Equally their forwards, led by Nathan Buckley after quarter-time, and Chris Tarrant, were instrumental, as were the backs led by Simon Prestigiacomo, who held the in-form Quinten Lynch to two goals, and James Clement, who provided both strong contests as well as wonderful rebounding work.

The match was a tremendous and entertaining battle, which the Pies sealed only in the last quarter, having come back from a 14-point deficit at quarter-time with the Eagles dominating and looking to run away with a win. With something needed to turn the momentum, the second quarter was an example of how the off-field and the on-field can come together to change a match.

Off-field, the Collingwood brains trust threw Buckley to full-forward and pushed Tarrant further up the ground. Buckley scored within a minute and it was his presence there that turned the game. With Anthony Rocca quiet, he gave the Pies an imposing target and when he wasn't scoring himself, was setting up others, one a brilliant kick to Josh Fraser, the other found the chest of Ben Davies, who scored his first senior goal.

But on the field, the Collingwood players also found a new gear, Fraser, who was clearly the most dominant player on the ground, Brodie Holland, Tarkyn Lockyer, Scott Burns and Ben Johnson taking control of the midfield and consistently driving the ball forward, the rest running hard and taking chances.

As it had not been in recent weeks, the Magpies' confidence was up, but the Eagles would not lie down, even with Chris Judd carrying a sore knee.

Especially Kerr, who a minute after doing the hard, head-down stuff in the middle, floated forward to the goal square and then floated upwards onto the shoulders of Scott Burns to launch himself into the stratosphere. Kerr was far and away the Eagles' best, his 30 impressive touches rarely not used incredibly well.

The third quarter was an arm-wrestle and with the pressure mistakes started to creep in. Alan Didak and Buckley both missed shots, then Didak put one out on the full. At the other end, Andrew Embley and Adam Selwood both made unforced mistakes that turned the ball over.

The Eagles workrate was definitely up again, and at the 18-minute mark David Wirrpanda brought the margin back to seven points with a brilliant goal after swooping on an errant handball.

Collingwood led by two goals going into the final quarter, but by five minutes in Tarrant and Didak had booted three between them. Michael Braun's snap from 50 metres kept the Eagles in touch.

The Eagles this season have been able to pull rabbits out of their hats to storm over the top of more deserving opponents. So even with the margin out to 29 points with Buckley's goal at the nine-minute mark of the last, the Eagles were still a threat. As if on cue, the ball shot into the Eagle's forward line and Andrew McDougall goaled. The Pies' faithful sat quietly. Was this the beginning of the end?

Not if the Magpie young players had anything to do with it. Dane Swan intercepted a pass intended for Shannon Hurn and restored the margin. Yet even when that was then pegged back by a long bomb from Beau Waters, the youngsters had decided they had come too far to let this one slip and Dale Thomas put the game out of reach. His efforts throughout the match, along with Heath Shaw, Chris Egan and Davies, were outstanding in a team where few players had a quiet day.

Anthony Rocca, who will remember his 200th game for no other reason than that his side won the day, apologised to umpire Hayden Kennedy in the days to follow, for his act of petulance during the closing stages – the two spoke for several minutes, with Kennedy reportedly accepting Rocca's mea culpa.

After a protracted arm-wrestle and numerous lead changes during the day it was fitting that the sides placed 15th (Carlton) and 16th (Essendon) fought out a draw. The final term was a nail-biter. Essendon was up by 18 points early on, before Carlton hit-back with four of the last five majors of the match. And when Eddie Betts rose to the occasion in red-time, booting the last two goals of the match – the scores were level.

Key forwards, Essendon's Scott Lucas and Carlton's Brendan Fevola, both had super matches in front of goal. Lucas booted six majors – his best individual effort in the AFL – for the sixth time. Fevola capped off a massive 24 hours after having become a father on Friday by booting five goals.

Essendon midfielders Damien Peverill and Brent Stanton were terrific. Peverill has had an indifferent 2006 season having spent time in the VFL, but he backed up his top effort against St Kilda in round 15 with another excellent performance for the Dons winning 30 touches. Stanton was particularly strong in the third term with nine disposals and finished with 24 disposals and two goals while Andrew Welsh was also a key player, winning the ball 30 times.

Carlton ball-winner Heath Scotland continued his fine season with another strong performance off half-back and in the midfield. He was one of the few Carlton players that consistently used the ball effectively winning the ball 28 times – equal-most for the Blues.

Defender Bret Thornton did a manful job on Lucas when he was switched onto him. He only conceded one goal to Lucas after the Bomber snared five on Lance Whitnall. Irishman Setanta O'hAilpin also played his best match of his brief, yet emerging career. Although still in the embryonic stages, he was proactive out of defence and at least had a crack throughout the day despite some skill errors along the way.

The Dons bounced out to an 18-point lead early in the second half after jagging two quick goals but again the Blues responded. Carlton booted three in a row – including two to Fevola – and his fourth for the day put the Blues back in front in red-time. The Blues were tenacious in striking back but they also squandered too many opportunities in the third term – they posted 3.8 to 4.2 – and when Peverill and Mark McVeigh kicked the last two goals of the third term the Dons were back in front.

Entering the final stanza, Essendon was up by five points but after being outscored in the last quarter by one goal, it brought the deficit back to a tie – the first in the competition since Carlton and Port Adelaide drew in round four 2005.

Richmond danger man Matthew Richardson went goalless, while Jay Schulz and Nathan Brown kicked two each. The Swans were on the wrong end of a remarkable 35-18 free-kick ratio last week, but fared better in this one (17-19).

Celebrating his 100th game as Swans coach, Paul Roos elevated Grundy (a product of SANFL club Norwood) to the starting line-up while the youngster's housemate, Luke Vogels, took his place as an emergency. Roos also stuck with small terrier Simon Phillips, who put in another wholehearted effort after making his debut last round.

The Swans endured some pain in the opening minute of the last quarter with Richmond's Shane Tuck accidentally booting Sydney co-captain Brett Kirk in the side of the head. Tuck's follow-through cleaned up Kirk who was ko'd well before he hit the turf. But the resilient Kirk was back on his feet seven minutes later, although his did not return to the playing field.

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Consecutive Matches
2006, Round 16