The penultimate round of the regular season kicks off with Collinwood hosting West Coast.

The Magpies suffered a 35 point loss to Hawthorn last week, their first in the past month and which kept them on equal competition points with Richmond (v GWS this week) and Essendon (v Carlton this week) and only one win in front of Port (v Fremantle this week).

A loss could see the Pies precariously placed heading into the first week of the finals and having to face off against either Geelong or Hawthorn.

They’ll be out to avoid that scenario at all costs.

Collingwood were competitive for most of the match against the Hawks last week and were only 15 points down at the major break however, a goal-less third term and poor kicking in general (12.12) led the Pies down.

It was the fourth time in the past five matches that Collingwood have scored as many if not more behinds than majors and is something they have to remedy immediately if they are to venture past the first week of the finals.

West Coast’s season was finally put to rest last week when Geelong visited Perth and gave the Eagles a 66 point hiding. It was West Coast’s fourth loss in six weeks with those victories coming over Gold Coast and a struggling Essendon outfit.

West Coast’s away record reads 6 – 4 however on closer examination, they include games against Melbourne, GWS, Brisbane and St. Kilda.

Last time the two sides met, back in the second round of last year’s finals, it was Collingwood victorious 73 – 60. That was the fourth successive match between the two clubs that resulted in a total match score under 167 and it was also Collingwood’s eighth win over West Coast in the past nine matches, a record that they should comfortably add to here.

TIP: COLLINGWOOD 1 – 39

Odds comparison by AFL Odds:

Collingwood Magpies	1.13	1.13	1.13	1.13	1.13	1.13
West Coast Eagles	6.00	6.00	6.00	6.00	6.00	6.00

Teams:

Collingwood Magpies:
B: Nathan Brown, Nick Maxwell. Heath Shaw
HB: Marley Williams, Lachlan Keeffe, Tyson Goldsack
C: Harry O’Brien, Dayne Beams, Luke Ball
HF: Steele Sidebottom, Quinten Lynch, Jarryd Blair
F: Alan Didak, Travis Cloke, Ben Reid
Foll: Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Dane Swan
I/C: Brent Macaffer, Josh Thomas, Ben Kennedy, Sam Dwyer
Emg: Jordan Russell, Ben Hudson, Paul Seedsman

In: A.Didak, B.Kennedy
Out: B.Sinclair (shoulder), J.Elliott (hamstring)

West Coast Eagles:
B: Mitchell Brown, Darren Glass, Patrick McGinnity
HB: Sam Butler, Eric Mackenzie, Ashley Smith
C: Andrew Gaff, Sharrod Wellingham, Bradd Dalziell
HF: Jamie Cripps, Josh Kennedy, Josh Hill
F: Will Schofield, Scott Lycett, Jack Darling
Foll: Dean Cox, Scott Selwood, Matt Priddis
I/C: Blayne Wilson, Brad Sheppard, Chris Masten, Matt Rosa
Emg: Mark Hutchings, Andrew Embley, Adam Carter

In: M.Rosa, C.Masten, B.Wilson
Out: L.Shuey (hamstring), A.Carter, A.Embley