Collingwood has gone down by 52 points on Saturday at Victoria Park in their Round Eight clash with Werribee. 

Liam Purcell got the Pies on the board after a hot start from the visitors, before Ben Crocker out-muscled his opponent and slammed home his seventh goal of the season to garner some momentum late in the opening quarter. 

Werribee would pile on five goals in the second quarter as they resumed their strangle hold on the contest, with Crocker's second goal and a Patrick Farrant screamer the highlights for the Pies. 

The third quarter was a slog between both sides as the Pies kicked one goal through Ash Johnoson, however they were unable to cut the margin at all as Werribee kept pressing.

A fast start top the final term offered some hope and showed positive signs for the Pies, however it wasn't Werribee's strong first half had set up a near nine-goal win.

Farrant soars for two screamers

Despite having now played just four games for the Club, recruit Patrick Farrant has quickly shown his high-flying capabilities and did so again with a pair of great marks on Saturday.

The first came late in the first half as he flew on top of a big pack on the northern-side wing at Victoria Park, perfectly getting the sit to elevate himself for a huge grab.

He did it again in the final quarter, this time in the forward line, setting himself for another big jump in a one-on-one with his opponent before turning around a kicking a simple goal.

Crocker converts on return

Having sat out the past fortnight, experienced campaigner Ben Crocker added class to the Pies forward line in his 90th career VFL game on Saturday with a two-goal haul.

The 27-year-old kicked his first goal of the day after using his typical forward smarts and out-marking his opponent before snapping truly, while he had a second the next quarter after converting a nice set shot.

He passed one off early in the last quarter and took a suite of marks inside fifty that could've seen him add more to his own goal tally.

Defensive unit continues to gel

While they've had more to contend with than they would've liked over the past few weeks, the Pies' defenisve unit has continued to impress given its relatively new look.

Lead by Charlie Dean who started the year with two games at AFL level, as well as Co-captain Sam Glover, the Pies have frequently held strong in their back fifty and repelled many entries again on Saturday. 

Wil Parker has been a fantastic addition as well, with his willingness to come forward to defend and come off his man often seeing him intercept or halve contests for his side.

Second-year defender Jakob Ryan was also solid on Saturday as he works through an injury-interrupted start to 2024, while 2023 draftee Tew Jiath started the Round Eight clash hot with nine touches in the opening quarter. 

Dean and Glover finished with 18 and 21 disposals respectively, as well as nine and eight marks each. 

Fourth quarter effort impresses

Despite trailing by 57 points at three-quarter time, the Pies didn't throw the towel in on Saturday with a strong final quarter.

While they didn't quite put it all on the scoreboard - kicking ... - the Pies dominated all over the gorund in the early stages of the quarter through hard running and slick ball movement.

Crocker passed one off to Harrison Kennedy early for the small forward's first of the day, while Farrant converted his goal shortly after, as the Pies played the game in their front half. 

The margin ended at 52 points in a hard-fought contest. 

The Pies have the bye next week before they take on Footscray in a curtain-raiser at Marvel Stadium on Friday May 31.