A tale as old as time, Geelong and Collingwood will do battle for the 242nd time in V/AFL history when they square off on Friday night.

The Cats have found momentum, claiming their second consecutive win against Hawthorn last weekend.  
 
Sitting fifth on the ladder, the Cats are just one game off second spot with nine teams separated by eight points as the race for September heats up.  
 
Collingwood have fallen out of the top eight after losing two straight games, going down to Essendon by 12 points last Friday night.  

Ladder  

Geelong: 5th (10-6) 
 
Collingwood: 9th (8-6-2)

Points For 

Geelong – 1499 
 
Collingwood - 1408

Points Against 

Geelong – 1367 
 
Collingwood - 1347

Exploiting the Half Back Line

A regular trend has seen Collingwood concede uncontested possessions in their losses, with opposition half back flankers in particular taking advantage amassing plenty of disposals.  
 
Luke Ryan (Fremantle), Nic Newman (Carlton), Karl Amon (Hawthorn) and Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera (St Kilda) have all recorded 25 kicks or more in a single game against the Magpies this year.  
 
For context, these four performances rank inside the top 20 for most kicks in a single game across the season so far.  

Stopping Nick Daicos

To say Nick Daicos’ form has been good this season would be an understatement, the Magpies star is once again a Brownlow Medal fancy.  
 
Daicos sits in the top five league wide for disposals, clearances, inside 50’s and contested possessions while controlling Collingwood’s engine room each week.   
 
His ability to work across the ground is what makes Daicos so dangerous, with 15% of his disposals coming inside defensive 50 and 15% inside forward 50 across his past three games.  
 
While he still amasses most of his disposals through the midfield and along the wings, Daicos’ work rate means he needs to be watched anywhere on the ground.  

Amassing Uncontested Possessions

As mentioned, Collingwood concede a large number of uncontested possessions and it has been a factor that has plagued them in their six losses this year.  
 
The Magpies have only won the uncontested possession count four times this year, losing it in all six of their losses by an average of 42 disposals.  
 
The issue has grown even larger the past fortnight, losing the uncontested possession stat against Gold Coast (-71) and Essendon (-61), two of the biggest differentials this season.  
 
Expect to see Geelong get plenty of football in space if this trend continues, with their ball movement one to watch at the MCG on Friday night.