Collingwood was the master of the single digit wins in 2022 and had to do it again, despite looking home for most of the last quarter before the Saints kicked three goals in time-on to give the Magpies a fright in the dying seconds. 

Jack Higgins, Ryan Byrnes and Brad Crouch kicked three goals in three minutes, but ultimately they ran out of time, with the Magpies overcoming an ongoing ruck dilemma exacerbated by the loss of Dan McStay early in the second quarter and the late withdrawal of superstar midfielder Jordan De Goey, to record a 10.10 (90) to 9.10 (66) win at Adelaide Oval.

The Saints have been the most surprising side of 2023 – and threatened to produce another upset for much of Sunday – arriving in South Australia as the only undefeated team, but as well as they tried, they couldn’t stop Collingwood.

The inaugural Gather Round produced a handful of high-scoring affairs at Adelaide Oval, Norwood and Mt Barker, but this was never going to be one of those occasions. Not with Lyon calling the shots from the coaches’ box. 

It took until the final quarter for Collingwood to finally penetrate St Kilda’s well organised back six, kicking the first four of the final-quarter goals before the siren went inside St Kilda’s forward 50 with the Saints holding all the momentum.  

The story before the first bounce was the return of Jack Ginnivan for the first time in 2023, but after the final siren it was another Collingwood small forward – off-season signing Bobby Hill – who was the story after kicking a game-high three goals to move to 10 for the season, as he continues to loom as a shrewd piece of recruitment. 

It was far from pretty, but Craig McRae won’t be fussed by what it looked like. 

After dropping Easter Thursday to Brisbane at the Gabba, the Magpies had to wait 10 days for a chance to respond. And they did in the end, despite the best efforts of St Kilda’s brilliant back six that conceded only 10 goals from 64 inside 50s.

Nick Daicos was everywhere, continuing his sizzling start to 2023, amassing his fifth straight 30+ disposal, this time finishing with a career-high 42 disposals, eight inside 50s and a whopping 846 metres gained in a performance that is sure to attract more Brownlow Medal votes for the second-year sensation.

More to come

COLLINGWOOD     2.2   4.4    6.10    10.10 (70)
ST KILDA               2.2   4.3     6.4      9.10 (64)
 
GOALS 
Collingwood: Hill 3, Mihocek 2, McCreedy, Mitchell, Ginnivan, Johnson, Elliott
St Kilda: Caminiti 2, Higgins 2, Crouch 2, Phillipou, Clark, Byrnes