THE DAICOS brothers have starred as a depleted Collingwood ran over the top of North Melbourne for a 45-point win at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.

Jamie Elliott also starred with five goals as the ladder-leading Magpies smashed the Kangaroos in the last quarter, winning 15.18 (108) to 9.9 (63).

KANGAROOS v MAGPIES Full match coverage and stats

The Magpies turned a grinding contest into an avalanche with eight goals to one in the final term.

Nick Daicos, Collingwood's acting captain, had been quiet in the first half with only 10 disposals.

But he was outstanding after the main break, as older brother Josh continued his strong form with an excellent game off half-back.

Nick racked up 38 disposals - including a whopping 12 inside-50s - and Josh had 31 as the two most prolific players on the ground.

Already missing several players, Collingwood lost Scott Pendlebury and Bobby Hill as late withdrawals, then Brayden Maynard in the first quarter.

After Pendlebury dropped out because of illness, the AFL gave Collingwood permission to bring in Oleg Markov when Hill also became an absentee for personal reasons, understood to be a family matter.

Coach Craig McRae heaped praise on younger players such as Ed Allan and Will Parker for coming into the side and doing their jobs.

"We're rapt in that performance - we had a few things going on during the day that challenge you to get busy, some moving parts, late withdrawals," McRae said after the match.

"It shows we have some depth in our list."

McRae added Pendlebury had a bout of gastro and did not want to expand on Hill's situation.

"I won't go into Bobby's stuff, because that's really quite personal and not for me to talk about," he said.

Then Maynard limped to the bench and out of the game before quarter-time with a foot injury.

"He has some plantar fascia stuff that has gone beyond what it was," McRae said.

"We don't know the extent of it, it will be scanned ... he's been having symptoms of that for a while now."

Markov later joined the final-quarter goal procession, capping off his excellent shot from an acute angle with an exuberant celebration.

Magpie forward Brody Mihocek was hurt late in the second term, but played out the game.

The second-bottom Kangaroos, buoyed by some stronger form in the past few weeks, smelled blood early and led by nine points at half-time.

Collingwood key defender Billy Frampton restricted the damage with some crucial spoils as North pressed.

Then, predictably, Collingwood rallied. With Nick Daicos prominent, they kicked the opening three goals of the second half.

North rebounded with two goals to trail by three points at the final change.

After only 21 inside-50s in the first half, the Magpies racked up 20 in the third term, but kicked a wasteful 3.8.

They fixed that with emphasis, blasting through 8.1 in the final quarter.

North forward Cameron Zurhaar kicked his third goal in the last term, while Riley Hardeman impressed off half-back.

"It's so frustrating - you're in the contest and lose by seven goals ... it's really disappointing," North coach Alastair Clarkson said post match.

"The most significant message is you have to play four quarters, boys, you can't just play three.

"It's a testament to them (Collingwood) as a club, in terms of the way they play their system."

Another injury, another opportunity
When Brayden Maynard was subbed out in the opening term it looked like it could be the straw that would break the Magpies' back. Already missing half a dozen senior players even before Scott Pendlebury and Bobby Hill's late withdrawals, surely this was one injury too much. But no. Craig McRae has his team running just how he wants it, and when one player goes down another stands up. The stars still shone but debutant Will Hayes laid six tackles, eighth gamer Ed Allan had 24 touches and eight tackles, St Kilda discard Tim Membrey kicked three goals. It doesn't matter if the talent is on the ground or in the stands, because Collingwood is becoming bigger than the sum of its parts.

North isn't far away
There's only been one win through the past five rounds, but North Melbourne has played a different level of football to the preceding weeks. The 45-point margin on Saturday night was about where Collingwood can go, not about where the Kangaroos are. The first three quarters was top-grade football with North answering every challenge and throwing up a few of its own, before being caught off guard early in the last and just lacking that little bit extra it takes to halt the tsunami of momentum the Pies had suddenly created. But it's coming.

Do the Stomp, the Oleg Stomp
Oleg Markov wasn't even named as an emergency on Thursday night but found himself on the Marvel grass in the first quarter on Saturday. When everything was going to Collingwood's end in the final term, Markov decided to join the flow and before long he was lining up for a shot from the boundary. As the ball sailed through for a goal Markov went into a unique, stomping celebration dance, maybe bringing a touch of Russian influence to Sir Doug Nichols Round.

NORTH MELBOURNE   1.3    6.6    8.8     9.9 (63)
COLLINGWOOD           2.5    4.9   7.17   15.18 (108)

GOALS
North Melbourne: Zurhaar 3, Xerri, Simpkin, Powell, Larkey, Konstanty, Curtis
Collingwood: Elliott 5, Membrey 3, Mihocek 2, Sullivan, Perryman, Markov, Hoskin-Elliott, Crisp

BEST
North Melbourne: Davies-Uniacke, Powell, Simpkin, Xerri, Daniel
Collingwood: N.Daicos, Long, Elliott, J.Daicos, Quaynor

INJURIES
North Melbourne: Nil
Collingwood: Maynard (foot)

LATE CHANGES
North Melbourne: Nil
Collingwood: Scott Pendlebury (illness) replaced in selected side by Wil Parker; Bobby Hill (personal) replaced in selected side by Oleg Markov

SUBSTITUTES
North Melbourne: Zac Fisher, replaced Finnbar Maley at three-quarter time
Collingwood: Oleg Markov, replaced Brayden Maynard in the first quarter

Crowd: 40,479 at Marvel Stadium