Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon has put his stamp on Collingwood, labelling them the number one contenders to Richmond’s throne.
The Pies have been riddled by injuries, but went on a 51 to zero run in the second half to defeat Port Adelaide on the weekend and currently sit third on the ladder.
“I think Collingwood is the second best team in the competition as we sit right now,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast.
Lyon puts their improvement down to a “cloning” of Richmond’s game style.
“I watched them on the weekend and again, Nathan Buckley probably won’t like this, this is just my opinion from watching footy all year, they appear to be cloning Richmond,” Lyon said.
“Cloning the way they play and it’s smart because it’s worked for Richmond and it’s working for Collingwood.
“They are strong through the midfield, super strong, they’ve got a spread of goal kickers like Richmond, you don’t know who to go to in the Collingwood forward line.
“They’ve got about six blokes capable of kicking bags of three.
“Their pressure is fanatical and unrelenting. Now they are all the cornerstones of what Richmond has been doing over the last couple of years.”
Former Essendon captain Tim Watson believes the Pies had this game style in place last season, but didn’t have the ability to execute it.
“There was evidence Collingwood was playing like that last year, but they just didn’t have that connection and now they seem to have more options when they go forward,” he said.
The Magpies will travel west to take on Fremantle in Round 23 and a win would secure them a top four finish.