Collingwood FC vs Port Adelaide FC

The second of Saturday AFL Finals Week 1 matches is between Collingwood Magpies and Port Adelaide Power. The game is set to commence at 7:45pm local time with the game to be played at MCG. home team Collingwood Magpies go into the match as the favourites in the market. View our preview and teams for the game between Collingwood Magpies and Port Adelaide Power.

Collingwood finished 6th on the ladder at the end of the regular season, half a win in front of Port and therefore, have the home-ground advantage in the first of the elimination finals.
It’s been an up and down season for the Magpies whose longest winning sequence this year was three games.
They’ve won over Sydney and comfortably over West Coast in the past month but have also lost to Hawthorn and then last week, to North 125 – 114.
The Collingwood mid-field, led by Scott Pendlebury, is the driving force for the Magpies and have been good in recent weeks. It’s this area where Port will have to aim up.
They were able rise to the challenge back in round 14 of this year when, for the first time in six games and since round 4 2007, Port defended hard against Collingwood and registered an 86 – 51 point win.
They’ll need to pull that video off the shelf this week and duplicate that performance.
Port have been involved in some very tight contests in the past two months but during that time, they’ve only met two teams that have made the finals – Fremantle and Carlton and lost to both.
They were comprehensively beaten by Fremantle a fortnight ago and last week, suffered a heart breaking loss to Carlton by a solitary point.
That loss may have taken the wind out of Port’s sails a little, right when they needed to be heading into this clash with a full head of steam.
Port has only played at the MCG twice in the past two seasons and this will be their first finals appearance since 2007. Up against a seasoned Collingwood side who, when producing their best are the equal to top teams in the comp, should be too much for Port to handle.