Suns easy pickings as Magpies find form

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COLLINGWOOD 5.2 10.4 15.8 20.12 (132) GOLD COAST 1.3 6.5 6.7 9.9 (63)
GOALS Collingwood: Elliott 5, White 4, Fasolo 3, Pendlebury 3, Varcoe 2, Oxley, Grundy, Cloke. Gold Coast: Dixon 4, Sexton 2, Nicholls 2, Matera.
BEST Gold Coast: Bennell, Dixon, Kolodjashnij, NichollS, Sexton, Lonergan. Collingwood: Varcoe, Pendlebury, Goldsack, Elliott, Williams, Sidebottom, Swan, White.
INJURIES Gold Coast: Saad (hamstring), Prestia (knee), McKenzie (hip). Collingwood: Frost (thigh).
UMPIRES Jeffery, Stephens, Fisher.
CROWD: 16440 at Metricon.

Rewind. In hindsight, the last encounter between the Suns and the Magpies cruelled both clubs' 2014 campaigns. Gold Coast won an epic match with no fit players on the bench and Gary Ablett, who had been on his way to a third Brownlow Medal, was left with a wrecked shoulder. 

Travis Varcoe of the Magpies spoils Andrew Raines of the Suns during the round eight match on Saturday. Photo: Getty Images

Collingwood, as they remain prone to doing, kicked themselves out of the match, a certain Travis Cloke being particularly wasteful. The wheels fell off after that: both injury-hit teams won just three matches between them for the remainder of 2014, the Suns ditching their coach after their push for a debut finals berth ended in disarray. 

Fast forward to the present: Ablett is still nursing that shoulder; and the Suns still haven't recovered. But let's be fair, it's not just the captain: the Suns are missing half a dozen other players who would normally be among their first picked, including key defensive pillars Rory Thompson and Steven May. 

That made the Suns easy pickings for Collingwood, who were bolstered by the return of Steele Sidebottom to complement Dane Swan and Scott Pendlebury, in his 200th game, in the midfield. Pendlebury started the game up forward, and had a hand in four of his team's first five goals, kicking two himself. 

The result was more or less a rout from there, though the Suns got on precisely the kind of roll the Magpies have vowed they needed to stop in the second quarter, as Charlie Dixon got the better of Nathan Brown. They did that by piling on the next seven goals to put the result well beyond doubt by the last change. 

Travis Varcoe was best afield for his new club, collecting 29 disposals and not wasting a single one, whether mopping up in defence or lurking in attack, where he kicked two goals. Up forward, Jesse White was the main target and responded with four majors.  

Other winners were Tyson Goldsack, a perennially underrated footballer having a tremendous year, and Alex Fasolo, who returned from a long stint in the VFL to kick three and add a little more class to the Pies' forward line next to Jamie Elliott, who ended up leading the scoresheet with five in a brilliant second half. 

At least the Suns hung in there in terms of their effort for the first three quarters. By the last, though, the Pies were queuing up for their share of the spoils. Harley Bennell got enough of the football, Kade Kolodjashnij played with poise and ruckman Tom Nicholls kept trying. 

But without enough players at the coalface, the Suns got burned. Dion Prestia, without much help, was beaten by Jack Crisp. Get David Swallow and Jaeger O'Meara back in this side  and their midfield would have a harder-edged look. 

They'll get May back from suspension next week, and Thompson to stiffen their spine in a few more. For now, though, this is a second-string Suns outfit, and the Magpies took only the toll they should have  after an ordinary fortnight.