Collingwood’s Septuple Century at the MCG
The Magpies will become the third club to notch up 700 V/AFL games at the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere.
Collingwood will tonight become the third club in V/AFL history to play 700 games at the MCG, following Melbourne and Richmond who achieved the feat in 1977 and 2017, respectively.
The Magpies played their first game at the MCG on June 19, 1897, where they lost to Melbourne by 7 points.
The two teams face off again tonight, with the Pies still a mathematical chance of sneaking into the eight.
Collingwood have won 54.2% of their games at the MCG, currently sitting on a 374-315-10 record.
The Pies have played in some famous century-related games at the modern home of football, namely the drawn Grand Final in 1977 (game 200) and the 2010 Grand Final replay (game 500).
Collingwood will be hoping to avoid a repeat of the result of the first game they played at the MCG, as well as the result of their 600th game at the venue – a 24-point loss to Hawthorn.
Two players – Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom – who played in both the 500th and 600th game at the MCG for the Magpies will line up for tonight, joined by a further seven players who also played in the 600th (Mason Cox, Jack Crisp, Jamie Elliott, Will Hoskin-Elliot, Jeremy Howe, Brayden Maynard, and Darcy Moore).
The Demons were the first club to play 700 games at the ‘G, reaching the milestone in round 5, 1977 – a 19-point loss to Richmond.
The Tigers also won when it was their turn to notch up 700 games, defeating Adelaide by 48 points in the 2017 Grand Final.
Melbourne (1274), Richmond (784), and Collingwood (699) hold the top three positions for most games at the venue, ahead of Essendon (506), Carlton (471), and Hawthorn (402).
The timeframe of this stat is limited based on what data are freely/easily available and/or accessible. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you spot any errors in what I have presented.