A scintillating first term had the Magpies clear by 39 points at quarter time before they comprehensively responded to an Eagles fight back in the second term to completely blow the game apart in the third quarter.
A nine-goals-to-one quarter put the Pies out to a 79-point lead, which was maintained in the fourth term with Darren Jolly and Chris Dawes finishing with four goals each as Collingwood won 20.15 (135) to 7.10 (52).
After failing to kick a goal until midway through the second term, the Eagles got within five goals of the Magpies shortly after half time.
But with Collingwood's bevy of goal-kickers kicking with great accuracy, the third quarter saw one-way traffic and Eagles coach John Worsfold seeing red as his team was totally outclassed.
Given the Pies' recent performances against bottom-eight sides Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions, a decisive win against the Eagles was important for Mick Malthouse's men.
He was particularly pleased with the way his side was able to hold its nerve in a game they were heavily favoured to win.
"These are the teams that you're supposed to win [against] and if you have one moment … we're such an even side, if there is a collective 'take a deep breath and breathe out' before the right time, we will struggle," he said afterwards.
"On that front it was good because we kept the pressure on."
Shades of rival sports appeared throughout the game, with Alan Didak and Mark LeCras both kicking impressive angled goals that would have looked at home at the World Cup.
Didak also got to celebrate a hat- trick in the third quarter when he booted three goals within a minute and a half to push the Pies out to a 69-point lead.
However, it was Jolly who stood tallest for the Pies, with the former Sydney Swan taking advantage of nondescript performances from Nic Naitanui and Dean Cox.
Jolly played a lone hand in the ruck and contributed with 16 hit-outs, 20 touches and four tackles, as well as his collection of majors.
Dane Swan had 38 touches, Dayne Beams 32 and Travis Cloke and Leon Davis were important in setting up goals while Heath Shaw shook off Adam Selwood to collect 25 touches and eight rebounds off halfback.
Second-year rookie Jarryd Blair came in late at the expense of Steele Sidebottom to make his debut. After shanking his first kick - a shot on goal - the 20-year-old finished with 16 disposals and looked right at home.
Malthouse described the Pies' overall performance, which generated their biggest win for the season, as reasonably compact.
"We used the ball a bit better than we have in the last month, we've got the ability to claw back from situations; we were done over in stoppages early and we were able to reassess it," he said.
"There's more maturity in the group so that maturity at half time was able to analyse where we thought we were going wrong and rectify it."
There wasn't much to like about the Eagles, but Matt Priddis led well and young guns Tom Swift and Brad Sheppard showed signs of promise.
Worsfold described the performance as simply disappointing.
"We couldn't match our intensity that we showed at times for longer periods, so we learned a lesson on quick ball movement and confidence," he said.
"I think a few players took a bit out of that."
The Magpies gave their percentage a hefty boost, but it will only become an advantage to them if another side in the top four records a draw given their dead heat in round 12 against Melbourne.
Collingwood 6.5 9.7 18.9 20.15 (135)
West Coast 0.2 4.4 5.8 7.10 (52)
GOALS
Collingwood: Jolly 4, Dawes 4, Didak 3, Lockyer 2, Pendlebury 2, Beams 2, Swan 2, Ball
West Coast: LeCras 3, Strijk, Kennedy, Ebert, McKinley
BEST
Collingwood: Swan, Beams, Jolly, Didak, Pendlebury, Dawes, Shaw,
West Coast: Priddis, A. Selwood, LeCras, Sheppard, Embley, Dalziell
INJURIES
Collingwood: Sidebottom (calf) replaced in selected side by Blair.
West Coast: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Nicholls, Dalgleish, Ryan
Official crowd: 38,781 at Etihad Stadium
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
