It's hardly a favourite ground for Collingwood supporters, but this year marks 15 years since the stadium at Docklands was first opened.

It's been called Colonial Stadium, Telstra Dome and now Etihad Stadium, as well as some less choice names by fans in between, but we've grown used to it.

And now, as the Magpies gear up for their 74th game at the venue, it's worth looking back at 15 of the club’s sometimes weird and wonderful moments there.

1. PIES' DOCKLANDS DEBUT, 2000

Collingwood played in the ninth match at the new Docklands Stadium - then known as Colonial Stadium - and it was noteworthy for much more than the eight-point win recorded over the Western Bulldogs. For a start, the match was the first recorded sell-out at the venue, which brought about live coverage on Channel Seven, even though by the time of the game, almost 7,000 people (mostly Medallion Club members) failed to turn up. And it was also the first time that a team that had won the wooden spoon the previous year started the following season with five successive wins.

Mick Malthouse had made an immediate impression in his debut season as Magpies coach, with five successive wins to open the 2000 Olympic season - against Hawthorn, Adelaide, Carlton, Sydney and the Bulldogs. Sadly, a stretch of losses was to follow this game.

Collingwood led by 32 points at half-time, but the Bulldogs kicked seven successive goals in the second half, and even shot out to a 12-point lead early in the final term. But the young Magpies stood firm and it was a see-sawing final term that saw the lead change several times, and it was only when Anthony Rocca - who that day teamed up with his brother Sav - kicked the sealer late in the game that victory was assured.

2. THE ORANGE KANGAROOS, 2000

Remember the Orange Kangaroos? Well, that was when the Kangaroos chose to wear a one-off promotional jumper against Collingwood in the round 21 clash at what was then Colonial Stadium in 2000. The Kangaroos, who were the reigning premiers, approached the AFL about a deal to wear a special orange strip backed telecommunications company Orange for the sum of about $250,000.

It was Malthouse's 399th game as coach, and in a perfect sign for the future direction of the club, Collingwood kicked five goals to the Kangaroos' one in the last term, to score a remarkable victory by 18 points.

One newspaper wittily suggested: "It should have been an Orange Crush, but it turned into Bucks Fizz" with Magpie skipper Nathan Buckley being the best player on the field.

3. BUCKS' LEATHER POISONING, 2001

Nathan Buckley turned in one of the great all-time individual performances in the round 2 clash with Fremantle at Colonial Stadium in 2001. He had 46 touches, which still stands as only one disposal off the all-time record at the ground. And it was a whopping 199 Champion Data ranking points for the Magpies skipper.

His coach Mick Malthouse admitted after the 17-point win over the Dockers: "He had a fair bit of it, didn't he? Some blokes go three seasons and don't have that. And yet at half-time surprisingly I didn't think he had a great influence by that stage, even though he was clearly winning the football. But Nathan is a perfectionist and he will always work to be as good as he can possibly get and work to improve the side."

Among his 46 touches were 32 kicks and 14 handballs, as he beat three opponents and kicked the goal that all but sealed the victory. Not a bad night for Bucks.

4. PIES' HIGHEST DOCKLANDS SCORE, 2001

Collingwood's highest score at Docklands came in the club's 11th game at the venue against a West Coast team so far removed from the great sides of the 1990s that Magpie coach Mick Malthouse admitted a sense of sadness at their plight. The Pies kicked 26.17 (173) to the Eagles' 14.8 (92), to win the Round 12, 2001 game by 81 points.

It was the first time Collingwood had beaten West Coast since 1994, with the home side having 12 individual goalkickers, including four to Josh Fraser and three each to Chris Tarrant, Jarrod Molloy and Anthony Rocca.

That scorelines sits just outside the top 10 in the club's history, and remains the equal highest score kicked against West Coast.'

Malthouse said: "There is a touch of sadness to see a once-mighty football team that I spent 10 years with bouncing along the bottom. I did everything humanly possible to make sure we won by as much as we did, but there's sadness for the blokes (I used to coach)."

5. WILL THE REAL ANDREW HILL PLEASE STEP UP? 2002

Something strange happened for Collingwood in an otherwise non-descript Wizard Cup game at Colonial Stadium in 2002 - Andrew Hill featured twice on the team sheet. It wasn't a mistake; it was fair dinkum. Incredibly, the Magpies had two players called Andrew Hill on their rookie list in 2002, and that confusion stretched to the coaches' magnetic board for that game.

There was Andrew Robert Hill, who had played his one and only game for the club, against the Brisbane Lions the previous year, wearing No.44. A native of Tasmania, he had spent time on Carlton's rookie list and was a mobile forward who had impressed when playing with the Northern Bullants.

When the Pies chose their rookies for the 2002 season they chose another Andrew Hill, this one being called Andrew James Hill, who was from Wangaratta who could play half-forward or half-back.

Both of them grew up with the nickname 'Hilly' so for a time they went by the nicknames of their recruiting region - 'Wang' (for Wangaratta) and 'Tassie' (for Tasmania).

6. TAZ'S MARK OF THE YEAR, 2003

Gary Moorcroft cost Chris Tarrant Mark of the Year honours in 2001 when he launched himself into the Telstra Dome stratosphere, denying the Collingwood forward's big grab against the Demons at the MCG. But in 2003 nothing was going to stop Taz from locking in the award.

It was seven minutes into the last term of a game against Geelong in Round 18, 2003 when he rose up on Matthew Scarlett's shoulder to drag down a screamer. Tarrant's leap was so high that he ended up taking the ball on his chest, with the man who would end up being the Cats' greatest defenders left helpless underneath. It was one of 10 marks that Tarrant took on the day, as the Magpies won their sixth successive match on the way to reshaping their season after a slow start following the 2002 Grand Final thriller.

Sadly, though, Tarrant missed the shot following the superb mark. He would recall: “I got a nice little ride. It won Mark of the Year, but it might have been one of the only years when the prize wasn’t a car. I won an entertainment package; it was when the plasma (TVs) first came out."

7. 22 REASONS TO REMEMBER, 2003

Collingwood sadly knew it was going to lose one of its favourite sons Bob Rose when he was diagnosed with cancer in May, 2003. An emotional board meeting was told of his prognosis and the club began preparing to say goodbye to the former champion player and long-time club and board member.

Just a few days after news began public of his battle, Rhyce Shaw, the young man who was wearing the number synonymous with Rose, had the initials "BR" emblazoned on the back of his No.22 jumper for the game against St Kilda at Docklands. And while Rose watched from the stands, with his son Peter, and his brother, Kevin, Shaw even managed to nail a goal in a tribute that won't be forgotten.

"That brings a smile to the face of Bob", Channel 10's Robert Walls said after the goal in what was a massive win by the Magpies over the Saints.

Rose passed away about six weeks later, bringing an end to one of the most remarkable contributions to the Collingwood Football Club.

8. PIES' BIGGEST CROWD AT THE VENUE, 2003

At the time it was the highest-attended match at the ground, and even now a dozen years on, it still rates as the third highest Docklands AFL crowd of all-time. The Collingwood-North Melbourne clash in round 14, 2003 came just two days before the great Bob Rose passed away. It wasn't a cracking game, even though the atmosphere in the crowd was almost electric. The Magpies won the clash by 76 points, with Chris Tarrant kicking four goals, Anthony Rocca three goals and with Josh Fraser earning the three Brownlow Medal votes.

9. ZAC ATTACK, 2006

Who could ever forget the day Anthony Rocca monstered then Hawthorn defender Zac Dawson and yet the Hawks opted to stick with the match-up? The undermanned Hawks had few options to play on Rocca that day, but the surprise was that coach Alastair Clarkson opted to keep a kid who was almost 20 kilos lighter on the Magpie man mountain.

Rocca ended up kicking seven of his career-high eight goals on Dawson, who would later get a better grasp on taking big forwards at St Kilda and now Fremantle.

Dawson admitted afterwards that "I'll put it down to a learning experience ... I was a bit shattered. I was a bit worried about what everyone would think."

At least the young Hawk received 26 individual text messages of support. The Herald Sun recorded: "Rocca was like a granite boulder and it was as if Dawson was armed with a tooth-pick to break him apart."

10. MONDAY MISERY, 2009

Is it any wonder Collingwood fans hate Monday night games as much as anyone? It's a fair bet to suggest that those who were at Etihad Stadium on a Monday night in May 2009 are a part of that group that is pleased that the AFL has also lost the love for Monday games.

It was a miserable night for Collingwood as the club suffered its greatest losing margin to the Saints (88 points) and kicked its lowest score since 1997.

The Pies finished with 5.10 (40) to St Kilda's 20.8 (128) before a crowd of 46,880.

But Malthouse was trying to look on the upside, saying: "How many things can be disappointing? We were just badly beaten. St Kilda are a very, very good football side. We just didn't capitalise in the first quarter, we should've kicked another couple of goals. But I think some of the younger players were overwhelmed, quite frankly."

Some of those younger players would be a part of Collingwood's 2010 premiership win over St Kilda a year later, including Steele Sidebottom, who made his debut against the Saints on that miserable night.

11.  A NIGHT OF CONTROVERSY, 2010

There have been few more controversial or newsworthy games in recent times than Collingwood's round 3 clash with St Kilda at Etihad Stadium in 2010. For the moment, let's just stick to the footy, and how Collingwood kicked a ridiculously inaccurate 4.17 (41) to the Saints' 10.9 (69).

The Magpies actually led at half-time, having kicked four goals in the opening hour, but could not kick a goal after the long break, instead adding 0.9 as the Saints ran away with the game.

But it was as much the news as the action on the field that stamped this game as one that won't be forgotten.

For a start, the Saints were rocked a serious hamstring injury to Nick Riewoldt that had some people speculating that his career might be in jeopardy. It wouldn't be, but the Saints fans were worried at the time.

And then there was the quarter-time verbal confrontation between Mick Malthouse and Saints forward Stephen Milne, which would eventually see the Pies coach fined $7500 and debate rage over the incident for weeks.

12. ELEVEN IS HEAVEN, and 13. A KRAK-ING GRAB, 2011

It was one of the most extraordinary comebacks in Collingwood's history, and it also produced one of the greatest marks taken in a Black and White jumper.

Let's start with the mark first. Andrew Krakouer had made a mark in his first season with Collingwood, but the mark he took in this 2011 Etihad Stadium clash with Adelaide would never be forgotten. It would win him Mark of the Year honours and also help set the scene for one of the great footy comebacks.

Six minutes into the last quarter of this round 9 match the Crows led by 23 points and looked to be headed for a regulation win. Then, almost inexplicably, the Magpies reeled off the last 11 goals of the game.

They went from a near four-goal deficit to a 43-point win in the most amazing of circumstances.

Coach Mick Malthouse said: "No one sees that coming. Me, the players, no one expected us to kick 11 goals. I don't think I've ever been part of a side that's kicked 11 goals. It's a bizarre game, football, as we know, and to go for an hour of football and kick two goals (in the first half) and then go the next hour and kick 18 is bizarre. Football finds a way of surprising us all."

And Chris Tarrant said of Krakouer's mark - "It was amazing, wasn't it? I love seeing that stuff. As a spectacle, you can't beat that, someone flying high, and kicking torpedo goals. That's what people come to watch."

14. THE AVERAGE ETIHAD CROWDS

Here's an interesting little point, as much as Pies fans would much sooner cop a cold, wet day at the MCG than sit under the closed roof at Etihad, they still have no fear of attending games at Dockland. Of all the teams to play at the venue over the past 15 years, Collingwood has done so in front of the highest average crowds, with Essendon and Geelong also highly rated in terms of fans at the ground.

15.  BEST PIES' STREAK AT THE GROUND, 2010-2012

Collingwood's best winning streak at Etihad Stadium sits at eight-in-a-row during the 2010 to 2012 seasons. The streak is bookended with wins against the Western Bulldogs, starting in Round 11, 2010 and rounding out with a win over the Dogs against in Round 6, 2012. Those wins came against Western Bulldogs and West Coast in 2010, Port Adelaide, North Melbourne, Adelaide and St Kilda in 2011, and Port Adelaide and Western Bulldogs in 2012. The club's worst losing streak at the ground is four in a row.