When they met last year, Collingwood trailed North Melbourne by 39 points at half-time, yet won.
On Friday night at Etihad Stadium the Magpies again found themselves 39 points in arrears at half-time. They couldn't do it again, but they did manage to put the fear of life into the Roos – who clung on to snap their five-match losing streak and shore up their top-eight spot.
Goals to Alex Fasolo and Steele Sidebottom brought the Pies to within three goals only six minutes into the last quarter.
The impossible threatened to repeat for 17 agonising minutes, as both sides wasted chances. Even Brent Harvey in his record-equalling 426th game couldn't seal the deal, twice missing on the run in the final term. In the end North needed the cool head of youngster Trent Dumont to at last snuff out the Pies' slim finals hopes, before Todd Goldstein, Harvey and Lindsay Thomas added late majors – providing padding to the final score.
This first half would have made a lot more sense if it happened in May. North Melbourne were energised and largely clinical. The Roos' veterans were on song, not least Daniel Wells - who had suffered breathing problems pre-game - and Drew Petrie. Meanwhile Collingwood kept having howlers in defence, Travis Cloke was anonymous and Ben Sinclair, for the third time this season, was concussed.
Perhaps the game's most emblematic moments came from Petrie – the man whose struggles had so fittingly represented North's plight. So bad had things got that he had shelved all media commitments. That move might have done the trick. Petrie had six disposals to half-time – neither here nor there.
But more tellingly he had six tackles, including two holding the ball scalps. That he also had two goals was more incidental than anything. Nostrils flared – he had come for the fight, and even lost a jumper in doing so.
The tone was set prior to the opening bounce, as North came at in-form Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy. It was clear the Roos weren't going to die wondering. They monopolised territory early on, and were duly rewarded. Fifty-gamer Ben Brown was taken over the shoulder by namesake Nathan, and duly slotted the game's first goal. Soon after Trent Dumont spun through a pearler from congestion. It took the Pies nearly 10 minutes to even get the ball inside 50, but when they did Jarryd Blair took advantage, curling through a major from the pocket.
But such moments would be few and far between. North continued to dominate, with Thomas capitalising on a poor kick-in to kick the Roos' third. Petrie had his chance minutes later, and having converted a set shot he was not surprisingly descended upon by a swarm of teammates. An atrocious kick from Jeremy Howe opened the door for Jack Ziebell to get another, and Jamie Macmillan then made it six. The quarter-time statistics were damning: North had 14 inside 50s to eight, led centre clearances six to two, and Pies forwards Cloke, Jesse White, Alex Fasolo, Darcy Moore and Blair had just six disposals between them.
North weren't quite as convincing in the second term, but they remained a class above. A textbook crumb and goal from Harvey helped bring the gap to 39.
Ziebell's second goal extended the margin to 46 points at the eight-minute mark of the third quarter. But the Roos' pressure eased slightly. Adam Treloar, Scott Pendlebury and Taylor Adams lifted in the midfield, while Moore and White were at least keeping the Roos' backline honest. The deficit had been shaved to 27 points at the final change, and should have been closer given a bungled Brayden Maynard kick-in had opened the door for one of Thomas' five goals.
