Collingwood has alleviated some of the pressure on coach Nathan Buckley with a convincing victory over arch-nemesis Carlton by 24 points on Friday night.
Although down their three leading goal scorers from last year, a five-goal haul from Josh Thomas helped steer the Magpies and their unconventional forward line to their maiden victory.
Ben Reid, Will Hoskin-Elliott and Steele Sidebottom ended their nights with three goals apiece, with the latter racking up a game-high 35 touches.
Carlton made a bright start, with Dale Thomas kicking converting within the first minute of the game, much to the anguish of the Collingwood faithful.
The Blues’ impressive start continued thanks to some slick midfield work from Patrick Cripps, Marc Murphy and Thomas, while Liam Jones and Kade Simpson helped repel Collingwood’s attack.
Collingwood, by contrast, appeared to once again be suffering from a lack of cohesion in the forward line, and made poor skill errors.
Before Will Hoskin-Elliot scored a hurried goal at the 15 minute mark of the quarter, the Pies were scoreless, while Jarrod Garlett and Levi Casboult had taken Carlton’s tally to three goals.
Steele Sidebottom was everywhere in the first quarter, gathering possessions at will and ending the term with 16 touches - his precise ball use slowly dragging Collingwood into the match.
As the Magpies’ skills improved and they won more contested ball, their attacks went deeper inside the forward 50, where Ben Crocker and Mason Cox provided strong options.
A string of Collingwood goals either side of quarter-time followed, and by the time Casboult kicked Carlton’s next goal in the third quarter, Josh Thomas had kicked four, amid a run of nine Magpie goals.
Collingwood placed strong emphasis on lowering their eyes going forward, exposing Liam Jones and Jacob Weitering’s tendencies to zone off their opponent.
Although the Magpies never lost control of the game, the energy dropped slightly in the second half, to the frustration of Nathan Buckley.
Lynden Dunn worked hard all night, and put in a few goal-saving efforts, but in the third quarter Levi Casboult imposed himself with a further three goals.
On the three-quarter time siren, a haphazard soccer out of congestion went straight to Casboult, who lined up to bring the margin back to within 27 points with his fourth goal of the quarter, but missed.
Unfortunately for the Blues nobody else exerted any authority whatsoever inside the forward half, and Dunn, Crisp, Jeremy Howe and Matt Scharenberg made short work of rebounding the ball.
While Ed Curnow’s close attention slowed Sidebottom’s runaway disposal tally to an extent, he kicked two sublime snaps – one on each foot – to finish the game with 35 disposals and three goals.
While the gun midfielder appeared to be cool and collected on the field, Sidebottom may be a little less composed off the field following a dangerous tackle on Zac Fisher.
With Fisher returning to the field shortly after the incident, Sidebottom may escape suspension.
The final margin of 24 points flattered the Blues, who to their credit gave their all until the final siren, as they slumped to their third straight loss of the season.
Hoping to carry their confidence into next week, Collingwood will be determined to notch up their second win against Adelaide, while Carlton will be set on getting avoiding a 0-4 start when they face North Melbourne on Saturday night.
CARLTON 3.2 3.4 7.8 11.10 (76
COLLINGWOOD 4.0 9.4 13.4 16.4 (110)
GOALS
Carlton: Casboult 4, Cripps, C. Curnow 2, Thomas, Garlett, Kruezer, Fisher
Collingwood: Thomas 5, Hoskin-Elliott 3, Sidebottom 3, Reid 3, Aish, Treloar
BEST
Carlton: Murphy, Casboult, Cripps, Curnow
Collingwood: Sidebottom, Crisp, Thomas, Grundy, Reid, Pendlebury
INJURIES
Carlton: Marchbank (ankle), Kennedy
Collingwood: Nil
TALKING POINTS
1. IS BRODIE GRUNDY THE BEST RUCKMAN IN THE COMPETITION?
Max Gawn has been the buzz ruckman of recent years, and Nic Naitanui’s return has attracted headlines galore.
However, against one of the undeniable star ruckmen in the competition in Matthew Kreuzer, Brodie Grundy made a serious claim to the number one ruck mantle tonight.
Grundy gathered 25 disposals, and while he only amassed a slightly larger amount of hit-outs to his counterpart, they were nonetheless very decisive.
His work around the ground terrific both in the air and on the ground, the Collingwood cult hero may have emerged as an early candidate for the ruck spot in the All Australian team.
2. MASON COX IMPRESSIVE IN HIS RETURN
Mason Cox finished with nine disposals and no goals (three more disposals than round one) in his return game after being dropped last week.
Yet there was a world of difference in his performance tonight as opposed to his round one showing against Hawthorn.
Cox took six marks, and earned a further two free kicks as he worried Carlton defenders with his size, and importantly, his hands.
He provided an enviable forward option by making good position and sticking his marks when he got the opportunity.
As resting midfielders such as Treloar and Sidebottom played out of the goal square, Cox was further up the ground, playing a part in his his goalless stat sheet.
Regardless, the Collingwood faithful were cheering in earnest every time he flew for the ball, and they can look forward to continual improvement from the Big American.
3. CARLTON'S DEFENCE IN DISARRAY
When Carlton opened up an early 19-point lead, it was difficult to tell whether Collingwood’s inability to score was due to their poor skills or Carlton’s defence.
As the game wore on, it appeared the former was true.
Caleb Marchbank went down with an ankle injury, embattled defender Jacob Weitering struggled again, although he did look better in the second half, while Liam Jones’ loose-checking style was found out by his opponents.
Collingwood’s forward line was without Jamie Elliot, Darcy Moore, Alex Fasolo and Jordan de Goey, so to concede 16 goals against a notoriously inefficient side would have been extremely disappointing for Carlton coach Brendon Bolton.
4. COLLINGWOOD'S MAKESHIFT FORWARD LINE DOMINANCE
Without their top three goal scorers from last year, the Magpies improvised, adapted, and overcame their issue to score 16,4 for the night.
The Collingwood midfielders pushed forward and were rewarded by a visible effort of having their leads honoured, rather than the ball being launched aimlessly forward - a trait which has been a criticism in the past.
Adam Treloar, Steele Sidebottom, and Josh Thomas all spent time at full-forward, while James Aish and Will Hoskin-Elliott also hit the scoreboard.
With Jamie Elliott and Alex Fasolo due back shortly, it will be interesting to see if Nathan Buckley brings them straight back in, and what it will mean for attacking midfielders such as Sidebottom and Thomas.
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