Their first problem was getting their hands on the ball. The Suns’ main strength is their centre square work,between Jarrod Witts and the bullocking Matt Rowell,with Noah Anderson and Brayden Fiorini (and Touk Miller,when he returns) the distributors.

But with Nick Daicos now playing full-time in the middle – where he picked up 36 disposals,10 tackles,eight clearances and,presumably,three more Brownlow medal votes,the Suns were destroyed at the source. And once the ball was on the outside,it was a training drill.

When they did get hold of it,the Suns blazed away in desperation,allowing Darcy Moore and Nathan Murphy to dictate terms from the back half.With Izak Rankine now at Adelaide and Ben Ainsworth moved up the ground,the Suns lack a quality small forward.

Pay no notice of the four goals straight the Suns kicked in the third quarter,as the Pies took their foot off the accelerator. Nick Daicos was having a breather for much of that time and Jeremy Howe,on the comeback trail from a badly broken arm,was substituted.

Collingwood were just playing the game out from there – though no one told Brayden Maynard,who continued to attack every contest like a beaten dog until he was taken from the ground for his own good. That’s what it might take to stop Collingwood. The Suns just stopped.

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