In the visitors’ rooms after his 200th match, Tom Mitchell was bruised and wincing. As he had done in last year’s grand final, the Collingwood midfielder had spent much of the game going toe to toe with Brisbane Lions champion Lachie Neale.
Mitchell decisively won the battle in the grand final. On this night, Neale took the points, wrenching the contest the Lions’ way with an enormous second quarter. But Mitchell kept scrapping and fighting, and played a significant part in Collingwood’s first win of the season.
Brisbane are such a great contest team and always play with a lot of physicality, so you have to bring that against them, and I felt like across the game we did that really well.”
Collingwood had spoken all week about bringing a defensive intent to the game. They delivered, laying 84 tackles for the game to the Lions’ 53 and no doubt leaving a few bruises of their own on the opposition.
Of all players, it was Scott Pendlebury who cross
Of all players, it was Scott Pendlebury who crossed a line, whacking Neale in the solar plexus late in the third term, an incident sure to be looked at by the match review panel. Coach Craig McRae wouldn’t be drawn, but he was pleased with his side’s ferocity at the contest.
“There was a damning number we looked at early in the week – I think last year we were number one for pressure, or close to it, and we’re 13th,” he said. It almost stung us, we all looked at the number and went oh, come on, that’s not us.”
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