How undersized Collingwood backline became the team’s most reliable unit

April 11, 2026 — 6:49am

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Adelaide: Collingwood’s story right now is being told at one end of the ground. But it might be unfolding more truthfully at the other.

For weeks, the narrative has centred on a forward line searching for connection — shallow entries, missed chances, and a sense of something just slightly out of sync. That remained evident in Friday night’s tight loss to Fremantle. The Magpies generated territory, won the inside 50 count, and still couldn’t quite land the decisive blow.

In the end, they coughed up four points.

But speak to Jeremy Howe in the aftermath, and a different storyline emerges — one that speaks to identity, resilience and a defensive system that, even when exposed, refuses to bend.

“I felt like we played the right way,” a battered and bloodied Howe said in the rooms after the game. “It just comes down to a few missed moments… a bit of polish.”

That polish — or lack of it — is the obvious takeaway. But it risks obscuring something more telling: Collingwood’s back six, undersized and often outmatched on paper, has stabilised itself as the most reliable defensive unit in the........

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