McRae ‘optimistic’ about Howe’s prelim return, but could the Pies be missing De Goey?

Collingwood’s September specialists binned the form guide and proved there is no substitute for finals experience with a 24-point win over Adelaide in the qualifying final on Thursday night.

The Magpies held their nerve during a protracted first-half arm wrestle, before blowing the game open with a centre-square masterclass in the third quarter, which silenced the majority of the 52,187 fans in attendance at a heaving Adelaide Oval.

Ned Long and Jordan De Goey proved unstoppable forces at centre bounce during that withering spell, while Nick Daicos and Scott Pendlebury showcased their usual splashes of gold-tinged cameo brilliance.

Steele Sidebottom finished with three goals – the veteran’s best haul since 2018 – setting Collingwood alight in the opening minutes of the match-turning second half.

Captain Darcy Moore and ex-Crow Billy Frampton intercepted everything that was sent their way, with the Crows their own worst enemy with their errant, rushed forward entries.

The previous six Crows-Magpies games had been decided by a combined 25 points, including a nail-biting three-point triumph by the Crows last month.

Adelaide were panicky early before settling, Taylor Walker in his milestone 300th game finally got the Crows on the board.

The home side started winning territory in the second stanza and opened up a 10-point break before being reeled in as half-time approached, then swallowed whole in the third term as the Pies barged out of stoppage time and time again to steam ahead by 32 points.

Oh, wouldn’t Izak Rankine have been handy to throw into the middle at such a time of need?

Late goals to Luke Pedlar (two) and Riley Thilthorpe gave Adelaide a pulse, but a 19-point three-quarter-time deficit was going to be a tough ask against Collingwood’s relentless back six.

The Crows, their nine-game winning streak over, will now have to make their push for a grand final the hard way, via one more home final and then an away prelim. This result means that, should they reach the grand final, Rankine will be available to play.

The Magpies are 4-0 in all finals against Adelaide. Remarkably, Collingwood trailed at half-time in most of them.

Call them too old, call them too slow. But don’t doubt their resilience – especially at this time of year.

Thanks so much for joining us this evening.

Please come back tomorrow night for our live blog as Geelong and the Brisbane Lions battle it out at the MCG.

Bye for now.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae hopes veteran defender Jeremy Howe will be back for the preliminary final in two weeks.

Howe is recovering from an adductor injury suffered late in the season.

“We are optimistic. He is a good healer – he says that to me all the time,” McRae told Fox Footy.

“This is what this win does, it gives us a week to reload, refresh and see who we are playing.”

McRae called tonight’s victory a huge one for the Magpies.

“We can’t thank our fans enough. There were hundreds of them on buses from this morning. This is a big win for our club.”

Magpies star Nick Daicos admits his side was fired up to prove the naysayers wrong tonight.

“[It was an] amazing game, we came over here on a mission, and we got it done,” Daicos told Fox Footy.

“It feels like everyone in the outside world have been saying we are no good since the second half of the season, but we feel like our game is in good shape.

“We were really confident coming over that if we brought our pressure, and our A-game, we would be able to get it done. It’s one thing to say it and another thing to do it – that’s where the emotion comes from right now.”

Daicos said he hoped those injured Magpies doing their rehab back in Melbourne would be fit to play in the preliminary final.