Pickett’s goal sealed the game, but the symbolic moment was when a Demon swooped on Daicos

In a game of amazing feats and egregious mistakes, the signature moment belonged to a young Melbourne midfielder, Harvey Langford.

The Demons lead by two points, having recaptured the lead in the final term via Paddy Cross’s improbable hook shot from the boundary. They had reversed the flow that had seen the Pies led by 11 points only several minutes earlier.

Only one minute and about 20 seconds remained.

Nick Daicos, Collingwood’s young champion, had taken the football, and was ready to take the Pies forward for a final attempt to wrest back the lead.

As Daicos looked ahead, Langford swooped and nailed Daicos in a tackle.

It wasn’t folkloric enough to be known as “the tackle” but it was the most critical moment in a game in which Collingwood led at each change, but were never potent enough to shrug off the Demons, just as Daicos was unable to shrug off Langford, who had booted possibly the game’s most audacious goal at an important stage of the third quarter, when the Demons sorely needed it to stay close.

Fittingly, after that tackle, the outcome was secured by the player who won the Neale Daniher trophy – not for best afield, but as the one who exemplified the Daniher spirit: Kysaiah Pickett.

Pickett booted three goals – including the first two of the game – but it was his creativity that stood out and apart. While the younger Daicos mixed brilliance (his first goal from the Ponsford pocket was exceptional) with some shoddy ball use, Pickett’s class was decisive.

Not the game’s premier player as yet, “Kosi” is arguably already the one who gets more people out of their seats – including those crusty veterans in the MCC members reserve – than any other.

Bayley Fritsch was another mercurial presence. One never knows which Fritsch will appear, the better or bad Bayley. Fortunately for the red and blues, better Bayley materialised and became a weapon in the second half, booting all three of his majors – and each of them was special. Twice, his unerring left boot regained the Demons the lead.

Collingwood’s lead at each quarter never exceeded a goal. One felt that Melbourne had the greater upside – certainly more talented youth, as demonstrated by Caleb Windsor (one exceptional running goal), Latrelle Pickett and Langford (26 disposals) – but that they were less bankable than the seasoned Pies.

And so, when the Pies stretched the lead to a game-high 16 points via a Dan McStay goal in the third term, many of the 88,000 wondered if the Demons were ready to fold, as in 2024 and 2025 when the era that had delivered that exiled premiership faded into the next phase, a regrouping.

But the Demons, as they often have this season under their new coach, chanced their arm and found crucial goals to both Harrison Petty (lead mark) and one literal blinder from Fritsch, who completed a blind turn-and snap almost in one motion.

The margin would remain within a kick until three quarter-time.

The Magpies have plenty to rue. McStay had a regulation 40-metre set shot that would have put them 16 points ahead with several minutes left – a tough ask for the Demons had McStay converted. Jordan De Goey, who had threatened to be the match-winner, couldn’t nail a shot that would have recaptured the lead deep in time-on, too.

Both sides lost key players in the first half, as Brayden Maynard’s shoulder was twice wrenched - he had it put back into its socket once, but on the second occasion when he fell after a Kozzie Pickett trip, he could not return. Nick Daicos aside, the Collingwood pit bull has been their most consistent performer this season.

He might be absent for some time, as the Pies wait on the scans. Pickett’s trip will get a look from the match review officer.

Brody Mihocek’s head or neck injury was awful to watch, as he lay head down on the turf for seven or so minutes, stopping the game, following an unusual incident in which Billy Frampton tackled him as Mihocek, his former teammate, went low, the veteran Demon’s head striking the ground in a manner that hushed the 88,000.

“We’re obviously concerned,” said Melbourne coach Steven King of Mihocek. “It didn’t look great and when you see a player go down with issues around the head and neck, that’s serious.”

The Demons were blessed to have Gawn’s leadership in the ruck, Jack Steele’s industry and the tandem of Jake Lever and Dan Turner holding up the key defensive posts, and while Petty isn’t Jonathan Brown, he did provide a target (two goals) and enough of a foil for Fritsch to be a game-turner.

One cannot say whether the Demons summoned the Daniher spirit in the days after their former coach’s passing, or if they simply executed their skills better when it mattered.

In 2026 at least, Melbourne have exceeded budget so far. They were not expected to be in the top six after round 13.

Collingwood, which most of us felt would lose ground, have probably lost something else – the belief that enabled them to close out games, having succumbed by single-digit margins to Fremantle, Sydney, the Bulldogs and now the Demons.

If the game was sealed by a Pickett conversion, the decisive moment was a symbolic tackle. Truly, the Demons ran Collingwood down.

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