Collingwood star Jordan De Goey brushes off the attentions of Fremantle’s Jordan Clark. Photo: AFL MEDIA
MELBOURNE 11.13 (79) lost to BRISBANE 14.8 (92)
Goodbye MCG hoodoo, hello preliminary final. The Lions are marching deep into September with a pep in their step and suddenly Chris Fagan’s finals record (3-5) doesn’t seem quite so bad. Brisbane was just a nail or two away from being buried in Friday night’s semi-final, but Melbourne couldn’t find the hammer blow. Instead, it was a Jarrod Berry-inspired Lions outfit that finished full of running. Berry put the clamps on Clayton Oliver after half-time and generated plenty of his own ball to get it rolling Brisbane’s way as the visitors piled on 11 second-half goals. Joe Daniher did a Daniel Bradshaw and put family first – withdrawing from the Brisbane team late to be with his partner for the birth of their child – and Eric Hipwood stepped up with four goals in his fellow key forward’s absence. Charlie Cameron booted three and Dan McStay added two in the crucial final term. Lachie Neale was instrumental after a slow start and Hugh McCluggage impressed, while fill-in ruckman Darcy Fort did a superb job of limiting Max Gawn’s influence after replacing Oscar McInerney, who was unavailable through concussion. Oliver fired early despite close attention from Deven Robertson, and Christian Petracca shrugged off concerns over his minor fibia fracture and corked calf, helping guide the Dees to a 28-point buffer before half-time. They coughed up the next five goals, but looked to have resisted the challenge when Bayley Fritsch and Alex Neal-Bullen kicked majors in quick succession late in the third term. But Brisbane booted six of the next seven majors to seize control, stunning the majority of the 62,000-strong crowd. The result put the Lions’ MCG hoodoo to bed, ending an 11-match losing streak at the venue that dated back to 2015. They now take on Geelong for a spot in the grand final – a repeat of the two sides’ preliminary final showdown from two years ago – while Melbourne’s dream of repeating its 2021 premiership success in front of home fans is over, at least for this year. Sadly for Brisbane, though, it will be going up against the Cats without Berry, who has been offered a one-match suspension for making contact with Oliver’s eye.
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COLLINGWOOD 11.13 (79) defeated FREMANTLE 9.5 (59)
The Collingwood fairytale under Craig McRae continued as the Magpies took the sword to visiting Fremantle in front of a rabid black-and-white army. Jordan De Goey showed exactly how important he is to the Pies’ flag bid with 26 disposals and six clearances as the Pies took control early and never trailed in a comfortable victory that helped stamp their premiership credentials. There were more than 90,000 fans on hand to create an intimidating atmosphere and the Dockers didn’t handle it well from the outset. The visitors went goalless in the first quarter as Collingwood piled on four unanswered goals and Fremantle was 28 points down at the main break, effectively ruling it out of the contest. Griffin Logue tried to give the Dockers a sniff with the first goal of the second half but Jack Ginnivan (three goals) and Brody Mihocek put the fire out. Collingwood increased their lead until a couple of late goals cut the margin for Fremantle in the latter stages. Nick Daicos (25 disposals), Jack Crisp (24, two goals) and Scott Pendlebury (24) starred for the Pies as they controlled proceedings for most of the night, while Jeremy Howe and Darcy Moore patrolled the backline. Caleb Serong (34 disposals, 16 contested possessions) was one of the Dockers’ best and Lachie Schultz kicked two goals, but Fremantle lacked the spread of contributors to go with the Magpies. It was a disappointing end for Fremantle fan favourite David Mundy, who played a club-record 376 games for the Dockers and has called time on his brilliant career. Collingwood’s win set up a preliminary final against Sydney at the SCG, where the Swans beat the Magpies by 27 points last month. A win over the Swans would give Collingwood a grand final berth in McRae’s first year at the helm after they finished 17th last year.
