Once a much-loved Magpie, marquee Carlton recruit Dale Thomas would have been expecting a hostile environment when he faced off against his former side for the first time. The occasion was not lost on Daisy, whose very first kick of the game was a shot on goal 35m out that dropped a good 10m short of the goal line. Bronx cheers echoed around the MCG and the black and white army continued to boo the former Pie every time he went near the ball. Thomas had five touches at half-time and finished the game with 14 disposals, several of which were gained by playing on at kick-ins, in a game he would rather forget. 

In their past two wins, the Blues have averaged 80 tackles. They had a season-high 88 against the Western Bulldogs in round five, and 72 against West Coast last Saturday. But against the Pies, Carlton's pressure was almost non-existent. After laying 13 tackles in the opening term, the Blues dropped off completely to register just seven in the second term as the Pies stretched their lead to 37 points at half-time. They finished the game with 49, their worst tackle count for the season. 

Two minutes in, Mitch Robinson leaped on to the shoulders of Tyson Goldsack to take a brilliant hanger inside Carlton's attacking 50. Robinson went back and kicked truly to give the Blues the opening goal of the game. But it wasn't long before Carlton's deficiencies up forward began to show. The late withdrawal of Jarrad Waite left the Blues lacking a key target, with Lachie Henderson well held for most of the game by Pies youngster Jack Frost. Collingwood piled on seven unanswered goals, while the Blues didn't kick their second goal until the nine-minute mark of the third term. Carlton produced an eight-goal final term once the sting was out of the game. It was their best quarter for the year, but one that came far too late. 

As predicted, Collingwood's Brent Macaffer went straight to Blues skipper Marc Murphy at the opening bounce. Macaffer has limited the influence of some of the game's best players this season, with scalps famously including Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin. The Collingwood tagger's close-checking tactics have been a talking point and the umpires made it clear from the start they were keeping an eye on the Macaffer-Murphy duel, awarding a free kick for holding to the Carlton midfielder early in the first term. Murphy worked hard to get himself free, finishing with 20 disposals for the game to be one of the Blues' few shining lights. Murphy worked hard to get himself free in the first half with 13 touches, but Macaffer tightened his grip on the Carlton skipper in the second half. 

Tom Langdon continued his stellar start to his AFL career with another brilliant game against Carlton. After the withdrawal of Nick Maxwell, Langdon was handed the role of floating across half-back, and he impressed. In his seventh game, Langdon had 23 disposals (10 contested) at 91 per cent efficiency, eight marks, three tackles and four inside 50s. So far in season 2014 he has averaged 18 touches per game and six marks, and is well on his way to permanently cementing his place in the Collingwood side. Not bad for a fourth-round draft pick in his first season on the list.