Collingwood's season from hell has gone from bad to worse after being "bullied" by a younger Gold Coast Suns to fall to a 1-6 record.
Nathan Buckley's men were expected to bounce back after their ANZAC Day loss last week, but were thoroughly beaten by a hungry Suns side, who ran out 12. 7. (79) to 7. 13. (55) winners at the MCG.
The Suns led by as many as 35 points in the final quarter, prompting Brisbane Lions great Jonathan Brown to note that the Magpies had been "bullied" on their home turf.
"The Collingwood Football Club need to stand up," Brown said on Fox Footy's coverage.
"Let's have a look at the games age today, the Gold Coast Suns average 60 games compared to Collingwood who have about 100.
"There's a heap of young fellas out there for the Suns, they have no right to bully Collingwood."
The Suns had six players who had never played on the MCG, but were not overawed by the big stage at all, with Touk Miller (34 disposals), Brandon Ellis (35 disposals) and Hugh Greenwood (26 disposals and 10 tackles) leading the way in the engine room. Josh Corbett also enjoyed a strong outing, with four goals to go along with 11 marks.
Collingwood was also nailed for its horror performance by Melbourne great Garry Lyon, who said the result should not be as much of a surprise as it seemed on the surface.
"The one that's going to hurt the most is they've been out-worked by a team who look like they care more for their jumper than the other team cares for theirs," he said.
"Maybe we've just come to the realisation that this Collingwood side out there now aren't that good, and that happens sometimes. They try hard but they're not that good at the moment."
Brodie Grundy battled hard for the Magpies with 21 disposals, 37 hitouts and a goal, while young gun Josh Daicos led all Magpies with 27 disposals in the loss.
With their season on life-support, Collingwood will aim to get back on the winners' list against the bottom-placed Kangaroos next Saturday, while the Suns will return home to host St Kilda in the Gold Coast.
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