Friday night at the MCG delivers the game of Round 24: Collingwood, clinging to eighth on 52 points, host a Brisbane Lions side sitting third on 60 and playing like a team that wants a top-four double chance.
The stakes are lopsided in the best way. Collingwood are defending their place in the eight from a pack of chasers; Brisbane are defending a top-four spot from Hawthorn and Melbourne, both also on 60 points.
The form lines
Collingwood arrive off one of the strangest results of the season — a 92-all draw with Hawthorn at the MCG that felt like a loss for both sides and kept the Magpies two premiership points clear of ninth.
Brisbane's Round 23 was the opposite: a 95–53 dismantling of Gold Coast at the Gabba that pushed their percentage to 119.5, comfortably clear of the teams around them.
Team news: three Pies race the clock
Collingwood's official Round 24 injury update lists three senior players — Jeremy Howe (fractured arm), Brayden Maynard (knee) and Steele Sidebottom, a late withdrawal from the Hawthorn draw through illness — to be assessed after main training on Wednesday.
Isaac Quaynor (glute) has been ruled out of the Brisbane clash but is expected back for finals, while Pat Lipinski (calf) and Harry Perryman (hamstring) remain on individual programs.
