Milestone ... Luke Ball celebrates his 200th game with a goal against Adelaide. Source: Michael Klein / News Limited
THERE was a saying in 1970s cricket, that if Lillee didn't get you, Thommo would.
| 2.2 (14) | Q1 | 6.3 (39) |
| 9.5 (59) | Q2 | 8.7 (55) |
| 13.6 (84) | Q3 | 10.11 (71) |
| 17.9 (111) | Q4 | 12.12 (84) |
| Andrew Krakouer 3 | Tom Lynch 4 |
| Travis Cloke 2 | Jarryd Lyons 4 |
| Brent Macaffer 2 | Jason Porplyzia 3 |
| Scott Pendlebury 2 | Richard Douglas 1 |
| Ben Reid 2 | |
| Dane Swan 2 | |
| Luke Ball 1 | |
| Steele Sidebottom 1 | |
| Marley Williams 1 | |
| Jarrod Witts 1 | |
At Collingwood, it's a case of if Swan doesn't get you, Pendlebury will.
And if they're ripping a game apart together, as they did last night, then heaven help the opposition.
Pendlebury had 42, eight clearances, five tackles and two goals.
Swan had 31, three tackles, six clearances and two goals.
They are Lille and Thompson.
The Len Pascoe equivalent - who was first change behind Lillee and Thommo - would have to be Luke Ball.
He mostly always plays third fiddle behind his superstar teammates, but his stats don't. He had 30, five tackles, seven clearances and a game-high 18 contested possessions.
The three-pronged midfield attack, plus an array of scoring avenues - the Pies had 10 goalscorers to Adelaide's four - proved too overwhelming for Adelaide on Friday night.
The finals score was 17.9 (111) to 12.12 (84).
It's two weeks in a row Swan and Pendlebury have combined to rally the Magpies after a lethargic first quarter.'
They didn't do it alone.
Andrew Krakouer kicked three goals in the second quarter, Travis Cloke took 11 marks and kicked 2.5, Sidebottom off a back flank is proving to be productive move, and Dayne Beams acquitted himself well with 25 touches.
In many ways, the first half was a replay of last week when Collingwood played Carlton
The Crows led at quarter-time, the Pies cranked up in the second quarter to lead at half-time.
But unlike the Blues who raised the white flag in the second half, the Crows scrapped to about midway through the final quarter before Swan, Pendlebury, Travis Cloke and Pendlebury again condemned the Crows to missing the finals this year.
Swan had 22, including 15 handball receives.
As such, he appeared to be cared for by rotation rather than shut down, but Crows coach Brenton Sanderson swapped Nathan Van Berlo from Pendlebury to Swan for the second half, with mixed results.
While Swan was subdued by Van Berlo, Pendlebury took control.
He had 19 in the first half, although not all on Van Berlo, and then 22 in the second half.
It was vintage Pendlebury, if that can be said of a 25-year-old.
The Crows had three multiple goalkickers in the first quarter, which was promising yet undermining.
Jarryd Lyons kicked two goals, one coming after unchecked running through centre half-forward, the other from a free kick paid against Heath Shaw for high contact when Shaw was shepherding.
Another was Tom Lynch who had Ben Reid as an opponent, and the third was Jason Porplyzia who gave headaches to Ben Sinclair and Heath Shaw.
The Crows were efficient early. They kicked 6.3 form 14 entries to Collingwood's 2.2 from 13 entries.
Swan had 13 and Pendlebury nine, but their numbers did not translate to scores.
It was the difference. The Pies led contested ball (39-28) and the Crows led tackles (19-11), so the effort was reasonably even.
As we will come to expect as the season progresses, Buckley moved Reid forward after quarter-time.
It worked for the Pies. Reid kicked the first two goals from two marks, underlying his ability to be a game-changer.
It was the quarter the Pies surged.
But to surge, you must kick goals.
Krakouer kicked his three goals in 11 minutes from the 15th minute, bascially doing what he does best: skirting and grafting and finding space in a phone box.
Macaffer got another one the same way, and then Cloke marked on his chest against three opponents - Talia, Douglas and Henderson - to kick his first of the night. Before then, he had two behinds, while another gettable goal dropped short.
Who knows when or where Buckley will employ the Cloke-Reid combo, but when it happens it's as frightening as dealing with Franklin-Roughead.
The Pies applied considerable heat in the second quarter.
They kicked 7.2 from 17 entries to Adelaide's 2.4 from just eight.
The Pies lifted their work rate and led tackles at the half (31-27, meaning the Crows laid just eight tackles for the quarter).
It took nine minutes to record the first goal in the third quarter, when Macaffer again found himself in the right place at right time, and Ball followed soon after with an intercept and goal from 50m.
The goals came from two handball mistakes from Scott Thompson and Matthew Wright, and in an unrelenting third quarter, they would prove crucial.
Macaffer's influence across half-forward is decidedly improving. He was used earlier in the year as a stopper, but has become accustomed to playing as a type of third tall beside Cloke and Witts/Reid.
Macaffer can mark, is good low, and his agility post knee-op is dangerous enough.
The Crows, to their credit, didn't relent to late in the final quarter.
Already hamstrung by a shoulder injury to Patrick Dangerfield - why was he out there? - the Crows lacked forward options and midfield clout.
In the end, Collingwood's superstars got them over the line, which is a statement we've become accustomed to.
