MELBOURNE, Australia -- Collingwood has booked a place in the 2018 grand final after dominating Richmond in a remarkable first preliminary final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
On Friday night, in front of a sellout crowd of 94,959, the Magpies produced one of the greatest first halves in recent finals memory to open up a 50 point lead the Tigers could never peg back. By fulltime the margin was cut back to 39 points, but the Tigers' 22-game unbeaten run at the MCG had come to an end and it was Collingwood advancing to next Saturday's big dance.
Steele Sidebottom continued his impressive finals campaign with another 41 possession, 13 mark game while Brodie Grundy was supreme in the ruck, yet again, with 56 hitouts and 21 disposals. Taylor Adams, Jordan De Goey, Jack Crisp and Mason Cox all played impressive games as well in what was Collingwood's first win against Richmond in a final since 1937.
The Magpies will now meet the winner of Saturday afternoon's second preliminary final between West Coast and Melbourne in next weekend's grand final.
Here's three things we learned from the game...
The first half at the MCG will go down in Collingwood history
You can be sure that decades from now, Collingwood fans watching on at the MCG, and indeed those on their sofa, will be telling children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews about what happened on September 21st, 2018.
Richmond had been the powerhouse club of the year, they had cruised to the minor premiership and were riding a 22-game winning streak into their preliminary final against Collingwood. It seemed a mere formality that they would win that match and then the grand final a week later as they looked to forge a dynasty.
But what happened was simply remarkable as Collingwood defied the odds to kick 10 of the first 11 goals at the MCG en route to a famous win. And while it was unexpected, nothing should be taken away from the men in black and white who were a class above for much of the night.
Nathan Buckley's side was simply hungrier and it showed. Ironically, they beat Richmond in an area that the Tigers themselves had dominated in for the last 18 months; pressure.
Some of the first half statistics were mind-boggling. The Magpies smashed Richmond around the ball, winning the clearance count (24-16), inside 50 count (35-23), hunted more contested ball (83-68) and even took 13 more marks.
To see Tigers fans in tears before the halftime siren had sounded sums up the enormity of what Collingwood achieved in the first 60 minutes on Friday night, something that will live long into the memory banks of everyone in attendance.
Should we re-visit the bye week, after all?
The Tigers started in first gear on Friday night. Their pressure was down, their ferociousness was down and even their energy levels appeared to be well off the mark.
Collingwood was allowed to utterly dominate in the early proceedings and by quarter time they had opened up a 23 point lead. By halftime that advantage had grown to 44 points as Richmond's dream of back-to-back premierships was left in tatters.
As the Magpies piled on the goals in the first half, everyone was just waiting for the Tigers to flick into gear, but it never happened. Bizarre, right?
It's all over at the MCG! Not even the most positive and enthusiastic Collingwood supporter could have dreamed of this. The Magpies are into the 2018 grand final after thrashing minor premier Richmond by 39 points. It is also the first time Collingwood has beaten Richmond in a final since 1937!
Again, absolutely nothing should be taken away from Collingwood who thoroughly deserve their place in the grand final, but in the second half -- at least until they had run out of time -- it was a different looking Tigers team.
It's worth noting that Richmond entered the high-stakes final having only played once in the past 26 days. It's not the reason they lost but surely it has to have played a role.
It begs the question, again, of just how harmful the extra bye week can be. There has already been a number of calls to scrap it, the football-less weekend which is currently in place between Round 23 and the first week of the finals, and you can expect it to grow louder after this unexpected result.
At the end of the day we can blame and point to many factors for the Tigers' shock loss but the stark reality is that winning back-to-back premierships is an extraordinarily difficult assignment. Just one off night and it can be curtains.
De Goey literally the difference for the Magpies
Six weeks ago, after Richmond had beaten Collingwood by 28 points during the home and away season, I wrote that despite the loss the Magpies are the team to dismantle the red-hot Tigers.
Admittedly, I headed to the MCG on Friday still expecting Richmond to progress to the grand final, but my logic from six weeks ago turned out to be sound, and something I should have paid more attention to.
The Magpies were without Jordan De Goey and Adam Treloar in the Round 19 loss but were far from disgraced. With those two back in the side it would bolster up the midfield, add speed around the ground and provide another option forward of centre. That's exactly what happened on Friday night.
De Goey was electric in the forward 50 and posed a threat every time the ball was sent in there. He kicked the game's opening goal, a crafty snap from the pocket, and added three more throughout the rout.
He may be just 22 years of age but you be sure he will play a significant role on grand final day. You also get the sense that he will relish the big-time occasion.
De Goey's forward line partner Mason Cox wasn't too bad, either. In Cox's wildest dreams he could not have imagined he would be responsible for sparking a "USA, USA" chant at the MCG, but it was fitting after the Texan delivered a three goal, 11 mark and 15 possession game.