Pies cooked?! 0-3 premiers face 49-year AFL low as super Saints ...

There was nothing to suggest a successful Collingwood premiership defence wasn’t going to script, according to the coach this week.

But after losing to a blistering St Kilda on Thursday night, the Magpies will need to beat a furious Brisbane at the Gabba to avoid a calamitous 0-4 start to the season, and face a serious battle to even drag themselves back into finals contention.

A speedy St Kilda made the most of its MCG home game with an impressive 15-point win - 14.10 (94) to 12.7 (79) - as Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera announced himself as one of the game’s premier half-backs.

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The 21-year-old’s quick and creative play out of defence would have been the envy of Magpies fans as new recruits Liam Henry and Darcy Wilson helped cut through Collingwood with their pace in a five goals-to-one third term.

Consecutive goals to Bobby Hill cut the margin back to 15 points with 10 minutes remaining, but the Saints were not intimidated by the competition’s former close game kings and iced the game superbly.

A curling Jack Higgins goal from 40m out hard up against the boundary line snuffed out any Magpies hope and put an exclamation mark on a clinical four-goal haul from the small forward.

“The sky’s the limit for this team,” Saints great Leigh Montagna said on Fox Footy post-match.

But on a night when Danny Frawley’s legacy and the spectre of CTE was at the forefront, a frightening head injury to Saints wingman Mason Wood was another reminder of how much work is still ahead of the AFL to protect players against concussion.

Wood landed heavily on his head and shoulder in an accidental collision with Saints teammate Zaine Cordy during a second quarter marking contest, and was taken to hospital after appearing to suffer a seizure on the ground.

The Saints will also sweat on the fitness of Henry this week after he sat out most of the final term with a tight hamstring.

THE 3-2-1 (via Will Faulker and Max Laughton)

3 - IS COLLINGWOOD COOKED?

In 2022, it was Port Adelaide, starting 0-4 after a top-two finish and missing the eight.

In 2023, it was Geelong, starting 0-3 after a flag and missing the eight.

In 2024, it’s Collingwood, starting 0-3 after a flag and...

The reigning premiers are staring down the barrel of a shocking defence - partially because of some shocking defending - after losing to St Kilda by 15 points to sit winless after three rounds.

And it may only get worse, with one of the toughest trips in footy - to face Brisbane at the Gabba - coming up next week.

It may not seem like much, but an 0-3 start is a very difficult hole to dig yourself out of, particularly if you want to be a contender.

Think of it this way - no team has made the top four with more than seven losses in 14 years. We now play a 23-game season, so you can generally say that a team needs to be 16-7 or better for the double chance.

That means, if Collingwood wants to make the top four, they’ll have to go 16-4 from here. That’s doable if they find their best form from the last two years; but they haven’t shown any of that form in 2024.

The last team to start 0-3 and make the top four was North Melbourne in 2007. The last team to do it and make the Grand Final was North Melbourne in 1976; the year before, they were 0-3 and won the flag.

Remarkably the Magpies are now 5-6 in their last 11 games. That’s half a season in which they have a losing record (while also winning a flag).

The oven’s been on for a few weeks. Are the Pies cooked?

2 - SAINTS FIND A WAY AS PIES TALLS RIDE ROLLERCOASTER

The night for Collingwood’s key defenders Darcy Moore and Billy Frampton can only be described as nothing short of a rollercoaster.

With 15 intercept possessions and plenty of disposals between the pair at half time, on paper their efforts looked superb. However, Darcy Moore’s dicey and attacking approach created extra opportunities for St Kilda up forward. An accidental punch towards St Kilda’s goal set up Jack Higgins to run into an open goal for St Kilda’s first goal of the night.

“He sort of epitomises the way Collingwood play ... he lives and dies by the sword,” Fox Footy’s Leigh Montagna said at halftime.

Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall was of a similar view, noting his courage for not backing down from the game style he wants to play.

“He’s still taking the game on, he hasn’t gone into his shell,” Dunstall said.

Meanwhile, dual premiership player David King went as far as saying they were the sole players giving the Pies a chance to win their first game of the year.

“Frampton and Moore have been very good at winning the ball back. In the end, those two key defenders are the reason they’re in the game,” he said.

Despite their commendable efforts under intense pressure throughout the match, the Saints found a way to exploit them grossly in the second half.

Max King was far more prominent in the second half, nullifying Frampton and Moore while also stamping himself on the scoreboard. His two goals in the third quarter helped the Saints bounce back from their eight-point deficit at half time.

“They were a bit more composed going inside 50, they were lowering the eyes and looking for the best option; they played with a lot more poise,” Montagna said.

“The uncontested marks, the uncontested possessions, they took that away from Collingwood and they were able to control the ball themselves on offence.”

1 - GREAT CONCERN FOR WOOD AFTER GRUESOME FALL

A horrific collision in the first quarter between Mason Wood and Zaine Cordy caused great concern for Wood’s well-being, after landing heavily on his neck.

The 30-year-old was running backwards towards a marking contest with Cordy and Darcy Cameron, before his head collided with his teammate.

The accident then spun Wood uncontrollably to the ground, subsequently landing head first with his neck in a compromising position. Wood was taken to hospital for a precautionary scan in the second quarter, however was conscious and upright in his stretcher upon his exit from the MCG.

Fox Footy’s Jon Ralph provided an update on Wood at half time.

“Initially after that incident, he was convulsing there,” Ralph described.

“From the vision, you can see he was cradling his right arm in a sling as he was taken off and taken to the hospital.”

While the full repercussions from his fall are still yet to be confirmed, the Saints do hold concerns due to a history of heavy knocks.

“Wood does have another major concussive episode, back in 2016 as a North Melbourne player he was knocked out in a marking contest,” Ralph said.

“As much as that was eight years ago, it will be something they factor in.”

The collision means he will certainly miss St Kilda’s next match.

“He will be in the concussion protocols and miss against Essendon, but clearly the results of that scan with that separate issue might have him out of the game for longer,” Ralph added.