WHEN news of the suspensions of Alan Didak and Heath Shaw were made public on Tuesday, bookmakers and punters reacted swiftly and made it plain they believed the Pies could not possibly beat the Saints without their best player and one of their most important defenders.
With the Saints playing for a top-four spot and Collingwood seemingly in turmoil off the field, and under pressure on it, having lost its past three games by a combined total of 120 points, the result, they thought, could only go one way.
But when Travis Cloke marked and kicked his first goal for the night deep into time-on in the last quarter to restore a buffer of 17 points, and effectively quash a late challenge, the extraordinary had been achieved.
In the end, the Pies were home by 14 points, a margin they will happily take but one that flattered St Kilda and masked an extremely disappointing effort that may yet seriously affect its chances of finals action.
The Pies showed that even with Didak watching from the stands, they had more than enough options in front of goal. Leon Davis, who was electric in the midfield, chipped in with two goals, Dane Swan snared three, as did John Anthony, while debutant Chris Dawes, who kicked the Pies' first for the night with his first kick in AFL, finished with two. His second, following a strong mark on Max Hudghton, indicates he could one day be a handy tall foil for Cloke.
The game began at a frenetic pace but neither side was able to fully capitalise on its forward forays, St Kilda in particular not coping with the Magpies' close marking, opting to bomb long rather than find possession options.
Most damning was a lack of runners, the Saints' static attitude and lack of gut-running a trend they would not shake for almost the entire game, bar some spirited but too rare patches during the second half.
It would be the understatement of the decade to say it hadn't been a great week for Collingwood. Whether Collingwood's off-field issues galvanised and lifted it to another level of intensity is impossible to say.
Whatever the case, the Magpies were more often first to the ball and, just as importantly, used it better once they had it. In the first term, they broke the game open and established a lead that would not be headed for the rest of the match.
Swan found the target twice in a row, and Davis crumbed a long kick from Scott Burns to put them 20 points ahead before Justin Koschitzke capitalised on the Saints' first good build-up through the midfield after Robert Harvey found him with a short pass.
The Pies extended their lead to 24 points at the main break on the back of sustained pressure that, inevitably, the Saints could simply not withstand. Tarkyn Lockyer's goal broke a stalemate, and the dam wall, as Dawes and Anthony added to the misery to extend the margin to 31 points.
Where the Magpies best were playing at their peak — Davis nailing miracle goals from the boundary, Swan accumulating touches, Burns leading by example and Josh Fraser on top in the ruck — the Saints' guns were all too quiet.
Brendon Goddard had been busy, but his output wasn't equalled by Nick Dal Santo, Leigh Montagna or Nick Riewoldt, who, to be fair had been hamstrung by some below-average delivery and restricted by the fact he split the webbing in his right hand and required stitches. He soldiered on after half-time sporting a glove.
When the Saints did find their feet after the long break, the spike in their handball receives a telling statistic, they mounted a late salvo that almost enabled them to overrun the Magpies.
Goals to Stephen Milne, Sam Fisher and Adam Schneider got the margin back to nine points, the lowest it had been since midway through the first term. But it would have been a travesty for the Pies to cough up victory from there and, after Ryan Cook hit the post, Swan collected his third and seemingly the sealer.
Yet St Kilda gave it one last stab, Goddard reducing the margin yet again following a screamer in the goal square. But then Cloke, followed by Anthony, drove the nail into the coffin.
COLLINGWOOD 4.4 7.5 11.9 14.13 (97) ST KILDA 2.2 3.5 7.7 12.11 (83)
GOALS Collingwood: Anthony 3, Swan 3, Davis 2, Dawes 2, Lockyer 2, Cloke, Thomas. St Kilda: Schneider 3, Milne 2, Riewoldt 2, Dal Santo, S Fisher, Goddard, Jones, Koschitzke.
BEST Collingwood: Burns, Swan, Davis, Lockyer, O'Brien, Fraser, Pendlebury. St Kilda: Hayes, Goddard, Harvey, Gram, Riewoldt, Fisher.
INJURIES Collingwood: Stanley (back) replaced in selected side by Wellingham.
REPORTS St Kilda: Fiora by field umpire Jeffery for allegedly striking McCarthy (Collingwood) in the second quarter.
UMPIRES McBurney, Rosebury, Jeffery.
CROWD 52,135 at MCG.
THE UPSHOT In the wake of a drunken night and the lies that followed, Collingwood proved the team is indeed bigger than the individual by suspending two of its stars, bringing in two debutants for a crucial match and playing terrific, disciplined football. At risk of slipping out of the eight last night, the Magpies rose to the occasion and could still be playing football come September.
TALKING POINT The goal of the year might have been kicked at the 'G last night, but the judges would still have to choose between Stephen Milne or Leon Davis. Davis, the freakish Collingwood goal-sneak, drilled a long bomb close to where the 50-metre arc meets the boundary, while St Kilda's Milne dribbled one through at the other end, typically on the run and hemmed tightly against the white line.
HOT AND COLD After winning six of the past seven games, St KIlda was flying and went into the game with a chance to consolidate a top-eight spot. On the back of a lacklustre, disappointing first half, the Saints lifted, looked like snatching victory, but failed to match the Magpies' absolute determination to grind out a much-needed, morale-boosting win.