Craig McRae's Collingwood side suffered an abysmal loss at the hands of the Geelong Cats on Saturday night, on a night that should have been characterised by an effort becoming the celebration of the club's finest, in Scott Pendlebury.
Following the loss, the Pies are the textbook definition of 'middle of the road'. Four wins, four losses, a draw, ninth out of 18 teams on the ladder, and a percentage of 99.9. 734 points scored, and 735 points conceded.
A league-worst clearance capacity has been the side's reality in the season's early sledding, but strides forward in that space appeared to be taken against Chris Scott's on-ball brigade. The Pies broke even with a side in the top half of the competition for total clearances, exactly mirroring the numbers of the men in hoops in Saturday's contest.
35 total clearances each - 13 centre clearances apiece, and 22 general stoppage clearances apiece, too.
And yet, Collingwood suffered their equal-third largest loss of the Craig McRae era.
Conventional wisdom says contest and clearance proficiency are always going to be hallmarks of excellent Australian rules football sides, even in an era where lethal transition from turnover appears to delineate premiership favouritism.
The Magpies took strides forward in the clearance aspect of their game plan, and were still pantsed. It begs the question, 'What does their best look like?' 'Is it rediscoverable?', and finally, 'Is their season salvageable?'.
In attempting to answer any of those questions, the stark reality of the misleading clearance numbers must first be addressed. Sure, the Pies matched the Cats for total wins at stoppage, but the difference in damage incurred and inflicted from this source is humbling for McRae and co.
The Cats scored 6.0 (36) to the Pies 2.2 (14) from centre ball-ups, and 8.5 (53) to 4.5 (29) from all stoppages. That lack of defensive accountability at the honey pot is a surefire way to lose more games than you win at the top level.
And, despite Craig McRae's impassioned defence of his star player, Nick Daicos has to face the music for his role in such a shortcoming.
At half-time, the game was very much in the balance, with the Cats leading by less than two goals. At the very first centre ball-up after the main break, Daicos was lackadaisical in defence, allowing his direct opponent, Oisin Mullin, to waltz out of the stoppage, find Bailey Smith by hand, who fed Ollie Dempsey for the instant major.
There was a damning lack of desire to chase, fresh from the long break, from one of the competition's very, very best.
McRae was also quick to dismiss criticism of Daicos' inefficiency, after he registered 55% disposal efficiency from his 29 touches, under strict attention from Mullin.
“Respectfully, he's got a guy just hanging off him,” McRae said.
“(Daicos) is such an elite player - we want the ball in his hands as much as we can, (but) everything's pressured. I haven't seen every one of his ineffective kicks.
“We also have a game (style) where we want to take territory. We won a flag in ‘23 (when) we were the worst kicking efficiency in the competition … kicking efficiency is not a number that we care too often about.
“I think we all marvel at what he does. We're not perfect - we don't aim to be - he's an elite player of the competition getting tagged and trying his guts out for our team.”
Be that as it may, Collingwood chose to live by the sword, and now they must be comfortable losing by it.
"We want the ball in his hands" is something McRae was not saying for the first time - it has been a truism wheeled out about the 23-year-old for much of his young career, but lately, there's an argument to be made that his ball use is hurting his side.
55% efficiency last night, 50% against Hawthorn and 59% against Essendon tell the story of his last three weeks. All three are well below his career average of 71.3%.
So, what does their best look like?
You know it, you've seen it, and your side has probably, at one point or another in the last few seasons, been at the mercy of it.
These Pies are dog-hungry when they want to be. A manic and ferocious front-on pressure, intoxicating ball movement and a stingy backline. An all-hands-on-deck approach to scoring, with the midfield pitching in majors, and a similar approach to team defence.
The loss of Darcy Moore just before half-time necessitated a reshuffle of that usually-stingy backline, which certainly hindered proceedings, but that takes up a negligible wedge of the pie chart of reasons why the Magpies performed so poorly, and McRae said as much.
“It happens. But again, it's not our story. I wouldn't think that Darcy going down is the reason for why they kicked 18-odd goals," he said.
An uncharacteristic lack of certainty in defensive decision-making jumps off the tape. More often than not, particularly when defending transition - something teams must get right in the modern game - Collingwood players looked at sea. Caught in no man's land, if you will, and man of the moment Scott Pendlebury said as much when speaking to broadcaster Fox Footy, post-game.
"They moved the ball really well, they defended us really well, put us in really awkward positions - whether to come forward (in defence) or hold back. They were super slick, and that's why they're one of the best sides in it," Pendlebury said.
McRae echoed Pendlebury's triaging of their shortcomings.
“I thought we were just completely challenged around our defensive system. It was the first time this year we really got challenged around our mechanics of that,” McRae said.
Can they recapture their best?
While anything is possible, and a date with the rampaging Swans will be telling, it appears unlikely this iteration of McRae's list will be true contenders this season.
The staving off of Father Time performed by the Pies maligned brigade of old boys in recent years has been admirable, but they lack the leg speed to compete with the slicker sides.
It's time to find out what you've truly got in Will Hayes, Ed Allan, Charlie West and the like. Uninterrupted stints at the top level in their preferred positions are necessary and recommended.
Even if they don't set the footballing world alight, a better understanding of what this list has to offer will ensure an answer to the final question.
Is their season salvageable?
It may be a knee jerk reaction, but Saturday's demolition at the hand's of last season's grand finalists adds to a season that has already seen a similarly ugly loss at the hands of reigning premiers Brisbane, a loss against contenders Fremantle in which their late game heroics deserted them, an unconvincing draw with the Hawks, and a home loss to last year's minor premiers, Adelaide.
Their wins have also come against the Saints and Giants, and cellar-dwelling rivals Carlton and Essendon.
There's enough water under the bridge to conclude that these Pies cannot mix it with the big boys, and that's okay, just be realistic.
Call it a transition year, play the kids, and build around the best player in the competition, the way the club failed to do during Pendlebury's prime.
