Geelong's golden era came to a close on Friday night, with the Cats locked out of finals for the first time since 2006 following their 48-point loss to Collingwood at the MCG. 

After 21 finals, four Grand Finals and three premierships in the past nine years, it was painfully obvious that one of the greatest teams of the modern era has achieved all it will, eventually losing 17.8 (110) to 9.8 (62).   

The shining light on a dark night was the remarkable return of young Cat Daniel Menzel after four knee reconstructions, with the 23-year-old booting four goals and taking one of the marks of the year to remind the competition of his quality.

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But a fresh chapter in his career could mark the departure of triple-premiership stars like James Kelly, Steve Johnson and Andrew Mackie, who all had horror moments on Friday night with their team's season on the line.

The Cats' veterans were shown up by a younger, quicker Collingwood team set on redemption after being described as "22 individuals" by coach Nathan Buckley last week. 

The Magpies' response to that stinging critique came immediately, building a first-quarter blitz on relentless tackling pressure, led by Jordan De Goey and Levi Greenwood, who tagged Geelong captain Joel Selwood.   

And while the young Magpies did the grunt work, captain Scott Pendlebury was left by Geelong to work off the back of stoppages, racking up 10 damaging possessions in the first quarter.  

The change of role for Pendlebury (33 possessions) was a masterstroke from Buckley, and as a result the Magpies kicked seven of the first eight goals to lead by 36 points at quarter-time, extending that to 50 at the main break. 

Geelong challenged briefly in the third quarter and again in the fourth, but each time Collingwood responded by controlling the ball and taking the pace out of the game.

VIDEO: Maynard intercepts two goals en route to goal.

The result sealed the top eight – and took the sting out of a round 23 match-up between Adelaide and the Cats – with the Crows and North Melbourne locked in for September action with two games each to play.

De Goey was outstanding for the Magpies, winning 25 possessions and 10 clearances, sidestepping the Geelong midfielders to put an exclamation point on his impressive debut season. 

Greenwood, meanwhile, tagged Selwood relentlessly all night and kept the champion Cat to 19 possessions. The former Kangaroo ran forward when he could and finished with 21 touches and one goal.  

Brownlow Medallist Dane Swan played his role in the first half but was substituted out at half time with a knee injury, potentially ending his season as the Magpies look to 2016.  

The Cats can now do that also, with optimism that Menzel will be a vital part of their future following his amazing return.

After waiting 1450 days to play his 22nd game, Menzel attacked the ball and won his first possession inside the first 20 seconds, taking a big contested mark on the lead minutes later. 

He was mobbed by teammates halfway through the first quarter when he converted on the run with his right foot from 50 metres. His second on his right was equally classy and decisive. 

He ran into an open goalsquare for his third and made it one goal in each quarter when he flew for a brilliant mark in the final term and converted his set shot. 

As the lights were turned off on a magnificent Geelong era, Menzel's performance perhaps heralded the start of another, alongside young Cats like Mark Blicavs and Cam Guthrie, who battled hard all night.

COLLINGWOOD   7.1   11.5  13.6  17.8 (110)
GEELONG             1.1   3.3    6.6    9.8 (62)

GOALS
Collingwood: Fasolo 3, Moore 2, Sidebottom 2, Elliott 2, White 2, Adams, Swan, Varcoe, Maynard, Grundy, Greenwood
Geelong: Menzel 4, Hawkins 2, Johnson, Lang, Motlop

BEST 
Collingwood: Greenwood, Pendlebury, De Goey, Adams, Crisp, Moore, Grundy
Geelong: Menzel, Blicavs, Mackie, Guthrie, Kolodjashnij

INJURIES 
Collingwood: Travis Cloke (hamstring soreness) replaced in selected side by Jesse White, Dane Swan (right knee), Ben Sinclair (hand)
Geelong: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Collingwood: Dane Swan replaced by Jonathon Marsh at half time
Geelong: Josh Walker replaced by Jordan Murdoch in the third quarter

Reports: Nil 

Umpires: Nicholls, Jeffery, Mollison

Official crowd: 40,582 at the MCG