Second year Pie Charlie West has had another dominant display at VFL level, with the forward finishing with four goals in Collingwood's VFL loss to Geelong.

With Collingwood returning to their traditional home of Victoria Park for the first time in 2026, it was all Geelong to start the game while Collingwood struggled to gain any momentum.

West finally got Collingwood on the board after a swift link up with Bobby Hill, while midfielder Harvey Harrison quickly followed with a goal of his own to bring Collingwood the lead.

From there, a back-and-forth tussle in the wet ensued which saw West kick his second before a late Geelong goal gave the Cats an eight-point lead at the first break.

While the rain intensified to start the second term, neither team were able to make any scoreboard impact until late in the quarter when the Cats kicked a goal at the 19-minute mark.

The Pies didn’t take long to follow, with Oskar Faulkhead and Jai Saxena both beneficiaries of strong team movement to keep Collingwood within 11 points at the half.

In true Melbourne fashion, rain was traded for sunshine and Geelong took full advantage of the better conditions to lay five goals onto their tally to break away from a threatening Collingwood outfit and give themselves a six-goal lead at the final break.

Geelong continued their momentum to kickstart the final quarter, kicking three straight goals before West was able to find his fourth.

Brynn Teakle quickly followed, with the former North Melbourne ruck kicking his first of the day, but it wasn’t enough as the Cats finished the game with a 61-point lead.

MATCH CENTRE: COLLINGWOOD V GEELONG

The numbers:

Young gun forward Charlie West added another haul of goals to his name, finishing with four majors to bring his VFL tally to 16 in six games.

2025 draftee Sam Swadling continued his strong VFL form, finishing with 29 disposals and nine intercepts, while Ed Allan led with 32 disposals.

In his first VFL game for 2026 following a stress reaction in his back, reigning VFL Best and Fairest winner Harry DeMattia (21 disposals, five clearances) had a positive day out in his return.

VFL co-captain Ben De Bolfo stood tall in defence, finishing with 17 disposals, 10 marks and seven tackles, while forward-turned-defender Noah Howes (10 intercepts) also impressed.

Collingwood will now turn their attention to their first interstate trip of 2026 where they’ll face Sydney at Tramway Park next Friday afternoon.

COLLINGWOOD     3.1      5.2        6.4          8.7       (55)
GEELONG                4.3      6.7      11.10       17.14    (116)

GOALS:
Collingwood: Charlie West (4), Brynn Teakle, Jai Saxena, Harvey Harrison, Oskar Faulkhead
Geelong: Jamieson Ballantyne (4), Charlie Green (3), Oliver Wiltshire (2), George Stevens (2), Jesse Mellor (2), Daniel Capiron (2), Tom Peirce, Jack Costello,