A MAGPIE flock of thousands came together at the club's training oval at Gosch's Paddock yesterday, to bask in the reflected glow of a grand final win.

Purported Collingwood fan Paul Keating wasn't there to proclaim it so, but this was a celebration of victory for the true believers.

Drunk on success - but not on alcohol, as it was a grog-free gathering, thick with children - they roared as their evidently seedy premiership heroes filed on stage, then cheered their every monosyllabic croak in response to master of ceremonies Brian Taylor's gentle questions.

Collingwood cheer squad's Joffa stood out among the two-toned fans in a sharp canary yellow jacket, honouring a promise to retire the famous gold sequined number once the Pies won a flag. Almost certainly wasting his breath, Joffa implored other footy fans to lay off hating Collingwood for a while and to stop peddling negative stereotypes.

''Just let us enjoy it. We deserve to enjoy it. We cop our lot in the football world, the Collingwood people, so this is our time,'' he said.

''The myth that Collingwood people are all unemployed and criminals and ferals, it's just very, very untrue and sometimes very unfair.''

Elsewhere, carer Phil ''the dill from Clifton Hill'' Binney recalled kicking the footy around at Victoria Park with Collingwood legends Bob Rose and Lou Richards as a boy in the 1950s.

''We used to get all the players' autographs. We'd take them home and throw them away! Jeez I wish I had them now,'' Mr Binney said.

The Marino family marked the occasion by adorning their arms with matching spray-on tatts, father Santo declaring the event ''a day never to forget''.

Another young family, the Harters, were at pains to point out that they had made a more permanent sign of their allegiance, by naming their three-year-old son Tarkyn Buckley Harter in honour of two recent Collingwood stars.

PART of the legend that surrounds Collingwood's famous 1990 premiership win involves the chaotic celebrations that followed as much as the victory itself.

The Magpies' old Victoria Park home was overrun back then by a sea of the success-starved faithful, neither club nor fans too concerned about much formal organisation amid the unbridled and alcohol-fuelled delirium.

Yesterday was quite a contrast. With the venue this time the open spaces of Gosch's Paddock, on the corner of one of Melbourne's busiest intersections, Swan Street and Punt Road, the logistics could have been a nightmare. Instead things ran like clockwork.

This family day was alcohol-free. There was plenty of security. Safety barriers. Souvenir stalls. Most impressively, and most unusually for post-grand final celebrations, the new premiership team arrived on stage right on scheduled time.

Not that yesterday's throng was any less thrilled about the breaking of the Magpies' latest premiership drought, 20 years this time after having waited 32 for the previous one. But the mood perhaps reflected the circumstances in which Collingwood's 15th flag was won.

This outpouring wasn't quite so spontaneous. But then neither was this premiership. Indeed, you could argue, it's a triumph that's been more than a decade in the making, from the moment of Eddie McGuire's rise to the Collingwood presidency in 1999, the year the club ''won'' its last wooden spoon.

The feeling among both those up on the stage and the thousands of fans in front of it was more one of satisfaction than euphoria, of entitlement born of a long-term, unwavering commitment. And rightly so. Collingwood worked long and hard for this flag. What it picked up on Saturday afternoon was no more than it thoroughly deserved.

The fans? They had earned it, too, McGuire told them. ''People like to give it to the Collingwood crowd,'' said McGuire, ''but we've had 100,000 at the MCG and 90-odd thousand yesterday, 140,000 for the grand final parade, we've had 15,000 every day at training, and there hasn't been anything knocked over and there hasn't been a blade of grass out of place. The Collingwood Football Club supporters are the heartbeat of the AFL, and you deserve everything you've got.''

The public plaudits were flying left, right and centre. To the players who missed out, particularly veterans Simon Prestigiacomo and Leon Davis, the latter of whom as the Pies' first long-term indigenous player, McGuire said, had ''helped erase a stain on our proud history''.

There were bouquets to sports science director David Buttifant, who not only got the players up and firing for the grand final replay, but has masterminded the gruelling pre-season training camps in Arizona, which have been an integral part of the club's preparation for years now. The large team of assistant coaches got their thank-yous, too. But now three-time premiership coach Mick Malthouse saved his biggest pat on the back for the audience.

''This football club is built on the back of people like you guys, and if we don't recognise that as players and coaching staff, we are sadly misunderstanding what this football club represents,'' he said. ''A football club is only as good as the strength of its army. How many armies are as strong as that of Collingwood?'' Not many, suggested the subsequent roar.

As with most grand finals, some inspirational stories emerged. McGuire informed the crowd that Alan Didak had torn the pectoral muscle from his shoulder in round 21. ''He played through a finals series, including two red-hot grand finals, with an injury which would have put most people on WorkCover for a year.''

Master of ceremonies Brian Taylor asked Luke Ball whether winning a premiership against his old team gave it a little more ''oomph''. ''I've been saying 'no' for 24 hours,'' he conceded, ''but I think in front of this sort of crowd, I can say it certainly did, mate.''

Heath Shaw for a brief moment appeared to have left all humility behind when he called his already-famous chase down of Nick Riewoldt in the goal square ''the smother of the millennium'', before a nice twist of self-deprecation. ''But my man had kicked it to him, so I had to do something.''

Several premiership Pies, like Dale Thomas and Dayne Beams, seemed a little worse for wear. Darren Jolly and Steele Sidebottom had lost their voices. Rookie Jarryd Blair, now with a premiership medallion to go with his status as one of the AFL's smallest players, had a message for his height-challenged brethren: ''There's hope for everyone!''

Harry O'Brien, as you might expect, was feeling the love. What had he said to his teammates last night, Taylor asked. ''I've said 'I love you' probably 200 times,'' he said, smiling.

Captain Nick Maxwell, still yet to remove the jumper in which he'd become only the 10th man to skipper Collingwood to a premiership, downplayed his leadership. ''These guys make it easy. I don't have to do much. I just have to win the toss, and that's something I've done pretty well the last six weeks.''

And he graciously knocked back the opportunity of a loud ''up-yours'' when asked what he had to say about those who had, a couple of years ago, questioned not only whether he deserved to be made Magpie skipper, but whether he even deserved a spot in the side. ''There's probably some humble pie out there,'' was about the biggest brickbat Maxwell could drag out.

Why bother? That argument seems so ludicrous now it barely merits rebutting.

And the Collingwood of today is a more professional, respectful, and yes, humble beast, than the 1990 version.

Those premiership Pies knew they had lucked out, celebrated accordingly, and paid the price in a shocking start to 1991, when they won just three of their first 12 games and ended up missing out on the finals.

You can write your own ticket about that happening in 2011. Collingwood's success this season has been a long time coming. Its list is young, vibrant, and its coaching staff and administration level-headed enough to make sure it doesn't blow a chance to kick-start an era.

The Pies have the taste for this premiership stuff now. And one suspects strongly that their next won't involve a wait of even a couple of seasons, let alone a couple of decades.


Caitlin was looking splendid at Gosch's Paddock in her very own gold jacket the day after our premiership glory.
 EXTERNALLY, it was just Round 19. Internally, it was the moment Collingwood believed it could win the premiership.

Behind-the-scenes the Magpies had been building for two months to this game. It was their Grand Final in August, a dress rehearsal against the reigning champion.

Geelong had been the best for four years. Collingwood thought it had the players and the system to be the best.

After trailing by a point at halftime, the Pies' magic formula kicked in. The result was a 22-point victory, but it was universally agreed it could have been 60.

Collingwood had 37 shots at goal to Geelong's 15.

Publicly, all coach Mick Malthouse would concede was: "They (the Cats) are a proud organisation. I dare say they would be saying, 'It is not the end of the world'.

"We will be saying, 'It is just reinforcement that we are in a massive contest'."

The difference, though, was that Collingwood knew it could win that contest.

Three weeks earlier, at the MCG, the Pies had slayed another demon, smashing St Kilda by 48 points.

Assistant coach Mark Neeld said the change in the mindset of the players was significant after the victories against last year's grand finalists.

"Round 16 and Round 19 were massive, absolutely massive," he said. "It was very important for the belief in what we were doing and how we were doing it.

"Also it was about the belief the players then had in themselves and in each other.

"It showed them that we can beat these blokes and our structures can hold up. It told them: 'We can do this'."

After the previous year's humiliation at the hands of the Cats in the preliminary final, the Magpies knew they couldn't continue to go in with the same personnel.

Veterans such as Leon Davis, Paul Medhurst, Josh Fraser, Shane O'Bree and Tarkyn Lockyer needed to be phased out.

The tipping point for some of them came in the Queen's Birthday holiday draw against Melbourne. Seven players who didn't play on Saturday were involved in that Round 12 game.

Fraser, Davis, Lockyer, Simon Prestigiacomo, Medhurst, Jaxson Barham and Brad Dick ran out against the Demons.

Two weeks later in Sydney after the mid-season break, Fraser, Medhurst and Barham were missing.

Slowly the Pies match committee started to introduce younger legs with fewer convictions and who would play their roles in a team that now lived by its structures.

By the time September came, Medhurst, Fraser and Lockyer were out of the frame and Davis was hanging in by a thread.

He was missing when the Pies took on Geelong in the preliminary final, dropped at the last minute in favour of Tyson Goldsack, a renowned role player at Collingwood.

Everything was in place and, with new-found belief, the Magpies delivered the best half of football seen for some time.

Seven goals to one in the first quarter and a 62-point lead at halftime told the football world that Collingwood was premiership material.

Norm Smith medallist Scott Pendlebury admitted on Saturday night that getting the Cats' scalp made everything real.

"You talk about it all summer, wanting to be this side (that wins the premiership)," he said.

"I suppose the wins - I think it was the second time we played St Kilda and Geelong - that gave the playing group a lot of belief that our structures held up against the best.

"From there that belief drove us a long way."

 

ROUND 1

Collingwood 8.2 10.9 14.13 19.15 (129)

Western Bulldogs 3.2 9.6 11.11 13.15 (93)

Goals: Didak 4, Medhurst 4, Swan 3, Davis 3, Thomas, Anthony, Pendlebury, Wellingham, Cloke.

Best: O'Brien, Swan, Medhurst, Shaw, Maxwell, Didak.

Harry O'Brien was the game's most dominant defender. His influence was most pronounced in the third term when Collingwood regained the ascendancy. He had at least eight opponents and finished with 25 possessions — eight contested — and nine marks.

ROUND 2

Collingwood 2.2 7.5 10.10 12.14 (86)

Melbourne 4.5 6.6 9.11 12.13 (85)

Goals: Anthony 2, Davis 2, Pendlebury 2, Lockyer 2, Beams, Fraser, Medhurst, Cloke.

Best: Beams, Pendlebury, Thomas, Sidebottom, O'Brien, Wellingham.

Collingwood looked like it was struggling to switch on most of the day but simply managed to make fewer mistakes at critical times, and could call on a little more of the "X-factor" via Leon Davis's brilliant and ultimately matchwinning goal.

ROUND 3

St Kilda 2.2 4.5 6.6 10.9 (69)

Collingwood 1.4 4.8 4.14 4.17 (41)

Goals: Didak, Beams, Sidebottom, Cloke.

Best: O'Brien, Wellingham, Cloke, Maxwell, Sidebottom.

A game best remembered for Saint Nick Riewoldt's hamstring injury. The Pies could not kick straight, a problem that would be ongoing this season. O'Brien was again outstanding across half-back while Wellingham showed a glimpse of the form that was to come as the season progressed.

ROUND 4

Collingwood 5.3 10.6 12.17 17.21 (123)

Hawthorn 1.4 2.8 4.9 8.11 (59)

Goals: Thomas 3, Davis 3, Didak 2, Jolly 2, Johnson, Macaffer, Swan, Pendlebury, Sidebottom, Wellingham, Cloke.

Best: Sidebottom, Davis, Maxwell, Wellingham, Thomas.

The ball spent most of the night in the Pies forward line. Frantic pressure and superior workrate locked the ball close to Collingwood's goal and gave the likes of Leon Davis, Dale Thomas and Steele Sidebottom plenty of chances.

ROUND 5

Collingwood 7.5 11.8 17.9 18.12 (120)

Essendon 0.3 4.4 6.5 8.7 (55)

Goals: Cloke 4, Fraser 3, Dawes 2, Pendlebury 2, Wellingham 2, Didak, Toovey, Johnson, Beams, Medhurst.

Best: Pendlebury, Beams, Didak, Thomas, Cloke, Maxwell, Wellingham, Shaw.

Collingwood kicked seven goals to nil in the first quarter, dominating the midfield. The Bombers could not handle the Magpies' extreme pressure.

ROUND 6

Collingwood 4.2 11.6 17.8 24.11 (155)

Carlton 3.2 7.2 13.5 16.6 (102)

Goals: Dawes 3, Ball 3, Medhurst 3, Didak 2, Beams 2, Sidebottom 2, Wellingham 2, Cloke 2, Jolly, Swan, Thomas, O'Brien, Pendlebury.

Best: Swan, Ball, Pendlebury, Didak, Wellingham, Sidebottom, Dawes, Johnson.

Luke Ball enjoyed his best game for the club with hard tackling, good close-in work and then three timely goals. Carlton was within three points at the 17-minute mark of the third quarter when Collingwood's deep midfield wrested back the ascendancy, piling on four quick goals.

ROUND 7

Collingwood 5.4 11.9 18.14 23.19 (157)

North Melbourne 3.2 6.4 11.5 14.7 (91)

Goals: Sidebottom 5, Medhurst 3, Didak 2, Dawes 2, Jolly 2, Davis 2, Toovey, Johnson, Wood, Thomas, Shaw, O'Bree, Cloke.

Best: Swan, Sidebottom, Thomas, Didak, Shaw.

Steele Sidebottom was superb with five goals, his permanent smile growing bigger as the night wore on. The experienced Pies were too classy for a young North Melbourne team that hung on gamely during the first half but was outclassed thereafter.

ROUND 8

Collingwood 7.3 10.9 17.10 20.13 (133)

Fremantle 3.3 9.5 11.5 15.7 (97)

Goals: Cloke 5, Didak 3, Wood 2, Johnson, Macaffer, Beams, Swan, Anthony, Ball, Davis, O'Bree, Pendlebury, Sidebottom.

Best: Cloke, Swan, Thomas, Ball, Didak, Dawes, Beams.

Travis Cloke kicked three before half-time and finished with five for the match, while Swan, Pendlebury and Thomas had plenty of touches. Didak produced some magic in front of goal and Collingwood had all the answers every time Fremantle challenged.

ROUND 9

Geelong 1.3 4.7 9.12 12.14 (86)

Collingwood 1.2 4.2 6.8 6.14 (50)

Goals: Beams 4, Swan, O'Bree.

Best: Beams, Johnson, Swan, Ball, Maxwell.

Dayne Beams single-handedly kept the Pies in the game in the second term by slotting three majors. And it was Beams who kicked the first goal in the third term before Geelong took over. Collingwood finished the match with nine-straight behinds.

ROUND 10

Brisbane Lions 4.4 6.6 9.8 13.10 (88)

Collingwood 6.5 8.9 9.11 11.14 (80)

Goals: Didak 2, Dawes 2, Sidebottom 2, Jolly, Thomas, O'Brien, Anthony, Pendlebury.

Best: Thomas, O'Brien, Pendlebury, Didak, Prestigiacomo, Swan.

Dale Thomas had a personal best 34 touches but Collingwood was no match for power forwards Jonathan Brown and Brendan Fevola, who booted eight between them. Leon Davis and Paul Medhurst fell to injury.

ROUND 11

Collingwood 3.3 8.5 16.7 17.11 (113)

Western Bulldogs 2.2 5.4 10.6 16.7 (103)

Goals: Didak 3, Davis 3, Brown 2, Wellingham 2, Beams, Jolly, Swan, O'Brien, Fraser, Pendlebury, Cloke.

Best: Pendlebury, Davis, Swan, O'Brien, Didak, Ball, Thomas, Toovey.

In a match that many midfielders had spurts of influence, Pendlebury was the most consistent and effective. Collingwood led by 37 points at three-quarter-time but had a significant scare in the final term.

ROUND 12

Collingwood 4.8 5.10 6.19 9.22 (76)

Melbourne 3.2 6.3 7.8 11.10 (76)

Goals: Dick 4, Jolly, Davis, Sidebottom, Cloke, Lockyer.

Best: Swan, Dick, Thomas, O'Brien, Pendlebury, Reid, Lockyer.

Brad Dick played 67 per cent game time in the VFL on the Saturday, and when Alan Didak didn't get up he had the boots on for this Monday encounter, fortunately. His four-goal haul plus four assists made him a threat close to goal that the Magpies sorely missed in their other small forwards.

ROUND 13

Collingwood 3.6 7.11 10.17 13.18 (96)

Sydney 2.3 4.4 6.7 10.11 (71)

Goals: Dawes 3, Sidebottom 2, Cloke 2, Brown 2, O'Brien, Dick, Jolly, Didak.

Best: Prestigiacomo, Shaw, Swan, Pendlebury, Didak, O'Brien, Dawes.

Dane Swan had Kieren Jack for company and the Sydney player started strongly, making the Collingwood man accountable. But as the game wore on, Swan grew more prominent and influential. The Magpies were magnificent in close and easily had more tackles (73-55).

ROUND 14

Collingwood 6.5 9.7 18.9 20.15 (135)

West Coast 0.2 4.4 5.8 7.10 (52)

Goals: Dawes 4, Jolly 4, Didak 3, Beams 2, Swan 2, Pendlebury 2, Lockyer 2, Ball.

Best: Jolly, Beams, Swan, Pendlebury, Shaw, Didak, Dawes, Thomas, Reid.

Darren Jolly came up against his old adversary, Dean Cox, and dominated. Jolly was competitive at centre bounces and stoppages but put the exclamation mark on his game by pushing forward to kick four goals. Didak kicked three in two minutes during the third quarter as West Coast capitulated.

ROUND 15

Collingwood 0.1 7.5 10.8 16.9 (105)

Port Adelaide 5.3 7.5 10.7 12.7 (79)

Goals: Dawes 3, Didak 2, Thomas 2, Blair 2, L Brown 2, Beams, Jolly, Swan, Cloke, Lockyer.

Best: Swan, Pendlebury, Shaw, Thomas, Didak, Reid.

Didak was needed to step up to the challenge with the absence of Leon Davis through injury, and he was instrumental in the Pies' second term recovery after a dreadful start in Mark Williams's last game as Port coach. As usual, Swan and Pendlebury had plenty of it in the midfield.

ROUND 16

Collingwood 4.4 7.7 11.7 15.10 (100)

St Kilda 1.4 3.5 4.11 6.16 (52)

Goals: Macaffer 3, Brown 3, Beams 2, Shaw 2, Dawes, Swan, Ball, Davis, Sidebottom.

Best: Swan, Thomas, Reid, Didak, Brown, Johnson, Pendlebury.

Swan again led the way with 36 disposals, including 10 contested possessions, six clearances and nine inside 50s to be best on ground. The Pies led by 26 points at half-time but could have been further in front. The match was never in doubt.

ROUND 17

Collingwood 6.1 11.3 15.10 19.13 (127)

Richmond 2.2 4.4 6.7 6.9 (45)

Goals: Davis 4, Didak 3, Macaffer 3, L Brown 3, Jolly 2, Dawes, Beams, Swan, Pendlebury.

Best: Swan, Didak, Johnson, L Brown, Goldsack, Reid, Ball, Pendlebury.

Collingwood had the greater appetite for the hard stuff, but also used the ball much, much smarter than its beleaguered opponent. Tyson Goldsack was strong in the air, creative on the rebound, and let loose with a couple of vintage torpedo punts from kick-ins.

ROUND 18

Collingwood 3.5 9.9 11.14 15.15 (105)

Carlton 2.0 2.1 3.2 9.3 (57)

Goals: Beams 3, Davis 3, Didak 2, Dawes 2, Cloke 2, Swan, Pendlebury, Wellingham.

Best: Swan, O'Brien, Didak, Pendlebury, Ball, Wellingham, Beams.

Travis Cloke kicked five behinds before registering a goal as the Pies proved far too classy for the old foe. The half-back line was almost impossible to pass and, during the second term in particular, pushed high up the ground, cutting off any Carlton attempt to clear the ball.

ROUND 19

Collingwood 4.5 8.9 12.15 14.23 (107)

Geelong 3.1 9.4 11.8 12.13 (85)

Goals: Beams 3, Wellingham 2, Cloke 2, Didak, Johnson, Macaffer, Jolly, Swan, Thomas, L Brown.

Best: Swan, Didak, Pendlebury, Wellingham, O'Brien.

Collingwood controlled the game, if not always the scoreboard. The Pies were harder at it, and their fierce defensive pressure forced Geelong into many uncharacteristic errors. The Woods had a whopping 66 inside 50s compared to 37.

ROUND 20

Collingwood 8.2 14.5 20.11 24.18 (162)

Essendon 3.0 5.0 7.2 10.4 (64)

Goals: Cloke 5, Macaffer 3, L Brown 3, Didak 2, Dawes 2, Jolly 2, Swan 2, Blair 2, Beams, Thomas, Shaw.

Best: Cloke, Pendlebury, Swan, Jolly, Blair, Wellingham, Macaffer, Thomas.

Total annihilation. It began with a dominant midfield, was supported by a solid and reliable defence even without two of the better performers of recent weeks, Ben Reid and Tyson Goldsack, and was finished off with forwards who were converting with rare efficiency.

ROUND 21

Collingwood 1.3 3.5 4.10 6.18 (54)

Adelaide 3.3 4.7 6.8 7.9 (51)

Goals: Thomas 2, L Brown 2, Didak, Cloke.

Best: Jolly, Pendlebury, Thomas, Ball, Wellingham, Didak, Macaffer.

Collingwood, behind since the two-minute mark of the first quarter, was strangely lacking in intensity for most of the night but regained it late, eventually getting back in front a minute before time-on. The Magpies finally made the inexperienced Crows panic enough in the last quarter to confirm their top-placing for the finals.

ROUND 22

Hawthorn 1.1 3.5 9.7 15.8 (98)

Collingwood 1.5 4.10 10.12 13.17 (95)

Goals: Jolly 2, Blair 2, Davis 2, Dawes, Beams, Swan, Shaw, Ball, Sidebottom, Cloke.

Best: Swan, Pendlebury, Beams, Ball, Jolly, Wellingham.

The Pies again had more opportunities but could not bury Hawthorn. Beams had a shot with less than a minute to go to steal a win. He missed.

QUALIFYING FINAL

Collingwood 3.6 7.15 11.18 17.22 (124)

Western Bulldogs 0.5 3.7 5.11 8.14 (62)

Goals: Swan 3, Sidebottom 3, Didak 2, L Brown 2, Pendlebury 2, Dawes, Jolly, Thomas, Davis, Cloke.

Best: Swan, Pendlebury, Maxwell, Reid, Thomas, Toovey.

Inaccurate kicking again stopped this from being a complete shellacking. Swan was outstanding again, racking up 17 possessions by half-time and finishing with three goals.

PRELIMINARY FINAL

Collingwood 7.2 13.7 16.11 18.12 (120)

Geelong 1.1 3.5 6.10 11.13 (79)

Goals: Cloke 3, Swan 2, Pendlebury 2, Sidebottom 2, Wellingham 2, Didak, Johnson, Macaffer, Dawes, Beams, Thomas, L Brown.

Best: Pendlebury, Swan, Didak, L Brown, Maxwell, Toovey.

The Pies' first quarter was stunning in all respects, from the ferocious defensive pressure that had Geelong constantly turning the ball over, to, unusually, their conversion of opportunities — 7.2. It was never in doubt.

GRAND FINAL I

Collingwood 4.2 7.8 7.13 9.14 (68)

St Kilda 3.2 4.2 7.5 10.8 (68)

Goals: Cloke 2, Didak, Macaffer, Jolly, Thomas, O'Brien, Blair, Davis.

Best: Thomas, Maxwell, Shaw, Swan, Sidebottom, Pendlebury.

Collingwood dominated the second quarter to lead comfortably at half-time. Then the Saints worked their way back into the match through Hayes and Goddard. Dale Thomas and Nick Maxwell were mighty for the Pies all day.

GRAND FINAL II

Collingwood 3.2 6.5 11.8 16.12 (108)

St Kilda 0.2 1.8 4.9 7.10 (52)

Goals: Didak 2, Macaffer 2, Dawes 2, Sidebottom 2, Wellingham 2, Johnson, Jolly, Swan, Thomas, O'Brien, Goldsack.

Best: Pendlebury, Ball, Sidebottom, Jolly, Shaw, Thomas, N Brown, Wellingham, Swan.

Although there was an argument that the younger Collingwood legs might play a critical role in yesterday's replay, few believed this would be a game won by a lot. But the Pies' ferocity took a real toll on the Saints, and once it became clear they wouldn't be buckling to pressure this time, the gap grew and grew, a 56-point result a fair old spanking.