Collingwood’s come-from-behind win over North Melbourne saw it scale its third greatest half time deficit.

Down by 39 points at the main break, the Magpies slammed on nine goals to nil in the third quarter to turn the game on its head.

In its previous 2,449 games, the club had only twice overcome a greater half time margin.

The Magpies beat St Kilda after trailing by 52 points at half time in round 10, 1970, while they went on to roll Richmond after ending the first half 46 points in arrears in round 20, 1978.

It was only the third time since 2000 that Collingwood has won after trailing by five goals or more at half time.

The magnitude of the comeback is greater understood when compared with VFL/ AFL history.

Since 1897, only 18 teams have managed to win despite a half time deficit greater than 39 points.

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In kicking 9.2 (56), the Magpies of 2015 catapulted themselves into the top echelon of the club’s third quarter history.

But as potent as they were in that third term, they were outstripped by at least 15 other Collingwood sides in the club’s history.

Collingwood’s record third quarter effort is 12.5 (77), kicked against Carlton at Princes Park in round four, 1969. It was Carlton’s highest score against at the time. John Greening’s seven goals may have had something to do with this.

Sunday’s third quarter score was also the club’s equal sixth most accurate quarter in its history. As good as 9.2 (56) is, it’s still a little shy of the 10.0 (60) against Melbourne in round two, 1996.

The Magpies have enjoyed some healthy quarters against the Kangaroos in recent years.

They kicked 10.6 (66) in round 22, 2006, and managed 7.7 (49) in the third term against the same opponents in round three earlier that year.

In fact, Collingwood’s strongest ever final quarter was recorded against North Melbourne. The Pies kicked 11.5 (71) at Victoria Park in round nine, 1990 (Gavin Brown and Peter Daicos each finished with seven for the day).

Meanwhile, as noted by 3AW’s Damian Tardio during the match, Collingwood’s 4.3 (27) was its lowest half time score against North Melbourne since it kicked 2.9 (21) in the first half in round six, 2000.


And on an individual level, Jamie Elliott’s five goals take him to the top of the club’s goal kicking leaderboard after nine rounds.

Elliott’s 21 majors were fuelled by consecutive bags of five in the past fortnight.

It is the first time he has kicked five goals twice in the one season. He kicked one bag of five in 2013 and another last season.

All statistics are courtesy of AFL Tables.