Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has described his AFL club’s form as like a patchwork quilt, after they were given a 47-point pummelling by a GWS side missing their entire five-man leadership group on Saturday.
An eight-goal first quarter blitzkrieg from GWS at Giants Stadium set up their 19.8 (122) to 11.9 (75 ) win, which snapped a three-match losing streak and handed the Pies a third defeat from their last four.
GWS spearhead Jeremy Cameron kicked six goals and fellow talls Harry Himmelberg and Jeremy Finlayson nailed four and three respectively.
After Collingwood conceded 50 points in the first quarter to trail by 43, they dominated the second but kicked just 2.1 and were 36 down at the half.
They were never able to get within four goals of the Giants despite having 14 more inside 50s.
“It seems to be a bit of a patchwork quilt at the moment and then that will flip the next week. We’re just lacking consistency,” Buckley said.
“Regardless of who we play or what stage of the year or where we sit on the ladder if we don’t find that consistency in our own performance in our own brand, it makes it pretty difficult to find your best.”
It was Collingwood’s heaviest loss of the season and the first time this year they have conceded more than 100 points.
On-ball regulars Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper, captain for the day Toby Greene and Zac Williams dominated in a new-look Giants midfield.
Their four most senior players in that department – Stephen Coniglio, Callan Ward, Josh Kelly and Matt De Boer were all out injured along with fellow leadership group member and defensive linchpin Phi Davis.
“It will go down as one of the better home and away wins we’ve had for a while,'” Giants coach Leon Cameron said.
“Probably the most important quarter was the second for us, to stand up and still go in with a six-goal lead when they had ascendancy – that’s the thing that probably pleased me the most.”
Cameron said the Giants produced both the tackle and scoreboard pressure which had been missing during their losing streak.
Hailed by Cameron as the club’s spiritual leader, Greene notched 27 touches and kicked two goals in his first game as captain and only the fifth man to perform the duty for GWS.
Buckley noted the Giants’ tall forwards kicked 13 goals to one over their Collingwood counterparts.
“We weren’t able to penetrate their defence. We had 63 inside 50s, so to kick 11 (goals) and have 20 shots at goal was wasteful,” Buckley said.
“The margin was in the first quarter, so we didn’t turn up unfortunately.”
Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy toiled hard for tallying 31 possessions and won the hitouts despite facing two specialist ruckmen.
Hopper and Collingwood’s Chris Mayne each copped knocks and GWS will monitor veteran defender Adam Kennedy over the next couple of days after he was released from hospital on Saturday having shown an irregular heartbeat during a NEAFL game.