Notable
- Dale Thomas' 34 possessions is his equal-highest tally since he debuted in round one, 2006. In his 156 games since, he has only nudged the 34 possession mark twice. He first reached it in the eight point loss to Brisbane at the Gabba in round 10, 2010. On that occasion he had 21 kicks and 13 handballs, while on Friday night he had 16 kicks and 18 handballs. He polled two Brownlow votes four years ago despite playing in a losing team. Can he nab the three this year?
- Now that he is playing a little higher up the ground, it makes sense that Harry O'Brien is starting to register higher possession tallies than in years gone by. His renascence on centre wing was best illustrated by his performance on Friday night when he gathered a season-high 27 disposals (a mark he has only bettered on four occasions in his career) and kicked one of the goals of the night in the second quarter. It was the 20th goal of his career and his fourth against St Kilda (including two in each Grand Final back in 2010).
- St Kilda coach Scott Watters showed Steele Sidebottom the ultimate sign of respect when he sent tagger Jarryn Geary onto the Magpie playmaker early in the night. His ploy worked with Geary holding Sidebottom to only 10 possessions (after recording 21, 25, 14, 21 and 31 in his first five games). It was Sidebottom's lowest possession count since he returned only eight touches against Port Adelaide in round 15, 2010, at AAMI Stadium.
- The match was Marty Clarke's first against St Kilda since round seven, 2009. On that occasion, the Magpies were thumped by 88 points on a dismal Monday night at Etihad Stadium. Four years later he returned to the same venue to take on the Saints, gathering 18 possessions, laying two tackles and kicking his third goal of the season en route to a 26-point win.
- The crowd of 40,071 was the lowest between Collingwood and St Kilda since round 15, 2000, a year in which the two teams eventually occupied the last two places on the AFL ladder. For the record, Collingwood won that encounter by 33 points with Nathan Buckley awarded the three Brownlow votes for his 35 possessions and six rebound 50s.
- The win is Collingwood's fifth in a row against the Saints. The Pies have not lost to the Saints in their seven matches against them since round 16, 2010. The seven game stretch includes the famous 2010 Grand Final draw. Collingwood's last loss to the Saints was back in round three, 2010, when St Kilda restricted the Magpies to 4.17 while kicking 10.9 to run out 28 point victors on a spiteful Friday night at Etihad Stadium.
| Player | K | H | D | M | HO | FF | FA | T | G | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. Dale Thomas | 16 | 18 | 34 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 10. Scott Pendlebury | 16 | 12 | 28 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| 8. Harry O'Brien | 20 | 7 | 27 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 36. Dane Swan | 19 | 7 | 26 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 39. Heath Shaw | 19 | 3 | 22 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 18. Darren Jolly | 8 | 11 | 19 | 10 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 9. Martin Clarke | 12 | 6 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 20. Ben Reid | 12 | 6 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 40. Paul Seedsman | 11 | 6 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 3. Brent Macaffer | 10 | 6 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6. Tyson Goldsack | 12 | 4 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 32. Travis Cloke | 15 | 1 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 24. Josh Thomas | 8 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| 11. Jarryd Blair | 4 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 19. Jamie Elliott | 6 | 7 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 21. Quinten Lynch | 7 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 Nathan J. Brown | 8 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 41. Sam Dwyer | 6 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 22. Steele Sidebottom | 6 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 7. Andrew Krakouer | 7 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 27. Ben Kennedy | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15. Jarrod Witts | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Key
K: Kicks, H: Handballs, D: Disposals, M: Marks, HO: Hitouts, FF: Free Kicks For, FA: Free Kicks Against, T: Tackles, G: Goals, B: Behinds.
