-man-up to a tee, and Heritier Lumumba dropped back from his wing to constantly help run the ball out of defence.
At the other end of the ground the Pies had headaches. Travis Cloke continued his wretched run of form, managing just two disposals in the first half. Admittedly Collingwood's delivery into the forward 50 was often haphazard, but it did not excuse the fact that he looked woefully out of touch and horribly slow.
Dayne Swan salutes a last quarter goal. Picture: Wayne Ludbey AFLR1014 Source: News Corp Australia
Cloke has spoken about how his first touch impacts on his overall mindset: his first possession came seven minutes into the match, after he gathered a loose ball on his defensive 50, and was a tentative short kick to a nest of three Eagles that led to a West Coast shot on goal.
He had a game to forget --- until the 28th minute mark of the final quarter, when a scrubby Elliott snap hit him on the chest. Cloke's first touch may have been a shocker, but his last sealed the match for Collingwood.
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WARWICK GREEN'S BEST
COLLINGWOOD: Elliott, Pendlebury, Lumumba, Blair, Goldsack, Sidebottom, Macaffer, Toovey.
WEST COAST: Priddis, Selwood, Glass, Yeo, Gaff, Rosa, Naitanui.
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