IN days gone by, all hell would be breaking loose at Collingwood following another Jordan De Goey misstep.

Officials would have spent Saturday night and all of Sunday defensively and nervously planning for a barrage of negative media storylines. Players would have been shaking their heads, wondering how another blood rush had landed their teammate amid more bad headlines. De Goey's future as a Magpie would have inevitably been questioned.

But in 2023, none of this will happen. This is a very different De Goey, and a brand new Collingwood. An appearance at the Tribunal, with a three-plus match ban hovering above his head, will obviously cause problems but yet barely raise heart rates. For the round 13 King's Birthday match against Melbourne, it will be De Goey out, and one of probably Reef McInnes, Finn Macrae, Trent Bianco in.

The AFL's Match Review Office has sent De Goey to the Tribunal, citing that his weekend bump on West Coast's Elijah Hewett was careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.

De Goey deserves to be sidelined for the hit. But I saw it very simply – as a split second match-moment decision that did not have malice at its core, and not as the act of someone who deliberately sought to maim an unprotected, young opponent.

De Goey chose to bump and got Hewett too high. Simple. Accidents happen in football. Everyone moves on, particularly now that De Goey has learnt from many errors of the past and impressively sought to transform his football and private lives. The incident will extinguish his chances of winning a Brownlow Medal and jeopardise his All-Australian prospects.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae would prefer not to have to deal with this, but if anyone in the history of the AFL is geared toward embracing adversity, and the potential benefits of adversity, it is McRae.

Geelong's premiership success of 2022 was significantly shaped about this time last year, when Paddy Dangerfield was given five weeks off (four matches and the bye) to rehab from a calf strain. When he returned, he was blisteringly good, particularly so when the pressure was at its highest in September.

De Goey's absence is obviously for different reasons, but the same logic to his unavailability can be applied. Magpies fitness staff may choose to spend the first fortnight pushing his body to extremes before tapering his requirements for a return to matches.

It may be a significant Collingwood negative right now to have De Goey unavailable for three, and possibly more, weeks. But McRae will seek to parlay it into a positive. And with an 11-1 scoreline to this point of the season, he's got plenty of wins already banked.

Cats find a way - and they're ready to purr

GEELONG'S optimum midfield set-up in last year's finals series that ended in a premiership had Rhys Stanley, Patrick Dangerfield, Cam Guthrie, Max Holmes and Mitch Duncan all playing significant roles.

All five were unavailable in round 12 against the Western Bulldogs, and yet it didn't matter. Coach Chris Scott found a way. Of course and as always, Mark Blicavs led the way in that part of operations, ably assisted by Brad Close, Tanner Bruhn, Gary Rohan, Gryan Miers and Mr Fixit, Jeremy Cameron.

It's been a wild ride, the Cats' premiership defence. Three losses, five wins, three losses, and now a courageous victory against the Bulldogs. Now, time for a breather, with a bye in round 13 before massive games against Port Adelaide and Melbourne upon resumption.

It remains a battle to qualify for September, but the big names will gradually return. And if the Cats are to squeeze in, the seven other finalists will be very uneasy.

Brave, gritty Power need to be embraced

PORT Adelaide has made statements in seemingly every match of its past nine.

There have been come-from-behind wins, gritty wins, pulverising wins. It has won despite injury to key players, and with a brave preparedness to leave out captain Tom Jonas.

That it sits second on the ladder after 12 rounds, behind the only team that plays with the same dare, Collingwood, is already one of the great storylines of the 2023 season.

The form of so many already-very-good players is at career-best levels. What Zak Butters and Connor Rozee have done inside this period has been extraordinary. Excellence is now their normal.

Jeremy Finlayson is having huge impact, Dan Houston is flying, Jason Horne-Francis is making a very solid case for All-Australian selection. Ollie Wines may have won a Brownlow Medal in 2021 and while he won't win one in 2023, he may just be a better player for Port Adelaide at this point of his AFL life.

The premiership possibilities of the Power need to be embraced, particularly if they can secure at least one of the two matches they have before a bye – the Western Bulldogs next Friday at Marvel Stadium and Geelong at Adelaide Oval the following Thursday.