CTV > Post-match with Alan Didak
CTV > Mick Malthouse's post-match press conference
CTV > Watch the boys sing the song

Alan Didak described the 86-point drubbing of Geelong in round nine at the MCG as the best team effort he’s been a part of.

Didak, who continued his stellar season with 26 possessions and two goals against the Cats in front of more than 78,000 on Friday night, praised his Magpie team mates for their incredible intensity over four quarters.

“From the start till the end, we played four quarters of hard, tough footy,” Didak told CTV after the game.

“Our pressure around the forward line and midfield which forced them to make turnovers was A-class. I’ve never seen us play that well together.”

The 2006 Copeland Trophy winner was ecstatic, but also a little stunned when discussing the victory in the rooms afterwards.

“We’re obviously a bit surprised, coming away with a 10-goal win against the reigning premiers. We knew if we played four quarters of hard, tough, footy, that we’d be a chance.”

He admitted to feeling a little uneasy when the Cats booted three goals in four minutes at the start of the third term to reduce the margin to 33 points after the Magpies took a 51-point advantage into the main break, but acknowledged the efforts of his team mates to regain control, and was himself responsible for ending the Cats' mini comeback with steadying set-shot goal under pressure sparking a second-half Magpie onslaught.

“I was a bit nervous when they got three in a row in about two minutes. A team like that could easily come back after half time being ten goals down.

“(But) the pressure and intensity to get back in the game, and the steadiness amongst the players was unbelievable.”

Didak has enjoyed a fine season thus far, recapturing his 2006 form and leading the competition in total kicks after eight rounds.

He is now spending more time up the ground, utilising his improved fitness, while still hurting opposition sides with his freakish ability to score and fine disposal.

“I’m trying to get into the midfield but it’s too hard at our club,” he said with a smile. 

“So I try and push up the ground as a half forward, allowing Paul Medhurst and Leon Davis to play pretty deep, and we try and take turns and do our bit for the team.”

With consecutive wins against hardened opponents in St Kilda and Geelong, Collingwood is poised to make a strong challenge on the top bracket of teams with five wins after nine rounds.

Didak knows all the team needs to do is play more consistently at its best and it will be right up there.

“We haven’t really played four quarters of good footy, apart from tonight, and we were a top four team last year, so we’re a good enough team to play well.

“We just haven’t been playing well, so the last two weeks we have played well, and hopefully we can continue it till the split round and after that as well.”