Collingwood is through to another Preliminary Final, beating Melbourne by seven points in front of over 92,000 fans at the MCG on Thursday night.
So much to talk about in the aftermath, so how did every player perform?
We graded all 46 players which took to the field:
COLLINGWOOD
Nathan Murphy (B-): Beat Jacob van Rooyen. Job done.
Darcy Moore (B+): Solid down back as always.
Isaac Quaynor (A): Makes this Collingwood side tick. Another good performance.
Brayden Maynard (B): Faces a very nervous wait for the Match Review officer findings tomorrow. Still very good.
Oleg Markov (C+): Preferred over John Noble. Didn’t really impact, but didn’t matter.
Scott Pendlebury (D): Quiet night by his standards.
Steele Sidebottom (A): Ageing like fine wine. Such a finals footballer.
Taylor Adams (C+): Not many midfield minutes.
Josh Daicos (D-): Dirty night for the All-Australian.
Bobby Hill (A): One of his side’s best on a night where his class shone out.
Brody Mihocek (B): Battled hard all night and importantly didn’t allow Steven May to dominate.
Jeremy Howe (B): Another strong performance from one of Collingwood’s most important defenders.
Jamie Elliott (C-): Missed a couple of gettable shots. Not his night.
Daniel McStay (B): Two big goals in the third term. On a night where scoring was difficult, enough said.
Jordan De Goey (C+): Looked sore after hurting his knee. Still was decent and kicked an important goal.
Mason Cox (B): One of Collingwood’s best. Was beaten by Max Gawn but matched him early when the game was there to be won.
Beau McCreery (B): Did his job. Looked dangerous at times.
Jack Crisp (A): Massive performance from the consistent performer. Drove with the legs all night and kicked a massive goal.
Patrick Lipinski (D): Never really was a factor.
Tom Mitchell (B): Knows his role and plays it well.
Darcy Cameron (C+): Cox the better of the two Pies ruckmen. Was subbed out for Jack Ginnivan in the final term.
Will Hoskin-Elliott (A): Much maligned by some Collingwood fans but in a big final, he stood up superbly.
Jack Ginnivan (sub) (n/a): A ball of energy. Always finds a way to impact, even after coming on in the final quarter.
MELBOURNE
Michael Hibberd (B): Did his job. Solid as a rock.
Steven May (B): Didn’t dominate but worked into it late as the Demons charged.
Jake Bowey (B): Had his moments and was clean off half-back.
Judd McVee (C-): Solid outing.
Jake Lever (C): Outmuscled for most of the night. Disappointing evening for the general down back.
Angus Brayshaw (n/a): Knocked out early in the first quarter.
Kysaiah Pickett (C+): Threatened to blow the game open but missed costly chances.
Jack Viney (C): A player built for finals. Just not his night.
Ed Langdon (C+): Well beaten by Collingwood’s wingmen.
Lachie Hunter (C-): See above.
Tom McDonald (D): First game back for a while and unfortunately for him, it showed.
Alex Neal-Bullen (B): Looked one of his side’s most dangerous up forward.
Tom Sparrow (B): Was huge late but was quiet early.
Jacob van Rooyen (D): Not his night. Well beaten and could be set for some MRO scrutiny.
Kade Chandler (C-): Was ok in a hard role.
Max Gawn (A+): The inspirational skipper was mighty despite the result.
Clayton Oliver (A): Another Dee that was big late. A typical Oliver performance.
Christian Petracca (B+): Tried to will his side over the line late in the match.
Christian Salem (C-): His quiet patch continued.
Trent Rivers (C-): Not his best game after a strong home and away season.
Joel Smith (C-): Battled reasonably up forward on a hard night inside 50.
Bayley Fritsch (C+): Part of a Melbourne forward line that stuttered all night. Could have been a way bigger night.
Bailey Laurie (sub) (D): On early after Brayshaw was stretchered off. Didn’t offer a whole heap.