Geelong
Our New Bitch
Here at the joffasfrontpage Editorial desk it was decided unaminously to create a page 7 August 2010 in recognition of one of our greatest wins in modern times.
The Pies sit clear on top. The doubters doubted but the magpies convincingly beat Geelong in front of a grand final crowd at the MCG.
Sure this was not a grand final nor was it a premiership but indeed it was a night Collingwood laid claim that it was a serious genuine premiership contender in 2010.
The bottom line to all this is we've waited some twenty long years to see a collingwood team such as this one.
IT was the dream match-up we all wanted; in the game we had craved for weeks.
It was almost as if Dane Swan and Gary Ablett could sense the importance of the occasion a few seconds before the opening siren.
As it became clear the individual pairing was on, they both reached over and gave each other a pat on the shoulder, almost as if to say "may the best man win".
Then Swan and Ablett spent the best part of the next two-and-a-bit hours running and rotating off each other in what was the most intriguing individual contest of last night's big match.
Geelong coach Mark Thompson had teased all week about the plans he had to try to stop Swan's renowned running capabilities and his incredible capacity to get his hands on the Sherrin.
The early plan clearly revolved around Ablett.
Last year's Brownlow Medal winner and the man capable of winning it this season went at for most of the first half, and it was Ablett who spent most of the night running and trying to block Swan when he had the chance.
Ablett had four touches early, and helped to set-up the Cats' first goal through Mathew Stokes, which coincided with Swan's first interchange breather.
Then, the Cats star went statless for 12 minutes in the middle stages of the opening term, as Swan began to get his hands on the football almost at will.
It was 11-8 on the stats count at the first change between the AFL's two most prolific ball-winners.
By half-time, the ledger was almost even. They had spent almost half an hour playing on each other, of the 61 minutes elapsed. Swan had 18 touches to Ablett's 15, but on a pure head-to-head basis, they were locked on 10 disposals each.
Each had a goal at that stage, but the symmetry was such that neither was playing on the other when those two goals were kicked.
Ablett's came when he spent a few moments resting in attack. It was from a mark 35m out, when he outmanoeuvred Harry O'Brien to put the Cats in front by a solitary point at the 21-minute-mark of the second term.
Almost on cue, Swan responded two minutes later, almost relieved that Ablett was down the other end in attack.
Ablett may have been wondering where Swan was at the start of the second half. The AFL's most-interchanged player started the term on the bench and was there for almost the first six minutes.
By that stage, the Cats had wrenched back from the Magpies with a goal to Stokes and when Steve Johnson made the difference eight points halfway through the term, it looked ominous.
But the Magpies were not to be outdone. Four goals in the last 14 minutes of the third term took the Magpies out to a 13-point three-quarter time lead.
Swan and Ablett kept that intensity going into the final term, though as the game wore on, so did the distance between them on the field.
You can hardly blame either, for that as it was exhaustive stuff.
They ran a lot wider of each other throughout a fair slice of the second half, with other players in the mix. But when the final siren sounded, fittingly, there were just a few metres from each other.
And such was the measure of respect that both players have for each other, they shared a quick hug and another pat on the back.
Both Swan and Ablett know - as do the two teams - that there will almost certainly be another meeting next month.
Scoreboard:
COLLINGWOOD 4.5 8.9 12.15 14.23 (107)
GEELONG 3.1 9.4 11.8 12.13 (85)
Goals: Collingwood: D Beams 3 S Wellingham 2 T Cloke 2 A Didak B Johnson B Macaffer D Jolly D Swan D Thomas L Brown. Geelong: M Stokes 3 S Johnson 2 G Ablett J Corey J Podsiadly J Selwood P Chapman S Byrnes T Varcoe.
Best: Collingwood: A Didak D Swan D Thomas H O'Brien S Prestigiacomo S Wellingham D Jolly. Geelong: T Varcoe G Ablett P Chapman D Milburn J Kelly.
Umpires: Matt Stevic, Brett Rosebury, Shane McInerney.
Official Crowd: 84,401 at Melbourne Cricket Ground.
VIEWED from the city, the MCG at night fills the eastern skyline, like the Colosseum seen from the Roman Forum. Last night, it was the place where all roads led, for the clash between Collingwood and Geelong, first and second on the AFL ladder.
On ABC radio, football thinker Chris Connolly stylised it colourfully as the matador versus the bull. It captured the mood of the night perfectly. The match began with an act of gallantry almost mediaeval by modern standards, as cornerstone players Dane Swan and Gary Ablett gave each other a pat on the back for luck. So it became a matter of may the best man win.
The best of the past four years has been Geelong, the matador. The best this season is Collingwood, the bull. All this night, the bull rumbled and the matador feinted and flourished.
The "inside 50" count is a measure of where the game is played. Collingwood led it 66-37 last night. The Magpies snorted and pawed and charged, the Cats ducked and evaded and taunted. It meant that for all its territorial advantage, the match became a question of whether Collingwood would gore Geelong to death piece by piece, or whether the Cats would deliver the triumphant coup de grace. It would not be resolved until late in the last quarter.
This was a contest even other gladiators would not miss. Among nearly 85,000 rushing to get in was Simon Colosimo, captain of fledgling Melbourne Heart, a well-travelled Melburnian never happier to be back in his home town than on nights like this.
Collingwood broke the match open with four goals in a row. Geelong, circling artfully, kicked eight of the next nine to lead by two goals. It should have been three; Shannon Byrnes had a legal goal disallowed by a nervy goal umpire who thought, incorrectly, he had poked his foot over the line. More will be heard of this. The bull looked like dead meat then. But it rallied to kick the next five goals of the match. The fifth was a left-foot snap by bull-sized ruckman Darren Jolly six minutes into the last quarter. It wasn't the winning goal, but it was emblematic of the night.
Lamed matador and tiring bull lunged in vain at each other several more times, but missed; there would be only one more goal each for the match. Nonetheless, it had been an epic.
Only in one detail did the bull-and-matador metaphor fall down. In a bullfight, defeat is usually final, especially for the bull. Last night, whatever the outcome, there would always be a tomorrow for the loser. It's next month, in the finals.
As Fremantle and Hawthorn fade, it seems more certain than ever that the premiership pennant will be a duel to the death between these two teams and St Kilda and the Bulldogs, as it was last year.
This was a momentous victory for Collingwood, but it was not a premiership. Even as the Magpies took their bow
and the Cats retreated to lick their wounds, this will have figured in the thinking of both clubs. This time, the bull won, a rarity. But the matador lives to fight another day.
The mighty magpie army winners circle.
The biggest of all time, In the dark shadows of our Ponsford Stand they came and came to pay homage to sing to chant to celebrate Collingwood's win over Geelong.
Jonty was pumped after the victory.
Everyone was pumped it's been a long time since i've seen the magpie army so excited.
These lads were very rowdy i needed a panadol after this pic.
The girls were pretty happy as well.
The pic of the hats but i like mine better!
With Jen and Nick who from Geelong.
Hello Joffa,
Great win over the Cats last night. A good friend and I were up from Hobart, Tassie, to see the game with a few other mates. What a win - bring on the fiinals!
Speaking of my mate, he's a rabid Pies supporter (he's painted 15 metre high 'Go Pies' signs on his factory roof - I'm sure he can muster a few photos for you). In fact, most all of our circle of friends are Pies supporter. We have our own 'home and away' games, being we alternate weekends at each others house for the game! We all get together with kids, family and plenty of friends to watch another weekend in the pies legacy.
Anyway, I've attached the picture with you from last night - many thanks for your time. Sure seemed you were busy with everyone after a pic! Best of luck with your endeavours, the movie and the foundation work.
For the love of PIES GLORY!
Nick Keats
This Pic was sent in from Craig. Well done girls. Go Pies.
