A brilliant boundary line set from Jamie Elliott has sealed another famous Collingwood final-quarter heist, beating Port Adelaide by two points in a game-of-the-year contender.
In typical fashion, the Magpies trailed by 17 points at three-quarter-time on Saturday night but stormed home with six goals in the last stanza to pinch another scarcely believable comeback win and firm up their premiership favouritism.
Almost a year to the day since he sank Essendon with a long-range set shot after the siren, Elliott slotted a goal from 45m on a tight angle with three minutes remaining. His kick settled a frenetic clash at Adelaide Oval that featured a staggering 11 lead changes.
Seventeen points down at the final break, Collingwood immediately hit top gear, Steele Sidebottom and Josh Daicos goaling ominously. Port then fired back through Jeremy Finlayson and Sam Powell-Pepper as the competition heavyweights traded haymakers in an absolute epic.
Up stepped Elliott to win the top-of-the-table contest, his coach Craig McRae praising the team’s ability to once again come up trumps in a high-pressure situation.
“It's a pattern of behaviour for Jamie,” he said.
“There's just moments, and we want to manage those moments better than the opposition.
“You can't practise kicking a goal on the boundary line from 45m when you're down on the scoreboard, you've got to do it in time and trust that you've done the work.
“I talked about managing these moments and being present in this spirit, it's an incredible thing to have … this is a big win.”
It continues Collingwood's remarkable record of late fightbacks: they have now won 12 of their last 16 games when trailing at three-quarter-time.
The Magpies are now two games clear on top of the AFL ladder and clearly the team to beat heading towards finals, particularly having toppled their nearest foe on their own patch in such impressive fashion.
Brayden Maynard asked Port to “bring their A-game” during the week and they certainly did, playing an elite pressure game to out-tackle Collingwood by 16 and win inside-50s by 13, only to fall agonisingly short.
Port will rue some missed chances in a dominant third term, a vital late goal for Jason Horne-Francis after a run-down tackle on Maynard breaking them 15 points clear, although it could have been plenty more with better accuracy.
But Power coach Ken Hinkley said there was one key factor that separated the top two sides.
“Their finish, clearly,” he said.
“They kicked three goals from the boundary line, which is remarkable that they keep doing it, but they do it consistently, so it's not a fluke.
“It's a great credit to them and their players and how they play those moments.
“They've got a lot of experience, and they played their moments really well ... whatever they're doing together, they're doing pretty well.”
The Power sent Willem Drew to Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos and the running machine was kept to one of his least influential games of the season, making a number of uncharacteristic errors in his 25-disposals outing.
But the Magpies’ old guard stepped up in a big way. Scott Pendlebury (28 disposals) and Sidebottom (26, one goal) looked as smooth as ever in wet conditions.
Port’s star duo of Connor Rozee (28 disposals, two goals) and Zak Butters (31) were outstanding, while Powell-Pepper’s bruising display was exactly what the conditions called for.
