Collingwood are brimming with confidence ahead of the AFL’s match of the season against reigning premiers Richmond.
The Magpies were outstanding on Saturday, quickly overcoming the pre-game loss of Darcy Moore to maul North Melbourne by 66 points.
Their 20.10 (130) to 9.10 (64) win consolidated Collingwood’s top-four berth and left North a game adrift of the top eight.
Next Saturday’s MCG blockbuster will feature the ladder-leading Tigers against the Magpies, who are a game and percentage behind them in third place.
Richmond will set an AFL record of 18-straight wins at the MCG if they beat the Magpies.
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said his team eagerly awaits the biggest test yet of their bona fides this season.
“I can only really talk about today, and today was as good as a team performance as we’ve put in,” Buckley said.
“We were just really solid, we had a lot of contributors to the way we want to go about it, in all facets.
“It (next Saturday) will be a good opportunity for us to test where we’re at.
“If we continue to focus on how we play as a team, we’re always pretty hard to beat.”
The Magpies will play in the finals for the first time since 2013 and are light years removed from last year, when Buckley faced the sack.
But Collingwood looked vulnerable at the opening bounce on Saturday, especially given Moore’s late withdrawal with hamstring tightness.
They were coming off last Sunday’s loss to West Coast, which broke their seven-game winning streak.
The Pies quickly put paid to such worries, blasting North with an opening salvo of 6.2 to 0.3.
Their 7.2 was Collingwood’s best first quarter this season.
Moore’s replacement Josh Daicos also had the best game so far of his young AFL career.
Jordan De Goey was best afield with four goals, Brodie Mihocek also kicked four and Collingwood’s defence did not miss a beat.
“It was a really mature, rounded performance from a group of blokes who really wanted to respond from last week,” Buckley said.
North coach Brad Scott was fuming post-match, saying Collingwood out-pressured his team.
“They will be flat and they should be flat,” Scott said of his players.
“They copped their right whack today – they copped it from Collingwood and they copped it from the coaching group.
“Also the coaching group will go back and do a thorough analysis of our own performance.”
Moore will undergo scans on his left hamstring and it is unclear whether he will be available for the Tigers clash.
He returned last weekend from an injury to the same hamstring.
North’s woes were exacerbated by a string of blood rules, with defender Scott Thompson’s nose splattered across his face.
Midfielder Ben Cunnington was best for North and Majak Daw kicked three goals.