COLLINGWOOD 6.5 12.12 16.16 23.21 (159)
PORT ADELAIDE 0.1 1.2 2.2 3.3 (21)

GOALS Collingwood: Blair 4, Beams 3, Swan 3, Cloke 3, Krakouer 2, Brown 2, Fasolo, Ball, Jolly, Rounds, Pendlebury, Sidebottom Port Adelaide: Banner 2, Stewart.

BEST Collingwood: Blair, Swan, Beams, Thomas, Davis, Wood, Pendlebury. Port Adelaide: Boak, Hartlett, K Cornes, Banner, Cassisi.

INJURIES Port Adelaide: Rodan (omitted) replaced in selected side by Jason Davenport (sub).

UMPIRES Ryan, Hay, Chamberlain.
CROWD 21,863 at AAMI Stadium.

UNFOUNDED reports had Collingwood cheer squad hero Joffa raising his "Game Over" sign after the toss before last night's clash with Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium.

After the Magpies handed out one of the most punishing performances in its immensely proud history - this was their third biggest win, an astonishing 138-point romp in wet, miserable conditions, after leading by 76 points at half-time - you may ask why Joffa took so long.

Port kicked just 3.3 (21), its lowest ever score, and the margin was its greatest ever defeat, surpassing its 119-point loss to Geelong in the 2007 grand final. It was a sensational effort by Collingwood, and don't let its opponent's shameful ineptness take any shine off its victory. This was top versus bottom and few could have imagined the gap could be so great.

Geelong crushed Melbourne by 186 points the previous round, and earlier yesterday Gold Coast by 150.

These huge margins have raised some serious issues. A bottom side hadn't beaten the top side since round nine 2005, when Collingwood (remember its bad days?) came from behind at three-quarter time to beat the then unbeaten West Coast by 23 points.

And this was possibly Port's weakest side since joining the AFL in 1997. Again, we ask Joffa, why the delay?

When Dayne Beams kicked one goal and set up two others after only six minutes, the signs were ominous. Port was held to a rushed behind, scored 18 seconds before quarter time, and trailed 12.12 to a club-record low 1.2 at half-time. The scoreboard showed a reduction in the onslaught in the second half, but Collingwood used the opportunity to test its so-called lesser-lights, who stood up magnificently.

Oh, this was a mismatch, but not for one minute did Collingwood appear to approach the game any differently. The usual intensity was there, indeed the brilliance in very trying conditions. We know how good the Pies are, but to have this immensely professional attitude when it would have been so easy to go through the motions and still win so easily, tells you something extra about them - nothing we ever doubted, really.

Port, with its resolute champion Chad Cornes playing his 239th - and last - game, one expected something better from the home team, albeit without its four first-pick players. Its skill level was deplorable, and for long periods lazy by not chasing hard enough or matching up.

Port should have walked off with a clear understanding of the level required to be the best; Collingwood's highlight reel went for 120 minutes.

The difference between top and bottom was emphasised in the first term when Tyson Goldsack kicked from the outer wing, found Ben Johnson, to Dane Swan who found Andrew Krakouer, who shrugged off two opponents, to Alex Fasolo, to Leigh Brown, to Steele Sidebottom, and finally to Swan who kicked a goal. That's seven players working incredibly hard and not one Port player doing enough to stop them. Footy at its best, they call it, but basically it was sheer desperation, hard work and skills under pressure; qualities presented so often by this champion side.

But we also discovered the Pies are human, with Swan, who gathered 37 disposals, missing a set shot for goal, and Jarryd Blair, who was magnificent, taking 17 steps into an easy goal, only to be pinged for running too far. At least it gave the coach something to get excited about.

When Daniel Stewart became the first Port player to goal, on the stroke of half-time, the crowd roared, and you had to feel for the home fans who braved the conditions to watch Cornes end his outstanding career.

For as long as they live, they will remember the night the Collingwood machine chewed up the Power and showed us how far apart the top and bottom sides have become. Records were broken and spirits were shattered, yet they remained until the end. A better effort than their players.

Rare chance

It was a big night for Cameron Wood, who was playing just his second game for the season, and 14th in seven seasons. Wood certainly made the most of his chance, and matched it with teammate Darren Jolly as the best ruckman on the night.

Terrific Taz

Chris Tarrant played his 250th AFL game last night, at full-back against Chad Cornes playing his last game. The ball didn't get down that end too much, but when it did the rejuvenated Magpie had the edge. Tarrant, 30, played 161 games for the Pies from 1998-2006, and since returning from Fremantle where he played 72 games in four seasons, has played another 17 for Collingwood.

Rounds one

Luke Rounds, 20, one of four Collingwood debutants this season, got another chance last night. In his fourth game, he was thrown into the centre after half-time and within minutes had kicked his first AFL goal.

Riding high: Collingwood’s Chris Tarrant is carried from the field after his 250th game last night. Photo: David Mariuz

It was both their greatest losing margin and lowest score, but the wounds are deeper than that.

Questions will be flowing in furiously and fast from this point. What does Port Adelaide stand for - and with the list at hand, when can they realistically be expected to be competitive in the national competition again?

On last night's efforts, they not only deserve the wooden spoon but were also shown how many light years they are from the best. So much for a bit of spark in premiership player Chad Cornes's final game.

The Pies continued the late-season competition theme of the top-liners embarrassing the battlers by not only blowing them away early in games but also questioning any argument for a longer AFL season.

More matches like this - and there have been a few in recent weeks - is beginning to become a blight on what is supposedly an elite competition.

Collingwood smashed them in every department: they had better run, better numbers around contests, better vision, stronger bodies, better skills and sharper minds. The Power has been a rabble before - most notably in the 2007 Grand Final - but there was echoing sentiment around the terraces that this was their most pitiful performance.

For the Pies, it was a training run, and it looked like they took the foot of the pedal for the second half. Presumably, it was for preservation ahead of the finals rather than any pity.

You knew it was a completed transaction when Travis Cloke barely wrinkled his forehead after a casual shot for goal halfway through the first quarter; it was confirmed by Jarryd Blair's second goal in the 28th minute.

At that stage, neither he nor his teammates bothered to celebrate the goals and there were more than three quarters to go.

From there, it was as though they were trying to come up with fresh ways to kick goals, and trying to cover the full range.

Leigh Brown, a strong brand of a man who outmuscled opponent Nick Salter, found himself alone in the goal square after a well-weighted pass from Dale Thomas.

Dane Swan, the prolific ball gatherer, managed to squeeze through one of his flat Peter Hudson punts that still didn't look like missing.

Blair crumbed one from a pack at the top of the goal square and sent it through along the ground; Swan found himself unattended 10m out; Cloke cruised into an open goal after the Pies outnumbered the Power again; Cloke on his own, touching the ball on the ground rather than bouncing it, after Collingwood went over the back of Port Adelaide's press.

It was just as painful to watch as when Melbourne cost Dean Bailey his job in the Demons' insipid effort against Geelong or when the Crows killed off Neil Craig by flying the white flag against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.

Cameras scanned to Matthew Primus and his face was shown on the scoreboard deep in thought - beaten - in the first quarter. By the end of it, he looked spent.

This was Cornes's farewell game and at least he showed a bit of spunk - first in the forward line, then in the backline and then in the midfield. He was the only one who looked like a leader and he's been shown the door by this club.

Another goer was Matthew Lobbe, who's carrying the No.1 ruck spot in Dean Brogan's absence and impending retirement, and his improvement was evident against two good talls in Darren Jolly and Cam Wood.

Travis Boak had a couple of reasonable passages, as did Hamish Hartlett, and at least those fellas have a bit of talent to parade.

But as for conviction, there was no one: Port Adelaide hesitated when they had it, went short as though they just wanted to get rid of it and kept being outnumbered.

Picking out the best Collingwood players was almost as difficult, because most of them didn't just settle for a cake walk; they wanted to demolish the bakery.

Leon Davis was a treat to watch in the last line of defence, reading it better and making Cam Hitchcock look like a school boy.

By halftime, the disposal count was 13 to two and most of the time Davis delivered impeccably to set up more Collingwood goals.

Chris Tarrant, playing his 250th game, started on Cornes and managed some nice, piercing runs through the middle. And that's playing on one of the Power's best.

But the Pies had so much of it there was room for most of them to create a highlight. Beams was among the busiest but there wasn't much time in between disposals from Blair, Pendleburty, Swan, Thomas and the magic of Andrew Krakouer.