Match Details
Collingwood v Gold Coast
Round 11, 2012
4.40pm, Sunday 3 June, MCG

Click here to view the broadcast guide.

History
Collingwood only faced Gold Coast once in its debut season, clashing with them at Metricon Stadium in round 18 last season. The Suns were game, and managed to kick the first two goals of the game. Order was quickly restored as the ladder leading Magpies put the foot down and eventually ran out 54-point winners. Led by Scott Pendlebury, who received three Brownlow votes for his 34 possessions and veterans Ben Johnson and Leon Davis, Collingwood was rarely troubled. Suns’ skipper Gary Ablett was a lone hand for the leagues 17th club with 36 possessions, 13 more than the next two players in line.

The form
The two sides have followed vastly different trajectories in the first half of the season. Collingwood has not lost since it faced Carlton in round three, while the Suns are still searching for their first win of their second season. They have managed to run teams close, pestering Essendon to the point at which they led at three quarter time only to be overpowered by the more experienced Bombers. Three weeks later the Suns led Fremantle late in the final quarter at Metricon Stadium only for the Dockers to pinch the win in the dying minutes.

The injuries
Queenslander Lachlan Keeffe, one of the finds of the season, joins fellow key defender Ben Reid (quadriceps) on the injury list after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee during the final quarter of last Saturday’s win over Adelaide. The 22-year-old will sit out the remainder of the season. At his Tuesday press conference, coach Nathan Buckley said that Reid is unlikely to be seen before Collingwood’s bye in round 12. Buckley mentioned that Dane Swan (hamstring) might be in the mix to face Melbourne on the Queen’s Birthday.

Download the Round 10 edition of the Collingwood Match Day Program now.

Up north, Gold Coast is without experienced star Nathan Bock who is recovering from a broken leg while Jarrod Harbrow, who has not appeared since round four, will miss another 4-5 weeks. David Swallow, the Suns’ first selection in the 2010 National Draft, is another absentee due to a knee injury.

At selection
Key defender Nathan Brown headlines the five players to Collingwood’s 25-man squad to tackle the Suns on Sunday. The premiership backman sustained a moderate strain to the medial ligament in his left knee in a collision against the Brisbane Lions in round seven. He will add experience and size to the backline that loses Lachlan Keeffe (knee) and Heath Shaw (calf) to injury. Ruckman Cameron Wood and youngsters Paul Seedsman, Kirk Ugle and Tom Young are all in line for a return with squads to be finalised on Friday evening.

View the teams here.

Gold Coast recalled youthful quartet Luke Russell, Trent McKenzie, Tom Hickey and Aaron Hall while omitting promising ruckman Zac Smith for the first time this year. Of the four, Russell has played the most games for the season (eight). Pies fans will recall McKenzie from last season’s meeting in round 18 when he kicked two goals from long range with his bullet-like left boot.

Consider this
When Collingwood first met a Queensland team in Melbourne, it recorded a 47-point victory. That was way back in round six, 1987, when the Magpies hosted the Brisbane Bears at Victoria Park. David Cloke, the father of Travis, was best afield with 21 possessions and 17 hitouts. Tony Shaw gathered 33 disposals while James Manson and Brian Taylor bagged four goals each.

Foot in both camps
A host of Gold Coast players and officials have links to the Collingwood Football Club. Sam Iles and Danny Stanley both spent time on the Magpies list in the mid 2000s under Mick Malthouse for a combined total of 12 games but have since flourished since they were drafted by the Suns as rookies ahead their AFL inception. In the coaches box, Guy McKenna learned his trade under Mick Malthouse at Collingwood between 2004 and 2007, while his understudy Shane O’Bree was a club champion over 227 games for the Pies between 2000 and 2010. Josh Fraser, who played exactly 200 games in the black and white, has played only two matches for the Suns so far this season.

Silly stat
Alan Didak didn’t play against Gold Coast last season, but his first handball against them on Sunday will be the 1000th of his career.