Is it Dayne Beams or Scott Pendlebury? If the title still sits with Pendlebury, the gap between the pair has certainly narrowed. Beams had an outstanding start against Port Adelaide on Sunday, accumulating 13 disposals (eight contested), six clearances and a goal in the opening quarter. It's no coincidence that was when the Pies played their best footy of the day. He got some closer attention from Port's run-with option Kane Cornes from then on, but still finished with 32 disposals and 10 clearances. Pendlebury was excellent as well, with 27 touches (14 contested).

 

When Brent Macaffer hobbled from the ground with an ankle injury in the opening minutes, you could have forgiven opponent Travis Boak for thinking he might have been in for an easier day. The Collingwood tagger left the field and disappeared into the rooms for medical treatment, but returned later in the opening quarter and was back manning Boak, Port Adelaide's captain and brilliant midfielder. Boak finished with 23 disposals but just six kicks, meaning Macaffer probably won the battle. He was also a big reason for the Magpies centre-square dominance, with Collingwood winning 13-5 centre breaks, a big part of its six-point victory at the MCG.  

 

The last time Port Adelaide and Collingwood met at the MCG, the 2013 elimination final, young Power pair Ollie Wines and Chad Wingard starred. Wingard kicked three goals from 19 disposals and Wines booted two goals from 18 touches, both announcing themselves as stars of the future. Almost a year on, but with the stakes still high, Wines was again dominant in the Power's first game at the venue this year. He had 25 disposals and seven inside-50s. And although quieter, Wingard's supreme snap for goal in the second quarter helped his side get back into the contest. This time, though, the Pies got the points.   

 

Whatever the result of this game, there was going to be finals consequences. Collingwood's win pushes it into the top eight, but had it lost, it would have remained in 10th position and a game behind North Melbourne, Essendon and Gold Coast. And had Port Adelaide been able to get over the line, Ken Hinkley's side would have returned to the top four, a position it occupied for the first half of the season until a recent form slump. Instead, the Power remain a game behind fourth-placed Fremantle, and face a tough run home, including next week's meeting with the Sydney Swans.

 

Before the clash the Collingwood faithful got its chance to farewell 2010 premiership captain Nick Maxwell, who retired three weeks ago following his season-ending ankle injury. After plenty of discussion during the week about when and how Maxwell would do the lap, it went ahead incident free before the first bounce. The 31-year-old, who played 208 games for the club after making his debut in 2004, sat in the back of a Ute and waved to the crowd, which displayed Maxwell-dedicated placards and supersized cardboard cutouts of the defender's face. His experience and cool head has already been missed in Collingwood's young backline.