Pies fly into top eight as Dees lose Trac

The Pies have claimed an impressive win over the Demons

Melbourne heads to the bye with its season on the ropes after being comprehensively beaten by an undermanned and inexperienced Collingwood in the traditional King’s Birthday blockbuster.

MAGPIES v DEMONS Full match coverage and stats

Eight days after being embarrassed by Fremantle in Alice Springs, the Demons couldn’t produce a sustained response, despite the Magpies missing six premiership players – Jordan De Goey, Scott Pendlebury, Tom Mitchell, Jamie Elliott, Brody Mihocek and Mason Cox – falling by 38 points at the MCG.

Simon Goodwin’s side has now dropped four of its past five games to remain outside the eight and looking far more like pretenders than contenders in 2024, recording a season-low six goals in the 14.5 (89) to 6.15 (51) loss in front of 84,659 people.