Collingwood extend winning streak over rivals Carlton
Oliver Caffrey |
Collingwood have extended their dominance of Carlton to six-straight games, downing their arch-rivals by 21 points in an MCG blockbuster to supercharge their finals hopes.
In another tense battle between the famous foes, the Magpies always had an answer for the injury-hit Blues to prevail 14.6 (90) to 10.9 (69) on Saturday night in front of 83,885 fans.
Carlton hit the lead midway through the third quarter after booting three-straight goals, but Collingwood responded immediately and never gave up their advantage again.
It was a fifth-straight win for the Magpies, putting them in seventh and in the box seat to at least secure a wildcard spot.
Collingwood haven’t lost to Carlton since 2023 and now are just one shy of equalling their best winning sequence against the Blues, set back in 1897-99.
“There’s a rivalry for a reason,” Magpies coach Craig McRae said.
“This goes back in time, and we step in.
“We showed a video before the game about the the past, we’re honouring it.
“Our jumper has history, we’re custodians, and as long as I’m sitting here … we promise to put on a show against our arch enemy that our fans should be proud of.”
Carlton were dominant at clearance early in the match, but Collingwood defended exceptionally and moved the ball superbly inside-50 to catch the Blues off guard.
Not only did Carlton have to overcome recent history against Collingwood, they were two players down for most of the second half.
Harry McKay’s night ended after just 10 minutes, following his knee knocking into teammate Sam Walsh.
The one-time Coleman medallist tried to come back on the ground, spending an extended period on an exercise bike, but was instead ruled out early in the second quarter.
“We’re in the space of knowing that he couldn’t continue and having to get some more information on it early in the week,” interim Carlton coach Josh Fraser said.
“Just going inside 50 and connecting; you lose a target like Harry, and I don’t think we adjusted well enough there.
“I thought their contest around the ground was better than ours.”
After just six possessions and time spent on the wing, Adam Cerra was ruled out of the match in the third quarter with hamstring tightness in a continuation of his soft-tissue problems.
Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos was typically explosive and influential with a game-high 36 possessions.
Veteran forward Tim Membrey kicked a game-high three goals, all his majors coming at vital moments for the Magpies.
The only concern for Collingwood was defender Isaac Quaynor going off to be assessed with an arm injury in the final term.
But Quaynor was able to return to the ground in the final minutes.
Carlton’s prime movers – captain Patrick Cripps (30 touches, two goals), Sam Walsh (25, one) and Jagga Smith (29, one) – were all impressive, the Blues just had too many passengers.
After seven-straight wins under Fraser, the Blues have crashed to two-consecutive defeats following a thumping loss to Hawthorn last week.
Fraser is yet to declare if he will go through the process to find the Blues’ permanent senior coach, with the last fortnight hindering his chances.
AAP