GWS Giants director Jimmy Bartel says Collingwood has everything to lose ahead of Friday's preliminary final, as he took a cheeky swipe at the Magpie Army.
The Giants, who steam rolled St Kilda by 24 points and the third-placed Port Adelaide by 23 points to reach a preliminary final outing against the Magpies at the MCG on Friday, have showed no signs of slowing down despite being on the road for the entire finals campaign.
"They're wetting the bed. They're shitting the bed," Bartel said of Collingwood's passionate fans on Nine's Yesterday's Heroes podcast.
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"They've got feelings of 2019 (preliminary final loss to GWS). Collingwood supporters, they get on the defensive."
But the three-time Geelong premiership winner, who stepped into the Giants boardroom after his retirement, was quick to praise the Magpies ahead of the crunch clash.
"They've been the best side all year. It's more of a tip of the cap to Collingwood here. Home final, 95,000 people there will be Collingwood supporters. That's the reality. Collingwood do have the biggest fan base," he said.
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"You've had a week's rest. You should be favourites."
As for his own Giants, Bartel still holds faith they will step up to the plate.
"I'm not dismissing the Giants. It is just a reality (that they're underdogs)," he said.
The Giants are on a four game winning streak, coming into Friday night's clash almost injury free, carrying momentum to the MCG, where they beat St Kilda two weeks ago in an elimination final.
Bartel believes the Giants have already perfected their recipe for success, despite going into the match as underdogs.
"The good thing that the Giants have done and surprise, surprise, it's been Toby Greene that's done it, I thought the Saints had a lot of momentum in the first 15 minutes. But Toby Greene kicks a goal and you saw the Giants just settle into the game," he said.
The Giants' footy boss pinpointed Greene's impact and energy over recent weeks, which is often the barometer for a successful performance by the Orange Tsunami.
"The best thing you can do early is hit the scoreboard early when you're playing interstate against a side (Port Adelaide) that reeled off 13 in a row during the year," Bartel said.
"Toby Greene kicked the first two of the game and you hear the crowd start to murmur.
"What they've done really well is settle into the game early. You can't come in and be four goals down at quarter time. The momentum starts to build (for Collingwood).
Collingwood host the Giants in the first preliminary final at the MCG on Friday night, with the winner to advance to the grand final the following week.
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