After a massive build-up with AFL’s first Preliminary Final for the weekend being touted as the “best of the year” it was anything but that—unless you were a Magpie fan or Cat hater.
It wasn’t yet half-way through Friday night’s second quarter when the Collingwood chant rolled around a sold-out 95,000 seat Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It was as though the Magpies had already advanced to next Saturday’s 2010 AFL Grand Final. Geelong Cats fans were silent. And rightly so.
Having kicked 9 goals 3 behinds (57 points) to that stage against the Cats’ meagre 2.2 (14), the match was all but over. By half-time, the Magpies led by 62 points, 13.7 (85) to 3.5 (23).
In Australian football there is no coming back from that—a ten-goal turn around in the second half of a Preliminary Final had never happened in the leagues’ 114 AFL-VFL history.
In the corresponding final in 2009, where the same two teams met, the Cats blitzed the Magpies and won by 72 points. The boot was firmly on the other foot. The lead blew out to 75 points mid-way through the third quarter and with an unassailable lead, Collingwood eased up, but still won by a very comfortable 41 points: 18.12 (120) to 11.13 (79).
The Cat’s run of three consecutive Grand Final appearances had come to an end. The Magpies had qualified for their record 40th Grand Final appearance.
For the first time in four years the Cats were on the wrong end of a finals thumping. The reigning premiers were made to look slow and forced to rush their kicks and hand-passes by the Australian Football League’s best team for 2010. Collingwood, the minor premiers (top of the ladder) after 22 rounds, were supreme from the first bounce of the match.
The Pies’ defensive pressure left Geelong without any ideas. Their normal run and carry through the centre of the ground was stifled, while the Magpies moved the ball with comparative ease from one end to the other of the 171 metre-long oval playing field.
For Geelong, who looked increasingly hopeless as the match went on, the question is open to debate if their empire has completely collapsed—the answer won’t come until next 2011.
For Collingwood, the steamroll win leaves them as red-hot raging favourites to win their first Premiership since 1990. Regardless of the victors from tomorrow night’s Second Preliminary Final—between the St Kilda Saints and the Western Bulldogs at the MCG—it’s difficult to see how they will challenge the Magpies.
It wasn’t yet half-way through Friday night’s second quarter when the Collingwood chant rolled around a sold-out 95,000 seat Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It was as though the Magpies had already advanced to next Saturday’s 2010 AFL Grand Final. Geelong Cats fans were silent. And rightly so.
Having kicked 9 goals 3 behinds (57 points) to that stage against the Cats’ meagre 2.2 (14), the match was all but over. By half-time, the Magpies led by 62 points, 13.7 (85) to 3.5 (23).
In Australian football there is no coming back from that—a ten-goal turn around in the second half of a Preliminary Final had never happened in the leagues’ 114 AFL-VFL history.
In the corresponding final in 2009, where the same two teams met, the Cats blitzed the Magpies and won by 72 points. The boot was firmly on the other foot. The lead blew out to 75 points mid-way through the third quarter and with an unassailable lead, Collingwood eased up, but still won by a very comfortable 41 points: 18.12 (120) to 11.13 (79).
The Cat’s run of three consecutive Grand Final appearances had come to an end. The Magpies had qualified for their record 40th Grand Final appearance.
For the first time in four years the Cats were on the wrong end of a finals thumping. The reigning premiers were made to look slow and forced to rush their kicks and hand-passes by the Australian Football League’s best team for 2010. Collingwood, the minor premiers (top of the ladder) after 22 rounds, were supreme from the first bounce of the match.
The Pies’ defensive pressure left Geelong without any ideas. Their normal run and carry through the centre of the ground was stifled, while the Magpies moved the ball with comparative ease from one end to the other of the 171 metre-long oval playing field.
For Geelong, who looked increasingly hopeless as the match went on, the question is open to debate if their empire has completely collapsed—the answer won’t come until next 2011.
For Collingwood, the steamroll win leaves them as red-hot raging favourites to win their first Premiership since 1990. Regardless of the victors from tomorrow night’s Second Preliminary Final—between the St Kilda Saints and the Western Bulldogs at the MCG—it’s difficult to see how they will challenge the Magpies.
