Notable:
- The loss was Collingwood’s first against the Suns since the expansion team began its time in the AFL in 2011. The Magpies won their first two meetings by 54 and 97 points. Its record against other expansion teams reads as follows:
Collingwood’s first loss to:
Sydney: Round 8 1982 at the SCG
Sydney 15.25 (115) def. Collingwood 13.19 (87) on 15 May 1982
West Coast: Round 10 1987 at Subiaco Oval
West Coast 19.23 (137) def. Collingwood 11.14 (80) on 1 June 1987
Brisbane Bears: Round 14 1994 at the Gabba
Brisbane 17.19 (121) def. Collingwood 11.11 (77) on 26 June 1994
Adelaide: Round 22 1993 at Football Park
Adelaide 19.21 (135) def. Collingwood 17.9 (111) on 29 August 1993
Fremantle: Round 19 1996 at the WACA
Fremantle 16.16 (106) def. Collingwood 11.16 (82) on 9 August 1996
Port Adelaide: Round 16 1997 at Football Park
Port Adelaide 17.9 (111) def. Collingwood 8.10 (58) on 19 July 1997
- The result marked Collingwood’s first ever loss at Metricon Stadium. The venue, formerly known as Carrara, was a happy hunting ground for the Pies when it hosted the old Brisbane Bears’ home games. Collingwood won all five games against the Bears at the ground and belted the Suns in their first meeting at the newly renamed Metricon Stadium in round 18, 2011.
- Gary Ablett Junior is creating a habit of recording possession counts against Collingwood that would be more suitable on a cricket scoreboard. In his final game for the Cats, he managed 40 possessions in a 41-point loss to the Pies in the 2010 Preliminary Final. Last year he helped himself to 53 disposals in a 97-point loss at the MCG. But he saved his most damaging display for Saturday evening when he won an incredible 49 touches, kicked two goals and held seven marks. Although he only operated at 59.2 per cent disposal efficiency, he cleared the ball from stoppages 10 times and took the ball inside 50 on six occasions. His masterful display was capped off with the sealing goal late in the final quarter that was reminiscent of his goal against the Magpies while playing for Geelong in the 2007 Preliminary Final.
- Young Marley Williams had an interesting night at the office. He continued his sound form of recent times, gathering 17 possessions and laying five tackles. Williams, who got in a heated scuffle with Gold Coast’s Aaron Hall at three quarter time, took a game-high seven bounces and rebounded from defence four times. He also made a team-high six clangers. He looms as an important running defender in the post-Ben Johnson era.
- Players are sometimes wary of getting their face in the newspapers on the morning of a game lest it jinx their performance. Sam Dwyer, who featured in an article written by The Age’s Emma Quayle, put paid to any thought of that with a career-high 31 possessions and five inside 50s. He also continued to have a hand in several of Collingwood’s scoring thrusts, assisting in two of his side’s 11 goals.
- Caolan Mooney must be getting used to wearing the green vest. He has begun as Collingwood’s substitute in five of his six senior games and was substituted out of the match at half time of the one he began on the ground. Once activated late in the third quarter he managed three disposals (one kick and two behinds) and laid three tackles.
- Poor Travis Cloke’s tough run in front of goal continued. Since kicking 5.1 against Carlton he has found the going difficult, kicking 2.5 against Adelaide and 2.4 against the Suns on Saturday evening.
Vote for your top three players following Saturday's loss to help decide who will take home the Magpie Army Player of the Year Award.
| Player | K | H | D | M | HO | FF | FA | T | G | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17. Dayne Beams | 15 | 19 | 34 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| 36. Dane Swan | 19 | 13 | 32 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 41. Sam Dwyer | 16 | 15 | 31 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 10. Scott Pendlebury | 13 | 15 | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 22. Steele Sidebottom | 17 | 8 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 46. Marley Williams | 17 | 5 | 22 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 12. Luke Ball | 13 | 8 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 24. Josh Thomas | 11 | 10 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 40. Paul Seedsman | 7 | 12 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 28. Ben Sinclair | 12 | 7 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 20. Ben Reid | 13 | 6 | 19 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 39. Heath Shaw | 14 | 4 | 18 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5. Nick Maxwell | 8 | 10 | 18 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 32. Travis Cloke | 10 | 5 | 15 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| 3. Brent Macaffer | 9 | 4 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 Lachlan Keeffe | 9 | 4 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 25. Ben Hudson | 5 | 6 | 11 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6. Tyson Goldsack | 6 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 15. Jarrod Witts | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 7. Andrew Krakouer | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19. Jamie Elliott | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| 48. Caolan Mooney | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Key
K: Kicks, H: Handballs, D: Disposals, M: Marks, HO: Hitouts, FF: Free Kicks For, FA: Free Kicks Against, T: Tackles, G: Goals, B: Behinds.
