Collingwood have the wobbles. They have three weeks to shake them off

Collingwood’s dominance of the first four months of the season allowed them to have an eye on September, but the problem with looking too far ahead is you can trip over your own feet. Four weeks out from finals, Collingwood have the wobbles.

Flag favourites for much of the year, the Magpies are stumbling at a time when their rivals are starting their charge.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae says the loss to the Lions have his men some “feedback”.

The Pies’ 27-point loss to Brisbane was their third defeat from their past four games, though coach Craig McRae, ever the optimist, prefers to see it as one win from their past two. That win came against Richmond. You have to turn the calendar back to the end of May to find the Pies’ last victory against a top-eight side.

A finals-like crowd was given a match worthy of September, but this was not the result the overwhelming majority of the 82,326 in the stands came to see. Instead, they witnessed their club turn in what McRae described as their worst performance since the heavy loss to Greater Western Sydney in the first week of the campaign.

Collingwood’s second quarter was fine dining, but they served slop in the other three while the Lions hunted with the vigour of a beast that did not want to sleep with an empty stomach for a second weekend.

McRae and his men are at pains to point out there is no pattern in their form slump but acknowledged “the game’s given us feedback”.

Darcy Moore and the Magpies have plenty to contemplate as the finals draw nearer.

Against Gold Coast, a game where the Pies failed to score a goal to half-time, they lost clearances by 13. This time it was 14. McRae addressed the issue with his players after the game.

“Brisbane had a really stern and honest session about their contest. Do you need that from me?” McRae said.

“Do you want that? I don’t think we need that. It hasn’t been a pattern, but it’s disappointing. We’ve got work to do.”

Whereas the Lions had Lachie Neale, Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley getting their hands dirty in the engine room, Nick Daicos ran a solo operation at times.

Scott Pendlebury gathered 17 of his 21 disposals in the second and fourth quarters, but did little when the Lions charged in the first and third.

Ned Long managed just nine disposals from 20 centre bounce attendances. His blind handball to a pride of Lions on the Members wing in the second quarter did not inspire confidence he can thrive in the September cauldron. The credits he has built from his breakthrough season must be almost exhausted after two shockers from his last four games.

Two weeks after Patrick Voss booted six goals on them, the Pies’ defence was ripped apart by another marking forward, Logan Morris, who also bagged a half dozen.

Darcy Moore was the fall guy against Freo; on Saturday night it was Charlie Dean, who will lose his place in the side once Billy Frampton or Jeremy Howe are fit. Howe is likely to return against Hawthorn on Thursday night.

That game has suddenly become a September-shaper for both clubs. If the Pies lose, they could fall to fourth with the possibility of slipping further given they have a road trip to Adelaide the week after.

Banking wins early gave McRae the opportunity to tinker and tweak but things are getting real now for Fly’s Pies.

“I’m an eternal optimist, I have so much trust and belief,” McRae said. “If you’re a Collingwood supporter at home, you’d think, ‘Gee, we haven’t played this badly since round zero’. That’s real, but that would be disrespecting Brisbane’s hunt and pressure.”

In his first game since round eight, Jordan De Goey was subbed out in the third quarter to manage his workload on the comeback trail from an Achilles tendon injury.

Twelve disposals and a goal read OK on the stats sheet but, more importantly, his power has returned. It’s now a matter of clocking enough miles so he has the conditioning to be explosive for longer.

Bobby Hill provided one of the highlights of the night with a speccy and goal from a bizarre passage of play where he climbed all over Dayne Zorko to mark a switch kick from Will Ashcroft, who had clearly not seen him.

Just moments earlier, Hill had been in the hands of trainers. He will be better for his first game in six weeks.

Lions star Logan Morris kicked an incredible six goals straight.

Collingwood’s slump bears similarities to their flag year of 2023. It was this weekend when the Pies were upset by Hawthorn and lost Nick Daicos to a fractured leg.

The Pies remain in control of their own destiny but the luxuries they had in July are almost gone.