GEELONG has survived a second-half comeback from Collingwood to run out 41-point winners at the MCG on Friday night.

The Magpies entered the match as favourites after their impressive 4-1 start to 2015, but the Cats flew out of the gates to kick the opening seven goals of the game, an imposing burst that set up a 15.10 (100) to 8.11 (59) win.

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Geelong undid Collingwood with a hard-running high-possession game plan that saw it rack up 425 possessions to the Pies' 341.

Five talking points: Collingwood v Geelong 

The Cats built their win on an 11-goal-to-two first half, earning their 52-point half-time lead with daring dash through the centre corridor that enabled them to get the ball into their forwards quickly.

WATCH: Young Cats get the cream 

Collingwood closed to within 35 points at three-quarter time after a spirited third term when it rammed on four goals and held the Cats to just one.

And a unlikely comeback suddenly seemed possible when Travis Cloke and Jesse White kicked the first two goals of the final term to cut the Cats' lead to 23 points at the 14-minute mark – the closest the Magpies had been since the Cats' opening burst.

At that stage, the Cats had kicked just one goal in the second half and looked wobbly.

But after Mitch Clark shanked a set shot out of bounds on the full at the 17-minute mark of the final term, the Cats piled on three goals in less than three minutes through Nakia Cockatoo, Steven Motlop and Cory Gregson to snuff out the Pies' challenge.

Mitch Duncan was outstanding for the Cats with a game-high 38 possessions along with seven clearances and four inside 50s.

Motlop returned to his best with 26 possessions and three goals and was supported in attack by the lively Gregson (three goals).

Tom Lonergan kept Travis Cloke to two goals in his 150th game, Mark Blicavs ran tirelessly all night alternating between the ruck and manning Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury, and Tom Hawkins (one goal and four goal assists) helped set up the Cats' win with an outstanding first term before fading.

Geelong coach Chris Scott said the performances of some of the Cats' youngsters had been one of the most pleasing parts of the victory.

"The start in particular was really impressive. We've got a developing team that are learning to play together," Scott said.

"I thought their cohesion for most of the game was really good.

"From a coaching perspective that's the most exciting thing, when you work on parts of your game and you see it executed by inexperienced players on the big stage."

Key recruit Clark was visibly emotional after the match in the Geelong rooms, and was consoled by Scott before being ushered into another area and not taking part in the team song. After the match, Scott said he wasn't aware of any issues with Clark, who has battled injury and depression in recent years.  

The Cats' win was soured by a hamstring injury to comeback kid Josh Cowan, who was playing his first game since round 18, 2011 after recovering from a series of Achilles tendon and hamstring injuries.

The 24-year-old looked lively with four disposals before he was substituted out of the game at the 23-minute mark of the first term.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said the Cats had "jumped" his team at the start of the match with their intensity and attack on the football.

"At the 10-minute mark of the game we're five goals down, so that's not the way that we wanted to begin," Buckley said.

"We spoke about starting well but we didn't get there. All credit to the Cats and the way they came out.

"We want to be better than that. We need to be better than that if we're to perform the way we want to perform.

"But we were out-hunted at the centre bounce in particular, and it's the second week in a row our centre bounces were poor.

"We lost our shape, our forwards played high, we gave their defenders too much space and they were able to rebound and score heavily off us early in the match."

Magpies skipper Pendlebury overcame a slow start to the game to be instrumental in his team's second-half comeback, giving his team plenty of midfield drive and providing a dangerous option in his regular forays up forward.

Nathan Brown stood up in defence for Collingwood after moving on to Hawkins late in the first term, holding the star Cat to one goal and taking several telling marks deep in defence.

Adam Oxley and Tom Langdon also gave the Pies run from defence and Jack Crisp battled manfully on Cats skipper Joel Selwood.

The Cats got off to a flying start, kicking the game's first seven goals as they dominated possession and sped the ball through the corridor at every opportunity.

Hawkins was instrumental to Geelong's early dominance, the spearhead having a hand in six of the Cats' first seven goals. Hawkins kicked just the last of those goals, but set up his teammates brilliantly with his bullocking work and clean hands.

Geelong had 131 disposals (at 83 per cent efficiency) to the Pies' 82 in the first quarter, as Collingwood stars Pendlebury and Swan managed just four touches each for the term.

Swan finally broke the Magpies' goal duck at the 26-minute mark, but that was their only major for the term as Geelong took a 34-point lead into the first break.

The Cats' continued to control the game in the second term, kicking four goals – two of them to Clark – to the Pies' one to take a 52-point half-time lead.

Collingwood cruelled its chances of getting back into the match in the second quarter, with Cloke, White, Pendlebury and Jamie Elliott also missing set shots they would have expected to convert.

Tom Hawkins and Nathan Brown had an absorbing duel on Friday night. Picture: AFL Media

COLLINGWOOD    1.3   2.6    6.9    8.11 (59)
GEELONG              7.1  11.4   12.8  15.10 (100)

GOALS
Collingwood: Swan 2, Cloke 2, White 2, Pendlebury, Crisp
Geelong: Motlop 3, Gregson 3, Clark 2, Lang, Johnson, Stanley, Hawkins, Selwood, Murdoch, Cockatoo

BEST
Collingwood: Brown, Pendlebury, Oxley, Swan, Grundy, Langdon
Geelong: Duncan, Blicavs, Hawkins, Taylor, Caddy, Motlop, Lonergan, Selwood

INJURIES
Collingwood: Sam Dwyer (leg)
Geelong: Josh Cowan (right hamstring)

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Sam Dwyer replaced by Tim Broomhead at half time
Geelong: Josh Cowan replaced by Nakia Cockatoo in the first quarter

Reports: Harry Taylor (Geelong) reported for striking Travis Cloke (Collingwood) in the third quarter

Umpires: Fisher, Dalgleish, Stevic

Official crowd: 52,152 at the MCG