ADELAIDE OVAL -- Two wins stand between Collingwood and the 2025 AFL premiership after the Magpies produced a riveting third quarter blitz to bury Adelaide in Thursday evening's first qualifying final.
Craig McRae's side will now enjoy a week off to prepare for a home preliminary final as it chases a second flag in three years, while the Crows will have to pick themselves off the canvas and return to Adelaide Oval to face the winner of Saturday afternoon's GWS-Hawthorn elimination final.
Here are three things we learned from the game:
Collingwood's finals experience counts for much, much more than we think
Footy media and fans alike love treating 'experience' as this ultra important, non-negotiable when it comes to finals football. Thursday evening was case in point as to the extreme value of having been there, done that in September, when pressure and intensity is at its highest.
Prior to Thursday night, there were just three teams in the competition that had not contested a final in the past eight years: perennial cellar dweller North Melbourne, the league's newest team, Gold Coast, and, yep, you guessed it, Adelaide. Heck, both Richmond and West Coast won premierships in that time!
As such, only Taylor Walker, Rory Laird, and substitute Brodie Smith went into this qualifying final with finals experience for the club, a stark contrast to the Magpies, who fielded a side featuring not only 20 finals participants, but 16 premiership players. That seismic gulf in experience was evident from the opening bounce until the final siren at Adelaide Oval, Collingwood digging deeper, running harder, looking far more composed, and applying the sort of pressure September football routinely calls for. It was as if they had done it before.
FACT: Prior to Thursday evening, the Crows had just seven players on their list who had played a final. The Magpies had 27.
Whether it was skipper Darcy Moore's commanding nine intercept marks, Scott Pendlebury's immaculate ball use and cool head off half back, Jordan De Goey's explosiveness through the midfield after quarter time, or Steele Sidebottom and Jamie Elliott's seven goals between them, the Magpie veterans stood up in numbers and delivered when called upon.
It bred confidence in their younger teammates. Isaac Quaynor played arguably the best game of his career, Ned Long was a menace at the contest, and, oh yeah, Nick Daicos ended his night with 24 disposals, some highlight reel pin-point passes inside forward 50, and one of the craftiest goals you'll ever see in a final.
There's a reason experience matters, and matters a lot, in finals football. Write this club off at your own peril.
The Crows sorely missed the mercurial Izak Rankine
The moment Rankine's four-game suspension for using an anti-gay slur was handed down by the AFL, we at ESPN posed the question of whether the Crows still had enough firepower to go all the way in season 2025.
And while that question hasn't been answered, as yet, Thursday night's performance against the Magpies suggested the club desperately misses its star mid-forward. The Crows, who entered this final as the most potent attack in the game, mustered just 55 points against Collingwood, the club's third-lowest total of the season, and fifth-lowest score dating back to the beginning of 2024.
The silver lining to Adelaide's loss is that Rankine's season is still alive. Rankine still has two games of his suspension to serve, so should the Crows win their home semifinal next week and then a road preliminary final, he would be available for Grand Final selection.
Through 22 games this season, Rankine has averaged over 20 disposals, 11 contested possessions, four clearances, and four inside 50s. He's also slotted 31 goals. Had he not have been suspended in such ugly fashion, an All-Australian blazer could very well have come his way.
Ben Keays was widely touted as the man who could pick up the slack in Rankine's absence, but he failed to ignite at any stage, still unable to register a goal against the Magpies in his career. Darcy Fogarty was also held goalless on the night. Meanwhile, Josh Rachele is nursing a left knee injury. All of a sudden, the Crows appear lacking in the front half.
A Magpies, Crows Grand Final would be EPIC!
If Collingwood and Adelaide end up facing each other on the last Saturday in September, every single person at AFL House will have to be jumping for joy. And unless you're a fan of any of the other six teams still in contention for premiership glory, it's a Grand Final you should be rooting for, too.
It's not just because the Magpies and Crows are two of the biggest clubs in the land. It's not just because these sides employ the two of the guys most likely to win this year's Brownlow Medal. It's not just because there's endless fascinating storylines surrounding both. It's because these two teams have made a habit of playing epic battle after epic battle in recent times, Thursday evening's qualifying final being no exception.
The last seven games between Collingwood and Adelaide have been decided by an average margin of 6.8 points, and that's factoring in this most recent 24-point triumph to Collingwood. Sure, the Magpies have prevailed in six of them, but that sort of evenness throughout two-and-a-half hours of football is every neutral supporter's dream.
A Collingwood-Adelaide Grand Final is not outrageous, either. Craig McRae's side will now host a preliminary final, while the Crows will face the winner of GWS-Hawthorn for a spot in their very own.