A wayward Collingwood has made harder work of their semi-final than they had to, but eventually managed to overcome Greater Western Sydney by 10 points at the MCG, setting up a mouth-watering Friday night preliminary final fixture against Richmond.
The Magpies had a stack of chances in the first half to blow the Giants away, but when they failed to fully capitalise on their dominance, the Giants fought their way back, and gave themselves a good chance of victory.
Jordan De Goey starred up forward for the Magpies with three goals, while Steele Sidebottom (31 disposals) and Adam Treloar (29) were at their explosive throughout the midfield, aided in part by the brilliant ruck work of Brodie Grundy.
While the Giants had their stars in Stephen Coniglio (31 disposals) and Lachie Whitfield (30), they were unable to edge out their opposition, bowing out of the finals race for the third consecutive year.
The Magpies completely owned the opening term with a blistering 3.6 start, yet were unable to punish the Giants to the fullest extent despite dominating the inside 50s and possession count for the quarter.
It took 20 seconds for Collingwood to get on the scoreboard, and another 16 for them to do it again, with Josh Thomas booting back-to-back opportunistic goals to kickstart the contest.
Collingwood were breathtaking early, with Taylor Adams, Scott Pendlebury and Treloar dominant through the midfield.
The Pies were able to open the game up and use the full width of the MCG, and the Giants, perhaps not quite used to the ground’s massive expanses, looked lost when chasing their opponents.
The lopsided inside 50 count only told part of the story; the Giants’ entries barely scraped inside the arc, and were rebounded crisply, while Collingwood pushed the ball forward deep, where they always looked dangerous.
However, they missed some easy opportunities and had more than a few poor disposals when looking for targets inside 50, allowing GWS to work their way into the game and limiting the Magpies' chances of scoring.
As Collingwood entered their forward 50 with the seconds ticking down – a gross misrepresentation of their dominance – Will Hoskin-Elliott was impeded in a marking contest on the siren, taking the margin to 22 points at quarter-time.
But the Giants refused to retreat in the second term, piling on four straight goals to one to inject themselves back into the battle.
Like their opposition did in the first quarter, GWS scrambled a goal in the first minute of the term, courtesy of Ryan Griffen.
GWS had the game on their terms in the second quarter; it was slower, and more congested, which allowed their powerhouse inside midfield to get to work.
Dylan Shiel showed his class, Whitfield was damaging and Callan Ward was brilliant, but it was Coniglio who really got the Giants back into the game.
He kicked the Giants’ next, before Harrison Himmelberg showed some guile to mark, play on and goal.
GWS were everywhere, and Collingwood looked slightly rattled.
Taylor Adams, who had been close to best on ground early, was visibly worked up, and more than once lashed out at GWS opponents.
Collingwood’s forward line quickly fell away without the same amount of supply; with Thomas fading after a terrific first quarter, and Mason Cox, Brody Mihocek and Jaidyn Stephenson struggling to get into the game, although Jordan de Goey was humiliating whoever had the misfortune of playing on him.
Of his 14 disposals for the night, 11 of De Goey's were score involvements, creating ample headaches for the GWS defence as his influence became more and more pronounced as the game drew on.
Rory Lobb took a strong mark moments later, and as the quarter drew to a close, kicked the Giants’ fourth in a row.
However, De Goey scored his first goal with not a moment to spare, and as he kicked it on the siren, a dispute between Lobb and Adams quickly unfolded.
The players erupted, but the Magpies nevertheless went into half-time seven points in front.
The heat of the contest barely lapsed in the third term, and despite GWS winning the quarter three goals to two - and even snatching the lead early in the piece - trailed at the final change thanks to the Magpies' slew of behinds.
It was De Goey or bust for Collingwood in the third quarter, as he found far too much room in front of Matt Buntine, attacked the ball, and showed safe hands.
But Coniglio soon soured the occasion, with his second goal levelling the scores early in the third quarter.
Jeremy Cameron kicked another shortly after, before the game turned into a real arm-wrestle.
The game style suited the Giants, but Collingwood’s backline stood up and the Giants struggled to find avenues forward.
The difference was De Goey, who got Collingwood back on track with his second goal after conceding six goals to one since quarter-time.
He kicked a team-lifting goal, before a hurried Mihocek banana wound its way through to get Collingwood back in front.
Zac Langdon marked a fortuitous kick forward to keep the Giants in it, as the scoring opportunities really dried up for both sides.
GWS continued to attack, but Collingwood’s defence hung together brilliantly under pressure, led by Jeremy Howe, Tom Langdon and Brayden Maynard, the former of whom flew high several times throughout.
Collingwood’s midfield had struggled since the first quarter, but they stepped up after three-quarter time, and for 10 minutes the raucous home crowd enjoyed their side going on a game-clinching run.
Travis Varcoe kicked a nice running goal, Hoskin-Elliott snapped one from the boundary, and De Goey drilled his third to extend the margin to 22 points.
The Magpies didn’t kick another goal despite there being 20 minutes left, but it ultimately didn’t matter: the damage was done and GWS didn’t have the resources up forward to get themselves back off the canvas.
It was their efforts which allowed the Pies to hold onto a slender three-point lead at the final change, with the Giants certainly not out of the contest.
But the home side would assert its superiority in the final term, with three goals in the opening five minutes snuffing out any hope of a spirited resurgence from the visitors.
Matt de Boer responded with plenty of time left, but they Giants were out of ideas, and Collingwood coolly shut the game down, and in the end won through by 10 points, after a very late consolation goal to Adam Tomlinson.
Tonight marks GWS’ third frustrating finals series in a row, where each time they have looked capable of going further, although Collingwood were deserving favourites leading into tonight.
Although they will follow tonight’s gruelling match with a six-day break– a fixturing blip which their president loudly criticised – Collingwood will feel very confident they can cause an upset next week.
COLLINGWOOD 3.6 4.9 6.12 9.15 (69) GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY 0.2 4.2 7.3 9.5 (59)
GOALS Collingwood: De Goey 3, Hoskin-Elliot, Thomas 2, Varcoe, Mihocek Greater Western Sydney: Coniglio 2, de Boer, Griffen, Langdon, Cameron, Himmelberg, Tomlinson, Lobb
BEST Collingwood: De Goey, Howe, Treloar, Sidebottom, Maynard, Langdon, Thomas
Greater Western Sydney: Coniglio, Whitfield, Shiel, Williams, Davis INJURIES
Collingwood: Nil Greater Western Sydney: Nil
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