Melbourne v Collingwood Preview, MCG

The final round of the 2024 home and away season kicks off at the MCG as Melbourne take on Collingwood. Both sides come into the contest fresh off wins in Round 23, defeating Gold Coast and Brisbane respectively, with the latter coming from the clouds to come away with a stirring victory at home. Melbourne were much better against the Suns last week, ending a four game losing streak but it’s done little to help their finals chances as they gear up for a year without finals action for the first time since 2020. However, they have been busy preparing for the future, tying down Max Gawn and Jack Viney to new deals but there’s still conjecture surrounding the future of Christian Petracca, while Ben Brown announced his retirement. Meanwhile, Collingwood’s incredible come-from-behind victory over Brisbane boosted their chances of playing finals for only a day, as Carlton, the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn won on Sunday, meaning they will need a miracle to keep their premiership defence alive. The Magpies will need to win big against Melbourne, rely on Port Adelaide knocking off Fremantle and St Kilda defeating Carlton by a huge margin to steal eighth. In fact, they will need to overturn a 200-point gap between themselves and Carlton to ensure their percentage (100.1%)  even comes close to beating the Blues’ (110.7%). Craig McRae’s side won the reverse fixture earlier this year on King’s Birthday by 38 points. 

TIP: Collingwood by 25 points, Nick Daicos 30+ disposals