> Mick Malthouse fronts the media after the loss


BITTERLY disappointed Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse has offered a damning assessment of his players after his side was over-powered by the Western Bulldogs on Sunday evening.

The Bulldogs leapfrogged the Pies into third place on the ladder with the 24-point win, and Malthouse was in no mood to put a positive spin on proceedings at Etihad Stadium when he spoke after the match.

"I honestly cannot think right now – and I'm probably not thinking as clearly as I should – of any player who definitely won on the night. How do you win games like that? You can't," Malthouse mused.

"I know this might be an overstatement … but I can't think right now of any clear winners.

"I thought our backs got muddled. Generally they are very, very good at knowing the opposition. We know sides are going to slide players back and forth and all that sort of stuff, but I just thought our backs were off.

"We were very, very poor in the middle and I thought our forward line just didn't function at all.

"The result was indicative of that."

> Nick Maxwell speaks to CTV in the rooms after the Round 22 match

Malthouse disagreed when it was put to him that the match was played with a finals-like intensity and theorised that both sets of players were more focused on the result "as opposed to the mechanics of the game".

The Pies will now take on minor premiers St Kilda at the MCG on Sunday after seemingly having a lock on third spot for much of the season, but Malthouse wasn't about to get drawn into what might have been.

"You don't go to play a side or avoid a side. If you're in that frame of mind you haven't got faith in your group," he said.

"The cards that fall to you are the cards that you play – you don't start worrying about anyone else's cards."

Collingwood went into the final round of the home and away season with the confidence that winning 12 of 13 games brings, but now finds itself looking for answers in a very short period of time.

"It's not the ideal situation," agreed Malthouse. "You lose your momentum and that's something that we didn't want and we didn't need.

"[But] it's not the first time a side in the top-four has lost … it's probably a good reminder of how we were able to get into the top four in the first place.

"To lower our standards in so many aspects of the game, I don't know whether you'd call it a concern, but it's simply a gentle reminder or a decent nudge that we need to be a hell of a lot better." 

With a week to work, with Malthouse will look at all his options which include making bold decisions at the selection table.

"The better part [of our situation] is that our reserves won very, very well," he said ominously.

"There are a lot of players that have performed on a very good level for the last probably four or five weeks.

"Players that played well yesterday [in the VFL] will all be considered – we'll go in with the best form side we possibly can."

Leigh Brown (ill) and Scott Pendlebury (back spasm) were both late withdrawals for the match. Brown will be available next week, but Malthouse was unsure of Pendlebury's status.