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Goal-by-goal report: The Dogs and Pies meet in the first wildcard round game with their seasons on the line at the MCG. Join Martin Pegan for updates
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Sport — Martin Pegan
Jonathan Horn is at the MCG to report on the wildcard final between Western Bulldogs and Collingwood, but was already questioning the AFL sanction coming Geelong’s way over the concussion waiver in the our From the Pocket newsletter on Wednesday.
When it comes to the concussion story, both Geelong and the AFL have employed some classic crisis management strategies – deny, dilute, diffuse, distract, delay. Both parties initially denied the existence of the agreement, and pushed back on the journalist who broke the story. They then sought to confuse the issue as much as possible, dropping the word “complex” into every second sentence, hoping that the general public would be so bewildered at what this was actually about that they’d quickly lose interest. They diffused the situation by framing it as an administrative oversight rather than a question of ethics and leadership. Sydney took care of the distraction part of the strategy. And engaging James Peters KC to examine Geelong’s evidence continues to delay the findings.
Related: From the Pocket: Geelong is a club that pushes its luck but the concussion story must not be buried
It has been anything but a rosy few weeks for the AFL. In news away from the action on the field, Jack Snape reported yesterday the league hit Geelong with a hefty fine over the secret concussion waiver agreed with Jake Kolodjashnij.
A schism has emerged at the top of the AFL over whether clubs can avoid future liability for head injuries, despite the league fining Geelong $140,000 for failing to lodge the concussion waiver signed by defender Jake Kolodjashnij.
The Cats sanction was made of two parts, including $100,000 for failing to inform the AFL of a change to Kolodjashnij’s contract, previously described as a “waiver” by AFL Commission chair and former Cats president Craig Drummond.
Related: Geelong fined $140,000 over secret Jake Kolodjashnij concussion waiver
The first season with a wildcard round means 10 clubs are still in with a shot of tasting the ultimate success. I took a deep dive into all of the finalists – including the Dogs and Pies – to examine their strengths and weaknesses as well as their premiership hopes.
The Bulldogs have tightened up their defence with the undersized James O’Donnell leading the way and have in Bailey Dale a dashing half-back who is as good as anyone at turning defence into attack. The Dogs have shown they can reliably win a close encounter after winning seven of eight games decided by single figures this year, while the other ended in a draw with the Blues.
The Magpies rely on their intense pressure, system and structure, and contested work to wear down the opposition, though they only took flight in the second half of the year when opening up their attack. With a shift in style toward faster ball movement, Collingwood went from being one of the more dour sides in the competition to averaging 97 points across their last nine games.
Read more including why Western Bulldogs and Collingwood can’t win the premiership …
Related: AFL finals: why every team can – and can’t – win the 2026 premiership
Western Bulldogs have made one change to the side that impressed in their victory over Melbourne with Tim English a valuable addition after injuring a knee three weeks ago. The ruck replaces Lachy Carmichael who made his debut in the round 23 draw with Carlton and is now among the emergencies tonight. Perhaps more importantly for the Dogs, Aaron Naughton has been passed fit to play against the Pies, after an injury scare against the Demons last week.
Collingwood have added defender Isaac Quaynor and midfielder Pat Lipinksi to their lineup, with injured veteran Scott Pendlebury and defender Liam Puncher making way. The versatile Harry Perryman was unable to prove his fitness, and Brayden Maynard has joined captain Darcy Moore on the sidelines, leaving questions over how the Pies’ defence will stack up against the Dogs.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the AFL’s first ever wildcard final. The expansion of the finals series has brought Western Bulldogs and Collingwood together for a winner-takes-all contest with some of the very best and most in-form players in the game hoping to continue their seasons for at least one more week. The winner of this wildcard final will face either Adelaide or Geelong in an elimination final next week. The loser will be left to ponder where their season went wrong.
The Bulldogs have had a typically rollercoaster season under coach Luke Beveridge and only stumbled into the wildcard round without the promise of doing much damage when losing back-to-back games against the Dockers and Kangaroos. But a draw with the red-hot Blues and an impressive victory against the Demons in the last round have left the Dogs carrying better form into this knockout final.
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The Magpies left themselves with plenty of ground to make up when slumping to a 5-1-7 record and dropping to 13th before reeling off six consecutive wins to get their campaign back on track. Two defeats and a draw in the last four rounds have raised concerns over how deep the Pies can go in this finals series especially with several key players now sidelined with injury.
A tougher run with injury means the Pies have been forced to give more opportunities to younger players and they will have six of them – Sam Swadling, Ed Allan, Charlie West, Angus Anderson, Will Hayes and Harvey Harrison – play their first finals game for the club. The Dogs have even more players – Sam Davidson, Josh Dolan, Cooper Hynes, Arthur Jones, Luke Kennedy, Buku Khamis, Ryley Sanders, Michael Sellwood – making their finals debut, while journeyman Matthew Kennedy and first-year recruit Connor Budarick will play their first finals with the club.
The Dogs put together a better record against the other finalists this season at 6-1-8 on their way to finishing eighth, while the Pies finished on 3-2-9 against the top 10 and landed in ninth. There was little to split the two sides when they met in round 12 as the Bulldogs won a thriller by four points as their first-year defender Michael Sellwood pulled down a match-saving mark in the dying stages.
First ball up will be at 7.40pm in Melbourne / AEST . I’ll drop in the team news shortly. Meanwhile, shoot me an email with your thoughts and predictions. Let’s get into it!
When it comes to the concussion story, both Geelong and the AFL have employed some classic crisis management strategies – deny, dilute, diffuse, distract, delay. Both parties initially denied the existence of the agreement, and pushed back on the journalist who broke the story. They then sought to confuse the issue as much as possible, dropping the word “complex” into every second sentence, hoping that the general public would be so bewildered at what this was actually about that they’d quickly lose interest. They diffused the situation by framing it as an administrative oversight rather than a question of ethics and leadership. Sydney took care of the distraction part of the strategy. And engaging James Peters KC to examine Geelong’s evidence continues to delay the findings.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Martin Pegan. Published 28 Aug 2026, 09:20 am.
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