COLLINGWOOD has maintained top spot on the ladder with a convincing 82-point demolition of Richmond at the MCG on Saturday.

The Pies dominated possession to boot the first five goals of the game, effectively ending the contest before Damien Hardwick’s men had any chance of grabbing a sniff of an upset.

Collingwood led by 23 points at the first break before the first five goals of the second quarter put the result beyond doubt, with Mick Malthouse’s side powering away to a 19.13 (127) to 6.9 (45) victory.

Dane Swan was again outstanding and his 37-possession game is likely to see him vying for Brownlow Medal favouritism this week.

Submit your 3, 2, 1 votes in Collingwood's round 17 win

However, he may have been shaded for best afield honours by Alan Didak (28 touches, three goals), while Leon Davis (four goals), Leigh Brown (three goals, 10 marks) and Brent Macaffer (three goals) were all lively in attack.

In contrast, Richmond had few winners. Jack Riewoldt could only manage two goals - both from free kicks - while their other big names struggled.

Shane Edwards tried hard for his 19 disposals, and Ben Cousins (24) and Shane Tuck (25) continued to work hard but they were well beaten on the day.

With Swan in everything in the first term, the Pies didn’t take long to assert their authority on the contest.

> Watch Leigh Brown in the MCG rooms after win

Macaffer was in the thick of it as he cleverly marked to boot the game’s first and used the outside of his boot to bounce his second through soon afterwards.

Andrew Collins opened the Tigers’ account courtesy of a free kick 20 minutes in but when the Pies’ quick ball movement found Hardwick’s team napping late in the term, it was out to a four-goal margin at the first break.

Things deteriorated in the second term for the Tigers as they made some bad decisions and were outmuscled by their more experienced opposition.

Scott Pendlebury’s goal - the Pies’ sixth on end - best illustrated the gap between the two sides as the midfielder was the third man up in a ruck contest and despite having several Tigers around him, was easily allowed to gather the ball and slot the ball home from close range.


> Watch the team sing the song in the MCG rooms after the win

Cousins stopped the rot a couple of minutes later before Angus Graham booted another to give the Tigers two in a row shortly before half time, but the margin was still 41 points at the long break.

Some Didak magic, where he danced around a couple of Tigers and goaled, was the highlight of the third term as the Pies extended their margin in an academic final quarter.

Collingwood  6.1  11.3  15.10  19.13 (127)
Richmond  2.2  4.4  6.7  6.9 (45)

GOALS
Collingwood: Davis 4, L. Brown 3, Didak 3, Macaffer 3, Jolly 2, Beams, Dawes, Pendlebury, Swan
Richmond: Riewoldt 2, Collins, Cousins, Graham, Martin,

BEST
Collingwood: Swan, Didak, Pendlebury, Macaffer, Davis, L. Brown, Johnson
Richmond: Morton, King, Webberley, Astbury, Rance, Cousins

INJURIES
Collingwood: Nil
Richmond: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Rosebury, Jeffery, Mollison

Official crowd: 66,727 at the MCG

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.