It's that pressure again, forcing a turnover deep in Collingwood's defence and creating a walk-in goal for Miers.

Really ominous stuff from the Cats a month out from finals, even with so many guns missing.

This is out of hand now. The footy from Geelong tonight has been first class, the pressure completely overwhelming Collingwood and the class cutting them to ribbons the other way.

Oisin Mullin set up that goal, beating Nick Daicos in a contest and then running away from him with a couple of crucial touches. He set up Mannagh in the pocket, who ran around and snapped another. Pies are getting belted.

Two goals in the first two minutes of the quarter will have alarm bells going off for the Pies. It's now a 36-point game in no time.

Another goal straight out of the middle. Bailey Smith out of the guts, long to the contest where Blicavs marks in the middle of the pack. All too easy.

And both goals he's had to wait a second to discover if it was actually a goal. His contested mark was a beauty, but his snapped set shot hit the belly of the ball and sent the footy floating high and in all directions.

The goal umpire took his time and eventually decided that it had gone between the big sticks. Another one on the board for the Cats.

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On the stroke of quarter-time Jay Polkinghorne outpoints Jeremy Howe to take a one-handed mark, before going back and slotting the set shot on the siren. A perfect end to a dream start for the Cats.

The Geelong pressure is too much for the Pies here, and after copping an early pasting in the contest and clearances, Collingwood has now thrown extra numbers around the ball at the cost of any sort of forward ball movement.

Cats have the territory, Cats have the score on the board. Excellent start Geelong.

Again Dempsey lurks forward into a pocket of space and again Crisp loses him for a split second. A clever checkside makes the Pies pay full price.

Nick Daicos is still on the bench, boot off, getting a pretty significant rub down on the top of his foot and ankle. I'm sure he'll be OK, but not ideal.

A double Daicos delight there. First Nick's incredible kick back into the corridor to his brother Josh, and then an equally good kick from Josh to McStay on the lead.

Perfect ball use and a perfect finish from McStay from 50.

Nick has left the field though to get a foot problem looked at.

Henry rushed his shot because the kick to him was touched off the boot. The ball dribbled its way towards the goal with Lipinski in hot pursuit.

It looked like Lipinski was certain to get there before the line, but the ball took a naughty bounce at the last split second and somehow evaded his fingertips. First three to the Cats.

Lovely grab from Dempsey, soaring up the back of Crisp to mark strongly overhead. The set shot was very neat too from a tight angle.

The Pies are putting a lot of work into these Geelong wingers, but from a repeat entry Crisp just lost Dempsey for a crucial moment.

Really interesting battle unfolding at the moment, the strengths of both sides coming to the fore already. Collingwood missing a bit of forward connection early which is costing them after some good ball movement.

Clearances well in favour of the Cats for now.

Right, the footy. Here we go.

Much ado about nothing that, really. Think I'd prefer to hear my team's song to start the game, but every day I can feel myself aging, my youth disappearing further and further behind me, the world I've accelerated into no longer built for me or even interested in me. I know I'm not old, but at a certain point if you're not young, what's the difference?

Shannon Neale has kicked an early goal for Geelong.

Nick Daicos is chuckling a little as he leads the Pies out. Then he swears loudly. Think of the poor kiddies.

But here come the Pies, to fireworks and smoke and flashing lights. They've gone with Heads Will Roll by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs as they run out. There was talk earlier in the week of ripping off Port's Never Tear Us Apart (which in itself is a rip off of Liverpool's You'll Never Walk Alone), but they most certainly have not gone in that direction.

The Cats are out to slightly less fanfare behind them. And now the players take their positions.

Right, here we go. The light show has begun and the music is pumping. The players are still in the room but ready to run out.

The game is set to start in five minutes.

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We're on "new pre-game" watch. The players are still going through their warm-ups now and won't run onto the field until 7.29pm, with the aim for a 7.32pm start.

Doesn't really feel like this game needs any extra build up, but Collingwood was keen to trial something new so here we are.

Fundamentally agree, Viscount. I'm a proud hater of songs after goals and the manufactured shouty hype at quarter-time breaks (no shade to Karl).

I'll give this pre-game situation the benefit of the doubt for now to see how it goes. But yes, it is a slippery slope to basketball-style sound effects and "DE-FENCE" chants over the loudspeaker.

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Eyes will be drawn to this match-up all night as the league's best tagger Oisin Mullin tries to shut down the league's best player Nick Daicos. It's going to be a fascinating contest between these two, the outcome of which may well decide the game.

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No late changes for either side.

One change each during the week. Brayden Maynard is out with a knee problem, but Lachie Schultz is a handy in for the Pies.

The Cats have rested Patrick Dangerfield for this game, despite him wanting to play according to coach Chris Scott. Jack Martin is in to replace him.

Wait a minute, why have they announced the result of the coin toss an hour and a half before the start of the game? Well, things are going to look a wee bit different before the bounce for this one.

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The coin toss has been done ahead of time, and teams will each go through their warm ups on the field well in advance of the game starting. All of this is to make the entrance onto the field more of an event, with a light show and music (not the club songs like usual) as the players run out.

Then they'll take their positions almost immediately and get the game underway. Hey, why not? Let's see how it looks.

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Good evening and welcome back to ABC Sport's live blog coverage of the 2026 AFL season. We're at the MCG on this fine Thursday night for a game of some significance as Collingwood and Geelong clash under the lights.

These are two teams currently in the wildcard positions, but a win for either side would move them up inside the top six. With only three home and away games remaining after this one, it could be a decisive fixture for both of these clubs on the road to September.

Two of the biggest clubs in the land playing on the biggest stage with heaps at stake? Sign me up on a Thursday night. Stick around and we can enjoy it all together.