This year marks 25 years in the tight, tense and sometimes tempestuous on-field relationship of Collingwood and West Coast.

And it seems fitting that Saturday night's semi-final clash at the MCG will add to the already rich September stories between the two sides.

If history has anything to do with it, it could well be another close encounter of the Magpies and the Eagles kind.

Watch the tense finish to the 2007 Semi Final against West Coast on CTV in the video above.

Of the five finals that the two teams have played so far, there have been two draws (though one was decided in extra time) and another clash decided by two points.

The first drawn game between Collingwood and West Coast - the qualifying final in 1990 - would prove to be the trigger that convinced the AFL to change the rules in terms of finals other than the Grand Final being forced into extra time. This was to avoid the scheduling nightmares that happened at the time - for the football clubs and their fans.

Incredibly, the two teams played out a gripping semi-final draw 17 years after this, bringing about only the second extra-time final in history.

Here is a snapshot of the five finals Collingwood and West Coast have played against each other since the Eagles came into the competition in 1987.
 
'ONE OF THE GUTSIEST WINS'
September 10, 2010
Qualifying Final, MCG
Collingwood 12.10 (82) d West Coast 9.8 (62)
 
MICK Malthouse labelled last year's 20-point qualifying final win over West Coast as "one of the gutsiest performances since I've been at the football club".

On face value, you might say those words were an overstatement. But think back to last September, and recall just how underdone some members of the Magpie outfit were in terms of game time, and just how impressive the Eagles were, and you might come to understand what Malthouse was getting at.

The Magpies had finished on top with the Eagles a surprising fourth place, yet this match was a tough struggle all day.

The Collingwood defence held up magnificently, despite a less than ideal preparation leading into the contest.

Heath Shaw hadn't played for two months due to his betting suspension. Nick Maxwell hadn't played in a month. Others such as Alan Toovey, Leon Davis and Chris Tarrant had overcome injuries and had had limited game time when they took on the tall Eagles' attack.

So concerned was Malthouse that one of his defenders might come unstuck that day that he didn't bring substitute Alex Fasolo onto the field until there was only five minutes left to go. Asked which of the backmen he was most concerned about, Malthouse said: "Quite frankly, every one of them."

He need not have worried. Each stood up strong and somehow they were able to restrict the West Coast forwards to only nine goals for the game.

At the other end, Sharrod Wellingham was Collingwood's unlikely goal source, kicking three of the club's 12 goals, the same figure as Quinten Lynch.

In what was Alan Didak's 200th game in black and white, the Eagles stole an early march on the Magpies and even led at quarter-time by eight points.

But a six-goal second term (two of them from Wellingham) opened up a 13-point half-time lead for Collingwood. By that stage, Scott Pendlebury had already had 25 touches and he would end the game with 38. Dane Swan went five better, having 43 possessions, with Shaw and Harry O'Brien having 30 each.

And that lead was pushed out even further in the third term as Collingwood asserted its authority. By the last change, the difference was 26 points.

But while it looked like being a stress-free win, particularly when Dean Cox was subbed out of the game at three-quarter-time, West Coast kept coming in the last term. Back to back goals to Lynch early in the last term and then a goal from Jack Darling at the 20-minute-mark had the difference at only seven points.

Fortunately, and to the relief of many of the 67,379 fans, a Luke Ball snap all but iced the game with two minutes left, and then Fasolo kicked a goal after the siren.

Yes, the final margin was 20 points, but it seemed a little tighter than that, with Malthouse saying after the game that it had been a very tough encounter.

The happiest man at the MCG was Shaw, who was desperate to prove himself to his teammates again. In the rooms after the game, as Collingwood starting looking ahead to a preliminary final, Shaw said: "It means everything to me to be back in the team."
 
'THE SKY'S THE LIMIT'.
September 14, 2007
Semi-Final, Subiaco
Draw: Collingwood 10.12 (72) drew with West Coast 10.12 (72)
Extra time: Collingwood 13.15 (93) d West Coast 10.14 (74)
 
For only the second time in history, extra time was required to decide a final in what was one of the most remarkable finals in recent memory.

Twenty-seven years on from the first finals draw between these two sides, which changed the rules in terms of extra time, and 23 years on from the first extra time final played between North Melbourne and Hawthorn in 1994, this was a night of high drama at Subiaco.

Collingwood was not given a lot of hope in taking on and beating the reigning premier on its own patch for this second semi-final, but Mick Malthouse insisted pre-game that his team was more than capable of bringing about an upset victory.

It did. But it was much harder and much more dramatic than anyone could have envisaged.

There was drama even before the game started with Josh Fraser and Beau Waters being late withdrawals from their respective sides, while David Wirrpanda injured himself in the warm-up.

All eyes were on Nathan Buckley, in what would prove to be his penultimate game for Collingwood. Having battled hamstring issues in the latter stages of his career, it was a huge achievement for the skipper to even be out there that night.

Collingwood brought about the first goal-less first term for West Coast on their home ground and even carried a seven-point lead into quarter-time. But by half-time, the Eagles had wrested back the lead, carrying a three-point break into the long interval.

Many thought that would be the end of the Magpie resistance and that's the way it looked for a time.

West Coast opened up a 21-point lead during the third term and what was a brave Collingwood effort looked like ending in a defeat for a time.

But a couple of things changed all that.

For a start, Eagles coach John Worsfold gave ruckman Dean Cox and defender Darren Glass a critical rest late in the third term, which Malthouse said proved to be "a highly significant" move. As the two sat on the bench, Collingwood kicked three late goals, two of them to Glass' opponent, Anthony Rocca.

The other thing was this Collingwood team never knew when to give in. They kept coming and coming.

In the frantic last term a long goal to Matt Rosa at the 23-minute-mark made it tough before Dale Thomas answered with one of his own. Then a behind to Andrew Embley levelled the scores with less than two minutes left.

The siren brought about five minutes either end with the winner set to gain passage to play Geelong in a preliminary final. And it was clearly Collingwood who proved to be the fitter side, booting three "extra time" goals to nil - through Chris Bryan, Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury.

Malthouse said after the match: "The sky's the limit for this side." Alan Didak summed it up: "We came over as underdogs, no one gave us a chance and we got up and won."

But the Magpies went home in style, flying on $50,000 private charter at low altitude with reduced cabin pressure - all aimed at having the players primed and ready to take on Geelong in what would prove to be another dramatic final a week later.
 
'SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR'
September 11, 1994
Qualifying Final, WACA
Collingwood 12.8 (80) lost to West Coast 11.16 (82)
 
LEIGH Matthews gave each member of the 1994 Collingwood team a book before boarding a flight to Perth to tackle premiership favourites West Coast in the 1994 fourth qualifying final at the WACA.

It was a Michael Jordan book titled: "I Cannot Accept Not Trying".

By the end of the week, it would sum up the Magpies as they almost pulled off a remarkable heist in hostile territory. The odds were stacked against them as they had scrapped into the finals only on percentage and had been drawn to play the top side in what was a very different finals system in those days.

But rather than be intimidated this Collingwood side - comprising many of its 1990 premiership heroes - fought hard in what was Tony Shaw's 313th and final game in black and white.

Sadly for Shaw, his afternoon was cut short due to a calf injury suffered in the first term, leaving him with only three possessions.

But his team - led by the captain Gavin Brown - responded magnificently.
Trailing all afternoon - by 12 points at quarter-time, 14 at half-time and 24 at three quarter-time - it was always going to be a tough ask, but Collingwood fought valiantly in the final term, kicking six straight goals (three of them to Brown) to almost cause a massive boilover.

And when Jason McCartney scored a goal from almost 50m deep into the last term, the difference was back to two points with time running out.
In a last charge forward Paul Williams stormed through the middle of the ground, launching the ball into the attacking zone.

For a brief moment it appeared as if Mick McGuane was going to take a chest mark, but it spilled out and the siren sounded on Collingwood's brave effort.

That wasn't the end of it, though, with Eagles captain John Worsfold verbally giving it to McGuane and to other Magpie players after the home side’s two-point win.

As Shaw said after the match: "The blokes know what John has said, and whether it turns around on him is another thing . . ."

On being restricted to the sidelines for most of the game, he said: "It's very hard sitting on your bum like that when one of the best efforts in finals history is taking place. My biggest regret is not being part of the great effort." It was one of the few times of his career that injury stopped Shaw.

The image of a teary Tony Shaw being comforted as he came off the ground by 22-year-old Nathan Buckley represented in some ways a changing of the guard at Collingwood, though it would be eight more years before the club made the finals.
 
'THE DRAW AND THE REPLAY'
September 8, 1990
Qualifying final, Waverley Park
Collingwood 13.12 (90) drew with West Coast 13.12 (90)
 
September 15, 1990
Qualifying final, Waverley Park
Collingwood 19.12 (126) d West Coast 9.13 (67)
 
Few matches change the course of AFL history, but the first one in this bracket actually did.

After the fixturing and scheduling nightmare that happened after the 1990 qualifying final, the AFL (which had changed its name from the VFL that season) would eventually come to the conclusion it would need to re-write the rules to ensure all drawn finals - except the Grand Final - needed to be decided in extra time.

It came after a tense afternoon at Waverley where the Magpies held sway for much of the afternoon before a late surge from the Eagles threatened to steal the contest right at the end.

The two teams had gone into the game 1-1 in terms of the home-and-away season.

The first came in Round 1 when the Magpies travelled to Perth, but were smashed by 46 points in a miserable 21st birthday for first-gamer Tony Francis, who was suspended for six weeks for kicking. The return game at Victoria Park ended in a 26-point point win for the home side.

Few people expected the Eagles to challenge the Magpies when it came to a final in Victoria. But they did, and only a missed kick at the end stopped them from causing an all-mighty upset.

Collingwood had controlled much of the early play in the first match, though could not translate it onto the scoreboard. A wasteful 3.6 in the opening quarter and 4.5 in the second summed it up, with full-forward Brian Taylor hitting the post and not making the most of a few other chances.

Surprisingly, Taylor was benched by Leigh Matthews. By half-time, the Magpies had had 18 scoring shots to 11, but led by only two goals.

The third term was an arm-wrestle throughout, with little between the two sides at the last change.

Darren Millane had been outstanding (carrying a broken thumb as he did through the entire finals series), Tony Shaw was tireless, Graeme Wright and Tony Francis were giving plenty of drive and Peter Daicos and Gavin Brown were dangerous in attack.

The final term was incredible. Brett Heady and Chris Lewis scored early for the Eagles before Matthews undid his decision on Taylor and brought him back onto the field when some wondered if his afternoon was over. It worked.

Taylor kicked a goal almost immediately and was then paid a free kick that had Eagles fans and their coach Mick Malthouse fuming, from which he kicked another goal.

Then came one of the best moments in Collingwood finals history - Brown attacked the ball with ferocity, gave it off to Millane who handballed to Daicos. Instinctively, magically, almost inconceivably, Daicos threw the ball onto his boot and goaled with a right foot banana from the wrong side.

It remains one of the most revered and remarkable of Daicos' 549 goals and there were few that were more important.

In the end, it all came down to one kick - Peter Sumich had the ball less than 20m out in the pocket. But his kick went to the wrong side of the goal post - or the right side, if you are a Collingwood supporter. And it brought about the first finals draw since the 1977 Grand Final - meaning a replay would be required the following week.

Since a finals draw hadn't happened in 13 years, no one knew which side would have the advantage. The certainty was that Essendon, who had been premiership favourite for much of the year, was at a massive disadvantage as it would have to go another week without a match.

Matthews cheekily put that view across at his after-match press conference.
If the Bombers were starting to get a little worried, then Collingwood's commanding 59-point win over West Coast in the qualifying final replay only increased the pressure.

It came off the back of an eight-goal first term. Matthews had dropped Taylor - he wouldn't play for the Magpies again - but that didn't stop the forward line from functioning so effectively against the Eagles in the return match that it booted 19 goals.

Brown and Daicos kicked four each and the game was never in any doubt.

For as close as Collingwood had come to a potentially crippling first finals loss in 1990 - and it all came down to Sumich's miss - they were back on track the following week in their seemingly fated quest to break a 32-year premiership drought.

The Magpies wouldn't look back. Successive wins against Essendon in the second semi-final and the Grand Final were, likewise, never in doubt.