1. Hot Pies
It took Collingwood nine minutes to find a major, but by then the writing was on the wall. The Pies entered the game having won just one opening quarter for the season – against Essendon on ANZAC Day – but burst out of the blocks against the Lions, though. By the time they'd kick their first, the Pies had a good grip on the contest, and had already amassed nine inside 50s to one, for one goal, five behinds. Pleasingly for Nathan Buckley, it was his midfield stars who led the way, with Scott Pendlebury (13 possessions), Adam Treloar (11) and Steele Sidebottom (nine) setting the scene.
2. What now for Leppa?
He entered the season as the coach most under pressure – in the eyes of the media, at least. Despite the disaster that was this match against the Pies, it should be noted the Lions have shown improvement. They ran with ladder-leaders North Melbourne for much of their round two contest and were unlucky not to take home the points against the Swans just a fortnight ago. Last week's capitulation to Port Adelaide into the abomination against the Pies undoes much of what could have been claimed as improvement for the season. Justin Leppitsch put the acid squarely on his midfield in the wake of the Port loss and outside the always-spirited Mitch Robinson and Dayne Zorko's willingness to put his body on the line, there was barely a ripple of response from their teammates, especially when the heat was on before half-time.
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3. The big American played his best game
At half-time, Mason Cox led the Brisbane Lions 3.1 (19) to 3.0 (18). He finished with four goals and a sore hand, thanks to Darcy Moore landing on it in the third quarter. It was Cox's most commanding performance for the year and will give Magpies fans something to ponder when they inevitably ask whether the experiment will work long-term. Strong in the air, Cox had opponent Daniel Merrett searching the entire catalogue of his 188 games to find answers – answers which evaded him for most of the night. Cox was helped by a forward line which appeared to function as well as it has for quite some time, probably stretching back into 2015.
4. Travis Varcoe may have a big say in Collingwood's fortunes
Minutes before the bounce, Buckley told the host broadcaster of his pleasure at having Travis Varcoe's run back into the team. Running out for just the third time this season, and the first time since round five, Varcoe was part of a large contingent of Pies prepared to run the footy from defence and kick through the Lions' midfield, and his kicking and decision-making (while rarely under much duress, it must be said) were good throughout. Varcoe's instinct up forward hasn't left him, either, as he showed with a clever goal in the third quarter.
5. Bring on the Cats
Let's not forget the Pies entered the match under arguably more pressure than the Lions, especially when it came to the coach, who was the victim of another drive-by by his former boss, Mick Malthouse. Former skipper Nick Maxwell added to the storm on Friday night, when he told Melbourne radio SEN he felt the Pies were absolutely shot of all confidence. So a trip out of town to collect four points and load up on confidence thanks to a large group of key players finding some of their best footy for the season might be just the thing to stiffen Collingwood nerves before a meeting with the rampaging Cats at the MCG next Saturday afternoon. The Magpies midfield, so potent and in control against the Lions, face a much tougher fight against Geelong's deep resources, but they do so with a month of good form behind their skipper and recruit Adam Treloar entrenched as one of the form players of season 2016.
