When future historians analyse the wreckage of Hawthorn’s 51-point humbling at the hands of Collingwood, the number that will instantly jump of the page is 82-38.
That’s the tackle advantage the Magpies had over the Hawks on Friday night – the seventh-largest differential on record, the biggest in Pies history, and the highest since 2021.
Often, though, the narrative around a tackle number as ghastly as Hawthorn’s revolves around effort; a team not willing to put in the hard yards defensively being comprehensively shown up and deserving of an almighty rocket.
But if the Magpies proved anything at the MCG, it’s that sometimes a team can be genuinely untacklable. And with the lowest average of tackles against this season (and only Brisbane and GWS even come close), it’s worth taking a look at exactly how the Pies so consistently moved the ball at will away from Hawks opponents whose arms might as well have been painted on.
Remarkably, the Hawks actually comprehensively won the clearance count (40-30 if you’re interested) and contested possessions (107-119). Hell, they even shaded the inside-50 count.
But what the Pies are masters of efficiency in 2025: no team scores more per inside 50, and only two – the Hawks and Geelong – have a better rate of marks per inside 50. With 18 grabs in the arc from 44 inside 50s on Friday night, the Pies clearly proved more deadly than one of the two teams above them, too.
The Magpies love a handball chain – watch them around the ball and it becomes clear that their first instinct once they win the ball – either via turnover or from clearance – is to flick the footy around until they find a way clear of traffic.
Take this possession chain from a centre bounce clearance win in the second quarter:
After Scott Pendlebury wins the ball, his first instinct is to dish off to a nearby Nick Daicos; but thinking quickly, he realises that giving there will place his teammate under pressure from an encroaching Jai Newcombe from left of screen.
There’s a better route into space; with a quick shimmy, Pendlebury spins clear of Conor Nash’s attempted tackle and shoots out to the right.
He doesn’t touch the ball in the chain, but Daicos still has an influence in the Pies’ surge forward: Josh Ward, wearing Steele Sidebottom like a glove at the ball-up, comes off him to make a beeline for the No.35 the second Pendlebury even considers handpassing to him.
It means, as Pendlebury works free, he has Sidebottom in space ahead of him to give that handpass to; and Sidebottom’s kick inside 50, off the left foot mind you, is a thing of beauty to find Patrick Lipinski.
It’s a deadly mix of skill and strategy: Craig McRae has three beautiful kicks in Daicos, Sidebottom and Pendlebury around the footy on most occasions – with the fierce tackling and constant pressure of Ned Long as a counterweight to let that trio strut their stuff – while they understand their roles well enough to fan away from congestion as quickly as possible to allow multiple options, none of which are to bang the ball long and hope for the best.
Similarly, in transition, the Pies love a risky handball: they’re actually bottom three for effective handball percentage this year, ahead of only Richmond and (bizarrely) Geelong, but at 79.5 per cent, it’s still more than enough to be deadly with the dare they show.
Have a look at this Josh Daicos handball in a transition play:
Most teams would look to gain territory here unless there’s an obvious target nearby: Daicos’ handball inboard is to anything but, and would be a terrible turnover risk if it doesn’t hit a running Long without breaking stride, dashing through a gap in a sea of brown and gold.
Once again, the Pies goal from this chain without being tackled; though it’s worth noting the actual goal took some absolute magic from Jamie Elliott to be scored.
Conversely, when the Hawks won the ball around stoppages – which was often – they were rarely in a position to be damaging with it; despite Hawthorn’s clearance dominance, they were once again outdone in scores from stoppages by five goals to four.
There’s a growing tendency from their on-ballers to hack the ball aimlessly forward rather than look to use the footy more efficiently, which is only exacerbated by the loss of the silky-smooth Will Day; and with a forward line that, like Collingwood’s, is far more lethal for its smalls than talls, it’s not a winning gambit.
Take this example: from a stoppage just outside attacking 50, James Worpel does excellently to read Darcy Cameron’s tap and shark the ball …
… but the Pies are ready for him, Lipinski and Lachie Schultz converging from the front and denying him any space to burst into.
With no teammates offering any support – another developing concern – Worpel has little option but to quickly put the ball on the boot and send it inside 50; manna from heaven for the Pies, who turn a Jeremy Howe intercept mark into an end-to-end goal with the greatest of ease.
The Pies of 2022 and 2023 were all about chaos; surging the footy forward with frenetic pace on the ball, with enough silky skill from the likes of the Daicoses, Sidebottom and Pendlebury to capitalise more often than not.
That ended in 2024 as teams began to clamp down on their electric ball movement and hold them up, causing turnovers galore in their defensive half; the response this year to up the control and work the footy calmly out of congestion with fast hands has been a truly impressive transformation.
But it would be remiss to not mention how Jamie Elliott fits into this new-look Collingwood.
In his 14th season, Elliott is having a career year; he needs just seven goals for the rest of the season to post a new personal best, and is, remarkably, a genuine Coleman Medal chance.
Three marks inside 50 against the Hawks – and it felt like more considering how menacing he looked whenever the ball went in his vicinity – takes his 2025 tally to 33, behind only Mitch Georgiades in the league. Every single other player in the top 11 in that stat is a key forward, while Ben Long and Toby Greene are the only other mid-sizers in the top 20.
As the Magpies’ deepest forward for much of the year, Elliott is being given free reign in the forward 50, and his mix of footy smarts, underrated agility and speed on the lead are a lethal combination.
The Hawks did themselves no favours by starting with Blake Hardwick, their best pure small defender, in the forward line for the first half; matched up against Josh Battle, Elliott led his taller, slower man a merry dance to put on five goals in two and a half quarters.
The 32-year old is a frightfully difficult match-up at full fitness and with the Pies giving him such silver service – and acres of space inside 50 to work with.
Exceptional overhead for his size – as is, incidentally, Bobby Hill – and deceptively strong one-on-one, not just any small defender can man him; and as the Hawks found out as first Battle, then Jack Scrimshaw, and finally Josh Weddle lagged behind him all evening, a history of injuries seems to have cost him little speed and less nimbleness when the ball is coming his way.
Defensively, too, he’s brilliant; from chasedown tackles on runaway defenders, to the pressure put on here to cause a Hawks turnover and lead to a Daicos goal, he’s far from a liability without the ball that many goalkicking forwards can be.
Everything about the Magpies set-up is just so intelligent: their ball use is pinpoint because they have their best users around the footy, even to the extent of Sidebottom, a wingman for life up until last year, becoming an All-Australian inside midfielder this season.
Defensively, they don’t give an inch, whether it’s closing down space from stoppages to deny Hawthorn the chance to use their clearance dominance to any effect, or setting up to close down the Hawks’ once-electric ball movement.
In attack, a forward line revolving around Elliott, another supremely intelligent footballer, is paying dividends too.
They’re premiership favourites for a reason – and Friday night’s masterclass was a perfect blueprint on just how vulnerable Hawthorn can be made to look.
