ONE of Collingwood’s greatest ever finals players believes the Magpies will win Saturday’s AFL grand final against the West Coast Eagles.
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Former Hamilton and Macarthur star Billy Picken said Nathan Buckley’s men were perfectly placed to win the club’s 16th premiership.
“It is a really good effort from the boys to get there and I’m expecting them to win,” Picken said.
“I have been surprised about how far they have come, I thought with the injuries they had in the second half of the season it would be really hard and they might fall away. Richmond is a very good side so to beat them like they did on Friday night was a huge effort.”
Picken is a fan of Collingwood’s high-profile leaders, coach Nathan Buckley and president Eddie McGuire.
He said the two deserved credit for the Magpies rise.
“I think it’s fantastic the way Eddie backed Nathan in, the club is now benefiting from that strong decision,” Picken said.
“They copped a bit of heat last year but Eddie stuck fat with Nathan and the rewards have come.”
West Coast Eagles are coming off a 66-point preliminary final win over Melbourne in Perth. But Picken believes the long trip east will provide a much sterner test.
“The Eagles haven’t had a great record at the MCG in recent years in finals whereas Collingwood play the ground really well,” he said.
