This was a start with a difference.

The coin toss happened indoors an hour before the game.

Theme songs were replaced with nightclub jams to accompany the players running out.

Smoke poured into the ether, lights flashed and spectators cringed.

But then Oisin Mullin found Nick Daicos, Ed Allan stood next to Bailey Smith and Mark O’Connor went to Jordan De Goey and when the ball was thrown in the air, everyone realised that for all the hype nothing much had changed at all.

Geelong, who have beaten every team above them this season bar Hawthorn, were too good for Collingwood, who have a draw against the Hawks and a win against the Crows to show for their 11 matches against teams in the top eight.

The Magpies may have sat above Geelong on the ladder, but their form line was worse. That reality revealed itself when the game was up for grabs early.

Geelong dominated, kicking a goal within the first two minutes via a big mark from Shannon Neale. After 39 minutes, Geelong had a 48-point lead after kicking nine of the first 10 goals.

The Cats played fast and wide, spreading the ball to the extremities of the MCG where they found time and space. They knew that Collingwood could repel attacks if they were slow, so they resolved to go hard and fast. If they turned the ball over, they counter-attacked at speed, creative players such as Gryan Miers and Shaun Mannagh happy to make things up as they went.

Ollie Dempsey, shining like a dashboard on a late-night drive, kicked two goals in the opening quarter as Geelong dominated Collingwood in the air and on the ground. Former Magpie Ollie Henry and Neale were a handful for their opponents, with Collingwood veteran Jeremy Howe the only player looking likely to counter their aerial exploits.

Mullin stifled Daicos, who could not find room to explode from contests and break open the Cats’ defence, which can be vulnerable if the ball moves without pressure. It was a great battle, with Daicos and Mullin both refusing to wilt.

“It’s a mental battle, really, to see who’s going to give in first. So it’s just [about] kind of being stubborn,” Mullin told Fox Footy.

Even without Max Holmes, the Cats’ midfield of Smith, Mullin, Tom Atkins and James Worpel looked stronger than the combination of Daicos, Allan, Ned Long and De Goey.

However, Collingwood under Craig McRae don’t give up. If they couldn’t move the ball easily, they would make it hard for the opposition. So they threw themselves at the Cats, tackling them hard and forcing the ball loose through pressure. They scrubbed five goals in a row and put roadblocks on Geelong’s attacking avenues.

For 40 minutes they chipped away at the lead, but it was hard work. McRae said their effort made him proud, but he knew in his heart of hearts he was scrambling when he kept telling players on the bench how good coming from eight goals down to win was going to be if they could make it happen.

They narrowed the margin to 16 points, forcing Worpel into action around stoppage. The ex-Hawk, who battled to get a game until the Cats lost five in a row, stood up at crucial stoppages and reclaimed territory for the Cats.

He showed himself to be more than a depth-adding free agent, muscling a stoppage win that ended up with the ball reaching another former free-agent signing Jack Martin inside 50. Martin broke the goal-drought with a steadier.

It was crucial because Collingwood had already lost Harry Perryman to a hamstring injury and needed everything to go right to pull off a miracle. It didn’t. Howe fractured his arm just before three-quarter-time.

Suddenly, it seemed like that sort of year for Collingwood.

The Magpies did not get any closer for the rest of the night, even with Daicos occasionally finding space when Mullin left his side and handed over to Smith – a brave move if ever there was one.

Dan McStay kept up his strong form with five goals. Collingwood won the free kick count handsomely, which elicited another umpiring sermon from Chris Scott, but the Magpies’ key forward had little support elsewhere.

Geelong – missing Jeremy Cameron and Patrick Dangerfield – found support in all the right places, their second win over the Magpies in 2026 confirming their ranking above them on the ladder.

The Cats are now fifth and a sneaky chance to finish in the top four.

Collingwood are ninth, with a buffer between them and 10th.

But they will need to keep the foot down, with a trip west to play West Coast, before Hawthorn and the Brisbane Lions to finish.

Their supporters will hope to hear their theme song again before the year is over because the night that started differently finished much the same: Geelong are proving too good for Collingwood in 2026.