Since the start of the AFL in 1990, Collingwood and West Coast have met in seven finals matches, and most of those games have gone down to the wire.

Only Geelong and Hawthorn, who have also met seven times, have done battle in as many finals matches over the same period.

So, in the lead-up to Collingwood taking on West Coast at Optus Stadium, Collingwood Media is looking back at our favourite finals clashes between the Magpies and the Eagles.

Fourth Qualifying Final
11 September 1994 at the WACA

These were the days of the original final eight system, which pitted first against eighth, second against seventh and so on.

The Pies, in their second-last year of Leigh Matthews’ stint as coach, had finished eighth and found themselves taking on the all-conquering Eagles on their home deck.

Collingwood defied the pre-game predictions of a one-sided affair and took it up to West Coast from the start.

Still, the Eagles looked to have the game in their keeping when they led by 24 points at the final chance.

But the Pies stormed home, kicking six goals to two in the last quarter, with a long bomb from Nathan Buckley and a running major from Andrew Tranquilli setting up a thrilling finish.

In the end, Collingwood fell two points short, with much attention drawn to a dropped mark by Mick McGuane inside 50 in the dying seconds.

Despite the heart-breaking result, it was an effort to be proud of, especially when you consider that the Eagles went on and won their Preliminary Final against Melbourne by 65 points and then defeated Geelong in the Grand Final by 80 points.

West Coast 11.16 (82) def Collingwood 12.8 (80)

Goals – Collingwood: Brown 5, T.Francis 3, Buckley, McCartney, Hotton, Tranquilli.
West Coast: Heady 3, Sumich 2, Lewis 2, Peter Matera 2, Bond, Ball.

Best – Collingwood: Brown, Buckley, Francis, Kelly, McGuane, Watson
West Coast: Hynes, Hart, Kemp, Jakovich, Evans, Peter Matera

Attendance: 31,824 at the WACA



Back row: Damien Franken, Jon Ballantyne, Glenn Sandford, Justin Malon, Michael Christian, Damian Monkhorst, Saverio Rocca, Jason McCartney, Seamus Malloney, Aaron James, Gavin Crosisca, Gary Pert.
Third row: Damien Houlihan, Shane Watson, Mark Fraser, Todd Curley, Michael McGuane, Craig Kelly, Nathan Buckley, Tony Woods, Glen Coghlan, Trent Hotten, Stephen Ryan, Andrew Tranquilli, Jason Wild.
Second Row: Stuart Steele, Paul Williams, Graham Wright, Bradley Plain, Leigh Matthews (coach), Gavin Brown (captain), Stan Magro (assistant coach), Alan Richardson, Shane Kerrison, Kent Butcher, Chris Curran, Justin Staritski.
Front row: Darin Milner, Nathan Smart, Tony Francis, Jon Hassall, Tony Shaw, Brett James, Scott Russell, Brenton Sanderson, Paul Sharkey.