COLLINGWOOD runner Alex Woodward was in tears in the Magpies' dressing-room after inadvertently costing his side a goal in their five-point Grand Final loss to West Coast at the MCG on Saturday.

With the Magpies leading by four points in the third quarter, midfielder Taylor Adams attempted to switch the ball in his defensive 50 to forward Jaidyn Stephenson.

However, Stephenson ran into Woodward, allowing Eagles star Elliot Yeo to take the mark and kick a crucial a goal to put the visitors in front.

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"Woody's shattered, he's blaming himself," Magpies coach Nathan Buckley said.

"We had a player that ran into him, I think it was ‘Stevo’, and Yeo takes the mark and goes back and kicks the goal.

"It's one of those marginal situations that happens in a game and that's one of them.

"The reason I grabbed him is he can't be blaming himself.

"Things happen in life, things happen in football.

"He was trying to get out of the way, and it didn't work."