A CAREER-best six-goal haul from Travis Cloke has steered Collingwood to an emphatic 88-point win over Melbourne in their annual Queen's Birthday holiday clash at the MCG.
Led by Cloke and a superb game from Sharrod Wellingham, the Pies ran out 19.15 (129) to 6.5 (41) winners for their 10th win in 11 matches this season.
Despite the absence of star midfielders Dale Thomas and Dane Swan, the Magpies held the edge all day.
Collingwood's relentless pressure forced the Demons into too many skill errors and made life hard for them every time they tried to get the ball out of their defensive 50.
The Magpies set up the victory with a six goal to one second quarter, and piled on another eight goals in the final term while a frustrated Melbourne side could not work the ball up the ground.
The effect of Collingwood's press showed on the stats sheet, with the Magpies winning the inside 50s 74-34. It was Collingwood's all-time highest inside 50 count.
Jared Rivers spent most of the first half on Cloke, but his plan to play in front of the Collingwood spearhead didn't work as Cloke continually out-bodied him while dropping back to take marks.
Cloke kicked just one goal in the second half, but that didn't matter as his teammates took care of the scoreboard.
Once again, the Demons failed to carry any momentum from a big win over to the following week.
Its round 11 defeat of Essendon was a distant memory as the reigning premiers simply dictated terms.
The Magpies' impressive depth was on show without their two star midfielders.
Scott Pendlebury was serviceable but was far from his best in his duel with Jordie McKenzie.
It was Wellingham who took his opportunity in the Magpies midfield without Thomas and Swan, gathering 37 possessions, 20 of which were contested. He had nine clearances to boot.
Collingwood have the bye next week, while Melbourne takes on Fremantle.
Influential players
Cloke's five first half-goals meant the game was all but over by the main break. He tailed off in the second half with James Frawley by his side, but the damage had already been done.
Wellingham looked to be Collingwood's premier midfielder and had no trouble stepping into the breach left by his two higher-profile teammates. Leon Davis rebounded well from half-back, while Cale Morton was one of few Melbourne players to show spark.
What it means
Melbourne still cannot find that consistency that coach Dean Bailey has spoken about all season. It seems that every time they show the football world what they might one day be capable of, they go back into their shells the next week.
For Collingwood, it was another clinical display as the Magpies go into their mid-season bye. Both teams have key players to come back, but the immediate future is looking particularly rosy for the black and white army.
Toyota AFL Dream Team highlight
Collingwood - Sharrod Wellingham
Astute Dream Teamers would have seen Thomas and Swan's absences as a chance for a second-tier midfielder like Wellingham to have a marked improvement, and he didn't disappoint with 125 points.
Melbourne - Nathan Jones
Jones' disposal by hand and foot let him down at times, but that has no bearing on Dream Team scores. He scored 110 to be Melbourne's most prolific player.
Next four
Collingwood: Bye, Sydney Swans (ANZ Stadium), Hawthorn (MCG), North Melbourne (MCG).
Melbourne: Fremantle (MCG), Richmond (MCG), Carlton (MCG), Western Bulldogs (Etihad Stadium).
The crowd
This fixture draws by far the biggest crowd to attend a Melbourne home game each season, and on Monday they came in their droves, with 75,998 people flocking to the MCG. While there weren't many reasons to smile about Melbourne's on-field performance, the Demons' bank balance would have received a fair boost.
New faces
Alex Fasolo was one of the beneficiaries of the numerous outs for Collingwood, playing his first game in the famous No. 35 jumper.
His performance was more Daicos-like than Prestigiacomo, booting a goal with his first kick in senior footy in the first quarter and climbing on top of Joel Macdonald for a flying mark in the third. It was a day he will never forget.
What the coaches said
Mick Malthouse (Collingwood)
"I thought our structures held up. We rotated a lot of players through those to give them an opportunity in various roles. [Jarryd] Blair, [Simon] Buckley, [Alan] Didak, [first-gamer Alex] Fasolo to a degree, [Andrew] Krakouer, [John] McCarthy, [Heath] Shaw, [Steele] Sidebottom, and you can throw [Luke] Ball and [Sharrod] Wellingham in there for that matter, all played different roles at various stages and generally were pretty good."
Dean Bailey (Melbourne)
"There was no consistency today. It was an extremely poor effort in front of a large crowd for a very important day for us. We were disappointing today - very, very disappointing. Our inconsistency doesn't build any confidence at all. Only through consistency will we be able to build a confidence that goes from week to week."
QUARTER BY QUARTER
FIRST QUARTER
Melbourne opened brightly with Colin Sylvia booting the first goal of the match after a pass from Jack Watts, who had five touches inside four minutes. But Collingwood, its midfielders dominant at contests and Travis Cloke looming dangerously up forward on Jared Rivers, quickly gained control. Sylvia kicked Melbourne's second, again after a pass from Watts, but the Magpies slotted three of their own, including one to Alex Fasolo with his first kick in the AFL. The quarter-time lead would have been more if not for some wasteful kicking in front of goal by the 2010 premiers.
Magpies by 10 points
SECOND QUARTER
Cloke kicked his second within the first two minutes, but Sylvia answered with his third a short time later to keep Melbourne within range. From there though, it was all Collingwood as it piled on the next five goals. Cloke kicked three of those, taking his tally to an equal career-best five, and James Frawley replaced Rivers as his direct opponent. Andrew Krakouer provided the highlight of the quarter with a superb banana goal after roving a contest deep in the pocket at the 11-minute mark.
Magpies by 38 points
THIRD QUARTER
The action played out almost entirely at Collingwood's end for the first 20 minutes as Melbourne, through a combination of intense opposition pressure and some skill errors, struggled to pass centre wing. The Demons' defence held strong until the 14-minute mark of the quarter, at which point Cloke unleashed a 60-metre bomb that sailed through for his sixth goal. A left-foot snap from Scott Pendlebury extended the margin to a game-high 53 points soon after before Melbourne finally hit the scoreboard through Jeremy Howe and Liam Jurrah. Sharrod Wellingham's 14-disposal term gave him 31 to three-quarter-time, already a personal best.
Magpies by 41 points
FOURTH QUARTER
Melbourne strung together its best piece of play for the day at the three-minute mark as Sylvia got on the end of a string of handpasses through the centre of the ground to kick his fourth goal. But when Leigh Brown took a towering mark over Joel McDonald and converted, it was the cue to start a fourth-quarter rout for the Magpies. They piled on seven more goals without the Demons scoring, equalling their all-time inside 50s record of 74 in the process and finishing with 11 different goal-kickers.
Magpies win by 88 points
Collingwood 3.6 9.7 11.10 19.14 (129)
Melbourne 2.2 3.5 5.5 6.5 (41)
GOALS
Collingwood: Cloke 6, Krakouer 2, Pendlebury 2, Ball 2, McCarthy, Fasolo, Wellingham, Brown, Dawes, Didak, Blair
Melbourne: Sylvia 4, Howe, Jurrah
BEST
Collingwood: Wellingham, Cloke, Reid, Sidebottom, Ball
Melbourne: Sylvia, Frawley, Watts, Scully, Moloney
INJURIES
Collingwood: Nil
Melbourne: Bartram (eye), Jetta (suspected broken hand)
SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Simon Buckley replaced by Tyson Goldsack in the fourth quarter.
Melbourne: Neville Jetta replaced by Michael Evans in the third quarter.
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Nicholls, Chamberlain, Mollison
Official crowd: 75,998 at the MCG
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
