IT MIGHT be a cliché to say that a home crowd is like having a 19th player on the field, but it was an apt description for Collingwood in its 34-point win over St Kilda on Saturday evening.

Ten points up, 10 minutes on the clock, and the 'Collingwood' chant echoed around home-away-from-home Marvel Stadium to propel the Pies to put the game to bed.

MAGPIES v SAINTS Full match coverage and stats

Ultimately the 16.12 (108) to 11.8 (74) victory was thanks to a late flurry of goals off the boots of Nick Daicos, Brody Mihocek, Bobby Hill, and Tim Membrey.

The latest of possible changes threw a spanner in the works for St Kilda before the bounce, with returning young gun Mattaes Phillipou withdrawn from the game with a calf problem, offering Ryan Byrnes a reprieve.

It wasn't a game where either team established a sense of flow across the opening half, instead it was stunted and littered with interceptors.

As expected, expert Saints tagger Marcus Windhager lived in Nick Daicos' pocket around stoppage, offering the Pie very little latitude at contest.

But there was more room to move once the ball was in motion, with Daicos (30 disposals, one goal) drifting forward or moving back to take some kick ins to garner some separation.

Collingwood put its foot to the floor late in the third term, seemingly awakening from its post-bye slumber to dash any hope St Kilda might have had.

Jamie Elliott (two goals) came alive with mere minutes remaining before the final break, and it spurred the team on to shake off the Saints' challenge.

The prime movers all had an impact for the Pies, with Steele Sidebottom (18 disposals, four clearances), Josh Daicos (30 disposals, 554 metres gained), and Scott Pendlebury (22 disposals, seven marks) having a say.

St Kilda seemed to have a directive to move the ball patiently down the wings, rarely attempting any forays into the corridor.

Its slow build up was an attempt to allow representation to get forward to combat Collingwood's disciplined defensive setup.

It was then with forward pressure where the Saints thrived. An early patch of limited pressure – just four first-quarter tackles stark on the stat sheet – was soon rectified, and although they finished trailing the tackle metric 65-46, there was a more concerted effort to close space and cause turnover.

Poor conversion was the only real reason St Kilda went into the main break trailing on the scoreboard, and two quick goals to open the third quarter levelled the playing field, putting the Pies into a position they haven't often been this year.

The height of Darcy Cameron (19 disposals, two goals) and Dan McStay (10 disposals, two goals) presented a problem for the Saints' defence, which had brought in debutant Alix Tauru as some added aerial strength.

Isaac Keeler also spent time down back in an effort to combat the Pies' tall forwards, before being subbed out in the final quarter.

At the other end of the ground, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera was important dashing out of defence, with 35 disposals and 632 metres gained for the game, and Callum Wilkie (20 disposals, eight intercepts) once again offered an anchor point behind play.

A moment for Membrey
Three-time St Kilda leading goalkicker Tim Membrey found himself without a contract at the end of the 2024 season, and it didn't take long for Collingwood to swoop on the forward as a delisted free agent. The Pies have been rewarded handsomely for the signing, with Membrey's 16 goals heading into Saturday's clash, and it was his first chance to face the side that discarded him. It didn't take long for Membrey to remind the Saints about exactly what they gave up, with a neat set shot goal 10 minutes into the game, and his new teammates in the black and white knew the significance of the moment, getting around him as if it were his first goal in the big time.

An early sub
After a hot start from Pie Beau McCreery, where his dynamic centre clearances propelled Collingwood into attack, he jogged to the bench in what seemed like a typical first-quarter rotation. But McCreery went down into the rooms, and was substituted out almost immediately with hamstring awareness. With his 16 per cent of game time, McCreery recorded three disposals, two clearances, and two score involvements in what was tracking to be one of his best performances of the season.

Trouble before the bounce
Desperately late in the final warmup, returning St Kilda youngster Mattaes Phillipou made his way to the bench alongside a club doctor with a calf concern. The 20-year-old sat down and put his head in his hands, looking devastated as club officials scrambled to get a very late change approved. With just four games under his belt this year, Phillipou has battled a stress fracture in his leg early in the season, before being subbed out of St Kilda's round 12 win over Melbourne with a plantaris tendon (calf) injury. It is an unfortunate setback for not only Phillipou, but the Saints, who are desperate for his class and grunt on the field.

COLLINGWOOD          5.1    8.5    12.9   16.12 (108)
ST KILDA                     3.3    6.5    9.6   11.8 (74)

GOALS 
Collingwood: Cameron 2, McStay 2, Lipinski 2, Elliott 2, Membrey 2, Crisp, Perryman, Pendlebury, N.Daicos, Mihocek, Hill
St Kilda: Wood 3, Butler 2, Wilson 2, Sharman, Owens, Hall, Marshall

BEST 
Collingwood: Cameron, Sidebottom, Pendlebury, N.Daicos, J.Daicos, Lipinski
St Kilda: Wanganeen-Milera, Sharman, Wilkie, Macrae, Owens

INJURIES 
Collingwood: McCreery (hamstring awareness)
St Kilda: Nil

SUBSTITUTES 
Collingwood: Lachie Sullivan (replaced Beau McCreey at quarter-time)
St Kilda: Tobie Travaglia (replaced Isaac Keeler in the fourth quarter)

LATE CHANGES 
Collingwood: Nil
St Kilda: Ryan Byrnes replaced Mattaes Phillipou (calf)

Crowd: 43,039 at Marvel Stadium