What a comeback!
Collingwood scored five unanswered goals in the fourth quarter to complete a seven-point North Melbourne gallant fight victory in an MCG thriller, 13.10 (88) to 12.9 (81).
He had all the elements of one of the disorders of the season, as the Kangaroos led most of the competition, including having a 26-point lead in the last change.
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But the Pies rushed into the fourth quarter on a surge of momentum that the Roos couldn’t contain as Craig McRae’s side marched toward their seventh straight win.
The win puts Collingwood in fifth place, albeit only momentarily and with equal wins over the Lions, third, while the Roos suffered their 14th straight loss.
MATCH REPORT QUARTER TO QUARTER
There were no late changes for either side, and Tyler Brown (Collingwood) and Jack Mahony (North Melbourne) were appointed medical subordinates.
Todd Goldstein made the Roos start perfectly, throwing the first goal of the game after the initial outing.
But the Pies responded instantly with consecutive majors, including Jack Ginnivan, drawing a free kick from Jaidyn Stephenson at 50.
Just as it looked like Collingwood was settling in, North came back with two more goals to have four in the first eight minutes of play to have the best start to the weeks.
It came when the Roos dominated the midfield battle early on, as people like Luke Davies-Uniacke and Hugh Greenwood amassed a lot of football.
Ginnivan scored another goal later in the period before getting into a fight with former Magpie Jaiydyn Stephenson to get several teammates involved when the Magpies took the promotion late.
Everything was tied at quarters of 4.2 (26) each.
The Kangaroos threw the first three goals of the second quarter to put the Magpies on their backs in an impressive charge by David Noble.
“There’s a bit of energy on what kangaroos are doing today,” Roos great David King told Fox Footy.
It was a mess for the rest of the second quarter before Steele Sidebottom scored a crucial goal for Collingwood to regain his team’s momentum.
Todd Goldstein shortly after drew a dubious free kick to the ruck at the other end of the field before actually throwing in what had been a great demonstration of the veteran ruckman.
The Roos took a 20-point lead at halftime, 8.4 (52) to 5.2 (32).
Nick Larkey made a crucial mark within the 50s in the third season and really pitched to get the Roos to start the second half ideally and extend the Roos ’lead to 27 points, the game’s maximum.
A massive friendly fire collision between Jeremy Howe and Nathan Murphy ended with another goal from Larkey, his fourth of the day, but in a relief for Pies, who was already without Darcy Moore, both players rose after a few minutes and they continued to play.
Ginnivan seemed to face a high entry within the 50s, but was not rewarded with a free kick in an incident that will surely be a topic of conversation.
Larkey continued his dominance with another mark within the 50 for his fifth goal of the day, while the Roos extended their lead to 27 points.
The Roos led by 26 points in the three quarters, 12.7 (79) to 8.5 (53).
The Pies came to life in the fourth quarter, starting the first three goals, including a spectacular Nick Daicos finish from near the limit to accumulate all the pressure on North.
“It’s in the blood,” Kingd said of Daicos after the phenomenal goal.
The Pies had repeated within the 50s in the fourth quarter as they continued to push, but Ben McKay got up with several huge notes over and over again.
“It’s been a rock down there today,” King said of McKay.
But Collingwood continued his rise, with Darcy Cameron grabbing a mark in the 50s and throwing the goal to equalize the score.
A Josh Carmichael hack-kick to the limit somehow navigated to the goal and was only touched on the line, with the decision not to review it questioned by Fox Footy commentators.
Still, the Pies ’push continued, with Steele Sidebottom taking a mark of a 50m arc loss and throwing a really small distance to give his team the first lead from the first period, while the fans they exploded in the MCG.
It turned out to be the last time of the day as Craig McRae’s team escaped with an exciting victory.
“Collingwood, a wonderful victory out of nowhere. Dislikes for kangaroos,” Howard exclaimed at the final siren.
THE 3-2-1 (co-written by David Zita and Catherine Healey)
3. FEET THE KINGS Clutch?
As David King said in the last quarter, it was a team that doesn’t know how to win against one that doesn’t know how to lose.
On Saturday, North Melbourne was first and Collingwood was second.
Collingwood’s pressure attack in the final quarter saw a 26-point lead at the start of the period slow, while North Melbourne simply couldn’t keep up.
Beau McCreery had four tackles and one goal in the last quarter to lead the manic charge, but there were many performers for whom the Pies cheered.
They simply ran out of gas in the middle of the Pies ’load, with players all over the ground seemingly ragged as the margin continued to drop.
Cakes hanging on a nail biter (Photo by Robert Cianflone / Getty Images) Source: Fox Sports
It’s a testament to the Pies who are able to win when they don’t do their best, but many Pies fans would love to win without a hitch.
Still, good teams find a way to win and that’s exactly what Collingwood did to record a seventh straight win and consign North Melbourne to a 14th straight defeat.
The Pies are now 6-1 in games decided by two goals less this season … are they the key kings of the competition right now? “That’s the difference in a season … that’s why they’re there, they’ve won the closed games,” Jonathan Brown said.
2. THE ‘GINNIVAN RULE’ DEBATE LIKES IT
Jack Ginnivan had won 23 free throws in just 13 games ahead of Saturday’s clash with North Melbourne.
And while he scored two more free throws against the Roos, it was he who gave away what created the most controversy.
Ginnivan had closed the arm of opponent Luke Davies-Uniacke over his left shoulder in an attempt to win a free kick with high entry.
Ginnivan on the other hand, had a terrible day.
David King of Fox Footy explained that, with the help of first, the referee saw it as Ginnivan’s first chance.
Stephenson faces Ginnivan alt (Photo by Robert Cianflone / Getty Images) Source: Fox Sports
“He challenges the referee to make a call. So we can’t question the referee’s call,” he said.
“Draw the free kick by lowering the height. I personally think it’s a free kick. I think there’s a bit of skill in that. But I’m glad the referee saw it differently. “
His teammate Scott Pendlebury tried the same trick in the last quarter as he was relegated on an inning and failed to win a free kick.
“That’s Ginnivan’s rule: he just dropped his body height there Pendlebury and the referee called the game,” Fox Footy’s Jonathan Brown said.
“You’re allowed to do that, you may not like it, but if it’s there, it’s a free kick,” King interrupted.
“I don’t think we should encourage that,” Brown said.
“It’s not so much in the spirit of the game, I just don’t want the players to get their heads around it.
“A lot of Collingwood players just lower their body height and it’s a high free kick or play.”
Collingwood ended up winning the 20-16 free throw count.
1. BRIGHT COCKLE PROMISE
It may not have been the day of North Melbourne with a seven-point losing streak, but sometimes the footy is about small wins.
And there were several promising signs and performances across the board in the Roos ’best performance in months.
None other than Nick Larkey, who was the most dominant striker of the day with a maximum of five goals.
If the Roos had risen in the end, Larkey would have been largely the difference between the two sides.
Great Geelong and Fox Footy expert Cameron Mooney has been training at Larkey this season and noted that the 24-year-old had to grab a bag because of the hard work he has been doing.
“We talk about his pace of work today, how fantastic he’s been, but it’s been the last two months he’s been doing this,” Mooney told Fox Footy.
Larkey finished with a maximum of five goals (Photo by Dylan Burns / AFL Photos via Getty Images) Source: Fox Sports
“That’s the reward you get from weeks of working your ass, and that’s what it does.
“This is the best of him, he works hard and now today he finally gets his reward.”
Without a doubt, the most dominant player on the ground was the ball player Luke Davies-Uniacke, who finished with 33 discards, 11 innings, 16 disputed possessions and 791 yards won.
Davies-Uniacke’s grunt and dominance within the competition in the first half helped the Roos achieve their leadership, in large part, the architect of their rise.
In the end, the Roos won disputed possessions +14 and dispatches +9 in large thanks to the young bull.
“Doing a late race in the best and fairest way I could have thought,” Lions champion Jonathan Brown said of Davies-Uniacke.
“I love its explosiveness; you can start from any position on these center rebounds. Dominated at the beginning of these permits, he was able to reach the territory soon for the north of Melbourne. Obviously, they were able to hit the scoreboard from behind. “
Roos legend David King stated that Davies-Uniacke has been the club’s “best player of the year”.
“He’s really getting better week after week. He’s no longer just an office player, he’s also a man won in meters,” he said.
“The middle of the field had to respond. They’ve been poor for about six weeks, so it was time.”
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