GEELONG has re-asserted itself as a premiership threat with a stunning 96-point victory over Collingwood in front of 85,705 fans at the MCG on Friday night.

After spotting the ladder leaders a 19-point start during the first quarter, the Cats played 33 minutes and 38 seconds of near-faultless football in a devastating second term, turning on a 10 goal to one blitz.

They took a 50-point lead into the half-time break and, with Collingwood offering little resistance, pressed on to claim a 22.17 (149) to 8.5 (53) victory.

Although neither side had anything other than bragging rights to play for with their week one finals opponents already decided, Chris Scott’s men will now enter the final month of the season full of confidence after beating the premiership favourites by their greatest ever margin.

The second-quarter stats told the story.

The Cats had 18 inside 50s to four, laid 27 tackles to 15, and had 32 more disposals, 15 more contested.

It was their best-ever quarter against the Magpies, and not for a long, long time has Mick Malthouse's super-organised team been so exposed.

Making a forgettable night even worse for Collingwood, full-back Chris Tarrant was subbed off in the third quarter after hurting his ankle, while Travis Cloke spent time in the rooms with a sore knee.

Influential players
Bright spots were hard to find for the minor premiers, who appeared to have their minds firmly fixed on their qualifying final with West Coast next weekend.

Scott Pendlebury and Dayne Beams put on a show in the first quarter, collecting 30 possessions between them, but their combined tally for the second term was just five touches as the Cats ran riot.

The pair at least put their heads down in the second half and finished as their team's best two midfielders.

Key defender Ben Reid beat James Podsiadly, and Harry O'Brien was sometimes good, sometimes bad.

What it means
Should Collingwood fans be worried? Probably not.

No loss of this magnitude can be entirely discounted, but Malthouse's men didn’t appear completely switched on.

Nonetheless, a win would have meant they'd beaten every other team during the home and away season, and could enter September fearing no-one.

As it now stands, they could face a mental hurdle should they meet the Cats again sometime in the next four weeks.

Toyota AFL Dream Team highlight
Collingwood: Beams' 29 disposals earned him 129 Dream Team points.

Next week
Collingwood: West Coast Eagles (MCG)

What the coach said
Mick Malthouse
“This takes nothing away from Geelong's class or method that they used to win the game, but I sincerely hope that is not us. And our history has shown that is not us. We take the good with the bad. We were bad tonight but we have been pretty good for a long period of time."

Quarter by quarter

First quarter
It was a quarter of wasted opportunities for Geelong, who had the ball inside their forward 50 on 17 occasions to Collingwood's 10. While the Magpies took their chances by kicking four straight goals, the Cats were inaccurate. Their first goal of the night came from James Podsiadly, who marked brilliantly in the goalsquare. However, seconds later, his goal was disallowed because of an interchange infringement by Paul Chapman. Scott Pendlebury was brilliant for the Pies with 16 possessions and a goal in the first term, while Dayne Beams had 14. The Cats kicked two late goals through Daniel Menzel and Tom Hawkins.

Second quarter
The Cats were simply awesome in the second quarter, kicking 10 goals to one. They cut Pendlebury and Beams out of the match, allowing the duo just five possessions for the term. The Cats won the inside 50s 18-4 and had seven different goalkickers. Allen Christensen was elusive up forward and booted three, while Menzel continued to be a strong presence by adding another two goals to his tally. James Kelly, Jimmy Bartel and Joel Selwood became influential, while Matthew Scarlett and Harry Taylor dominated down back. Chris Dawes kicked the Magpies’ only goal for the quarter.

Third quarter
Geelong continued to control the tempo of the match, starting the term by kicking the first three goals. Menzel was the most prolific forward on the ground, adding another two goals in the term to have five by three quarter-time. The Magpies had injury concerns with Ben Johnson hampered by a knee, while Chris Tarrant had to be substituted out of the game after injuring his right ankle. Travis Cloke left the field for treatment on his knee.  

Fourth quarter
With the result beyond doubt and both teams thinking about next week's qualifying finals, the match petered out. Geelong continued its procession with Travis Varcoe, Chapman, Podsiadly and Steve Johnson kicking the first four goals of the term to extend the lead to 90 points. Tyson Goldsack took a heavy knock and became the latest Collingwood player forced into the rooms for medical treatment. Alex Fasolo kicked the Magpies' only goal for the quarter, a fine finish from the forward pocket.

Geelong            2.5    12.8    16.15    22.17 (149)
Collingwood     4.0    5.0       7.2       8.5 (53)

GOALS
Geelong: Menzel 5, Christensen 3, Chapman 3, Hawkins 2, Varcoe 2, Podsiadly 2, Johnson 2, Duncan, Mackie, Wojcinski
Collingwood: Dawes 2, Krakouer, Pendlebury, Beams, Wood, Blair, Fasolo

BEST
Geelong: Menzel, Selwood, Wojcinski, Enright, Scarlett, Taylor, Christensen
Collingwood: Reid, Pendlebury, Beams, O'Brien

INJURIES
Geelong: Mathew Stokes (general soreness) replaced in the selected side by Shannon Byrnes
Collingwood: Ben Johnson (jarred left knee), Chris Tarrant (right ankle), Travis Cloke (left knee)

SUBSTITUTES
Geelong: Harry Taylor replaced by Shannon Byrnes in the third quarter
Collingwood: Chris Tarrant (right ankle) replaced by Jarryd Blair in the third quarter

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Donlon, Ryan, Mollison

Official crowd: 85,705 at MCG

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.