What a fascinating year it was been for the mighty Magpies. Although finals hopes faded in the middle of September, one particular victory will long be remembered – round nine at the MCG.
After dashing our finals hopes by five points in 2007, Geelong was still the hot favourite for 2008. The Cats were tipped to dominate after winning 27 of their last 28 matches, but little did they know, the Pies were ready for revenge.
From the first bounce, Collingwood was brutal but brilliant. In front of 78,000 fans the reigning premiers turned to dust as the Pies came home by a stunning 86 points. It was the Cats’ biggest loss since round 13, 2006.
Using exceptionally fierce tackling skills and working brilliantly as a team, the Pies were causing the Cats to crumble under intense pressure. The final tackle count was a dazzling 84-49 in the Pies’ favour.
In the opening minutes, two Geelong defenders were run down – first by Scott Pendlebury, then a second by Leon Davis. Early in the second, Steve Johnson was also put in his place by one opponent, after attempting to wrong-foot another. The tension between the two teams was fast becoming evident.
By half time the Pies were out to a sensational 51-point lead. Six goals in the first term and five in the second, the Pies had knocked the Cats off their paws.
The Pies seemed to be putting their feet in all the right places, with their only momentary blip appearing on the bench - which was only caused by the confusing new interchange rules of the AFL’s first officially sanctioned match. Four Magpies tried to leave the field at the same time, as Didak was limping for medical attention with Shane O’Bree was yelling to officials. However, it was not enough to shake the Pies’ concentration.
With the Pies dominating all but a few minutes of the game, individual talent was coming out in force.
Anthony Rocca, whose picture had been published on the Geelong Advertiser the day before with a super-imposed pair of bunny ears on deeming him Matthew Scarlett’s ‘bunny’, proved his critics wrong with a stellar performance, while Travis Cloke shone with four goals.
Defender Marty Clarke rightly earned best on field, with an incredibly hungry performance all night. But it was when the Pies’ 19th goal was taken along the ground unerringly by Dale Thomas that the Cats were completely blown away.
Geelong struggled to fill the field with men like they had so many times before that even Tom Harley was unable to stop the magic of Didak and later, Medhurst. Opening the third quarter with three consecutive goals, Geelong appeared to be brewing an escape plan. However, i exit was soon wounded by the Pies, who came out to finish the third on a match winning 63-point lead.
It was by far the best performance since the preliminary final in 2007, raising the bar for other clubs to apply continuous pressure during a match for a chance of a magnificent victory. Finishing with a stunning 20.14 (134) to 7.6 (48) was certainly the icing on the cakewalk, for the Good Old Collingwood.
