Match Report

Collingwood have gone down to the Western Bulldogs by 57 points in their AFL Grand Final Eve clash under lights at Mission Whitten Oval.

By Danielle Croci, afl.com.au

Collingwood have gone down to the Western Bulldogs by 57 points in their AFL Grand Final Eve clash under lights at Mission Whitten Oval.

The Pies haven’t won an opening quarter since round one, and that continued on Friday night with a scoreless start. In fact, the Bulldogs had two goals on the board before the Pies had even entered their forward 50.

BULLDOGS v MAGPIES Full match coverage and stats

It took just two minutes for the Bulldogs to pounce, with Sarah Hartwig capitalising on a spill from about 15m out for her first goal of the season, and then setting up Blackburn’s moments later.

Collingwood’s first score came in the 17th minute of the second quarter from 19-year-old Ash Centra, courtesy of vision from Sarah Rowe to square her kick to the top of the goal square, where Centra took a tumbling grab and converted for her sixth AFLW goal.

The third quarter was much more even, with the ball spending more time in Collingwood’s attacking 50, but with little reward.

Collingwood Vice Captain Jordy Allen stood tall in the backline alongside second-year defender Lucy Cronin, with the two combining for 12 intercept possessions – the latter also leading the team in metres gained with 286.

After Captain Ruby Schleicher went down in the third quarter following a corked thigh, midfielder Carly Remmos stood up – finishing with 15 disposals and 12 tackles.

Up next
Collingwood will travel to Perth to face the West Coast Eagles in a Sunday afternoon clash at Mineral Resources Park at 5:05pm (AEDT).

WESTERN BULLDOGS          2.2     5.4     7.4     10.5 (65)
COLLINGWOOD                   0.0     1.0     1.2        1.2 (8)

GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Blackburn 4, Hartwig 2, Wilcox, McDonald, Fitzgerald, Edmonds
Collingwood: Centra

BEST 
Western Bulldogs: Blackburn, Pritchard, Hartwig, Edmonds, Wilcox
Collingwood: Schleicher, Cronin, Allen, Remmos

INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Nil
Collingwood: Schleicher (corked thigh)

Reports: Nil

Crowd: 2016 at Mission Whitten Oval