Collingwood will be searching for three straight wins for the first time since 2012 when it takes on the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Sunday evening.

Should they win, it will be the Magpies’ sixth straight win over the Dogs, a feat they have not achieved since the early 1990s.

Match Details
Collingwood v Western Bulldogs
Round 12
Sunday 16 June 2013
Etihad Stadium

Start time
4.40pm (AEST)

Head-to-Head (since 1925)
Collingwood: 105
Western Bulldogs: 42
Drawn: 1

Past Five
Round 6 2012
Collingwood 15.8 (98)
Western Bulldogs 11.11 (77)

Goals – Collingwood: Cloke 2, Shaw 2, Goldsack 2, Sinclair 2, Fasolo, Dawes, Reid, O’Brien, Swan, Sidebottom, Wellingham
Western Bulldogs: Giansiracusa 3, Griffen 2, Higgins 2, Hargrave, Boyd, Lake, Wood

Disposals – Collingwood: Pendlebury 34, Beams 33, Buckley 30, Sidebottom 29, Swan 29
Western Bulldogs: Griffen 33, Cross 31, Boyd 29, Hargrave 24, Liberatore 24, Murphy 24, Sherman 24

Brownlow: 3. S.Pendlebury (Coll), 2. R.Griffen (WB), 1. D.Beams (Coll)

At Etihad Stadium

Round 6 2011
Collingwood 15.15 (105)
Western Bulldogs 8.9 (57)

Goals – Collingwood: L.Brown 4, Sidebottom 3, Krakouer 2, Blair, Dick, Cloke, Dawes, Ball, Didak
Western Bulldogs: Sherman 3, Jones, Picken, Cooney, Gilbee, Grant

Disposals – Collingwood: Shaw 31, Sidebottom 28, Swan 28, Krakouer 26, Wellingham 26
Western Bulldogs: Boyd 26, Cross 26, Griffen 26, Murphy 23, Sherman 18

Brownlow: 3. S.Sidebottom (Coll), 2. D.Swan (Coll), 1. R.Murphy (WB)

At the MCG

Qualifying Final 2010
Collingwood 17.22 (124)
Western Bulldogs 8.14 (62)

Goals – Collingwood: Sidebottom 3, Swan 3, L.Brown 2, Pendlebury 2, Didak 2, Dawes, D.Thomas, Davis, Jolly, Cloke
Western Bulldogs: Hall 2, Higgins 2, Griffen 2, Hahn, Giansiracusa

Disposals – Collingwood: Swan 39, D.Thomas 32, Johnson 31, Pendlebury 30, Maxwell 24
Western Bulldogs: Griffen 34, Boyd 29, Cross 28, Giansiracusa 20, Hargrave 19, Hudson 19, Murphy 19

At the MCG

Round 11 2010
Collingwood 17.11 (113)
Western Bulldogs 16.7 (103)

Goals – Collingwood: Davis 3, Didak 3, L.Brown 2, Wellingham, Cloke, Fraser, Beams, Pendlebury, Swan, Jolly, O’Brien
Western Bulldogs: Hall 4, Minson 3, Cooney 2, Hill 2, Moles, Lake, Stack, Grant, Boyd

Disposals – Collingwood: Swan 35, Pendlebury 33, Ball 29, D.Thomas 28, Didak 25
Western Bulldogs: Boyd 36, Cooney 28, Cross 28, Harbrow 27, Gilbee 21

Brownlow: 3. M.Boyd (WB), 2. S.Pendlebury (Coll), 1. L.Davis (Coll)

At Etihad Stadium.

Round 1 2010
Collingwood 19.15 (129)
Western Bulldogs 13.15 (93)

Goals – Collingwood: Didak 4, Medhurst 4, Davis 3, Swan 3, Cloke, Anthony, Wellingham, D.Thomas, Pendlebury
Western Bulldogs: Hall 3, Hahn 2, Higgins, Murphy, Boyd, Higgins, Giansiracusa, Minson, Hill, Picken, Lake

Disposals – Collingwood: Shaw 36, Swan 31, O’Brien 25, Wellingham 23, Johnson 23
Western Bulldogs: Boyd 38, Cross 29, Cooney 26, Higgins 23, Murphy 23

Brownlow: 3. H.O’Brien (Coll), 2. D.Swan (Coll), 1. M.Boyd (WB)

At Etihad Stadium.

Stats and figures
- It’s hard to believe that it was less than three years ago that Collingwood was playing the Western Bulldogs in a Qualifying Final. The Bulldogs list has undergone a major revamp in the years since their 62-point loss to the Magpies on a wet and windy night at the MCG, so much so that Mitch Hahn, one of their five goal kickers on the night, is now a development coach at the Westpac Centre. Rodney Eade, then in his penultimate season in charge at the Whitten Oval, is now Collingwood’s Football and Coaching Strategist and Ben Hudson, who won a game-high 32 hitouts, is now on Collingwood’s list after two ‘retirements’.

- The two clubs love a twilight fixture. Between 2008 and 2011, they met at 4.40pm in fading light on four occasions. For the record, the Dogs won in ‘08 and ’09 before Collingwood hit back with two wins of its own.

- Do good performances against a particular team colour a recruiter’s view during the trade period? Tyson Lane’s switch to Collingwood at the end of 1998 suggests so. The goal sneak kicked 4.4 in the Western Bulldogs’ 43-point win over the Woods under lights in round 18 and less than three months later found himself at Victoria Park in a straight swap for Josh Mahoney.

- The final game between Collingwood and a Bulldogs side played under the Footscray banner was held at the MCG in round 17, 1996. The Pies led all afternoon but looked like it was about to cough up four points when the ‘Scrays whittled their lead to only six points late in the day Fortunately Nathan Buckley (32 possessions) and Scott Russell (29 possessions) were able to keep the Dogs at bay. Collingwood’s leading goal scorer was a key forward by the name of Steven Pitt who kicked 4.2. He quit the club at the end of his only season at Victoria Park and returned to South Australia where he joined the police force. Terry Wallace’s Bulldogs tried to recruit him in the Pre-Season Draft the following February but he refused to make the switch. Pitt later resurfaced at Melbourne in the first two years of the new millennium.

- It’s not just four points up for grabs in Sunday’s match. The two teams will battle it out for the 14th annual Robert Rose Cup, which honours Robert Rose’s contribution to sport and to raise funds for The Robert Rose Foundation. Robert was the son of Collingwood legend Bob Rose and played for both Collingwood and Footscray before becoming a quadriplegic at the age of 22 in a car accident in 1974. Since its inception in 2000, Collingwood has taken the Cup home on eight occasions including the last four. The first Robert Rose Cup was one of the most memorable. The finals-bound Bulldogs predictably led all night but were challenged by a fast-finishing Collingwood in front of 30,342 fans at Colonial Stadium. After kicking the first five goals of the final term, the Magpies’ late charge was snuffed out by a late goal to Paul Hudson which guided the Dogs to a nine-point win.


A foot in both camps
Several key figures at both clubs have experienced life on both sides of the divide. Rodney Eade (Western Bulldogs coach 2005-2011) is now Collingwood’s Football and Coaching Strategist, Mitch Hahn (181 games for the Western Bulldogs between 2000 and 2010) is one of Collingwood’s three development coaches. Ben Hudson was a warrior at the Whitten Oval from 2008-2011 and is now leading the Magpies’ young ruckmen with aplomb. There’s also Tom Young, a red headed defender-cum-onballer who played nine games in Black and White after beginning as a NSW Scholarship holder. He was traded to the Bulldogs last October and played in their first nine games this season before injuring his calf against St Kilda.

Injury List
Collingwood
Sam Dwyer (groin) – test
Jamie Elliott (hamstring) – test
Michael Hartley (shoulder) – test
Jordan Russell (ankle) – test
Clinton Young (hamstring) – test
Lachlan Keeffe (bruised kidney) – 1 week
Tyson Goldsack (hip) – 1-2 weeks
Ben Johnson (calf) – 2 weeks
Jackson Ramsay (wrist) – 3 weeks
Dayne Beams (quad) – 3-4 weeks
Jack Frost (knee) – 3-5 weeks
Alex Fasolo (foot) – indefinite
Dale Thomas (ankle) – indefinite
Alan Toovey (knee) – season

Western Bulldogs
Tory Dickson (ankle) – available
Ayce Cordy (fibula stress fracture) – test
Koby Stevens (quad) – test
Matthew Boyd (calf) – test
Adam Cooney (hamstring) – test
Lin Jong (leg) – 1 week
Joshua Prudden (ankle) – 2-3 weeks
Fletcher Roberts (quad) – 3-4 weeks
Tom Young (calf) – 3-4 weeks
Easton Wood (hamstring) – 4 weeks
Shaun Higgins (foot) – season
Tom Williams (shoulder) – season

Next Five Weeks
Collingwood
Round 13 – Bye
Round 14 – Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium
Round 15 – Carlton at the MCG
Round 16 – Adelaide at the MCG
Round 17 – Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium

Western Bulldogs
Round 13 – Richmond at Etihad Stadium
Round 14 – Melbourne at the MCG
Round 15 – Greater Western Sydney at Manuka Oval
Round 16 – Essendon at Etihad Stadium
Round 17 – Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium