Collingwood has reminded St Kilda of its status as a flag-fancy after dispatching the red, white and black by 44 points on Saturday afternoon.

The polished Magpies strong-armed themselves on top of every facet, holding their ascendancy – despite the scoreboard drying up – all the way to the final siren in the 12.9 (81) to 5.7 (37) result.

Brodie Grundy (31 hit-outs, 20 disposals) proved too strong for the Saints’ two-pronged ruck offensive, allowing the Magpies to dominate the centre clearances (10-4) and stoppages (22-17).

Brett Ratten’s men were unable to withstand the Pies’ unrelenting pressure, midfield dominance and class with ball in hand off the back of Grundy’s authority, and fell victim to over-handballing and unclean execution by foot.

Dan Butler (16 disposals, two goals) again stood out after his electric performance last week, while Jake Carlisle (19 disposals, nine marks) and Jack Steele (six tackles) battled on in their respective domains.

For the Magpies, regular contributors Steele Sidebottom (31 disposals), Taylor Adams (19 disposals, two goals) Scott Pendlebury (26 disposals) and Jack Crisp (24 disposals) were mostly unchallenged throughout proceedings.

The Saints looked bright in the opening stages of each quarter, particularly after Butler kicked the first of the day.

But whenever they struck, the Magpies were there to offer an immediate reply.

Collingwood suffocated St Kilda’s ball movement and constricted their run, subsequently muscling their way on top all over the ground to run away to a three-goal lead at quarter-time.

St Kilda had only recorded the four tackles to the Pies’ 17 in the opening term, with the damning count painting the picture for the rest of the afternoon.

One of the four – a momentum-halting Steele tackle on Adams in the centre of ground – resulted in a goal against the run of play to Rowan Marshall.

But it turned out to be one of the few highlights for the Saints, as Collingwood got the scoreboard ticking over through Jamie Elliott (two goals) and the returning Jaidyn Stephenson (two).

More adventurous ball movement from Ratten’s troops peppered the start of the second, but Nathan Buckley’s warriors refused to relent.

The margin threatened to balloon out on multiple occasions, but Collingwood seemed satisfied enough by the main break.

Jonathon Marsh struck against his old side with a goal in the third term, but there was little else to look forward to as the Saints were held goalless in the last.

St Kilda will face Richmond next Saturday afternoon at Marvel Stadium for the annual Maddie’s Match, while Collingwood will look to make it two on the trot on the Giants’ home deck on Friday night.

COLLINGWOOD  5.3  10.4  11.7  12.9 (81)
ST KILDA  2.1  4.2  5.6  5.7 (37)

BEST
Collingwood: Grundy, Sidebottom, Adams, Crisp, Pendlebury, Maynard
St Kilda: Butler, Carlisle, Hill, Steele, Clark, Gresham, Long

GOALS
Collingwood: Stephenson 2, Elliott 2, Mihocek 2, Adams 2, T. Brown, Sidebottom, De Goey, C. Brown
St Kilda: Butler 2, Marshall, King, Marsh

INJURIES
Collingwood: Nil
St Kilda: Nil