Collingwood Magpies cruise to an easy 34-point victory over arch-rivals the Carlton Blues.
Collingwood cruised to a 34-point win over Carlton, making a mockery of its arch rival in a scrappy clash at the MCG on Friday evening.
Dale Thomas’ first match against his former club was one to forget, with the Blues outclassed and out-tackled in the 14.20 (104) to 10.10 (70) defeat.
Blues coach Mick Malthouse remarked in the lead-up to the game that Thomas’ personal game would not have any bearing on the result.
Thomas was below his best and even if the 26-year-old was able to ignore the chorus of black-and-white boos every time he touched the Sherrin and put on a clinic in front of the 68,251 in attendance he would not have made a difference.
The Magpies, led by gun midfielders Scott Pendlebury (26 touches) and Dayne Beams (four goals), gained possession and moved the ball swiftly and slickly through the middle with ease.
The Blues were the antithesis when the match was in the balance, stagnant in their defensive 50 for too much of the contest and turning the ball over under pressure far too often.
The Magpies led by 57 points in the third quarter, their inaccurate goal-kicking and eight final-term goals from the Blues being all that saved this from turning into a shellacking.
But the fashion in which the Magpies ran rings around their opposition and collected the Richard Pratt Cup was nonetheless humiliating for the Blues.
The Blues averaged 80 tackles in their past two wins, the club’s only success after seven rounds of a season that promised much after the recruitment of Thomas.
Against the Magpies they managed 49 and only eight in the second quarter, despite frequently being second to the ball.
It all started so positively for the Blues.
Midfield battering ram Mitch Robinson climbed onto Tyson Goldsack’s back, clutched a screamer and booted the opening goal of the contest.
The Blues’ next goal would come almost halfway through the third term, at which point the Magpies had piled on 7.9 and essentially banked the four premiership points.
There were four late scratchings in the match, the Magpies losing Nick Maxwell (back) and Clinton Young (corked leg), while the Blues were minus Jarrad Waite (hamstring) and Andrew Carrazzo (back).
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