More than 81,000 fans were at the sunbathed MCG – the biggest crowd to watch these two teams play each other in 30 years – and the expectation among the Richmond people was enormous.
Tiger supporters who have seen their team put to the sword too often by Collingwood in recent years could feel it in their bones. This was to be Redemption Day.
Instead, it was Groundhog Day, with the depleted Pies winning by 34 points thanks to a devastating eight goal third quarter, fuelled largely by Travis Cloke who kicked four for the term and a career best seven for the day.
"I thought he was huge," marveled Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley.
"He took 14 grabs, including six contested, which is a great game by any standards. Seven goals helps as well.
"I thought our ball use over the ground helped us and helped him."
The Tigers were convinced that Cloke would not play after he suffered a finger injury at training on Friday.
Even after the team sheets were released 90 minutes before the start of the game there were those at Tigerland who still expected his late withdrawal.
How they wish they were right.
Cloke was too powerful for Alex Rance, and only once the damage was done was Troy Chaplin moved on to Cloke. This was puzzling in itself given that Chaplin was supposedly brought across from Port Adelaide at the end of last season specifically to play on the monster forwards.
At 26 and with a five-year deal safely in his pocket, Cloke is playing with freedom and as if the weight of the world is off his broad shoulders.
With 16 goals to his name after four games he is right in the hunt for this year's Coleman Medal.
He verbally jousted with Rance – by all accounts they are good mates off the ground – and gave it to the Tiger fans after his final goal in the last quarter, after several of them had run down the fence to give him an earful.
"It was nice to take a few clunks and get one up on him," Cloke said afterwards. "It's football and it's an emotional game but it's good afterwards to catch up and have a bit of a giggle. Melbourne's a small place and we tend to run into each other a little bit."
"Last year was a bit more publicized with what was going on," he added. "I've put it all behind me and I'm keen to play some good footy. I'm in a good place."
The Pies had plenty of other contributors.
Buckley borrowed from the Alastair Clarkson school of "lose a soldier and replace them with another", as he praised the work of Sam Dwyer, Alex Fasolo and Josh Thomas, who all enjoyed some time in the midfield to give Scott Pendlebury and Dane Swan much-needed breathers.
"You play with who you've got," he said.
The latter two were really good as usual and came to the fore in the third term as Collingwood smashed the Tigers in clearances, delivering Cloke lace out passes time after time.
It was Swan's 200th game and, unsurprisingly, he bypassed the traditional shoulder ride from the ground at the final siren; instead, the Magpies held back as they left the ground and ensured he was the first into the rooms.
It was back to business quickly for Collingwood, with just five days to prepare for the Anzac Day classic against the rampaging Bombers. Key defender Nathan Brown was struggling with groin soreness throughout the second half and must be in some doubt, while Ben Johnson and late withdrawal Tyson Goldsack appear set to return.
It will be a big task for the Pies, but Buckley was ever the pragmatist.
"We have 24 more hours to prepare than last year," he said.
Ashley Browne is an AFL Media senior writer. @afl_hashbrowne
